Page 74 of Overexposed

“Technically I believe the Langelang Giant Cucumber is sliced to make pickles so he’s not totally wrong,” Ollie offered thoughtfully, making me grin. “And those can grow up to twelve inches long.” Then he winked, and my pussy throbbed. Crap, I had itbadfor Olivier Griffiths.

“Would you two shut the fuck up about vegetables?” Seven exploded, throwing his hands in the air, his face red with anger.

I squinted at him, pursing my lips. “You must be a carnivore. This hatred toward vegetables isn’t necessary, Spawn. They never did anything to hurt you.”

Gem snickered, grinning like he was really enjoying himself as he extended a hand to me. Before I could take it, Ollie grabbed me around the waist and sat the both of us down in an oversized armchair together.

“There was that one time with the carrot—” Gem started to say with a sly look.

“Shut the fuck up, Gemini,” Seven hissed.

My lips parted with a question burning the tip of my tongue, but Ollie squeezed my hip, silently telling me not to ask. Well, fuck, now I was extra curious what’d happened with the carrot.

“You,” Seven said, redirecting the conversation back to me, “need to explain why the fuck you thought it was okay to justdisappearfrom a party where you knew no one and had no mode of transport.”

I tilted my head, eyeing him with curiosity. “Were you worried?”

His face darkened and he spluttered. “Absolutely not. Why the fuck would I worry? But our agreement?—”

“Was done. I attended the premiere, arrived at the party, posed for pictures. You ditched me, remember?This isn’t a date, Stray. Ring any bells? The way I figured, we were done for the night. Don’t worry. I won’t charge past nine.”

His jaw tensed, the muscle of his cheek twitching. “That’s not the point.”

“Spell it out for me, Demon Spawn. What exactlyisthe point you’re trying to make? Because I had a whole bucket load to drink as well as several orgasms, so I’mtired. Hurry up and say what you wanna say so I can go home.”

Ollie’s arms tightened around me when I said that, like he didn’t want to let me go home. As tempting as it was to propose a sleepover, that was taking things far too quick for my liking. Threesomes? Fine. Sleepovers? Whoa, baby, pump the breaks.

Seven glared at me for the longest time, then folded his arms once more. “We can discuss it when you’re of clearer mind. There’s no point trying to talk sense when you’re so obviously intoxicated.”

The way he said it was so incredibly condescending, there was no way he wasn’t trying to pick a fight. Like he was deliberately pushing buttons to see what might blow up.

Well, sucks to suck because I was more than fine with that decision.

“Okay, suits me,” I said with a yawn. “Can one of you boys drop me home? My date unfortunately lost his manners somewhere along Sunset Boulevard and I seem to be stranded.”

Ollie chuckled and Gem grinned, while Seven seemed to have steam coming out his ears.

“I’ll drive you,” Gem offered, already getting to his feet. “Ollie has to be up for an eight a.m. press junket.”

Ollie groaned, hugging me against him as he buried his face in my wet hair. “Not fair,” he complained, but reluctantly let me go when Gem offered me his hand.

“This conversation isn’t over, Stray,” Seven called after us, like it was his one last effort to pick a fight.

I snorted a laugh. “Try harder, loser. I’m way too high on dopamine right now.”

The amusement carried me all the way out to the garage, where Gem led me over to a modest little Honda Civic. As he opened the passenger door, he said, “I don’t like to get noticed.”

An unfamiliar affection rippled through me. “You also don’t have dick envy,” I murmured, pushing up on my toes to nuzzle a kiss to his jaw. “So I like it.”

His snort of laughter was real, and I loved the way he seemed to light up. “What am I going to do with you, Slick?”

I winked as I climbed into the offered passenger seat. “Apparently, pretty much whatever you want. Why? Am I boring you?”

“Not a chance in hell,” he promised, then shut the door before he circled to the driver’s side. When he held out his hand again, I set mine in his. He didn’t move so much as dip his head to kiss my knuckles, then he locked eyes with me.

“Address?”

There was a downbeat and an upbeat before laughter rippled out of me.

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