Page 105 of Mates: Posy

"Anytime, pup."

He gave me a noogie, and I shoved him away with a scowl.

"Now how about a shower?" he asked. "I'll go grab some fresh clothes for you and a new shirt for me and be back in a minute."

"Okay. Kiss Posy's cheek for me." An image filled my mind and I smiled. "They're perfect, though, aren't they?"

"What are?"

"Posy's pretty nipples."

"You douche!" He scowled at me. "I didn't need a second boner tonight."

Glancing at the growing tent in his boxers, I burst out laughing.

"Looks like you're taking a shower, too, bro." I smirked at him. "A cold one."

#

Posy

I woke up the next morning with something hard poking my thigh, and I pushed myself up on my elbow to investigate. I slid my hand down Ash's abdomen and under the sheet to see what had ended up in bed with us, but Ash caught my wrist and drew my hand up to his chest.

"Sorry, princess," Ash muttered.

"What is that?" I whispered, aware the others were still sleeping.

"Um, so my brothers will probably want to be part of this discussion, so let's postpone it for now."

I was confused.

"Did I— Did I do something wrong?"

"No, baby." He grinned at me. "You're too perfect, that's all. Listen, don't worry about it. Like I said, we'll talk about it later. Trust me, all right?"

"Okay." My brain woke up and had questions. "Are you always the first one awake?"

"Almost always, just like Wyatt is usually the last one. You're an early riser, too?"

"It became a habit over the years," I murmured.

I didn't want to go into details about how Father forcibly woke me up before dawn most days. Ash was perceptive, though.

"He made you, didn't he? And I bet he didn't do it in a nice, fatherly way, either." A frown darkened his face. "What did he do to you?"

"Let's not talk about it. It's in the past. I just want to forget it."

"Remember we talked about triggers? I don't want to do anything to trigger you, and I know my brothers feel the same way. It hurts us when we see you panic like last night."

"I'm sorry! I didn't—"

"No, Posy, no one is mad. No one is upset with you. You're not in trouble. We just want to help. If you're not comfortable telling us, that's okay, too."

"I don't think any of you would ever do the things he did," I hedged.

"At least give us some idea of hownotto wake you up," Jayden said, startling me.

I hadn't realized he was awake.

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