by Marie James
When he leaves, I have to spend a few moments longer in the empty patient room getting myself together before heading straight to the dressing room for a shower and a quick change of clothes.
Chapter 25
Samson
I have purposely been around groups of people all day. I know the second I get a moment alone; my cock is coming out. Cam left me in such a state, I had to dart into a bathroom right after getting off the elevator before leaving the hospital. A couple of ice-cold splashes of water on the face only calmed me enough to get to my truck, all the while grateful I didn’t ride my bike to the hospital.
“What are you doing?”
I jump like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Well, it looks much the same, only my hand is in the plastic bulk container of Durex condoms.
“When did you get so nosy?” I ask as I stuff my pockets full before pulling out a twenty-dollar bill and tossing it onto the stack of cash already inside the old cigar box in the closet.
“Too lazy to go the store on your own?” Lawson asks when I close the supply closet door.
“Why would I bother going to the store when there’s everything I need here?”
“So you gave up on Camryn and are planning a wild night out?”
He waggles his eyebrows, and I immediately regret that he’s no longer the broody asshole who keeps to himself. His interest in everything and everyone around here has grown by leaps and bounds since he and Delilah got serious, but we shouldn’t have to suffer his interrogations because of it.
“It’s none of your business, but if you must know, I’m planning a wild couple of nights in with Camryn.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Delilah asks as she walks around bouncing a whimpering Amelia in her arms.
“Samson was just telling me about his plans tonight with Camryn.” Lawson slaps me on the back before settling on the couch.
“Does Cam know about these plans?”
“Ha ha.” I narrow my eyes at my sister, but I can’t really be mad at her teasing, not when she’s being so sweet and helping with the baby.
Chancing a look over at Lawson, he has the softest smile on his face, and tiny little babies dancing in his ice-blue eyes.
“You knock her up before she finishes college and our dads will kill you.”
Lawson smiles wide, hearing me but not taking his eyes off my sister. The smile hints at knowing something I don’t know.
I slap him in the chest with the back of my hand. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I caught Dad talking to Pop about transforming the downstairs guest bedroom into a nursery this winter. Overheard them saying it’s going to happen eventually, and they might as well be ready for it.”
“Is she already pregnant?” I hiss, but my heart pounds faster, knowing how happy I’d be for them to have a baby. I don’t think I ever want children myself, but I’ll make an amazing uncle.
“Not yet,” he winks at me before turning his eyes back to Delilah.
“Are you trying?” I snap my head back wondering why the fuck I just asked that. It’s such an intimate question, and fuck, it’s my sister I’m asking about. “Forget I asked.”
“She’s been begging. I think she got baby fever after Amelia was born,” he continues, undeterred even though I told him never mind. “I think it’s best for her to wait until we’re married and she graduates, but she’s relentless.”
“Dude.” I scrunch my nose. “I don’t want to hear this shit.”
“Not relentless at that.” He rolls his eyes. “Just talking about it. She’s been all over Pinterest, making baby boards and reading books about being pregnant. I think that’s enough for now, but fuck I want to marry the woman first.”
“So you don’t want kids because of how you grew up?”
He shakes his head, and I feel like a complete asshole for bringing up his past. It’s not my business how the man was raised, just that he treats my sister right.
“No, man. I want a house full, and so does she, but I don’t want to fuck anything up.”
“You guys won’t fuck it up, no matter what order things happen in. I’m sure of that.”
“Thanks, Samson.” His eyes find mine. “That means a lot.”
“You didn’t answer me,” Delilah whispers as she lowers the sleeping baby into the swing. She joins us after Amelia is safely buckled in and the swing is rocking gently back and forth. “Does Camryn know you guys have plans?”
“As a matter of fact, she does.” A smug smile is in place as I lean back further on the sofa.
“No,” Delilah says, but a sweet smile is on her face. “You managed to convince that woman to go out with you?”
“Not only go out with me. We’re together.”
“Like together together, or like hooking up?”
“Together,” I clarify.
Gigi joins us, first checking on the baby before dropping into the recliner. She tucks her legs under her small frame.
“You okay?” Delilah asks.
“I will be. They’re on their way home.”
An extra sigh of relief washes over us as Griffin and Ivy walk through the front door.
“Hey,” Ivy says to Delilah. “I went looking for you at your house, but your dad mentioned something about you not darkening their door in days.”
Delilah’s cheeks flush crimson, and her eyes dart to Lawson. It’s clear that she wants him to take the lead on this one.
“We’ve been staying in one of the empty rooms over here,” Lawson says without missing a beat. “And don’t believe everything the man says. We had dinner over there last night, and we brought them lunch earlier today.”
“So that’s why you were creeping in the hallway earlier,” I tell him with a grin.
“I sure as hell wasn’t raiding the condom stash,” Lawson tosses back at me.
“Dude. Bro-code?”
“Did you finally give up on Cam?” Ivy asks as Griffin settles on the sofa and pulls her into his lap.
