Chapter Thirty-Five #2
I frown even as my body fills with delight at his perusal and appreciation, because there’s no way I’ve known these guys for two months and haven’t worn a dress once around them.
I think it over, sure I’ve at least worn a skirt, only I come up completely empty of memories that include me in a dress.
“Well, I’ll be damned. I guess this is the first time I’m wearing a dress around you,” I chuckle, eyeing the pretty blue flowers printed onto the fabric. “What a waste that I’m wearing it to the police station.”
Just then, Ryan appears in the doorway, leaning around the doorframe with his hair styled as usual and his charming smile in place.
He’s wearing casual jeans, sneakers, and an oversized shirt that looks like it would fit snugly on Baxter’s body.
He looks the most relaxed and casual I’ve ever seen him, and it warms my heart just as much as Caiden’s blushing does.
“How about we do something after visiting the station?” he suggests, moving to lean against the doorframe.
Caid sits up on the bed like he’s dead and Ryan’s words have risen him from his eternal rest. His phone is discarded, and he asks, “Like a date? As in, take Maddie on a date?”
Ry shrugs as though it’s no big deal, but I see the way he watches me, as though he’s trying to find any ounce of discomfort in me at the idea. He won’t find any, because going on a date on what is meant to be a beautiful day sounds like the perfect way to spend my time.
So, with a giddy excitement building in my chest, I grin and nod. “A date sounds perfect. Have any ideas where we could go?”
Ryan thinks about it for a second before he looks over at Caid. “When does that food festival at the park end?”
Those words light Caid up like a Christmas tree, and he scrambles for his cell as he answers, “I’m pretty sure it lasts another week. At least, I think that’s what I read. Let me check.”
Ry nods before he finally makes his way toward me, his hazel eyes running over my outfit much like Caid had, only with a less dazzled look on his face and a softer, more intimate expression painted over his charming features. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
It’s my turn to blush, the heat filling my cheeks so fast that I feel a flush of warmth spread through my face. I offer him a little twirl, slow enough that I don’t flash my panties, and strike a pose the moment I’m facing him again. “Thank you. It felt like a dress kind of day.”
“I stand by the choice,” he says, reaching out to tug at the frilly skirt, smiling when I laugh at the flirty tone in his voice.
“I’ll be sure to find more days that deserve dresses,” I tease, just as Caiden leaps off the bed and almost shoves his phone in Ryan’s face.
“It’s ongoing,” he declares, wiggling his phone, making it impossible for Ryan to read whatever is on the screen. “Let’s go, people. We have a report to make and food to eat. All the food, health be damned. We’ll worry about the gains and shit later.”
Before Ryan or I can say much of anything else, Caid latches his hand around mine and drags me straight toward the front door, Ryan’s laughter following after me.
Caid doesn’t skip a single beat, leading me out of the apartment before I can reach for my purse, and I’m thankful for Ryan when I spy him reaching for it before he shuts and locks my apartment door for me.
I guess Caiden’s taking the lead here, and I’m all too willing to go along for the ride.
***
“I’m just saying, it’s bullshit that they can’t do anything more than what they’re doing.
That freak is still wandering the streets freely, terrorizing Maddie, and walking through life as if that’s totally acceptable,” Caid continues to gripe, his Korean corn dog waving around in Ryan’s face as he passionately complains about the police and their systems and processes that, and I quote, are doing diddly shit to get rid of that glory hole with fake muscles and teeth.
A creative insult that stunned me silent, my own corn dog forgotten for a moment as I stare at the blond-haired man in awe. There’s every chance I store the insult away in my brain for future use, already over the annoyance our trip to the police station infected me with.
We handed over the receipts of Toby’s incessant badgering, and the officer promised to add it to the open report I made, apologizing when he informed us there was nothing more that could be done just yet.
Caiden wasn’t too happy, Ryan didn’t look at all thrilled, and both Rayne and Baxter had plenty to say via text after I relayed what happened to them over the phone, but I can’t say I expected a different outcome.
It seems I’m simply gathering a plethora of evidence against the man before anything actually happens, and so the world keeps turning, the day continues, and the food waits patiently to be eaten.
“How about we let it go for the day?” I suggest, right before taking a bite out of my corn dog and moaning at the burst of flavor that practically fucks my taste buds. “Oh my God, this is heaven. Try yours instead of swinging it around in Ryan’s face.”
