Page 49 of Raze
I shrug with faux innocence. “Nothing you need to worry about.”
He steps forward and leans his other arm over my head, so I’m surrounded by him. The smell of musk overwhelms my senses. All I cansmell or breathe is him. He chuckles and slides the fake hair through his fingers. “It’s never nothing when you’re involved. Getting into trouble without me?”
I scoff and turn my face away. “Hardly. I’m just trying to make a couple of bucks.”
His mood tanks in an instant. “How?” he demands, grabbing my face and directing it back to his. I purse my lips and wonder if he’s going to try to stop me from going out. “Answer the question before I lose my shit, beautiful.”
I roll my eyes and huff. “I’m working at a bar, Kell. It’s nothing to get worked up over. It’s not safe for Hype if I’m seen there, but I can’t do anything to hunt down GE without some money.”
“Since when are you hunting down GE without us? Aiden told us to wait.”
“Oh, yeah? Aiden isn’t in charge of me. I got this job a few weeks ago when I got tired of waiting for you guys to do something. I can’t just sit here twiddling my thumbs because Aiden thinks he has better things to do.”
Kellan frowns and releases me, then points to my head. “And the hair?”
I pinch some of the strands to look at it and then back to him. “It’s my disguise. Do you like it?”
“I think you’re sexy in any hair color, but you know I’ll always like the original you best,” he says with a grin.
“Good to know. Now, let me go so I can get changed into something comfortable. I’m in need of a drink. Or fifty.”
I try not to think about Portia, which, of course, means that’sexactly what I do. What I wouldn’t give for her upbeat attitude and willingness to help me get sloshed when I need to black out from my troubles for a night. A twinge of loneliness stings in my chest, and I grip at it involuntarily.
Kellan grabs the back of my neck, and my attention snaps to him. He trails his nose up the side of my neck, his facial hair tickling behind it. “I can think of other ways to keep you distracted, if you want. Especially while you have the little wig on,” he drawls in his deep timbre.
My thighs clench, a resounding ache building between them at the sound of his voice alone. We already have a problem of interrupting our training sessions with sex over the last few weeks. He’s tried having me wear more clothes or baggy shirts and hoodies, but none of it has helped. So far, we haven’t found anything to deter either of us when the mood’s just right.
As much as I’d love to take him up on his offer, this isn’t a problem I want to solve with sex for once.
“Mm, let’s put a pin in that idea for another time,” I hum, because I’m definitely down for it later. “I have other plans for tonight already. You’re welcome to join me, though. Just give me a few to dress down, and I’ll see you out there.”
He chuckles and pushes himself off the wall. “I’ll see about starting your fifty drinks in the kitchen.” Kellan strolls back down the hall, and I bite my lip while watching him go. He’s in gray sweats and a black tank top, exposing the web of tattoos on his chest, shoulders, and all the way down his arms to his hands. His hair is tied up in a knot, and I can see the tattoos extending up his neck ina tribal-looking design atop tanned skin.
Kell sends me a cocky grin over his shoulder just before he turns the corner, so we both know I was checking him out.
Considering how often we’ve been fucking, he should know better by now that I’m attracted to him. Cat’s already out of the bag.
Once he’s no longer distracting me, I escape to my tiny room to change. I’ve spent most of today in tight, form-fitting clothes, and I’m ready to breathe. I slip on the pajamas I’ve been wearing since staying with the guys—some pajama shorts and one of Aiden’s shirts. I’m a bit of a fan of how I’d knocked the words off his tongue when he’d seen me in it before. Anything that makes him speechless is a win for me.
It also doesn’t hurt that they are supremely soft and cozy.
I won’t mention the small lingering scent of cinnamon on them that Ido notbreathe in at night when no one can see me.
Reapplying some ointment and a bandage to a piece of ink I got earlier, I ditch the wig and opt for a messy bun to keep my hair out of my way tonight. I’m ready to go, but take a minute to open my window and look up. “Jack?” I call out tentatively.
I haven’t seen him in weeks. Not since the night we’d been together, and he’d been gone before I woke up. I didn’t worry at first. He’s always gone out to do his own thing. And heisthe monster living in the shadows at night. I’m also convinced that he’s been sneaking into my room at night to sleep with me.
Sometimes, the bed is still warm next to me when I wake up. Or the creases in the sheets look like someone had been lying beside me. Or a faint memory of someone’s hand gently stroking my arms ormy thigh.
I can’t actually confirm any of those are true signs he’s been here. I even tried to stay awake one night to catch him, but he never came.
Either I’m going crazy and imagining him because I miss him, or he’s trying to keep his distance for some reason.
I don’t know which of those options is worse.
I hate that he and Kell have been able to work their way under my skin and into my heart again so easily. I thought I’d locked that shit down, blocking it from ever being hurt again, but they walked right through my barriers. It sets off warning bells in my head that I need to get out now before it’s too late. For them or for me.
I’m a curse that hurts those who get too close to me.
