Chapter 29 Sleepover
SLEEPOVER
RAE
This was a terrible idea.
After dinner, Maya sat on the sofa between Zeke and Ash discussing authentic Chinese and Mexican dishes versus American Chinese and Tex-Mex dishes.
Zeke laughed, but I noticed he kept his distance from her, ensuring they didn’t touch.
He never did that with me. With me, he didn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space.
Ash nodded and smiled politely, but his posture was rigid.
Cyn’s restlessness showed in his repeated trips to the kitchen and bathroom.
I met Ezra’s eyes, and the coldness there sliced through me. He didn’t like Maya’s presence. I didn’t know how, but I sensed it, even without his icy gaze.
I wondered if he thought I’d told their secret. Did he not understand that other humans didn't react the way I did to infernals?
Maya sat forward, drawing my attention. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you! Ma called when you were grabbing the food. Leo’s supposed to come by tomorrow to cut her grass. Want me to talk to him?”
“Tomorrow?” I glanced at Ash, and he gave me a questioning look. “I know I said I’d think about it, but… I really don’t know.”
Maya followed my gaze and smiled. “Come on. One date.”
“Date?” Ash, Zeke, and Cyn all asked simultaneously. Confusion, panic, and anger overlapped in their layered voices.
Maya’s jaw dropped, but she recovered fast and said, “Yep. My cousin Leo wants to take her out. I’ve been trying to talk her into giving him a chance. He’s a good guy. Has his own house, car, nice-paying job…”
I fought the urge to smack the mischievous smile off her face. She knew what she was doing. I wouldn’t actually hurt her, but she needed to quit while she was ahead.
Ash hummed, the confusion dropping from his tone as he asked with a straight face, “And you like the guy?”
“He’s nice.”
“Nice,” Cyn deadpanned, his natural scowl deepening.
“Yeah. I met him last year.”
“So you don’t want to fuck him?”
“Cyn,” Ezra warned.
I huffed, gathered the empty beer bottles from the coffee table, and carried them to the kitchen. “I told you I didn’t know,” I said to Maya, ignoring Cyn’s vulgarity.
She followed me. “No. You said you’d think about it.”
“And that’s what I’m gonna do.”
I put the bottles into the bin beneath the sink and turned to find her in my personal space.
“The sexual tension in here is off the charts,” she whisper-yelled.
I gaped at her. “Oh my god, you did not say that.” I stepped around her to clean the beer off my hand on a dish towel.
“I’m serious. The tattooed guy with the messy hair—” She paused. “What was his name? Cyn?” When I nodded, she said, “Yeah, well, Cyn looks like he wants to nail you against the wall.” She glanced past me. “You should let him.”
“Maya!”
She laughed. “Seriously. He’s wound tighter than my abuela when she’s missed her afternoon nap. Let the man sin like his name suggests.”
I groaned. “He does not wanna fuck me.” Had she forgotten our earlier conversation about Ash?
“Who doesn’t want to fuck you?”
I jumped, whipping around to see Zeke leaning over the counter.
“How do you keep doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Moving like a ninja.”
He shrugged. “So, who doesn’t want to fuck you?”
I looked at Maya, cheeks flaming, pleading for help.
“The grumpy one.”
I looked at the ceiling. “So not helpful.”
Zeke’s face scrunched. “It really isn’t. Ezra and Cyn are both grumpy.”
“Not what I meant,” I protested, flinging my hands up and stepping away from them.
Maya pointed across the room at Cyn. “Him.”
“Maya, no, please.” I didn’t want to make Cyn angrier than he already was. Maya meant no harm, but she didn’t understand she was playing with infernals and not humans. It would’ve been a small, forgettable embarrassment I could laugh off if it were anyone else. “There’s nothing—”
“Wait,” Zeke said. “You think Cyn wants to fuck her?”
Maya nodded, biting back a laugh as Zeke pieced everything together.
He pointed at me. “And you think he doesn’t want to?”
I went still, looking into the living room to find Cyn watching me. I didn’t know if he heard our conversation. I am going to die.
Zeke turned to look, and before I could overthink my next action, I rounded the counter and lunged at him, covering his mouth with my hand and pushing his back over the counter.
His hand went to my lower back to steady me as he stared at me with wide eyes.
“Don’t.”
I removed my hand when he nodded. “Good boy.” He shuddered against me and my brow crinkled. “You okay?”
He swallowed, nodding. “Yeah.”
I stepped back and turned to find Cyn’s jaw clenched and Ash looking at us in surprise. Clearing my throat, I glanced at Ezra on the stool he’d brought into the living room earlier. He said nothing, observing in that unnerving way he always did whenever I interacted with the others.
