“I’m good,” she says, pulling away from me and walking over to him. She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes once.
“Absolutely famished, though.” Peeking over at the rising dough, she shoots me a furtive look. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It is. Kai helped me.”
She looks over at him and gives him a shy smile. “Thanks for staying the night. I don’t think I’ve slept that well in… years.”
Kai looks at me, as if he’s making sure her words aren’t affecting me negatively. But I can’t deny that I slept like a baby, too.
“Same,” I say quickly, walking over to Sophie and placing an arm around her waist. If he’s feeling like an outsider, I’m going to need to make more of an effort to include him. And that means not hiding my feelings, not shying away from saying what I’m thinking. “What are your plans today?”
Kai looks at Sophie, who looks at me. I smile down at her, and her eyes glitter with amusement.
“I don’t have plans. I can let Willy’s sitter know I’ll be home later.”
“Willy’s more spoiled than I am. I didn’t know that was possible,” I say offhand, smirking.
Sophie snorts as she shifts her weight, putting one hand on her hip as she looks at Kai. “Well, now you do have plans. With us.”
Kai looks between us again, nodding once before crossing his arms. “Okay. And what would these plans entail?”
Smirking, I look down at Sophie. “Well, usually we just hang out and watch movies, in case she gets another flare, so it won’t be terribly exciting or anything?—”
“Count me in,” he says, walking over to the kettle. “Tea?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
THE INSECURITY
Malakai
“Let me tell you, a paddle in the right hands is practically a truth serum.”
I smirk as I sip my whiskey. Orion is recounting some salacious detail between him and Layla, our stepsister and his girlfriend. Letting the whiskey settle against my tongue, I savor the burn before swallowing.
It’s been a week since I spent the night at Ashford Palace, and since then, I haven’t seen Julian or Sophie. It’s not for lack of trying—Sophie was busy getting the keys to the retail space, and Julian was out of town until returning late last night. We’d all been texting, and we had plans to hang out tomorrow night at their house. No pressure, but I knew what I wanted to happen.
Orion leans back in his chair, a smug glint in his eye.
Miles, who is seated across from us, snorts as he sips his whiskey. “Paddling? I dunno, I don’t really understand the whole punishment thing. I’d rather just skip to the fun part,” he adds, swirling his drink idly as his lips curve into a wry smile.
“Thatisthe fun part,” Orion says, rolling his eyes. “The buildup, the tension, the sweet satisfaction of breaking her resolve…”
“That’s all you, bro. I don’t need Stella to beg for it,” he adds, his lips form a cocky grin.
Chase huffs a laugh next to me, nearly choking on his red wine. “That’s a shame. You don’t know what you’re missing,” he adds, wiggling his brows at Orion as they high-five each other.
Liam clears his throat from his place at the end of the table. “You know, I think I’m with Miles on this one. I don’t like punishment. Pleasure can be just as potent as pain if you know what you’re doing. No rules or games. Just pure, unfiltered indulgence.” He takes a swig of his beer as he leans back.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Orion asks, his smirk sharpening.
I chuckle under my breath, setting my glass on the table in front of me. “I think we all know that Liam’s idea of control is letting Zoe make him think he’s in control.”
Liam chuckles, completely unbothered as the eldest brother. He’s used to our teasing and camaraderie.
“Hey, it’s worked pretty well for me so far.”
“Amateurs,” Orion mutters, sharinga lookwith Chase. Miles lifts his glass to Liam and they clink their drinks together in a mock toast.
