Chapter 37
37
C arter had been right about Heath sleeping well after waking from his nightmare. So well that neither of us woke until well after midday and then decided to stay in bed a little longer. As tired as we’d been when we got back, it felt totally new to be alone with him…in bed…with no one to interrupt. I wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity for anything.
“Ash…” he groaned as I palmed his hard dick through his boxers. “Fuck, I could get used to waking up like this.”
We’d woken up snuggling, which turned to kissing, which was now—hopefully—turning into a whole lot more. I wanted him to fuck me so badly it almost hurt, so yeah, I was taking matters into my own hands. Literally.
His hips rocked, the front of his boxers already damp from pre-cum as I teased him through the thin fabric. I’d seen him naked and hard just once before, and at the time I’d been trying not to look. The memory did not disappoint, now that I had my hands on him.
“Holy hell, Ashley,” he breathed, flipping our positions so that I landed flat on my back with him poised between my legs. It was a shame about all the clothing between us, otherwise we’d be in the perfect position to hit a home run. “You are…” he trailed off, dipping his head to kiss me deeply. “Incredible.”
I cupped his face, pulling him back to my mouth so I could kiss him while his hand slipped under the waistband of the shorts I was wearing. Fucking hell, I was so worked up I was sure I might climax simply from the touch of his hand inside my panties, but then his fingers slipped lower and?—
“Good morning, roomie! Did you miss me?” Royce burst into the room with what had to be the worst timing in the history of bad timing. He raised a brow when he saw the position we were in, but didn’t leave . “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Yes,” Heath snapped. “Get out.”
His hand was still inside my pants, and I gave an unintentional squirm, which somehow resulted in Heath’s finger finding my clit. Entirely without meaning to, I whimpered.
Both Heath and Royce stared at me, and my face heated.
“Royce…” I said, trying and failing not to sound breathless. “Please…fuck off.”
He just continued staring for a moment, like he’d forgotten what he was doing there in Heath’s doorway. Then he blinked twice and seemed to snap out of it. “No can do, sorry, Squirrel. We have a situation, Heathcliff. Put your dick away and get dressed.”
Heath groaned, resting his head on my chest and devastatingly removing his hand from my shorts. “Can it wait just a few minutes?”
Royce shook his head. “Nope. It’s urgent. Come on, Briggs, pull it together. Ashley’s a big girl, I bet she can finish herself off in no time without you. Right, Squirrel?”
I glared daggers at him as Heath reluctantly climbed out of bed. “I hate you.”
His answering grin was way too damn smug. “Sure you do, roomie. But you might want to tag along on this little trip. Unless, of course, you’re happy hanging out here with Carter? All alone…lots of time to shoot the breeze, maybe discuss travel? I’m guessing you and Heath already had the whole non-monogamous chat and everyone’s on the same page?”
Fuck that chat, no matter how important it was. I was already up and out of bed, grabbing my jeans and a clean sweater from my bag. “I’ll be ready in two minutes,” I announced, ducking into the bathroom and closing the door firmly. Once I’d peed and dressed, Heath was fully clothed and waiting for me in the living room with Royce and Carter.
Avoiding Carter’s intense stare, I tugged my shoes on and followed Royce and Heath out of the apartment. To my surprise, Carter tagged along which made for yet another uncomfortable elevator ride when he stood far too close for comfort.
“This better be important,” Heath grumbled, yawning.
Royce shrugged. “Decide for yourself.” The elevator dinged open at the garage level in the basement and he led the way out. My car was parked in one of the guest spaces and a few places down I spotted Royce’s Bugatti beside Heath’s Ducati. It wasn’t until we drew closer that we spotted the situation Royce was alerting us to. Or…the shit- uation.
“Oh wow,” Carter exclaimed with a cough. “Is that?—”
“Shit?” Royce finished, “Yes. And a lot of it.”
Heath’s Ducati was coated in dark, putrid smears and the smell was enough to knock out an elephant. I gagged a little and pulled my sweater up to cover my nose and mouth.
“That’s…fucking hell,” Carter commented, summing up exactly what I was thinking.
Heath just stood there in shock, staring at his vandalized bike in horror. In addition to the smeared shit all over the vehicle, there was a perfectly formed turd right there on the seat. A log that looked suspiciously human too.
Eventually he gusted a sigh and rubbed his temple. “Yeah. Right. Let’s check CCTV I guess.”
Carter already had his phone out. “I’ll call one of my guys and get this cleaned up.”
“Thanks, man,” Heath murmured, his expression drawn and pale. He weakly gestured for us to head back to the elevator and none of us protested…The whole garage smelled awful now that we were paying attention.
As we reentered their apartment, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
“I’ll call building security about the cameras,” Heath said with a tired sigh. “Royce…any chance you want to be my favorite friend and get us coffee?”
Royce scoffed. “After you left me and Nate to deal with Bart last night? You’re dreaming.”
The image of all that blood and Bart’s lifeless eyes popped into my head and I shivered, hugging myself. I had been blocking it out for the whole drive back, but now there was no avoiding it. A guy was murdered in my bed. That had to be personal, there was no two ways about it.
“I’ll get it,” Carter announced, disappearing out of the apartment without waiting for anyone to respond.
The door slammed after him, and Royce arched a brow at me. “If he returns with coffee for you and not me…you owe me a hundred bucks.”