Maya laughed. “You shouldn’t get so wound up over it. You’re hot. I’d be surprised if he didn’t wanna fuck you.”
“Oh my god. Can we please stop talking about fucking?” I slapped my hand over my mouth, realizing how loudly I’d protested.
Ash laughed.
I contemplated buying a bus ticket to the coast and flinging myself into the Atlantic.
Maya’s smile fell. “Are you okay? Did I go too far?”
“No. Not really. It’s just… complicated.”
“I think she’s hilarious,” Ash said with a reassuring smile, taking a sip of his beer. He looked at Cyn. “Don’t you?”
“She’s not bad,” he muttered.
Have I stumbled into Bizarro Land?
I thought Cyn was angry that I’d brought her home, even though I’d texted the group chat to warn them. They hadn’t protested. Even Ash looked uncomfortable with her being here. How was I so off the mark?
I looked at Ezra.
He glanced at Maya. When he looked at me again, he said, “She’s amusing.”
I sat down on the stool next to Zeke, unable to process the sudden shift in their attitudes.
Maya pulled her phone from her pocket and grumbled, “I have to open in the morning.”
I glanced at the time on the microwave and turned to her. “How much have you had to drink?”
“Too much to drive,” Ash said, voicing my thoughts.
She sighed. “He’s right. I assume one of these guys has the other bedroom I usually take.” She looked around at the others. “Where the hell do you all sleep?”
“She can take the bedroom,” Zeke said.
Cyn raised a brow.
Zeke leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Can we sleep with you?”
I choked on my saliva. “What? Are you serious? She can sleep with me.” I grimaced, dreading lying awake all night listening to Maya’s snoring.
“It won’t be different from when Cyn and I sleep in the same bed. Your bed is big enough.”
I rubbed my eyes, exasperated. “That is so not the problem.”
They could easily fit in my king-size bed, but Maya could sleep with me.
“If it’s a problem for me to stay, I can catch the bus and pick up my car tomorrow,” Maya said, sensing the underlying tension.
“No.” I shook my head. “No, you’re fine.”
Zeke waved a hand. “She’s right. You’re fine. We’ll have a sleepover.”
I looked at him. “We will? Says who?”
“Please? It’ll be fun.”
I bit my lower lip. Would it hurt anything to allow them to share my bed? I knew Zeke wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t think Cyn would either—especially with Zeke there.
Zeke’s pleading eyes remained on mine. He looked ready to vibrate out of his skin. Could I give him this?
At least with the guys, I knew they’d keep to their side of the bed. Hopefully they didn’t snore. Otherwise, I’d end up sleeping in the bathtub.
“Girl, if you don’t, I will. Look at his face. He’s like a puppy.” Maya giggled at her own joke, too tipsy to see the problem.
I took a deep breath through my nose, then exhaled slowly.
I wouldn’t justify how awful the idea of Maya sharing a bed with them made me feel with a response. Nope. Not going there. I’d already made my decision, anyway.
“The guys just need to get their clothes out of the room before you settle in. It’s already raining, and the storm’s expected to get worse.” I turned from Maya to Zeke and pointed at him. “You’re explaining it to Cyn. If he kills me, I swear to whatever deity there is out there, I will haunt you.”
“Great!” Maya clapped her hands. “I get the bed to myself, and you can sleep with your boys.”
I sputtered. “My boys?”
Maya had already moved on to chat with Ezra, oblivious to my shock and Zeke’s huge grin.
Ash glanced up at me as Zeke and Cyn went upstairs. “What’s going on?”
“Apparently, Zeke wants to sleep with me tonight.” I shook my head, glancing over at Maya chatting with Ezra, swaying a little on her feet. “With Cyn.”
Ash’s brows lowered. “Are you okay with that?”
I sat down next to him. “I don’t think Cyn will be okay with it.” Peeling the edges of a bottle’s label we left behind, I met his gaze. “Then there’s you…”
“What about me?”
“I don’t know if I did something earlier to upset you and make you run out of the room, but I didn’t mean anything bad by pointing out the scars.” I set the bottle on the table. “They don’t make you look any less attractive.”
“That wasn’t why I left.”
“Then why?” I faced him.
“It’s difficult to explain, but I promise it wasn’t you.” He placed his bottle on the table beside mine. “But what does that have to do with them sleeping in your bed? I asked if you were okay with it. Not them.”
“Well, if we’re…” I waved a hand. “Didn’t think you’d be okay with another man—or two—sleeping in the same bed as me.” I wouldn’t appreciate him sleeping with another woman if we were dating, either.
“You can do whatever you want,” he said, surprising me. “You don’t have to answer to me.”
