Chapter 18
A pparently, I lingered at my grandmother's house longer than I thought.
My plan was to find Cayden and try to get him alone for a serious heart to heart as soon as I walked in the door, but by the time I make it back to the guys' place, the dinner rush is in full swing.
The smell of baked pasta wafts through the air, making me remember my hurried breakfast and my sparse lunch. My stomach growls.
In the kitchen, I find Adam at the stove and Sergio chopping up stuff for a salad. Deandre is setting the table, while Jax pours drinks, and Cayden, the guy I really need to talk to, is up on a ladder, changing light bulbs of all the ridiculous things.
Crap. There go my chances of pulling him aside without anyone noticing.
Not that the odds of that happening were good to start with. The instant I turn the corner, Sergio nods at me. Adam picks up on the motion and turns, hitting me with a bright, soft smile that melts my insides.
"Haley, you're just in time. Hope you're hungry?"
"Starving," I admit. I glance at Cayden again. He meets my gaze, and I'm transported to his bed in my mind, remembering the soft kisses he gave me on his way out the door, promising to do more delicious things to my body tonight. I swallow, warmth flowing through me.
Only then Jax steps into my line of view. His jaw is tight, his smile tighter.
Jeez, I really must have done a number on him, leaving the way I did this morning, without giving him an answer. I still need more time to process how I feel about him, but I nod at him all the same.
"Hi," I say.
"Hi." He sets down the bottles of beer he'd been carrying and steps closer. "You okay?"
Suddenly, the room seems a lot quieter. No one stops what they're doing, or is so obvious as to actively stare, but the attention of every one of the guys is like a weight, pressing in on me.
Incredibly self-conscious, I fiddle with the hem of my top. "Yeah, um. Yeah. Fine. Got a lot done at my grandmother's house."
"I figured that was where you went. Though you could have said."
Oh. Yeah, in hindsight I didn't tell anyone where I was off to this morning. That was kind of inconsiderate—and potentially more than kind of stupid. The hike up the road isn't terribly dangerous, but you never know.
"Sorry."
"Don't be. I just would have offered you a ride, or something."
I shrug. "I wanted to walk. Needed to, you know. Clear my head."
His throat bobs. "Right. How'd that go?"
And we haven't actually said a damn thing about his revelations, but the subtext is just as heavy as the attention we're attracting. If I didn't believe him about the whole group sex thing, I sure do now. Everyone seems keenly interested in my answer.
Only I don't have one. "Still working on it."
"Got it." He nods tightly.
Everyone in the room seems to take a breath as one, and just like that, we're back in motion. Jax turns on a dime and takes the beers to the table. His posture is rigid, and he doesn't meet my gaze. I probably would have read a lot of things into that kind of attitude yesterday.
Today? I have no idea what to think.
I'm so lost in wondering that it takes me by surprise when Deandre appears at my side. The guy is huge; if he can sneak up on me, I must be really out of it.
"Here," he says. "Let's get you off your feet."
"I'm fine," I protest.
"Didn't say you weren't. Just think you might like to have a seat. Maybe a glass of wine?"
Oh. Right. Deandre's been seeing to my knees and offering to take care of me from the minute I walked in the door. This is just more of that.
I let out a breath that feels like all the air flowing out of my lungs. "Wine sounds fantastic."
"White or red?"
"Red, please."
"On it." Then he swoops in and presses a kiss to my cheek, and honest to god butterflies flutter through my chest.
Jeez. For the first time, Jax's suggestion that I could date all the men here seems like a good thing. Because I adore Adam and I love Cayden. I have insane chemistry—good or bad—with Jax. And Deandre does these things to me.
And Sergio…
He's still hardly said five words to me, but my gaze searches him out as I make my way across the room.
He has this slow intensity to him, this quiet presence.
As if he can feel my stare, he meets my gaze with his own, and I shiver.
The scarring on the side of his face proves his heroism, but the injury didn't make him hard.
He has the most beautiful eyes, and that sexy, long hair.
That smooth caramel skin and those tattoos…
I want to know what's happening beneath the surface, what he's thinking behind that secretive half smile.
Seriously. If I had to choose from among these guys, it'd be the hardest decision of my life. It makes me giddy to imagine I might not have to.
My reservations remain. But I'm starting to see a couple of perks I might not have thought of before.
Hopes still rising, I seat myself at the big dining room table, right in the middle where I was last night. Cayden drops down from the ladder, burnt out bulb in his hand. He makes a beeline for me and plants a kiss on my lips, then gestures toward the sink. "Just gotta go wash up."
"Okay," I say, dizzy.
Moments later, Deandre places a glass of wine in front of me.
And then there's nothing for me to do except watch these gorgeous men buzz around the kitchen, while I sip on a nice, full-bodied cab, and try to figure out how on earth I got here.
And if I can really afford to let this opportunity slip through my hands.