I propped myself onto my elbows. “Hey, can you text Jeb to find out if he’s home? I need to get back into the apartment.”
“Will do.”
I lay back down for a moment and watched the play of light and shadows on the concrete ceiling, wondering what I was supposed to do with myself now that I was staying-not professionally-speaking, but pack-speaking. Would I have to attend gatherings? How had yesterday’s ended? If only I had my phone, I’d call Sarah. I was never leaving the house without it or my keys from now on, or my wallet for that matter. I prided myself on being street smart, but if I truly had been, I’d have taken my bag with me last night. I pressed my fingers into the still-warm duvet, watching the indent they left behind. Then again, if I’d taken my bag, I wouldn’t have slept on this cloud of a bed, cocooned against a sexy shifter. The mere thought of the night had my body murring-the wolf’s version of a purr.
When the percolator began gurgling, I got out of bed and stretched, before climbing down the ladder. The hardwood floor was cool beneath my feet, but the air was delightfully warm. I spied my dress on one of the kitchen barstools and debated whether to put the itchy thing back on but elected to keep August’s T-shirt. It was comfier than tulle and long enough to cover my ass.
I padded into the kitchen and looked through cupboards until I found the one with mugs. No two recipients were alike. I shuffled them around, smiling at some of the slogans printed on them. I sucked in a breath when my gaze settled on a thick muck-green mug. I took it out and just stared at it.
Ceramic wasn’t magical-unlike stinky wooden fossils-and yet this particular mug held magic. It made time reverse. I was sitting behind a pottery wheel, my hair in two long braids. Unlike most of the other kids who were making something for their parents, I’d decided to craft something for August. I stroked the glazed handle, the same way August had touched it when I’d given it to him seven years ago.
I set the mug down reverently, then filled it with coffee, the first sip of which had me moaning softly.
Something beeped, and then a door swept open. I froze, mug clutched in midair.
“Auggie, I brought-” Cole stopped talking when he spotted me.
We blinked at each other, and then another door groaned, and August strolled into the kitchen, a towel wrapped casually around his hips, the scent of his sandalwood soap almost choking me. Or maybe my increased heartbeats were choking me.
As August banged around behind me, probably getting himself a mug for the coffee, I considered ducking behind the island in the hopes that Cole would unsee me.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I blurted out.
But then I felt the heat of August’s still damp body against my back. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”
Oh… God, strike me down. Because He didn’t, I elbowed August gently and stepped to the side so that he wasn’t glued so conspicuously to my backside.
A shit-eating grin rose to Cole’s lips as he walked over to us. “Damn.”
I tried to reason it could’ve been worse. It could’ve been Nelson or Isobel who’d come through that door instead of Cole.
“Mom sends muffins.” He dropped a plastic container on the island. “I send my congratulations.”
Had someone turned up the heat? Because I was pretty certain I’d started perspiring. I set my mug down. Holding hot coffee wasn’t helping my sweating situation. Self-consciously, I tugged on the hem of my T-shirt. Not that Cole could see my legs with an island between us. I really wished it were a real island-palm trees and sand dunes and all.
Holy crap. I really did have a thing for palm trees apparently.
“Um.” I pivoted around. “August, can we talk a second?” In private, I mouthed.
His gaze left Cole’s and set back on me. The power of it, combined with the smug smile gracing his lips, sent me into cardiac arrest zone.
“Sure thing.” He tipped his head toward the bathroom door.
I all but raced toward it.
“I can leave if you guys want,” Cole said while taking a seat on one of the barstools.
“We’ll only be a minute,” I reassured him.
“One minute?” Cole gave an amused snort. “All those weeks of sexual frustration taking a toll, huh?”
August flipped him off as he trailed me. I shut the door and locked it, even though it was ridiculous. It wasn’t as though Cole would barge in. I unlocked it.
“Let me guess, you want me to change the door code?”
“What? No. I mean… maybe.” I dragged my hand through my hair. “But that’s not what I wanted to discuss.”
He crossed his arms in front of his broad, broad chest. I tweaked the inside of my wrist to refocus myself, but a glimpse into the foggy mirror nulled the effect of the pinch. The glass was clearing, so I could see August’s V-shaped back which was frankly just as alluring as his front.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
I twisted my hair into a long rope to lift it from my neck before my skin could scorch it right off. “Um. Yes, but… ”
“You don’t want people finding out about us?”
I nodded a little maniacally.
“Why?””Because. Liam and I, we just broke up-”
“Happened three weeks ago.”
Had it already been three weeks? Okay, good. At least I wasn’t a total tramp. “Can we still keep it on the down-low for now? Just a couple weeks… ”
August leaned back against the white enamel sink top, one eyebrow cocked up. “Why?”
“Because… ”
“Because what?”
Ugh. Why couldn’t he just go with it? “Because I’m afraid to hurt Liam’s feelings.”
“He wasn’t afraid to hurt yours.”
“I walked in on him. It wasn’t like he flaunted his hookup in my face-”
“I wasn’t talking about the hookup. I was talking about what went down at Tracy’s.” There was a jagged edge to his deep voice. “Ness, do you still have feelings for him?”
“What?” I blinked. “No.”
“You sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed once, twice. Then he sighed, pushed off the sink top, and took a step toward me. His arms came loose before wrapping around my waist.
I tipped my head up. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I’m jealous, and it’ll probably get worse, although I’m not sure how that would work considering I already want to wring the neck of anyone who so much as looks your way.” He tipped his head to the door. “Cole included.”