A chuckle rings from the other side of the room, and Ivy’s eyes snap to Delilah’s. “You didn’t! Did you trick her?”
If it were the guys ribbing me, I might consider grabbing my cock and telling them exactly what got Camryn over to my way of thinking, but even imagining saying that to them feels wrong. Any other girl, maybe, but not Cam.
“I didn’t trick her. She just came to her senses. I’m a great catch.”
Another laugh echoes around the room, but I can tell it’s all done in good fun. My sister watches me with a sweet smile on her lips, so I wink at her to let her know that things are finally right in my world.
“I want to go somewhere for a few days,” Griffin says out of the blue. “Think you guys want to like caravan someplace.”
“I’m not staying in a tent in the middle of summer,” Delilah says as she scrunches her nose.
“Not camping,” Griffin clarifies. “Just like to Vegas or something for a few days.”
I don’t miss the way Lawson and Delilah look at each other.
“I don’t think Vegas is a good idea.”
“I think Jameson would love a few days in Vegas,” Gigi adds.
“No.” I stand in the middle of the group, taking my time to glare at every damn one of them. “The parental units would go nuts. If we go to Vegas, I know each and every damned one of you will come back married.”
Delilah bites her lips while Lawson buries his face in her hair. Griffin whispers something in Ivy’s ear that makes her cheeks flare, but it’s Gigi who finally speaks up.
“Well, they expect it from me.”
The entire group laughs at her honesty.
The front door opens, and seven Cerberus members walk inside. The atmosphere changes the second the front door closes, and we all know that the mission they were sent on wasn’t successful. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen, we know that these guys need their space.
“Delilah?” Gigi squeaks when James
on strolls across the room and picks her up without a word.
“I’ll watch her,” Delilah agrees immediately.
The other guys split off, each heading for their own rooms, but before long they’ll be tired of hearing their own breathing and will be out here ready to deal with things how they see fit.
Lawson stands the second Delilah is off his lap and helps her gather all the things they’ll need for Amelia.
“Why don’t we head out to the pool?” I ask. It’s still several hours before Cam gets off work.
“Too hot for the baby,” Lawson says.
“We can go to the inside pool,” I offer.
Everyone nods in agreement and leaves the clubhouse. This is their space, and they’re going to need every inch of it tonight.
The conversation picks right back up when we get inside the air-conditioned indoor pool, but thankfully, my friends admit that being in Vegas would be too tempting for them. We settle on Colorado Springs since it’s slightly closer and there are a ton of things to do there. Now I just have to convince my girl to go with me.
Chapter 26
Camryn
Exhaustion doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel when I clomp up the stairs to my apartment. My single-minded focus is on figuring out what exactly is going on with Charli. Even though I don’t want to get in the middle of what’s going on between her and Dr. Hunter, she’s my best friend, and I can’t allow her to be upset.
Running through my head how I want to start our conversation, I’m shocked and confused when I open the door to find Samson on the couch, running a hand in circles over Charli’s back. I’d forgotten I demanded that he be here when I got off work, but the sight of him comforting my crying friend is just one more reason I know agreeing to try things with him was a good decision.
“Oh, hey,” Charli says, looking up from her lap. She dashes tears away from under her eyes and gives me a fake smile. “Samson was just—”
When I smile back at her, she stops speaking. She knows she doesn’t have to explain anything to me. I don’t have trust issues, and I’m not quick to jump to conclusions. Why would I? They’re fully clothed, and Samson looks so lost on what to do, I know he has to be uncomfortable while she cries.
Samson looks from me to my friend before turning his eyes back to me again.
“I should give you ladies time to talk.”
I’m nodding my head in agreement when Charli grabs his arm to keep him from standing.
“You stay. I’m going to head to my room. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”
Her voice is low, filled with the evidence of her pain, and she doesn’t look my way when she walks past toward her room. I suddenly feel like the biggest jerk. When we spoke after Dr. Hunter left our apartment, she made it seem like it was just some quick fun. Clearly, there’s more to it than that, and I not only need to apologize, but I need to make sure she’s alright.
“I’m going to go,” Samson says, standing from the couch and closing the distance between us.
“I have to talk to her.” He nods in understanding before brushing his lips against mine. “But I don’t want you to leave either.”
“No?”
I shake my head and lean in closer to his chest. He smells amazing of course, and it only makes it harder when I have to take a step back from him.
“Maybe watch some TV or something for a while?”
“I can do that. Take all the time you need, baby. I’ll still be here when you’re done.”
“Thank you.” He is the sweetest guy, and I’m grateful for the way his parents raised him. “I won’t be long.”
He kisses me one more time, a mere brush of his lips on mine that makes me reluctant once again to turn away from him. I do, though. Charli is a mess, so I grab a bag of candy and a bottle of wine from the kitchen before heading toward her room. I don’t bother with glasses, knowing we’ll be fine just drinking from the bottle.
“Knock, knock,” I say as I open her door.