“What? No way!” I protested, shaking my head.
Royce shrugged. “Fine. I’ll take a blow job instead.”
My mouth parted in panicked shock, speechless because I wouldn’t hate that even though he was just messing around. Luckily Heath heard him and smacked him around the back of the head as he walked past with his phone to his ear.
“Ow! Heath don’t act like you wouldn’t get off on watching,” Royce teased, doubling down on his offer.
My face was beet red, I was sure of it, so I crossed to the balcony where Lady—Carter’s dog—was sleeping in the sunlight. Behind me, I heard Heath scolding Royce, and Royce laughing. Shithead just loved to watch me squirm.
“Hey Lady,” I murmured, sinking to my knees on her artificial grass so I could pet her. “Remember me? You destroyed my bedroom.”
The dog just groaned and showed me her belly for scratches. The feral mutt had turned into a pampered princess real quick. Spoiled little shit. I smiled as I obliged in belly scratches and she lolled her tongue out of her mouth in the picture of relaxation.
Royce and Heath seemed to be arguing about something inside, so I ignored them and got comfy with Lady in the sun. Sometime later, the balcony door slid open and Carter joined me with my favorite coffee in hand.
“I figured you could use this,” he said quietly, handing it over.
Stunned, I uttered a thank you then glanced through the glass to find Royce miming a blow job…which made me blush again. Fucking hell. Nate had apparently arrived home too, so he shot a bewildered look between Royce and I, then turned to Heath with his hands spread in confusion.
“I don’t want to talk with you, Carter,” I said softly, avoiding looking up at him. “But can you tell me why you kept the dog?”
He crouched down and scratched Lady’s belly, making her leg jiggle. “I can…if you’ll hear my explanation for everything else.”
I clicked my tongue, rising to my feet. I was still so angry when I thought about how he treated me after Paris. “An explanation isn’t an apology, Bassington. I’m not interested in excuses. Not after…” I swallowed the rest of that sentence, shaking my head. “Too little too late.”
He groaned, running his hand over his face. “Spark, wait. Just?—”
I was already gone, stepping back inside and closing the sliding door behind me to cut off what he wanted to say. It’d been three fucking weeks. If he wanted to explain anything, he’d had plenty of time to do it. Hell, he could have explained things before we got back from Paris and I might have understood.
“You okay?” Heath asked, glancing up from his laptop.
I gave a tight nod, sitting down on the sofa beside him to sip my coffee. My phone buzzed again in my pocket and I remembered that I hadn’t checked the last message. It was probably Carly, though, asking what’d happened with Heath.
Putting my drink down, I pulled out my phone. Then froze.
“What is it?” Nate asked. My eyes flicked up from my phone to find him staring at me intently. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
I swallowed hard, then nodded.
“Show me.” It wasn’t a request; it was an order. I complied without hesitation, handing the phone over to him and flinching when our fingers touched.
Nate frowned at me, then turned his attention to the screen to read the two messages from the dead girl.
Unknown: Go back to campus, you’re not safe.
Unknown: Bart was an accident. You were the intended target. Don’t lose your head, Ashley, go back to campus.
I hadn’t had a message from the mysterious out of service number since returning from the woods, but apparently she wasn’t done with me. Not yet…and probably not until I was dead.
Holy shit. Bart was meant to be me? Someone intended to murder me at the retreat. It made no sense. Why was he there in the first place? Why was he naked?
Who the fuck was doing this?
“Hey, Layne,” Nate said sharply, snapping his fingers in front of my face. “You’re freaking out. Stop doing that.”
“Wow,” Heath muttered from beside me, heavy on sarcasm. “Best advice ever, Nate. Good work.” He rubbed circles on my back, attempting to soothe me. I could hear my short, sharp breaths but couldn’t seem to get a grip.
“She’s going to hyperventilate,” someone said, but my head was already swirling and I closed my eyes. All I could think about was the cold of the forest, the pain in my feet as I walked endlessly, and the bone deep fear that I wouldn’t make it out. It was all right back on the surface like it had been as I experienced it.
Someone’s firm hands pushed my head down between my knees as I sat on the edge of the couch. Strong fingers gripped my hair, holding me in that position while my breathing started to slow and deepen.
“…grab her stuff…” I dimly heard Royce saying. “I’ll drive her car back to school.”
“You better not,” Heath replied. “Ash doesn’t let anyone drive her car. She can leave it here and pick it up another day.”
“It’s fine,” I croaked, drawing a deep, shuddering breath as the hand in my hair loosened. I sat back up slowly to find it’d been Nate who’d helped. “Royce can drive my car. I’ll…”
“We’ll work it out,” Heath assured me as I trailed off. “I promise, Ash, we won’t let anything happen to you again. You’re not alone, okay? You’ve got us.”
I wet my lips, a million questions swirling through my head. I had him, of that I was confident. I had Royce, the best shadow a girl could ever want. But Carter? Nate… ? I wasn’t so sure. But the desire to believe Heath meant all of them was an uncomfortable ache within my chest, if only to stop second guessing everyone’s intentions. For my own sanity.
Carter met my questioning gaze, and I froze, unable to look away. His eyes swirled with so many emotions it was impossible to read, but somehow I got the point. He agreed with Heath. Our sex life aside, he would protect me.
Even if it meant killing.