Chapter 12 Dex
CHAPTER TWELVE
DEX
“The fuck?” Pete mouths to me silently with unrestrained horror and confusion in his eyes.
I scratch the side of my head as I try to put together what she’s saying. Thankfully, Sly seems to be two steps ahead of me.
“Your brother told you that females only eat salad?” he asks slowly, his eyes blazing with anger.
“Not just salad, but it does need to be healthy, due to our delicate stomachs, like oatmeal or yogurt. Always lots of vegetables.”
“Have you ever had pizza before?” I ask, trying to understand the bigger picture here.
Her eyes move to the open pizza box, and she licks her lips, then shakes her head.
“Wren?” Sly asks from his squatting position in front of her, regaining her attention. “Women can eat anything they like, just as men can.”
Her eyes dart back to the pizza box. “Really?” I can hear the hope mixed with anguish in her question.
That one word damn near breaks me. As if being given a slice of pizza is a damn miracle.
What else has this brother of hers been telling her? If I ever get my hands on him, I’ll rip him to shreds.
“Have you only eaten salad since you left?” Pete asks as I grab a slice of pizza and move toward her.
“I didn’t know,” she says quietly, sounding guilty.
“Here, eat this,” I tell her, practically shoving it in her face.
“Thank you,” she says nervously as she takes the slice and stares at it for a moment. Then she takes a big bite, her eyes instantly widening in surprise. The moan that escapes her lips has my dick twitching in approval.
“Sit,” I tell her, pulling out the chair. She drops into it, humming around a bite of pizza, and damn if it doesn’t go straight to my cock. Does she even know what she sounds like? God help me. I can’t help but wonder if her noises in bed would sound the same.
We all grab a slice and start eating in silence, watching her eat pizza like it’s the best thing she’s ever tasted. I wonder if she’d like to taste me? Fuck knows I’m dying to taste her.
“Eat as much as you like,” Sly says when she finishes her first piece. She eagerly dives in for a second piece, and Jagger holds out several cans of soda for her to choose from.
“I don’t know which to choose,” she admits, looking up at him. He opens both cans and holds them out for her to try. She ends up preferring the root beer over the cola, and I quickly snag the open Coke can, wanting to place my lips where hers have been.
Pete snorts as he watches me do it, but I just grin back at him. Jealous much?
He grabs the TV remote and sits back on the bed that used to be covered in money, before Sly and Jagger packed it all away. He switches it on, and as the sound echoes around the room, Wren looks up in surprise.
She stands and moves around to where she can see it, her eyes wide with wonder. “It’s a TV!” she exclaims.
“You’ve never seen a TV before?” I ask in horror.
“Not since I was little and I watched it at a friend’s house.”
“The motel you stayed at didn’t have one?” I ask, and she just shakes her head as she stares at the screen.
“Why don’t you grab your drink and another slice and come sit over here with me?” Pete asks. And when she does, his eyes bounce to mine in smug victory.
Was he trying to claim a spot as her favorite? I shake my head as I grin at her. Silly man, my Wren doesn’t play favorites. Her heart is big enough for all of us.
Watching her get comfortable right beside him, my smile grows. Her hip touches his, even when there’s plenty of room for her to sit with space between them. I notice she hasn’t pulled away from any of us; she seems to feel the same magnetic pull to us that we do to her.
She nibbles happily on her pizza as she watches Pete flip through the channels. She’s so fucking cute.
I note the purple tinge to her cheek and clench my fists, accidentally crushing a slice of pizza I forgot I was holding.
If I could kill the guy who did that to her all over again, I would.
I’m glad he’s gone, but unfortunately, I barely remember killing him.
When I saw him on top of her, hand raised, I lost it.
I practically blacked out until Pete called my name, pulling me out of the fog.
My rage used to be how I made money. They called me The Berserker in underground fighting rings, due to the fact that I’d go feral when I fought, like I was another person. It worked… until it didn’t.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t my rage that landed me in prison, but instead, my resistance to fighting. A man named Il Nero wanted to hire me as his personal bodyguard, or hitman. I wasn’t sure. Either way, I didn’t want to work for anyone else, and I refused to belong to anyone.
The last time they asked me to join, they told me I didn’t have a choice. I ignored the threat, then two days later, I woke to the police breaking down my door and a dead woman in my room. Only, I’d never even met her before, and I certainly didn’t kill her. I’d been framed.
“Oh, what’s this?” Wren asks, her wide eyes taking in the TV screen.
Seeing she’s done eating, I grab the ice pack and move to sit on her other side as Pete answers. “I don’t know, let’s watch and find out.”
I wrap one arm around her shoulders and use the other to hold the ice pack to her cheek. She smiles up at me before resting her head against my chest.
My heart might just combust from that small movement. It tells me everything I need to know. That she’s not afraid of me, like everyone else is. Somehow, my tiny little Wren already understands that I’ll never hurt her. Never her. I’d sooner cut off my dick than harm her.
But she wasn’t afraid, even though she knew I wasn’t a good man. Definitely not good enough for her. That’s why I told her I was staying with her, whether she wanted me to or not. Because I knew I wasn’t worthy of her, but I was gonna spend my life desperately trying to be.
I wish I had brought my book with me. I could look something up on the phone.
How to make a woman fall in love with you.
Just as I think about asking Jagger for the cell, my eyes drift to the TV, and I smile.
“Oh! I think this is the Bachelorette!” I say excitedly.
“Don’t tell me you watch this drivel?" Sly asks from where he and Jagger are resting on the other bed.
“This isn’t good?” Wren asks, leaning forward to look at him around Pete’s chest.
I pull her back and shake my head. “Don’t listen to him. He probably thinks watching paint dry is entertaining. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Is she dating all of those men?” she asks, returning her gaze to what seems to be a group date with the bachelorette, Laurie, and twelve men.
“This is a reality show—” I stop and tilt my head down to her. “Do you know what that means? Do you know the difference between reality shows and fiction?”
“I think so, most things on TV are fake, but this one is real.”
“Somewhat,” Sly says, answering for me. “They have probably been coached on what to say or how to act, but for the most part, it’s supposed to be unscripted.”
“This show is about the bachelorette trying to find a man to marry. It starts with something like twenty men, and each episode she hands out roses to the ones she wants to keep for another week, and the ones who don’t get any have to leave until it’s down to the final one.”
“And then they get married?” she asks.
“It normally ends in a proposal, yes,” I nod, looking back at the screen.
She’s quiet for a few minutes as we all start to relax. “Dex,” she whispers, as if not to disturb the others. “How does she choose?”
“Choose what?”
“Between them? They all seem so nice.”
“Well…” I start, choosing my words carefully, “she has to figure out who’s being genuine and who isn’t.”
“Some of them are lying?” she asks in surprise.
“Probably. They lie to get on TV,” Pete adds from beside us.
“Would you?” she asks quietly.
“Would we what?” I ask her.
“Would you lie? To get on TV, I mean.”
I glance over her head, my concerned eyes connecting with Pete. He nods, understanding she’s not just asking about the show anymore. I place the ice pack down on the nightstand before grabbing her free hand with mine.
“I have no desire to be on TV, especially since I’m a wanted criminal. And I definitely lie. But not to you, Wren. Never to you.”
“Same here,” Pete says, squeezing her hand. After a few quiet minutes, I ease us down to a lying position, her head tucked against my chest as I stroke her back. Her breathing slows, grows heavy, and then a soft snore escapes her lips.
I grin, fighting a laugh so I don’t wake her.
So fucking cute.