Page 125 of Wicked Games

I’m going to miss this version of Killian when he goes back to being the antagonistic stepbrother whose dick I can’t get enough of.

Just then, I hear my own voice coming out of Jace’s phone. It’s muffled and tinny because it was in my pocket, but my words are clear, and all three men are howling with laughter when Jace shuts his phone down and slips it away.

“Absolute perfection,” Jace says. “Like my brother said, ten out of ten. No notes.”

I try not to smile too wide at the praise and sneak a look at Killian. He’s smiling and his eyes are bright with amusement.

“Remind me to use you as my attack dog more often,” he says with a grin. “That was savage.”

“Just calling it like I see it.” I glance between him and the door. “How the hell did you put up with her for three months? I can’t spend three minutes around her without weighing the pros and cons of catching a murder charge.”

“Lots of dissociating and pretending to pay attention.” He pulls me against him and leans back against the sofa.

“I’m going to make your dress down of her my new ringtone,” Jace says. “And I’m definitely going to listen to it at least a hundred more times because that was epic.”

“I’m making it my alarm,” Jax adds. “Hell, right now I wish I had any sort of musical talent because I’d remix the shit out of that and play it on a loop to go to sleep.”

My cheeks warm at their words, and I allow myself to relax and lean against Killian’s strong body. I have no idea what the hell is going on or why they’re being so nice, but I’m going to enjoy it while I can.

27

KILLIAN

Felix is subduedon the plane ride home, and he only gets quieter after we land and pack up the car. I don’t like it, but other than demanding he tell me what’s wrong, I don’t know how to help him.

I know he’s not a big fan of being home, and he really hates any sort of family gathering, so Thanksgiving being at our parents’ house this year is probably stressing him out.

And he’s also dealing with the comedown from the molly. The crash can be rough and mess with your emotions, especially if you’re not used to it.

All of that explains why he’s acting this way, but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Instead of trying to push him into talking, I do my best to give him some space while still keeping him in my orbit and not letting him out of my sight.

At least he’s not pulling away from me physically and spent most of the flight, and now the car ride, pressed up against my side.

“What the fuck?” Xave says from the driver’s seat about two seconds before Jace, who’s sitting shotgun, says, “Motherfucker.”

“What?” the rest of us chorus from the back of the car as Xave slows down.

I lean around Xave’s seat so I can see out the windshield. The road ahead of us is blocked by a fallen tree.

“Was there a storm recently?” I ask as Xave brings the car to a stop.

“No,” Jace and Jax say together.

“I double checked before we left. The last time it even rained was a week ago,” Jax adds.

“How long do you think it’s been there?” Felix asks from beside me.

“No clue.” Xave unclicks his seatbelt. “Depends on if anyone called it in or not.”

The road we’re on is an old back highway that’s barely used anymore, which is one of the reasons we always take it instead of the main highway when we’re going to or from the airport. There’s never any traffic on it, and no cops patrol it, so there’s no one to enforce the posted speed limits.

Because of this, there’s a chance the tree has been there for a few days and no one reported it, but that doesn’t explain how it fell if there hasn’t been a storm or even strong winds in a week.

The rest of us also undo our seatbelts, and we all step out of the car and walk up to the tree.

It’s not massive or anything, but it’s big enough there’s no way we can move it without a truck or something to do the heavy lifting.

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