Page 43 of Samhain
“I’ll be the youngest in history,” she said. “Younger than my mother. I have a good shot at winning.”
“We can be discreet, darling.” Miri drifted over to Lex and put her hands on his knees to kiss him, slower and deeper than she had with me, but just as affectionate and thereby making her point. We belonged together—the four of us.
“Can you?” Lex pursed his lips at our princess. “The press follows you the most, and you’ve never been one for monogamy.”
“I can pretend.” Miri gave him a teasing little smile. “Ask your boyfriend. We pretended a lot in Malibu.”
He narrowed his eyes and stabbed out his cigarette, grabbing hers to stab out next. Lex whispered to Miri and grabbed her by the back of her neck, bringing her closer so he could devour her mouth. But I shifted my attention to Ivy, my cheeks heating, my stomach dropping somewhere around my knees.
Miri likely meant the comment to be harmless, and if we’d handled this thing like actual adults instead of burying our heads in the sand, it might have rolled off our backs.
But I saw it in Ivy’s expression—the momentary lapse where her guard was down and all of the emotions from the last two years bled through those steel-gray eyes—the jealousy over Miri and me, the equally intense feelings about her and Lex, the lust and the want and the yearning.
Shit, I’m right here.
“Weeds,” I said in that tone that used to get her to drop to her knees.
Now, it brought her gaze to me, and her shields snapped right back into place. She curled her lips into a fake smile, a version of her mother’s politician grin, and stood, water dripping down the front of her body like Aphrodite in the seas of Olympus. All she need do was beckon, and I’d worship every inch of her.
“I’m exhausted,” she said. “I’m going to bed. You guys hang out a while, okay?”
“X?” Lex grabbed her wrist to stop her, and the intimacy in that tiny connection set me off. The way he said her nickname used to be a taunt, but now it sounded like a term of endearment. Ivy said they weren’t together, not in the way the media made it sound. Only a few times. But I zeroed in on his thumb tracing circles around her pulse point while she talked. That meant more than sex.
“I’m fine, Lucifer,” she said, taking a step away. “Just exhausted. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you guys.”
Their hands slid palm to palm as he let her go. It was a small caress, but it said so much. Years ago, he wouldn’t have dreamed of touching her like that. If he did, she’d yank away from him and snarl something about minding his own business. Now there was tenderness. My own words came back to me from that day in Ireland, when I’d pinned Lex under me and made him helpless to do anything except heed my demands.
Because you love her, I’d told him. And you love me, and you love Miri, and what we have is special, even when you want to destroy it.
I’d made him swear to take care of her, to put her back together again when every instinct in him wanted to tear her apart. In that one touch, that one moment of gentleness, I saw two years of his efforts.
She smiled and kissed Miri’s temple before heading toward her bedroom with barely a passing glance at me.
“We have a lot to talk about tomorrow. Have a good night.” She slid the door shut behind her. Miri and Lex both looked at me, and I glanced between them while I struggled with the urge not to strangle Lex. I’d asked him to take care of her, and he had.
Only a few times.
The visual of him fucking her in Ireland assaulted me, but I quickly brushed it away. I’d fucked Miri, and I’d fucked Lex, and the boundaries between us were blurred from the start.
I should go after Weeds.
But how long after she left would I have to wait before it wasn’t awkward?
“That was an invitation for you to follow if I ever saw one.” Miri nodded toward the door.
I looked at Lex. Was I asking permission? Or was I staking my territory? Fuck, I didn’t know, but did it even matter?
“I told you, Chicago,” he said. “I tried, and I failed. She still wants you.”
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was friendship there now, real friendship, like what I had with Miri.
I ran a hand over the back of my head, considering this. Was that why she’d ignored me the whole night? Was that why she’d barely looked at me? Barely touched me?
I got up and swung my legs over the side of the tub.
“Give us a few,” I said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Agreed,” Lex said.
