Ryker pulled her close, cutting off her words, and planted a sweet kiss on her full lips. “We’re fine, Willow.”
Cheeks flushed, she turned to Ezra, who was sitting on the couch with the cat sprawled out on his lap with her legs outstretched. “Stahma really likes you, apparently.”
He stroked up and down the cat’s back as she rolled around. The purrs could probably be heard from miles away. “She seems very trusting.”
Willow let out a snort. “Stahma doesn’t have much exposure to other people since she’s my cat, but there’s definitely something about the two of you she likes.” As if sensing a change in his demeanor, she continued, “So what now?”
“I’m not sure,” Ryker paused. “But, we need to lay low for a little bit.” Her face fell, and he continued, “We aren’t ditching you. We just can’t risk Xan finding out. If he knew, then he might try to hold it over you.”
Her look changed from hurt to thoughtful, like she was processing.
“What’s on your mind, baby girl?” Ezra asked as he stood, prompting the ball of fur to hop down to the floor. He took her hand and pulled her into a firm embrace. It was weird not to feel overly possessive. Well, he did. Just not in a “wanting to kill his friend for touching his girl” way.
“You said he cares more about time than money?” she asked.
Ezra answered, “Yeah, it’s about actions, I think.”
“Do you know much about him? Personally?”
He shrugged and swayed with her a little bit, still keeping his arms locked around her.
“He isn’t really an open book. I don’t think a guy could get in that position if everyone knew his secrets.”
Ryker snorted and held out his hands for the cat to jump up. She promptly went lax in his arms, rumbling away and stretching dramatically as he stroked her fur.
Okay, I like this cat.
“I suppose that makes sense,” she muttered, still clearly trying to piece something together. “Well, we have each other’s numbers. How long do you think you’ll be ghosting me?”
He hated the hurt in her voice. With Ezra still wrapped around her, he gently pinched her chin to make her look up at him. “We aren’t ghosting you. We just want you to be safe.” Ez pressed a kiss against her lips, and she opened immediately to the first subtle prod of his tongue.
His friend’s grip shifted on her and he had to pull back before they all got carried away. They’d already fucked her twice the day before, they couldn’t be greedy. Though, the way she was responding made him doubt his worries about her getting too worn out.
No, they needed to leave and get their shit together. And most importantly, create that distance so no one could see them with her.
Ryker gave her a final kiss as well, their predicament weighing heavily in the air.
They left her apartment in silence, the only sound being their boots against the stairs as they descended and found their way back to the van.
Ezra took the driver’s seat this time, but once he started the engine, he paused. “You don’t think we can see her again…”
He let out a sigh. It wasn’t quite a question, but he answered, “No.”
Chapter 32
Willow
They were going to leave her.
After everything, they were just going toleaveand pretend nothing had happened.
There was no“everything”. I was just a fun toy.
Willow blinked back moisture gathering in her eyes and turned her attention to getting her apartment back in order. Stahma had made a little bit of a mess with her food, maybe hoping that it would bring Willow home sooner. Silly cat. She would need to go thank Helen later, but she didn’t want to see anyone yet.
If she kept busy, then she could keep her mind away from the reality of what was happening. The look in Ryker’s eyes told her everything she needed to know. They were dropping her. She could understand it, even if it fucking sucked. They were involved in shady crap—they cut people’s fingers off. And they’d almost killed her.
No, she couldn’t let herself dwell. She wanted to do something—anything to keep them around her. Even if it was really stupid, she hadn’t felt that safe and cared for since before Billy.