I take another bite, humming under my breath, and it takes me a second to realize the conversation has stopped and Caiden has fallen silent.
I have no idea when my eyes closed, but when they reopen, I find both men watching me with heated gazes and looks that declare their hunger, but not for the copious amounts of food Caid and Ryan both bought for us to share.
Swallowing my bite harshly, I lick my lip before I ask, “What? Surely it’s not that sexy watching a woman enjoy a corn dog.”
Caid breaks first, his mouth forming a devilish smile before he says, “I’m struggling to think of anything sexier, especially when the woman is making sounds much like the ones I heard coming out of the bedroom yesterday.”
Ah, hell.
I choke. My next inhale proves fatal, and I actually choke, accidentally inhaling the food I’d been chewing.
I drop the corn dog onto the paper and splutter, coughing hard enough that Caid laughs and smacks his hand against my back several times before I’m no longer at risk of dying right in front of him.
That wouldn’t be sexy at all. Not that my choking was, but I can recover from choking. I can’t recover from death.
When I’m able to speak again, my voice comes out a little raspy as I blurt, “Are you trying to kill me?”
Both men look entirely too amused after witnessing my almost-demise, and I shake my head with a heavy dose of disapproval. If these are the games they want to play, then they’re going to learn real quick that I play just as well as the rest of them.
So, crossing my arms and boosting my tits high enough that they look plump and cushiony, I toss out my next words so carelessly that it takes a second for either man to catch them. “If I’m going to choke and die on something that looks like a cock, it better be the real thing.”
There’s a moment of pause before my words land, and I’m suddenly surrounded by the glorious sound of male laughter.
I’m pretty sure it’s the hardest I’ve heard Ryan laugh, and I chased that man around with a fake phallus in my pants.
It’s music to my ears, and I’m grinning as I go about eating the rest of my corn dog, eyeing every other plate that lines the table.
Hell, I don’t even know what to try next, there’s so much of it.
Despite my protests, both men split off on their own adventure while I sat cushioned on a picnic bench at the park where a very popular food festival is taking place.
A two-week affair, the festival is in full swing, with plenty of patrons carrying various foods that look so good that my mouth has watered more than once.
After the last wipe of my lips I thought I was doing discreetly, the pair scattered and came back with what looks to be one of literally everything.
It’s kind of scary, and pretty damn overwhelming, especially since I’ve spied several seagulls eyeing my goods like they’re about to swoop in and steal it all at any second.
Which makes me wonder for the billionth time since we arrived, why would they put a park near the beach, on the sky rats’ home turf?
It only gives them an advantage we don’t.
I don’t know what that advantage is, but I know they have it.
Especially that beady-eyed little fuck eyeing my nachos like it’s about to snatch them right from under my nose.
“Look at those aggressive origami. Zero thoughts, only theft. I can see it in those creepy little eyes,” I mutter, reaching for a nacho without taking my eyes off a particularly shady-looking bird that looks like he’d be a divorced dad named Gerry in an alternate life.
Lightly chuckling, his laughter over my cheeky comment tamed enough that there are no longer tears in his eyes, Caid assures, “They won’t attack. They’re just waiting for the next person to drop an ice cream.”
“They look like they’re jonesing for more than an ice cream. He’s got his eyes on my nachos, and I am not afraid to punch an airborne raccoon in the beak to protect my food,” I warn, narrowing my eyes on the seagull that moves on as though he’s heard me and considers me an actual threat.
“We’ll protect you and your food from the seagulls, trouble.
Just enjoy your food,” Ryan promises, sounding much too amused for someone who hasn’t been watching the gathering flock of birds that look as though they were designed by someone who actually hates humanity.
I wonder what would happen if someone were to, oh, I don’t know, prove themselves right…
I take another chip, eyeing it for a moment before dipping it into the pots of hot nacho cheese, salsa, and ranch, an idea forming in my mind.
Curiosity will truly be my downfall, because the next thought I have comes with a sudden urge to discover the outcome, and I don’t give those thoughts much more energy than necessary before I throw the chip just behind Ryan and hold my breath.
Sure enough, those sky goblins prove just how unhinged they are, because the next moment, Ryan is surrounded.
The gang of birds swarms the chip, pecking at the ground, flapping their wings, and scaring the absolute shit out of Ryan enough that he scrambles off the bench in such a hurry that he knocks over several plates of food.
And it’s the greatest mistake anyone has ever made in the existence of the universe.