Page 113 of The Monster I Am
I might not have a permanent solution yet, but I realize I have one for tonight. Standing, I gently push his chest with my hand,guiding his back to the bed. Ry already knows what I’m doing, shuffling over to make space as I climb in and curl up to his side.
Morning sunshine blasts me in the face as I wake, eyes watering as I adjust to the blinding evidence of a new day.
The room slowly comes into view and I blink rapidly, finding myself staring directly into vibrant green irises.
“Morning, Duchess,” Hunter greets warmly. “Why am I not surprised to find you here?”
“Fuck off,” Rylan mumbles sleepily from behind me, arm tightening around my torso and dragging me back to his chest. “Let us sleep.”
A familiar chuckle comes from the other side of the room. “For a morning person he sure is grouchy today.”
“You’d be grouchy too if you had a concussion and got woken up, Tai,” Ry grunts. “Bex is keeping me warm. Go away.”
“You have a concussion? You didn’t mention that part,” I say accusingly. “The last thing I want to do is smother your ass and accidentally cause more brain damage.”
Rylan shrugs lazily, hand sliding up my stomach. “I’m fine being suffocated by you.”
I laugh softly. “You get a free pass at the moment because you’re hurt. The other two however…”
“What did I do?” Tai groans. “I didn’t wake you.”
“Did you fuck with my phone?” I shoot back. “Or was that purely a coincidence along with the fact no one bothered to tell me Ry had been in an accident?”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,oh,” I repeat, narrowing my eyes at Hunter accusingly since I can’t do it at Tai. “Care to explain?”
Hunter smiles smugly. “As I said—nothing to be concerned about. You, on the other hand…”
“Me—nothing. We’ll talk about your cave man behavior later.”
A loud groan rumbles from Ry. “I feel like I’m missing a few chapters.”
“Join the club,” I mutter. “Since when do we keep secrets from each other?”
Hunter reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Yes, Duchess. When do we? Hmm?”
“Lark is a friend,” I shoot back. “A damn good one. But just in case you’re also suffering from some type of head injury, I’ll repeat that for you—Just. A. Friend.”
“Who’s just a friend?” Rylan demands.
Tai cuts him off. “Wait—Lark Kory?”
I sit up suddenly, searching over the top of Rylan’s body until I find Tai on the opposite side of the bed. “How doyouknow that?”
He stiffens, eyes widening suspiciously before he offers a sheepish grin. “Good guess?”
“Keep out of my phone, Beckett.”
“In my defense,” he rambles quickly. “It was before all of this. I’m completely innocent.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Is that what you tell yourself? Let’s not pretend Hunter’s the only guilty one here. You’re in just as much trouble as he is right now.”
Rylan chuckles quietly to himself, clearly pleased that he has aget out of jail card. No pun intended. “Sucks to suck.”
Laying back down, I snuggle back into him, deflating with a sigh. “No more secrets,” I tell them. “We can’t fight this if we’re still playing sides. Now, start talking Hunter. I want the full story. You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”
Chapter thirty-six