I wasn’t sure I liked that response. It sounded kind and understanding in theory, but if he wanted something more from me than a physical fling, wouldn’t he have an issue with other men in my bed? Nothing would happen with them, but still…
As if sensing my inner turmoil, he said, “You don’t like that.”
“What?”
“You don’t like that I’m unbothered?”
I glanced over at Maya, laughing at something Ezra said. “Is this some sort of infernal thing?”
“What?”
“Knowing what I’m thinking?”
He chuckled. “No. But why do you dislike it?”
I licked my lips. “I think I may have overthought the seriousness of our relationship.”
“Relationship?” His brows hitched.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, embarrassment heating my cheeks. I’d made a fool of myself. “I think I’m overthinking. I’m sorry.” I put my hands on my thighs, ready to push to my feet so I didn’t humiliate myself further in my inebriated state.
He grabbed my wrist, halting me. “No. You didn’t.” When I looked at him in confusion, he added, “I feel something for you Rae, but I don’t know how it can work. You’re human. I’m not.” His hard swallow was audible. “I can’t stay here on Earth with you.”
I lowered my gaze, staring at the two bottles.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t think of you. It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t in any other circumstance.”
“I understand,” I whispered, not wanting to hear him say things that didn’t change our situation. The words only made me feel lousier.
He was right. I’d had to tell myself over and over the same thing, but it never stopped my growing feelings. Maybe his willpower surpassed mine.
“All cleared out. Bedroom’s yours,” Zeke said, calling out to Maya as he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs with Cyn on his tail.
Maya yawned. “I’m exhausted.” She turned to me when I stood, wrapping me in a big hug. “I’m glad we could do dinner and a movie again.”
“Me too. Even if you tried to embarrass me all night.”
“Psssh, you know I love you.” She stepped back, glancing at the guys. “I’ll probably be gone before any of you wake up. It was nice meeting y’all.”
They said their goodbyes, and she headed upstairs, stumbling twice along the way.
When I heard the bedroom door close, I turned to Zeke and Cyn. “So, my bed?”
“I’m sleeping without my shirt,” Cyn groused, heading for the stairs. “I’ll keep the pants on, though.”
Like that was supposed to make me feel better.
Zeke yawned. “I’m ready to turn in if you are.”
“Yeah, I think I’m ready for the day to end,” I said, not looking back at Ash.
His reasoning made sense, but it still didn’t dampen the sting of rejection. Our different species aside, the man was royalty. People in power prioritized their people’s needs over casual relationships with ordinary citizens. Peasants only got the prince in fairytales.
I’d never expect him to sacrifice his home or his responsibilities to his people.
Entering the bedroom, I found Cyn asleep face down in the middle of the bed, covers pulled up to his waist. “That was fast.”
“What?” Zeke entered behind me, stopping at the sight of Cyn clutching my pillow. “He’s already asleep? It hasn’t even been five minutes.”
I tore my gaze away from Cyn clutching my pillow, went to my dresser, and pulled out a clean pair of pajama pants and a tank top. “I’ll change in the bathroom. Do whatever you need to do. Just knock when you’re done and I’ll come out.”
After pulling my hair into a bun, I washed and moisturized my face, brushed my teeth, and changed into pajamas. When Zeke knocked, I exited the bathroom and found him sitting on the far side of the bed in a pair of navy-blue pajama pants and a snug white T-shirt.
I approached the bed, squinting when I noticed Cyn’s back. “Ash has the same scars,” I said, unable to take my eyes off the jagged scars on his shoulder blades.
Zeke sighed, lifting his hand to touch the markings on Cyn’s back. “We all have them.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what it means. Our wings don’t come out of our backs, but the placement…”
Ash once said their wings magically appeared instead of breaking through the skin.
Zeke explained how the magic that brought them to Earth stole their wings from them, and how Ezra tried to summon them and failed. The scars symbolized where they materialized.
“It’s not like we can’t survive without them, but we don’t know why it happened.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Knowing that my blood brought them to Earth and forced them to sacrifice their wings in the process filled me with guilt. I never meant to hurt anyone.
He yawned again. “You’re a good person, Rae.” His beautiful blue eyes held mine for several beats before he broke eye contact and settled under the covers. He peered over at Cyn, who hadn’t moved an inch the entire time we’d talked.
Even in sleep, Cyn’s natural scowl made him appear grumpy, but his long black lashes against his cheek softened his striking features.
“Good thing I have two pillows,” I said, fluffing the pillow Cyn didn’t steal before looking at him again. He’d taken the middle, and I suspected the choice was strategic to keep Zeke and me apart.
I climbed into the bed, turning my back to them and pulling the covers up over my shoulder. When I reached for the lamp, Zeke mumbled a soft goodnight. I could tell he was already on the edge of sleep. “Goodnight, Zeke.”