Page 74 of Devoted

My car door opened, making me jump. “Shit, sorry. Must’ve been sat here for longer than I realised.”

“Nah, I just move fast.” Zeke held out his hand. “Come on. It’s not as intimidating as it looks, I promise.”

I might’ve believed him if it weren’t for what I spotted as soon as I got out the car. To the right-hand side of the house was a triple garage. Lined up outside of that were several classic cars. I had no idea what makes they were, but they had to be expensive.

Which begged the question—if those were the cars left outside, what kind of cars were inside the garage?

“You obviously don’t need to worry about crime here.”

“Nope,” Zeke said, getting my case and bag from the boot. “Like I said, you’ll be safe here.”

He came to join me and realised why I’d made that comment. “Oh, Theo’s cars. I’d say he’s compensating for having a tiny dick, but unfortunately I know that’s not the case.”

My gut twisted. “Because you’ve slept with him?”

“Fuck no.” Zeke looked almost green. “Theo is like a brother to me. A very irritating little brother who needs to learn boundaries. And remember to put clothes on before he saunters through the house with his dick out.”

The knot loosened.

“I’ve not slept with anyone inside these walls,” Zeke said, dropping his voice low. “They’re my family.”

I ducked my head, mortified. “You don’t need to explain or justify anything, Zeke. It’s fine.”

He put my case down, his big hands cupping my face. “It’s not fine if it makes you uncomfortable, Sam. Your happiness is all I care about.”

I searched his face, trying to understand this enigma of a man. “But why?”

His eyes crinkled. “Because I like you, Sam. I want you to be mine, and being mine means me making you happy.”

Zeke was saying everything I’d longed to hear from him, but right now, it was too much. There was a buzzing in my head that was getting louder. The aftereffects of the adrenaline rush from earlier were all too recognisable. I was going to crash soon, and crash hard.

Hopefully I could be away from Zeke before that happened. He might have thought he was ready for everything my brain could throw at him, but I didn’t want him dealing with that.

Not yet at least. I’d shown enough of my crazy for one night.

“Come on,” Zeke said, releasing me. “Let’s get you inside and up to bed. You look exhausted.”

I nodded mutely, unable to summon any words. As I trailed up the stairs after him—yes, fuckingstairsleading to the door—I groaned inwardly as I realised I couldn’t collapse yet. Zeke had a lot of housemates. Housemates who were probably waiting to meet the person who was encroaching on their space for the next week.

Housemates who’d come to my aid earlier. I needed to thank them. I couldn’t walk in there mute and unmasked. That’d be a terrible first impression.

Summoning the dregs of energy I had left, I plastered a smile on my face.Hold it together for five minutes, then you can excuse yourself and fall apart.

But when Zeke opened the tall front door, we were greeted by nothing but silence.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, stepping into what could only be described as a lobby. There was a marble table in the centre, on top of which stood a beautiful arrangement of flowers. Various pieces of art covered the walls, while the space was lit by an elaborate chandelier.

“In their own rooms,” Zeke said, making a beeline for the sweeping staircase. “I texted them when you were packing your things and told them to make themselves scarce.”

Would his thoughtfulness ever stop astonishing me? “You didn’t need to do that.”

“Trust me, I did. You need to be firing on all cylinders before dealing with that lot.”

I huffed a laugh as I joined him on the stairs. “That’s not scary at all.”

“It’s not, I promise. They’ll all be lovely and accommodating…” He smirked at me over his shoulder. “But they’ll also be nosy and interfering and probably fuss over you like a brood of hens.”

“Great.” I tried to muster up a smile but all I achieved was a grimace. “I’ll look forward to it.”

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