She may not answer if I knock and wait. She has to know I was going to speak with her, but she’s the type to put things off, thinking she’ll be fine on her own, never wanting to burden anyone, but the tears in front of my boyfriend are a huge red flag that things are bad for her right now.
Walking in her room and seeing her face down with her head buried under a pillow guts me. Charli doesn’t get this way with guys. At least, I’ve never seen it before if she has. When she’s done with a guy, she walks away. When her player radar is on the fritz, and the guy shuns her after hooking up, she uses her wily woman powers to remind him what he’s missing, gets her fill, then walks away. Crying isn’t Charli.
After placing the bottle of wine and candy on her bedside table, I sit on the edge of her bed and give her a shove. Samson was trying to help earlier but rubbing her back and comforting her isn’t the way to go. Charli is an amazingly strong woman, and it’ll take being reminded of that to get her out of this funk.
“Hey.” I shove her again when she doesn’t respond. “I brought candy and wine.”
“Chocolate?” The word is muffled, but I understand her.
“Yep.”
“Butterfinger bites or dark Hershey Kisses?” She turns her head slightly to ask.
“Not going to tell you. Have to turn over and talk to me to find out.”
“I don’t want to talk.” If she could sink any lower in the bed, she would.
Her body stiffens when I rattle the bag more than necessary to get it open.
“I hate you,” she grumbles as she turns over, situating her back against her headboard.
She swipes the opened piece of candy from my hand before I can pop it in my mouth.
Her face is still stained with her tears, but when she smiles to tease me as she chews the chocolate, it finally reaches her eyes. See? Chocolate fixes everything.
“You’re supposed to suck on it until it melts,” I chastise as I grab another dark Kiss from the bag.
“That’s what he said.” She manages a snort of laughter.
She’s not back one hundred percent, but she’ll get there.
I offer the next opened piece of candy before attempting to open one for myself. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Probably not.” She takes a deep breath and looks past me toward her open closet door.
“I didn’t figure.”
After managing to get a piece of chocolate in my own mouth, I pull the cork out of the bottle of wine and offer it to her.
“What did I do to deserve you?”
“Let me use your notes in BioChem after I was out all week with the flu.”
“That was a shitty semester,” she recollects, grabbing another candy from the bag.
“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but please let me know you’ll be alright.”
“I’m fine,” she assures me, but she guzzles the wine, some trickling out of the corner of her mouth before she finally lowers it. “Got a few things to work out, but I will.”
My fingers toy with the metallic wrapper, spreading it out and folding before doing it all over again.
“Did Samson leave?” I shake my head. “Then why are you in here with me when you could be getting dirty with him?”
“I feel bad,” I begin. “You’re super sad, and it would make me a shitty friend if I went in there and banged my headboard on your wall while you’re upset.”
The laugh that escapes her throat is real. It’s the same loud, boisterous sound that she uses when she’s most happy, so when she narrows her eyes and tells me to take my man for a test drive before she does, I actually listen to her. She insists that I leave the wine, but she does allow me to take a small handful of Kisses to share with Samson.
Frowning when I don’t see him in the living room, I look out the window. I head back to my room when I don’t see his motorcycle outside, only to find him asleep in my bed. Soft breaths escape his parted lips, and my blanket is tugged up over his hips,
but his bare chest calls to me. I should let the man sleep, and he can. That is if my lips on his stomach don’t wake him. Before lowering myself over his body, I place the handful of Kisses on the bedside table. We’ll have those for dessert as soon as I’m done making a meal out of him.
As I lower my mouth to his ridiculously defined abs, I wonder if he’s completely naked under the blanket. His pile of clothes must be on the other side of the bed because I don’t see them when I pull back and look around.
Opting to run my nose along the dips and lines on his torso rather than my tongue, I smile against his skin when the muscles jump and bunch.
“You’re gonna make my dick hard.” The rasp of his voice will never get old.
“Are you challenging me?”
“There’s no challenge.”
I dip my tongue over his bellybutton and look up at him.
“How is your friend?” With softness and caring in his eyes, he cups my jaw, running his thumb in a soothing circle on my cheek.
It’s sweet things like this that are going to make me fall for this man. My face is inches away from his manhood, and yet, he’s asking about Charli with genuine concern on his face.
“She’ll be okay. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on.”
“She wouldn’t tell me, either. I don’t know if a relative died, or if she lost a patient at work or something. She just opened the door when I knocked and went back to the couch. She was sobbing before I could even get across the room to her. I only got here a few minutes before you did.”
“I think it has to do with man trouble.” I scrunch my nose, wondering if I said too much. I’m not certain about the friend/boyfriend rules. I’ve never been in a position where I wanted to talk to the guy I was sleeping with about anything that bothered me, much less anything concerning my friends.
“Well,” he sits up, reaching down and grabbing me under my arms before slowly dragging me up his body, “I promise never to make you cry like that over me.”
“That’s a big promise.”
“And one I plan to keep.”
“Do you tell things like this to all the girls you date?”
