“Why are you always thinking about sex?” I laugh. The smile is nice, like warm sunlight.
“I’m thinking about you. You’re just not thinking about you. Two dicks, Everleigh.Two.And one is your professor, so you know you’re definitely getting A’s this semester.” Her nonsense is lightening my inevitable demise.
“Just roll with it. Those men aren’t going to let anything happen to you. I have a feeling.”
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should be thankful for that. “But I wouldn’t be in this spot if it weren’t for them. I’d be tucked under a blanket, in my living room with Ruthie eating pizza, binge watchingAmazing Race.”
“What fun is that?”
“Fun? It’s super fun. They shot watermelons across a castle moat last season. One of the contestants got smacked in the face.”
“Right… but this is what you have. You have this wild, crazy, dangerous life with two hot guys who want to make sure you’re safe and happy and sexually pleasured. Enjoy it, this might be all you have left,” she laughs. “That last part is a joke, don’t lose yourself in it.”
“If this were you, you’d be losing your shit. You know it. I mean who’s to say any of this is even real? Do you know Ryan only talked to me because he was beingpaidto watch me?”
“Do you really think he doesn’t love you? That he didn’t grow to love you?”
I sigh. “I don’t know what I think anymore.”
“Cool. Then let out a solid scream then go back outside and let those men fuck some thoughts into you.”
“Okay…” I say with playful sarcasm “Thanks for nothing.”
She laughs. “You’re welcome. And Everleigh…” she says, her tone darker for a moment, “be safe. Oh, and remember… this is just a story to tell. You’re going to get through this.”
When she disconnects the line, my heart drops. I need her. She’s the one person in the world who hasn’t fucked me over, and that’s saying a lot at this point considering three of the four have.
I suck in a deep breath and let out a loud, piercing scream, relaxing my diaphragm as the noise expels the last of my air. It helps. Well, for a second, until the men I’m trying to avoid come crashing into the women’s room, as if my screaming wasn’t enough to terrify the elderly woman I didn’t know was in the stall next to me. Two giant Russians, and a Ryan with guns do the trick. The poor woman runs out of the bathroom stall with her pants half down, pulling them up as she moves.
“For fuck’s sake!” I bark. “Nothing like a smooth entrance.”
“What?” Viktor growls. “You’re screaming. We’re here to protect you.”
Contrary to Lucy’s advice, I’m not ready to play nice and suck three dicks just yet, though Viktor does look sickly handsome with the murderous scowl back.Fuck.This is how I’m in this mess to begin with, falling for all the wrong men.
“Get in the truck,” he barks. “We need to get moving.”
I pause, then look toward Max who's standing in the doorway. “I’m riding with Max.”
His face contorts to some shape I’m not sure existed in the language of people before now. “Why?”
“It’s been three years since I’ve seen him. We have some catching up to do.”
I swear he looks as though he wants to toss me over his shoulder and buckle me into the truck, but Ryan grabs his arm before he makes the move. “She’ll be okay. Let’s give her some space to figure this out.”
Viktor flinches from Ryan’s grasp and stalks toward me, pressing me up against the bathroom wall, his hand behind me as he stares down intensely.
My heart beats wildly through my chest as his hot breath falls down beside my ear. He says, “Don’t forget who you belong to.”
“I already told you, I don’t belong to anyone.”
He growls again, this time lower, his stare more intense. His hand grips my jaw and his eyes meet mine. “You belong to me.”
I shouldn’t be so turned on. He’s big, overbearing, animalistic, and clearly unable to control himself, at least when it comes to me.
Maybe I should take that as a compliment.
Ryan steps in beside me and brushes my hair back from my vision, kissing the top of my head before glancing toward Viktor. “We’ll be ready if you need us.”
