Chapter 22
LARK
How’s Iron Man sound?” Win calls over her shoulder. She’s rifling through their movie cabinet to find something to watch.
I would’ve thought they’d already have decided on something and started it at this point, but I guess they were waiting for me.
“The first one?” I ask from my spot in one of the cushy movie theater seats. I didn’t realize the guys had a whole-ass theater in their house when they asked about a film.
I’m currently sharing an oversized seat with Colt. I guess Rook was right about him missing me because he scooped me up as soon as I walked in. He carried me to our seat, and that was that. Not that I mind. I’m enjoying essentially cuddling with him.
I know I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t enjoy his touch. I shouldn’t let any of them in. But I’m too fucking defeated by today to care. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to being responsible Lark. Tonight, though, I’m just going to soak up the comfort he’s offering.
Hal and Remy tossed Colt dirty looks after he stole me, but they settled on claiming the seats right next to me. Remy has his arm slung over the back of our chairs, playing with one of my braids. Hal’s passing me snacks from his chair and tossing me grins every chance he gets.
Win rolls her eyes. “Duh. The rest of them aren’t worth watching.”
I grin at her. “Sounds perfect.”
She returns my smile and hops up to go start the film. She also turns off the lights, making everything feel cozy.
Colt leans down to whisper, “Need any other snacks or anything else, sweetheart?”
I smile up at him. “Nah, I’m good, but thanks.”
Relaxing into Colt’s side, I settle in to watch one of my favorite movies. As much as I love Iron Man, though, my eyes start to feel heavy only a few scenes in. Deciding to rest them for a moment, I drift off to sleep.
“Lark, sweetheart, you need to wake up for a bit,” a deep voice calls, startling me out of my dreamless sleep.
I bolt upright and look around through bleary eyes, wondering what the emergency is. My heart’s pounding so loud that I can barely hear myself breathlessly ask, “What?”
Colt runs a hand down my back, trying to soothe me. “It’s two in the morning. Are you good with spending the night here? Or do you need me to take you home?”
Realizing nothing’s wrong, I collapse back against the theater seat and fling an arm over my face.
I’m way too tired to care where I sleep tonight, as long as I’m safe. And, for better or worse, I feel safe around the guys. “I’m fine crashing here for the night.”
“Great. You can sleep in my room, then.”
I hear someone coughing in the background, and Colt gives them a dirty look. But I don’t pay much attention to it when I’m fighting just to keep my eyes open. I guess the day exhausted me more than I thought.
I shrug. “Okay.”
He rewards me with a big grin before pushing to his feet. Colt holds out a hand, and I take it, letting him pull me upright. When I’m standing, he lifts me up by my waist. Once I have my arms and legs wrapped around his bulky frame, he moves one arm under my ass and the other around my back.
We start walking out of the room, and all the guys stop their various cleaning tasks to wish me goodnight. I don’t see Wes and Win anywhere, so they must’ve already gone to bed.
Hal gives me a half smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes as I pass by him. “Night, wild girl.”
Rook offers me a small wave. “Goodnight, dove.”
Remy grins with his whole being as our gazes connect. “Sleep tight, alouette.”
“Night, everyone,” I mumble into Colt’s shoulder, already starting to drift off before we make it out of the movie room. There’s something about the four of them that puts me at ease in a way nothing and no one else does.
Colt’s steps lull me half to sleep as he carries me to his room. Who knows how long later, he pushes open a door and walks inside a space. Letting me slide down his body, Colt puts me on my feet.
Glancing around his room, I sleepily note that it’s decorated in shades of blue and gray. A driftwood bed and matching nightstands dominate the space, with a sleek gray desk off in one corner.
While his room is neat, there are still touches of him in the cameras and baseball gear scattered about. A shelf neatly displays some Little League baseball trophies, and his walls are dotted with black-and-white pictures of landscapes and his friends and family.
“What do you usually sleep in?” Colt asks, breaking me out of my thoughts. “You can borrow one of my tees, if you want.”
He holds up the shirt in question, and I nod. “That’s fine.”
Colt tosses me a heathered gray T-shirt.
Catching it in one hand, I give him my back and take off my shirt.
I inhale, wondering if I’ll catch any of his scent, but the shirt just smells like clean laundry.
My creature and I would love to know what the five of them smell like, but I guess that’ll remain a mystery for now.
