Spencer snickers and then heads for our bedroom. He has a pair of shorts and a T-shirt already waiting for him on the bed, and a pair of polka-dotted white-and-red briefs. “It’s that house with the balcony and the—” He stops talking, frowning as he stares at his shorts.
“Did you put dirty clothes away again?” I ask. Not the first time. When he throws them every which way—dirtyorclean—he’s bound to get them mixed up sometimes. Important to always do the sniff test before putting something on.
“Oh. I need to ask you something.”
“Okay?”
“Wait, I should get dressed.” He does a circle in our room, like he’s forgotten where everything is, and then yanks open the wardrobe door. His towel slips and gives me a nice view of his ass. A drop of water trails down his thigh and behind his knee. I want to get down there and lick it.
I glance at the clothes already on the bed. “Spence? Everything alright?”
“Wait. Hold on. Can you just—get out.”
“I thought you wanted to ask me a question.”
“Stop asking questions!”
Coughing to stifle my laugh, I step out of the room and close the door behind myself. It can’t be more than ten seconds before I knock and ask, “Can I come back in now?”
“No. I’m not dressed yet.”
“I hate to break it to you, but I’ve seen you naked before. Not five minutes ago, in fact.” And I like seeing him in all his glory. Why is he hiding it from me? There should be a law against that.
“Just—one second.” He sounds out of breath now, and thethudof something hitting the floor echoes through the door. What the hell is he doing in there? I thought he was getting dressed?
“Do you need some help?”
“No!”
I’m not sure I believe that. It sounds like he’s trying to wrestle a bear in there.
Athos comes bounding around the corner to sit at my feet, staring up at me with eagerness.
“I don’t have any more treats.” I check my pockets, just in case. None. I gave them the last I had last night. I’ll need to get more out of the jar. Always handy to carry them on me. “Where are your brothers?” Up to no good, no doubt. Moira trained them well, and that’s not always a good thing.
He nudges my knee and then sniffs my pocket.
“Not gonna find anything, buddy.”
A harder nudge as if that will miraculously produce more treats. He’s going places, this one. Just last week he found a way to get up near the top of the fish tank and dropped his ball into it. I bet if they could, the fish would want to play fetch with him.
The door flings open, and I jolt in surprise. Spencer beams at me, showing off that dimple I love tasting. He’s not wearing the clothes from the bed and is instead in one of his navy suits. Special occasion? What the hell does he want to ask me?
“Okay. Come in.”
“Thanks. Are we allowed guests or…?”
“No. Athos, go amuse yourself.”
As if he understands, he trots away, letting out a small bark that’s answered by one of his brothers somewhere else in the house. I swear they’re shapeshifters that are really human. Or some form of intelligent alien.
“What’s going on, Spence? You’re acting weird. Er. Weird-er.” I glance around the room but can’t work out where the thud came from. It was probably Spencer himself.
He gently tugs me into the middle of the room. “Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”
I feel like I should be asking him that. “I’m fine.” Getting up and down twinges my side more than standing still does. And it gets better every day, which I’m glad about because I’m already going crazy at work, stuck with nothing but desk work. Hunter refuses to let me do anything strenuous until Six gives him the all clear, and Six is being a sadist.
“Okay. Good.”
