Page 21 of Filthy Fae

“You and Mack had been joking about how you used to go bowling, and he always won and gloated, so you swore it off forever but ended up wanting to sneak there without him.” He gave me a look like, “see?” “I also asked you to go dancing, to that movie you re-watched the trailer for five times about the chick thing, that ghost tour, kayaking in the lagoon you have to hike to, to make pottery shit...”

Crap.

“I’m sorry, Aaron. I just thought all of that was friend stuff, and I’ve been so busy.” It sounded lame even to my ears. I hadn’t been too busy to watch movies on the couch with him or to have watching movies turn into pausing that movie so he could tongue fuck me before bending me over on that same couch. He had every right to call me out on my shit. “I’m not using you for your body, Aaron,” I said. “Or your closet space.”

He gave me a smile that was probably supposed to be reassuring but only made me feel like more of an asshole. He moved his hips, pushing my legs apart so he could settle between my thighs. “I was just teasing you, Scarlet. We’ll date when you’re ready. And Lance probably has a stick up his ass about something else. They’re both going to be pissed that I snuck in to see you, as they want you to sleep. A lawyer named Jane is picking you up in an hour and a half so you can start investigating.”

Just thinking about that made me want to go back to sleep. All of my enthusiasm for solving this mystery died with my confidence that Zane was innocent. But I would do all I could to investigate. That was my duty as an alpha. “Wait, when did you even get here? I thought you weren’t coming until Saturday.”

“Lance called me about the murders around midnight.”

I furrowed my brow, doing the math. “You drove through the night?”

“I might have,” he said, rubbing his nose along mine. “I figured you might need my help with scenting.”

Shit. Now I felt even worse. He drove through the night to help me only to get shit from Darrel for trying to fuck me rather than date me, when it had always been the other way around. “Why are you such a sweet man?”

Aaron covered his heart, his eyes widening with innocence. “Sweet? Come on, Scarlet. You know my reputation better than that.”

“Well, I’m glad to have you on the investigation with us. I’ve seen firsthand that the rumors about you are true.”

“Yes, you have,” he growled and pushed up, rubbing his hardening cock against the juncture between my thighs.

“I meant the rumor that no wolf in the world can match your scenting abilities, and I need all the help I can get.”

“My mistake,” he said through a chuckle as he nuzzled into my neck. He pushed against me again, sending a pulse of lust through me. “Want to do something really bad?” he whispered, his tone making the words sound even more devious.

“Nope. Nope,” I said, just as much for myself as him, my breaths coming fast. “Not in Darrel’s bed.”

He lifted away, giving me a look that made my toe’s curl. “It’s not like we haven’t done it everywhere else in the apartment.”

I pointed into Aaron’s face. “There is a line, Mr. Knight, and this is firmly on the wrong side of it.”

He chuckled, but he let me up.

I squeezed my eyes shut, attempted to pull my shit together and convince my racing heart to slow, and then I rolled out of bed. “First order of business is coffee.”

Throwing open the door, I stumbled into the kitchen to find Darrel not with Lance but Mack. I pulled up short at the sight of my fae bestie looking painfully beautiful as ever, and my second True Mate wearing the stone-faced expression he reserved for dealing with fae and talking about fae, including my best friend. And here I was wearing a man’s T-shirt that hung halfway to my knees, with my strawberry blonde hair sticking in twenty directions and a bad case of haven’t-yet-ingested-coffee. I was in no way ready to greet this day.

I grabbed the hem of the shirt—Darrel’s T-shirt—and tugged at it while raking my other hand through my tangles. Mack had been my roommate for a year and a half, and he’d seen me at my worst. But that was before he’d taken my virginity, and our entire relationship turned on its head. It wasn’t enough that we were two different species who were supposed to be enemies. No, I had to find out I had two—maybe three—true mates the same day we took the next step in our relationship. Usually, he, Aaron, and I hung out together, and there was no awkwardness about the whole True Mate bond thing. But this was the first time Darrel and Mack had been in the same room since Darrel and I had cemented our mate-bond.

Trying to act like there wasn’t tension crackling through the kitchen, I crossed the room and plopped down at the table. “Good morning.”

Aaron threw an arm over Mack’s shoulder. “Morning, sweetheart,” he said as he mussed Mack’s dark hair. “What are you doing here?”

“Morning, darling,” Mack said, giving Aaron a big kiss on the cheek before throwing me a saucy wink.

“Stop it, you two are making me jealous,” I joked, though watching Mack and Aaron playfully flirt didn’t make me jealous. They did it all the time when the three of us were together.

Their teasing play broke up the tension in the room, and Darrel turned to the stove and flipped a pancake.

“And good morning to you, sexy,” Mack said as he wriggled away from Aaron’s arm. With a grin, he snagged the coffee pot and poured me a cup.

“You’re in a good mood.” I took the cup and gulped my first taste of warm heaven. “Has Queen Titania calmed down?”

“No. I think my anxiety just hit its breaking point. I wish I had better news, Scar.” He fell into the chair beside mine. “I came by to talk to you, but I didn’t want to wake you. I figured you could use the rest after meeting my mother.”

I took another sip, relishing the bitter burn.