Page 77 of Kings & Carnage

He stood to leave, and even while crampy and on my period, it was impossible not to acknowledge the utter perfection of his tanned face and the perfect body on display in his jeans and T-shirt.

"Totally off topic," I said, “but how long do you think it will take the other houses to find the people involved in the disappearance of the girls?”

He thought about it. "If they work fast? A couple of weeks. But it could also be months. What we’re asking them to do is dangerous and difficult, especially since most of their parents live in other cities. Why?”

I sighed, thinking about Mara, about how complicated it was going to be to manage my life without being able to leave the Kings' house. "I know going back to school was a big deal, but no offense, I'll go crazy if the only place I can go for months is school.”

"I know it sucks," he said, "but it's for your own safety.”

It wasn’t like I could argue the point after what had happened when we'd left the island.

"I know," I said, hearing the dejection in my own voice. "I appreciate it. It's just hard.”

"I'm sorry, kitten." He flashed me another grin. “If it makes you feel any better, we're determined to make it hella fun for you here at the house.”

I laughed again. It was impossible to be depressed in Rock’s presence. "I know all about yourfun. Now get out and let me enjoy my books and food.”

"You're the boss, kitten," he said. "For today anyway."

His implication was clear and I was suddenly counting down the days left on my period.

Because while I didn’t love being bossed around on an everyday basis, when it came to being ordered around by the Kings in bed?

I was all fucking in.

Chapter36

Rock

Iheaded down the stairs back to the kitchen, Willa's question — which amounted to,How long am I going to be trapped in this house? —echoing in my mind.

It was a reasonable question and one we probably hadn't thought about hard enough.

Part of it was because we were so preoccupied with keeping her safe. The other part was that it didn’t seem like a big deal, because whether Willa knew it or not, the same rules didn't apply to us.

Neo, Drago, and I were confident in our ability to protect ourselves and willing to take the risks of leaving the house for a destination other than campus. We’d been having groceries delivered and asking Reva to bring us things, but we'd each been to Blackwell Falls for varying reasons while Willa had been stuck at the house. Not only was it not fair but eventually Willa would get wind of the fact that we weren't subject to the same restrictions, and then all hell would break loose.

"How's she feeling?" Drago asked when I returned to the kitchen.

He was sitting at the island and nursing a beer while Neo moved around in basketball shorts and a wifebeater, making his post-workout smoothie.

"Not great," I said. "Hopefully the tea and Midol will help.”

"And the books," Drago said. "If she's feeling better later we can watch a movie.”

"We can watch that one she likes," Neo said. "The one with the kissing in the rain.”

I did a double take because was this Neo suggesting we watchThe Notebookbecause Willa happened to love it?

He must have caught the shock on my face because his face turned red.

He turned his back on us to pour his smoothie. “I mean, it’s dumb as fuck, but if she likes it…”

"Sounds good," I said, not wanting to put him off by making a big deal out of it. "But in the meantime there’s something else we need to talk about.”

Neo turned around with his smoothie in hand. "Willa?”

Fucker didn't give two shits about anything but himself except when it came to Willa. Then he was all ears.

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