He makes a choked noise as I slip the soft material over my head. Turning to look at him over my shoulder, I raise a brow, wordlessly asking if something’s wrong.
He waves me off and stalks to the bathroom without a word.
Shrugging, I take off my bra and finish undressing. Colt’s shirt comes down to mid-thigh, so I think I’m okay forgoing pants. I look around the room for something other than the bed to lie down on, but there’s nothing but a plush blue rug.
When Colt walks out of the bathroom, I turn to ask him about sleeping arrangements. When I see that he’s wearing nothing other than navy boxers, all my thoughts screech to a halt. The only thing I can think about is how damn attractive the man is.
He’s practically made of pure muscle, with a defined six-pack, muscular thighs that are almost as wide as my torso, and drool-worthy corded forearms. Not to mention the ink that runs from his fingers up to his neck on both arms.
When I realize I’ve been staring for way too long, I blush and look down at the cloud-gray carpet. “Where do you want me to sleep?”
“In my bed.” Colt’s voice sounds amused, so I’m guessing he noticed me ogling him.
“Oh,” I respond lamely. “Where are you sleeping?”
“In my bed.” My gaze flicks up to his in surprise. But he’s not looking at me. Instead, he’s walking over to his bed and sitting down on it. When I don’t make a move to follow, he sighs and holds out his hand. “C’mere, sweetheart.”
I assumed when he said I could sleep in his room that he had an extra bed or at least a couch. Not that I’d be sleeping in his bed. With him.
It feels weirdly intimate to sleep next to him all night.
I know I’m probably making a bigger deal of this in my head than it needs to be. I mean, sleeping next to a mostly naked, super attractive guy I enjoy hanging out with a little too much doesn’t have to mean anything, right?
Right.
Blowing out a breath, I do as he says and pad across the room to him. When I reach him, Colt picks me up by my waist and deposits me onto the silky navy sheets.
I let out an embarrassing squeak of surprise at the move and glare at him for constantly manhandling me. He doesn’t notice as he reaches over to turn out the lights and lie down in bed himself.
Cautiously scooting farther under the covers, I lie on my side facing away from him, hoping to make sleeping in his bed feel a little less intimate.
Colt doesn’t get the memo because he scoots up until he’s pressed up against my back and legs. He slings an arm over my torso and rests his hand at the base of my throat, his thumb on my pulse.
I hate how much I enjoy how perfectly we fit together. Everything in me relaxes at being in his arms and having his massive frame wrapped around me, protecting me from the world.
“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Colt mumbles into my neck, his warm breath feathering over the sensitive skin there. “I hope you sleep well.”
“Night, Colt,” I whisper before drifting off to sleep.
“Lulu, wake up,” Wren’s voice urges me as she shakes my shoulder.
When I don’t do anything but grumble in response, she shakes even harder until I can’t ignore her anymore. Squinting one eye open, I glance at the clock and groan. “Wren, why the fuck are you waking me up at two-thirty in the morning? You know I have finals tomorrow.”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “You’d ace those finals with zero sleep, even less studying, and a broken pen. We both know you’re the smartest one there.”
I snort because I’m certainly not the smartest or most talented student in my programs. There are tons of humans way better at business and graphic design than I am, but there’s no point in arguing with Wren about it.
She’ll insist that her little sis is the best there is until she’s blue in the face.
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re waking me at ungodly o’clock in the morning,” I grumble.
Her smile drops away, replaced with an uncharacteristically serious expression. “Run away with me?”
“What?” I ask, finally starting to wake up at her ridiculous question.
Her green eyes a few shades lighter than mine fill with hope and excitement as she tells me, “Run away from this house and our parents with me. We’ll bring Coop and Charlie, and we can start over somewhere new, away from all the people and expectations here.
We could move to the Washington coast or something, and you could go to a university that specializes in graphic design without having to hear about it from our parents.
Think about it, Lulu. We could make all our dreams come true. ”
“What on earth are you talking about, Wren? You and Coop are engaged. You’re gonna be married this summer. And I have three semesters before I finish my degrees. I don’t wanna start all over when I’m so close to being done. What happened to our plan to move out once I graduate?”
Her face falls, and she hangs her head, not saying anything right away. She’s quiet for so long that I start to realize she’s being serious. She actually wants to run away.
I open my mouth to say something different, but she beats me to it.