27. Wilder #2
“You’re my right hand man, that quite literally means you go where I go, no matter the location.
” He says it so matter of factly that I can’t help but smirk.
They really haven’t changed a bit. Bobby is the only person in the world, aside from Casper, who reminds me that Cade is actually a real human being.
“Great, so I guess I’ve got to go to hell with you too?” Bobby asks sarcastically, but his words are the first thing that makes my cousin smile all day.
“Yep, I’ll save you a spot considering we all know I’ll be there first.”
Before Bobby can respond, Matteo cuts in. “There are only five rooms!” he calls, making us all pause to glare at Caden, but of course my cousin isn't concerned in the slightest.
“I sorted this place, so I’m taking my own room,” he drawls, once again not looking up from his phone, and I already know this is going to become a problem.
“Dictator,” Knox mutters beneath his breath, making Cas and Beck laugh.
“Poor people don’t get opinions,” Cade replies without emotion.
Bobby groans, as Matteo points toward another room. “I’m taking this one before any of you animals start snoring.”
“That leaves three,” Beckett says.
Casper immediately throws an arm around Bobby’s shoulders. “Obviously me and my emotional support asshole are together.” He’s got a beaming smile on his face and Bobby rolls his eyes.
“Take your fucking arm off me you dick,” he spits, shoving him off, causing Caden to glare at him.
“Watch your mouth,” he warns, before pointing down the hall. “And make sure you two take the room next to mine.”
Protective as always.
“That leaves us then,” Knox says, looking at Beckett with knowing amusement.
“Well we are used to sharing, sweetheart,” Beck replies, grabbing his junk suggestively, and I shake my head at their antics.
Knox flips him off affectionately, before both of them disappear toward the next room, arguing over who gets the bigger bed.
Which leaves one room.
One.
I feel Reed realize it at the exact same time I do, because the atmosphere beside me changes instantly. Matteo comes down the hall, slowly looking between us as he comes to the same realization, before the most shit-eating grin spreads across his face.
“Oh,” he says. “Well, I’m sure Wilder and Reed don’t mind sharing,” he says to no one in particular, as if anyone has even left us with a choice.
I narrow my eyes immediately. “Matt,” I start, ready to curse him out before this becomes a whole big thing.
“They’re always working late together anyway,” he continues innocently to the others. “Isn’t that right, guys?”
Reed looks like he wants the floor to open and swallow him whole, meanwhile I’m too busy imagining him in my bed to form coherent thoughts anymore.
I’ve already held more restraint than anyone has ever shown, but I only have so much willpower, and when it comes to him, I’m weak enough to admit that.
He must see the look in my eye, because he quickly rushes out, “We can switch around,” He looks between the guys looking flustered, but no one throws him a bone. “Or I can just take the couch.”
“This lodge has heated floors and a six foot fireplace,” Casper cuts in. “Nobody’s sleeping on a couch, don’t be dramatic,” my cousin complains, and I fight the urge to hit him.
Caden moves to pour himself a drink. “You’re adults,” he says flatly. “Try not to cry about it.”
Reed looks horrified at Caden’s blatant dismissal, and I mean actually horrified, which if I were a better person, would probably bother me more.
Instead, I’m mostly focused on the fact he’s blushing again. “Relax, Blue,” I drawl, grabbing my bag from beside the couch. “I promise not to seduce you against your will.”
Casper makes a choking sound from the kitchen as he tries to muffle his laugh, and Reed’s blush only deepens. “Oh my God,” he mutters, dragging both hands down his face, looking as if he would rather sleep outside in the cold than share a room with me again.
“Clearly it’s too late for that anyway,” Bobby unhelpfully adds, and I turn to glare at him.
“You’re no longer invited to family events,” I say, pointing my finger at him, which actually makes Caden smirk again, but Bobby only shrugs.
“I was never invited to them anyway.” Which is true, being Caden’s best friend he doesn’t require a fucking invite anywhere these days.
Ignoring us, Reed grabs his suitcase quickly, like escaping this conversation might somehow save him, before heading toward the last bedroom at the end of the hall.
I follow behind him, entirely too aware of the tension wrapped tight between my shoulder blades, because the thing is, despite all their jokes, none of them know him, not really.
They don’t know about how good he looked bent over that balcony, while choking on my fingers and taking my cock so perfectly.
They don’t know how pretty he was at the top of that damn castle, with swollen lips and a trembling body.
They don’t know how he looked when he was broken and vulnerable, and I was too selfish to leave him alone.
They don’t know that I laid beside him every night for a week like I didn’t care about anything, while his injuries were causing me actual physical pain.
Seven fucking nights.
And every single one nearly killed me.
Yeah, things are back to normal now, or at least we are pretending they are, but neither of us even knows what normal is anymore.
So when the bedroom door clicks shut behind us, a heavy silence sets over us.
The room itself is beautiful obviously, just like the rest of this place.
There is a massive bed in the center against a wall, a dark stone fireplace across from it, and those same floor-to-ceiling windows we saw from outside.
There’s even a freestanding bathtub near the windows, because apparently rich Europeans are obsessed with bathing publicly.
Reed sets his suitcase down first, and then immediately notices what I saw the second we stepped in here. There is only one bed.
I’m almost certain I hear him say, “Damn Eloise for being right,” but he says it so quietly that I can’t be sure.
I lean against the door, watching him carefully. “You can take the right side again if you want.” The words slip out before I can stop them, so inconsequential that they don’t mean much to me, but Reed stills completely.
He turns toward me slowly, eyeing me like he thinks I might attack him, before he cocks his head slightly. “You remember what side of the bed I sleep on?” he asks, his throat bobbing, as he reveals my mistake.
I remember everything.
“You also had a terrible habit of sneaking onto my side to cuddle,” I add with a smile, and that rose tint I can’t resist pulling from him rushes back up to his cheeks.
“That’s not true.”
I glare at him. “I told you, I don’t like pretty boy bullshitters, Blue.”
A reluctant smile pulls at his mouth and fuck, there it is again, that unfamiliar feeling spreading through my chest.
Instead of responding, Reed walks over to the window and takes in the view. “It really is beautiful here.”
My eyes are only on him, and beautiful doesn’t even begin to fucking cover it.
“Are you okay sharing again?” I ask, and he hesitates before he responds, and his hesitation slices sharper than it should.
Because part of me already knows the answer.
No, he’s not okay with it, and not because he doesn’t want me.
No, his problem is the opposite. He does want me, but there is a big difference between the things we want and the things we allow ourselves to have.
And something I have learned is that Reed doesn’t allow himself to have anything he wants.
Finally he glances back over his shoulder, his blue eyes softer than usual, more honest somehow. “We survived it once already,” he says carefully, and something twists low in my gut at his choice of words.
Survived, not enjoyed, not wanted, because Reed treats this thing between us like it’s something dangerous to escape from, while I’m standing here wondering what would happen if I stopped letting him run away from me completely.