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Some alerts were coming through on Lee’s phone and he lifted up the screen to read the texts. He said as he did, “Don’t worry about it, Cass. We all have our different things. Cole works today.”
“What? Really?”
“One to six, maybe till seven if my boss wants me to do inventory.”
“I’ll come and pick you up. Give you a ride.”
I held my breath, a warm feeling blooming in me. I’d never had people who wanted to give me rides.
But Lee said, “How about I give her a ride in and you pick her up? Bring her here and we can mess around tonight?” The last question was more for me, a hopeful tone in his voice.
I nodded, beaming and trying not to beam as bright as I was.
“I’m down with that. I’ll stick around here this afternoon, actually do my homework. My mom mentioned something about the family doing something. She’ll be happy.”
“Awesome. Listen, the guys are texting so I’m going to handle them.”
Cassian said his goodbyes, and a second later, Lee’s phone beeped again. He was texting on it when I felt the air shift. Growing heavier.
I glanced over, not surprised to see Noah in the corner of the room, sitting in a chair and looking bored as he took us in. “Was I this horny when I was alive?” He made a face. “I don’t know if I’m embarrassed about that or not.”
I shifted a little, going to the side of Lee, who paused in his texting, his eyes going from me to where I was looking. He stared in the corner, right where Noah was and for a second, I almost thought he could see Noah, until I remembered that he could feel his old best friend.
I rubbed a hand over Lee’s stomach and ignored Noah. “Are your friends coming over?”
“No. Please,” Noah cried out. “They are so annoying. Nimrod and Imbecile.”
“That’s not nice.” I glared.
Noah snorted. “Like I care. Has he told you yet? His truth? His secret?” He glowered right back at us.
Lee let out a loud sigh but went back to texting. “I’m telling the guys not to show up until after one.”
“Thank God. They’re loud and annoying and they will lose it, finding out you spent the night. Lee’s going to have to lay down the law if he doesn’t want them making your life hell at school.”
I swallowed. “What do you mean?”
“They’re going to tease you and shit, but the word will get out that you slept with Lee Mckenna and all the guys are going to want a taste too.”
“Cassian won’t let that happen.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “Exactly. What do you think that’s going to do? They find out you stayed with Lee and then Cassian Ripp is defending you? You are going to be painted as a whore.”
Lee went rock solid beside me.
I’d been pressing my hand down on his stomach, as if I were protecting him from what Noah was saying, but I realized my nails had dug into him. “Shit. I’m sorry.”
He clamped his hand over mine, holding it down, my nails still in his skin. “I like it.” His voice was rough. Harsh. He tossed his phone aside and rolled so he was on top of me. He loomed over me, a possessive look in his eyes. Almost ruthless. “Leave, asswipe.”
Noah laughed, but poofed away.
“He’s gone. He was commenting about what your friends might think about me being here or the guys from my school.”
Some of the tension melted from him. He leaned down, nuzzling my throat, his hand skimming down from my front to slip underneath his shirt that I was wearing, toying with the waistline of his boxer briefs on me. “I’d like to say that I can control what those dickheads might say or do, but that’s not the truth. They’re high school idiots and they have dicks. I’m not suggesting this because I’m embarrassed, but maybe we should keep this quiet for a bit? You, me, and Cass. It’s not a normal situationship and we’ve still not even defined what we’re doing except that the three of us are having fun exclusively with each other.”
My heart slowed down, but I remembered the looming deadline of my birthday this Friday. Halloween. I was eighteen and would be kicked out from my grandparents’ house. I could probably keep it quiet over the weekend, stay at Lee’s until the following week.
I wanted to extend this as long as possible.
