I immediately regret it once I reach the switchback stairs that lead down to the den.
Zeke is coming up the stairs, and he’s wearing dark blue basketball shorts,noshirt, and headphones. There’s an old iPod in his hand, and even though it looks ancient as fuck, I’m actually impressed.
Our eye contact is brief before his gaze drops.
I feel my nipples tighten the moment his green eyes land on the inner curve of my breasts peeking through the robe panels. All too soon his focus is shifting again, over the swell of my belly and then between my thighs. It feels clinical more than appreciative, so I quickly tie my robe to remind myself that he isn’t interested and clear my throat.
Zeke’s gaze snaps up to meet mine.
“Hoping to jog your memory?”
“Something like that,” he mumbles as he starts walking again. He’s careful not to touch me as we pass on the stairs. Meanwhile, my body is already recalling our brief touch near Meera’s den and wanting more.
“Well, at least I didn’t make it weird!” I retort as I reach the landing. When he doesn’t respond, I glance over my shoulder and catch him frozen in front of the front door.
He’s glaring at my ass like it’s personally wronged him in some way. If I were less confident, I’d feel self-conscious, but I know my ass is amazing, so I wiggle it a little and it snaps him out of whatever the hell is going on in that head of his.
Zeke meets my gaze, and his frown deepens at the same time his grip on the door handle tightens. But in a blink, the reaction is a mere memory. Or maybe I imagined it. “If they ask, tell them I’ve gone running, will you? I should be back in a couple of hours.”
“Sure.” With a curt nod in thanks, Zeke opens the door and starts to leave. I feel my heart leap inside my chest when I can’t stop the words already forming on my tongue. “Wait!” To both of our surprise, he does. “Can I come?”
His green eyes flare. “What?”
“R-running. Um…” My hands are shaking. Why are my hands shaking? “Khalil is teaching me how to defend myself, but he wants me to improve my stamina first. The only problem is that he was a professional athlete and I’m not.” Some of the suspicionleaves Zeke’s eyes, and he actually looks amused when he snorts. “I’m serious. The man’s gone mad. You have to help me.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason Thorin and I work out alone. Khalil can be intense.”
“I think sadist is more accurate.”
Zeke’s lips twitch, and my eyes are drawn to them, remembering the way they felt when he kissed me. Seth wasn’t as practiced, but he learned quickly how to melt my bones from one kiss.
Would Zeke? I’m sure he knows how to kiss, but would it feel the same or earth-shattering in another way?
“Yes,” he answers before I can think about the answer too hard. “You can come.”
“I only need twenty minutes.”
“You have ten,” he says just to be a dick. Zeke’s gone before I can say something to mess up this tenuous truce of ours, so I hurry downstairs to the basement.
There’s a lot of noise coming from behind the closed door of Zeke’s room. Khalil must be in there working on the new bed. It was meant for me, but now that Zeke is awake, it’s only right he has his room back.
Maybe if he’s willing, we can share it.
Not together. Obviously. We can alternate nights, or Zeke can use it whenever I sleep in Khalil’s or Thorin’s bed, which is often considering the two of them act like it’s impossible for them to sleep without me now.
Seth will wake up, and though I don’t wish to see Zeke in pain, I know it’s inevitable. In fact, it’s all Khalil and Thorin tell me when I ask about him. Seth will wake up soon.
Weirdly, they never sound as if they actually believe it, but I can’t put my finger on why.
I radio the sheriff before hunting for clean clothes. It takes a while since I’ve been slacking in my “duties.” Only the milkmaid dress is clean, but I obviously can’t run in that.
After a full minute of internal back-and-forth, I finally decide to raid Seth/Zeke’s clothes in Khalil’s closet for some shorts and a T-shirt. I do manage to find a clean sports bra, so I quickly slip on the clothes and go hunting for my new trainers that Khalil got me from town a few weeks ago. It gives me goose bumps how he’s always anticipating my needs before I’m even aware of them. When I open the box for the first time, I’m surprised to see a note tucked inside, and now I’m anxious and feeling guilty for not wearing my sneakers sooner if Khalil had left me some kind of love note.
Feeling my heart race with a thousand apologies for being the world’s biggest bitch already forming in my head, I quickly pluck the note from inside and set the box aside. But when I unfold the single sheet of paper, I realize it’s a letter, and it isn’t from Khalil.
It’s from Seth.
Sunshine,
