Page 26 of Liberty

Chapter 12

STERLING

The girl foughtme every step of the way, but in the end, she let me lay my palm on her still bleeding flesh and pull the injury out of her body, allowing me to knit her wounds together. During the time it took to heal her, Oak already had half her bags packed, insisting that she was no longer staying here and mumbled about how she wasn’t safe unless all three of us were near.

He could be on to something.

Having her near was something I definitely wanted. “We have two options, I guess. We either all hold up at your house, and before you say a word, we will cover your expenses of owning that place. Or we can go to my apartment. Though, I admit, these two lugs will just have to sleep outside.”

Ellis rolled his eyes. “So barbaric for someone appearing so civil.”

“We all know I’m a monster inside, why pretend it doesn’t exist now?” I shrugged.

We were all monsters inside. Why try to hide it? I wasn’t about to alter everything I’d come to accept about myself over the years for them or even for her, for that matter. I grabbed a bag and followed Oak’s lead, shoving her stuff into the bag while Liberty left us, the question unanswered, to take a shower and wash off the blood. And if I had to guess, have a bit of an emotional cry.

The minute she was in the bathroom, the water running, Ellis turned to us, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he said, “Hand me a bag, I’ll get the panty drawer. No worries, I already know where it is.”

Oak’s body went rigid. He turned slowly. “What?”

“I snooped earlier. And before you get testy, I wasn’t looking for her panties. Just any information at all.”

“And you happened to find it in her panty drawer?” Oak was fuming. I could feel the heat pouring off him from five feet away.

“Look, people always use clothing drawers to hide precious documents and items. It’s a known fact. I could tell you where her jeans are at, too, but that would have gotten less of a rise out of you, and why waste a perfect opportunity to see your body glow? It really is the craziest phenomenon.”

I snorted, “Yes, because already being vampires isn’t crazy enough.”

Oak’s tension slowly left his body. He spread his arms wide and shook them out. “Get her clothes; leave her fucking panties for herself.”

Ellis bit his lip.“They are lace and satin.”

“Ellis,” Oak barked out a warning.

“Fine, fine.” He held up his hands. “I’ll let her do it herself.”

And now all I would think about was her underwear drawer, so today should be nice. Nice and fucking uncomfortable. Not like it ever was comfortable to begin with, not since I got roped into coming here and dealing with all this fucking bullshit.

I picked up some bottles on her dresser and tossed them in. “Are we packing for indefinitely or . . . like overnight?”

I knew what I wanted the answer to be, and that made me uncomfortable. Not because I minded my attraction to her. But because I didn’t mind the thought or knowledge that if I acted upon it, I wouldn’t be alone. I had this overwhelming feeling that it was how we were supposed to be, the three of us, even though it had been years since we got along. But when she was near, I felt less . . . inclined to argue and more willing to watch every blink and breath she took.

The door to the bathroom squeaked, and she came into the room wrapped in a towel. Every damn one of us froze, our fingers poised in whatever movement we were about to take before the sight of her nearly naked turned us to complete cave men. Her eyes roamed over each of us, our eyes entirely on her.

“I forgot to grab clothes,” she admitted as we stood immobile, our eyes unblinking. The silence that answered her was heavy. “Okay, well, I’m just going to grab something quick.”

She reached for the drawer that Oak had forbid Ellis from touching before pulling away and walking to her closet and taking out a sundress. On her way out, she opened the drawer, grabbed an article of clothing, and went back to the bathroom. The door slammed hard behind her.

“We are so fucked,” Oak admitted.

“Completely.”

I groaned. How long had it been since I had a nice fucking, anyway? Probably longer than should be humanly possible. Like what? Two weeks at least? “I’m not touching swords with any of you.”

Ellis’ eyebrows arched high. “Where the fuck did that come from?”

“What? We all know it’s either a competition or a group effort. Wine and dine, swoon and moon her? Did I read this wrong?” I asked. I was pretty open. I’d had all the time in the world to be.

Ellis’ palms came to his face, and he scrubbed it hard like he was trying to come to terms with not losing his shit. “He has a fucking point, and I hate to admit it.”