Page 28 of Merciless King

Ruby quickly reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, London, I was just teasing, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Ignore Ruby,” Lulu said. “The woman has her foot permanently lodged in her mouth. What you and Van get up to is your business.”

I blushed harder. “We just slept…he’s a…a really good cuddler,” I added for some crazy, insane, unknown reason.

Lulu’s grin turned wicked. “I say enjoy it. Van’s a hottie.”

“Ew!” Ruby squawked. “That’s your brother-in-law you’re talking about.”

“Lulu didn’t say she wanted to bone him,” Willa added. “Just because we have hotties of our own doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate others.”

Sunny nodded and Steph high-fived her.

“Um…” I said, because I was at a loss for words.

Lulu started giggling and Willa, Sunny, and Steph joined in.

Then I was giggling as well until we were all laughing our asses off.

The door opened and Van strode in at that moment, pulling up short. He stood frozen for several moments, and the startled expression on his face was kind of comical.

“Uh-oh,” Ruby said, still chuckling. “I think this is more estrogen than Van knows what to do with.”

Van’s gaze slid to Ruby, and he smirked.

It was sexy. So sexy I squirmed in my seat.

“Dude, you look like you just came face-to-face with your own personal hell, and I have to tell you I’m kind of offended,” Willa said, and she did not look offended at all. The opposite in fact.

Josh jumped to his feet and ran to him. “Uncle Van!”

Van scooped him up without missing a beat. “Hey, buddy.”

Josh asked for more juice, and Van carried him from the room. Lulu gave me a playful slap, and we all started giggling again until Van walked back in, Josh with his juice cup topped-up and him with a beer.

His eyes slid to me and he came straight for me.

My heart did a thumpy, fluttery thing as he got closer. Josh started squirming so he put him down. Then he was right in front of me. The others in the room had gone suspiciously quiet.

He leaned in, hand going to the side of my neck, mouth going to my ear. “Okay?” he asked low, I guessed so only I’d hear him, but right then you could have heard a pin drop.

I nodded and Van straightened, fingers trailing over my skin, catching my hair and running it through his fingers before he released me and carried on down the hall to his room. He shut the door after him, leaving us to it.

The girls thankfully did not comment on this, but there were a lot of knowing looks. I wished so badly that those looks were right.

They stayed for another hour, talking and laughing. We all exchanged numbers, and Lulu said she’d text later in the week. Then they cleared everything away, Sunny, Willa, and Lulu bundled up their kids, and they all left.

I sat there for several moments, not sure what to do. The last few nights I’d slept in Van’s bed, but he hadn’t already been in it. He’d assumed that’s where I’d sleep, and I’d been more than happy to go with that assumption.

Now he was in his room with his door shut. Maybe he didn’t want me in there tonight? I wasn’t sure I could just go on in there like that was where I belonged. I mean, I didn’t need to be in there. I was okay…well, I wasn’t okay, but I wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown like I had been the first night I slept in his bed.

No, this was a good thing.

I shouldn’t have been sleeping with him anyway.

After switching off the lights, I padded down the hall to the spare room as quietly as I could. When I walked in, it felt cold, too quiet. It had only been a few nights, but I’d gotten used to the sound of Van quietly breathing beside me. I’d gotten used to being close to him, the heat and strength of him right there.

Forcing those thoughts from my mind—because I needed to stop thinking about his hands on me and the way it felt being held close to his big, strong, hot body—I quickly showered and changed into my pj shorts and tank. I was about to climb into bed when there was a knock at my door.