Page 22 of Escape From Me

“So, prince asshole, you first, k?”

The way he cocked his brow had my body growing warm all over again. Sore or not, the idea of staying in bed in a little bubble of fantasy sounded great. I knew that fantasy would have to wait though when my stomach rumbled again.

“Guess someone worked up an appetite,” X said, but Zeid ignored him. He took the plate from me and pushed me forward.

“Not a chance, dove. I’m feeding you.”

The entire room was silent.

The tink, tink of forks scraping the large plates of eggs and the bacon crackling on a burner behind the guy named Cas were literally the only sounds.

“And I thought my house was quiet,” I mumbled.

That was all it took for everyone in the room to start laughing and doing what I could only assume was normal things, like Cas gave Rylee a kiss and X grabbed another bite of bacon from Cali’s plate. She swatted at his shoulder and he pulled her into his lap.

The girls looked similar to me, leggings and hoodies far too big to be ours. Cali had the coolest color of teal hair I’d ever seen. Rylee’s hair was in a messy bun and might have looked more like medusa than it looked like she brushed it.

“Come on, dove, sit with me.”

I hadn’t paid any attention to what Zeid was doing.

“Sure. Okay. Is every morning like this?” I asked the question as I continued to study the shirtless guys. In my house this would have gotten you kicked out and no meals for the rest of the week. Not that I’d ever tried. I wore the day dress picked out for me. I let the maid do my hair however my mother dictated. My makeup was always just right. All before I was served a perfectly curated breakfast that would ensure I wouldn’t get fat, which was defined by my mother as anything more than starved.

My mouth watered at the smells in this house. When was the last time I’d been given bacon?

Zeid pulled out a chair at a smaller table and I was thankful that it wasn’t a damn barstool. Still, I sat gingerly on the chair. And I’d thought walking caused a bit of tenderness.

“What’s wrong there, no-name girl. Our Zeid rock your world last night so much that you can’t sit over here?” A slap cracked over X’s shoulder as Cali shut him up.

I didn’t mind it though because something about it all just seemed like a family.

Zeid reached for me and slid me onto his lap, careful of my sore body.

“He doesn’t deserve an answer, Daisy.”

“Ah, it’s Daisy. Nice to meet you, oh tamer of the Zeid.”

Zeid flipped off X, and that damn smile seemed to be finding a permanent home on my face.

“Uh… well… crudely as you put it, X, I’d say it’s a combination of some hardware and well… I mean look at the guy.”

“Wait, what? What hardware?” Rylee’s voice nearly screeched.

“It’s always the quiet ones, I swear, Rylee. I told you he’d be the one to be all wild and crazy.”

As I watched Cas grab Rylee and X pull Cali to him, I moaned as Zeid placed a small bit of the bacon on my tongue.

“Why are you two talking about my dick anyway?” Zeid asked, breaking through my bacon-induced haze.

I wanted to hear this, because I’d read too many books and needed to know if there was something I was missing.

Zeid turned my legs over his lap and held out a fork with a bite of pancake.

“Eat, dove. You look like you haven’t had a meal in a decade.”

My jaw dropped, but he just shoved the damn bite into my mouth.

“Geez, Zeiden. You can’t blame us for wondering exactly what you were hiding. Hell, Rylee and I were trying to figure out which way you swing. Thanks for answering a few questions all at once.”

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