Chapter 20 #2
“Lunchbox,” Bones said warningly. The air crackled between them as they let off steam in a playful fashion. These men loved each other, and they loved to give each other shit.
I laughed softly. “Here’s what’s happening. We are all exhausted. We can barely keep our eyes open. I’m not sleeping alone and I’m not sleeping on the floor. So the simplest solution?”
Four men blinked at me like I’d just delivered an unexpected plot twist. I shrugged, because rarely did I manage to get one over on one of them, much less all of them.
“We share a bed.”
There was a beat of silence as they all stared at me.
“We might be a bit snug, but we’ll fit.”
Then:
Voodoo: “Dibs on not being in the middle, I get too warm.”
Legend: “I vote Grace in the middle.”
AB: “That is the only strategically sound configuration.”
Bones: “Fine. But I’m on her left.”
“Why left?” Legend asked.
“Because that’s where I sleep,” Bones said.
“That’s not—” Legend started.
I cut him off with a yawn so big my jaw clicked. “Guys? Pick your sides. I’m going to bed before I fall asleep standing up.”
Bones was up first—like his body had been waiting for me to say the words.
Legend pushed to his feet next with a muttered, “Called it,” while Voodoo grinned and AB simply nodded like this was the inevitable outcome he’d calculated hours ago.
Goblin glanced at us, then climbed up onto the couch. He turned in a couple of circles, then sighed as he settled in and his eyes were closed immediately.
After giving him a loving scritch, I leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head. “Sleep well.” His tail thumped once as I headed up the stairs. Bones was already waiting for me and he motioned me ahead, then fell in behind me.
Behind me, Voodoo murmured to Legend, “I’m telling you, I’m not cuddling you if you drift into my space.”
“Please,” Legend scoffed. “You couldn’t handle cuddling me.”
“Boys,” Bones growled.
And even half-asleep, bruised, and dragging their feet…
They made me happier than I ever imagined I could be.
Bones led the way toward the bedrooms, slow but purposeful, like his body was running on fumes and stubbornness alone. The upstairs hallway was narrow, dim, quiet except for the soft steps behind me. Bones opened the door to the largest room and paused. “We’re combining beds.”
I blinked. “What?”
Legend brushed past us with an evaluating look at the layout. “Oh yeah. Lose the nightstands, then put Queen goes against one wall, king wedged against the other, create one giant sleeping surface.”
Voodoo was already in the doorway of the next room, inspecting the queen bed like he was planning a heist. “Alphabet, grab the other side.”
AB didn’t even argue. He just said, “On three,” and the two of them lifted the frame like it weighed nothing. It definitely did not weigh nothing—I’d tried moving one of those once and nearly dislocated my whole soul.
Bones muttered, “Idiots,” but he got the nightstands moved and helped Legend shove the king over before he paused to watch. He always watched. Making sure everyone was okay even in the most ridiculous of moments.
Legend stripped the blankets off the king-sized bed and rolled them to the side. “We’re gonna need all the pillows.”
“All of them,” Voodoo echoes solemnly, as though this were a tactical operation.
AB and Voodoo backed through the doorway, carefully maneuvering the queen mattress and frame. The two of them lined it up with the side of the king bed while Legend guided angles like an air traffic controller.
Bones helped too—he just did it with a growl and a wince every time his ribs objected.
Ten minutes later, they’d created a monstrosity: a bed so large it could probably host a small conference.
Legend surveyed their work, hands on hips. “Behold. The Sleep Platform.”
Voodoo added, “The cuddle battlefield.”
AB: “The tactical rest array.”
Bones: “The bed.”
I covered my laugh with a hand. God, the tension hadn’t fully left any of them, but this? This helped. The normalcy. The ridiculousness. The way they were all a little punchy and overtired.
Bones looked at me again—steady, grounding. “You good?”
“I’m great,” I said. Thankfully, it wasn’t a lie.
I walked to the bed, reached for the hem of Bones’ sweatshirt…and peeled it off. The boxers went next and I left them in a neat pile at the foot, where I could claim them in the morning.
Every man in the room froze.
“Guys, you’re all basically space heaters. If I wear anything, I’m absolutely going to wake up cooked alive.” If anyone decided to play, well, there was something to be said about not getting tied up in my clothes.
Voodoo nodded immediately. “Accurate.”
Legend cleared his throat. “Uh—yes. That is…practically sound.”
AB offered a courteous, “We’ll keep the blankets light then,” as though we were discussing spreadsheets.
Bones didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just watched me with this quiet, protective intensity that made my chest warm. “You cold?”
“Nope.” I climbed onto the middle of the giant bed and sank into the mattress. “But I will be if you all don’t stop staring and get in here.”
That snapped them out of it.
Voodoo claimed the far right of the queen, grumbling about “optimal airflow.” Legend took the far left on the queen side. AB positioned himself between Legend and where I was sitting, efficiently adjusting pillows like he was arranging data sets. Then he unstrapped his prosthetic.
Once he had it off, I held out a hand and he eyed me for a moment, then handed it to me.
I crawled to the foot of the bed and set it on top of my clothes.
Aware of their gazes without turning around, I gave my ass a little wiggle.
“Get a good look gentlemen, but tonight—or whatever the hell the time is, that’s all it’s going to be. ”
A soft chuckle rumbled out of them as I crawled back up to my spot.
Bones slid in on my left, careful of my space, even though I knew he wanted to fold around me immediately. He’d wait—even exhausted—until I made the first move.
I didn’t make him wait long.
I nudged into his side, careful of his ribs, then rested my head on his shoulder. He exhaled, the tension in his chest easing like someone had unlocked it. His hand found my hip. Gentle. Grounding.
Legend stretched out, arms over his head. “If anyone snores, I’m suffocating you with a pillow.”
“Try it,” Voodoo said, already half-buried in blankets.
AB lay back, hands folded across his stomach. “Statistically speaking, Voodoo is most likely to snore.”
Voodoo didn’t even open his eyes. “Statistically speaking, I could take you in a fight.”
AB: “Incorrect.”
Legend: “Boys.”
Bones: “All of you shut up.”
I smiled into his shoulder. “I love you guys.”
Four quiet voices answered in their own ways:
Voodoo: “Love you too, Firecracker.”
Legend: “Obviously.”
AB: “Likewise.”
Bones, softest of all despite the gravel in his voice, “Sleep, Grace.”
My heart jerked at Voodoo’s soft declaration as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A smile curved my lips and I let out a sigh. Tomorrow, I planned to kiss the hell out of him for that.
The whole bed shifted as they settled around me, their presence familiar weight bracketing me on all sides. The room smelled like soap and exhaustion and them.
For the first time in what felt like forever, my muscles unclenched completely. It didn’t take me long until I was drifting. Content to float on the tide of their breathing rising and falling around me, I didn’t fight the sleep that pulled me down even as AB interlaced his fingers with mine.
We were here, we were together—and in that moment, bruised and bone-deep tired and finally still…these beautiful men were safe, they were warm, and they were mine.