Page 37 of Mastered by Them
“So let me get this straight.” Leah pauses to lick a wayward drip of ice cream from her waffle cone. “You’re now living with Edmund. And Troy.”
“Yes.”
“Well, are you at least making the most of it?” She waggles her eyebrows at me.
“Are you serious right now?” I shove her—gently, so she doesn’t trip.
Blackberry Park’s trails are full of weekend pedestrians. From time to time, Leah and I have to lower our voices so we don’t scandalize other people. Not that much scandal is happening in my life. I haven’t fucked around with Troy or Edmund in a couple of days. I don’t want to make the first move again, but it’s getting hard living with the two of them and not touching them.
Today, the three of us stood in the kitchen waiting for the coffee machine. Neither of the guys had a shirt on. I had to count to three hundred in multiples of six to keep myself from jumping on them.
Leah and I talk about the wedding. We still don’t have a date, but I get the sense that Granddad and the Laytons are discussing it. Hopefully, Granddad’s trying to put it off. He’ll give me more time. If they can just get rid of Vorsong Circle, the marriage won’t be necessary.
“When are you dress shopping again?” Leah finishes her ice cream and smacks her lips. “I want to be there this time.”
“Soon, maybe? I don’t know, everything’s up in the air.” My voice breaks. Shit. What’s wrong with me?
“Hey.” She wraps her arm around my shoulders and leads me to a bench in the shade. “Come here. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, I’m a wreck. It’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. Tell me. Whatever it is, just tell me.”
I look at my friend’s kind face, at her understanding smile. “I haven’t been sleeping. Lots of nightmares. And the guys comfort me each time. But now they aren’t touching me or romancing me or anything.”
“I thought you were mad at Edmund and you didn’t want that?”
“Like I know what I want?”
She laughs, but she tightens her hold so I can’t stomp off. “I think you do know what you want, but you’re afraid to ask for it. And I don’t blame you—this is a weird-ass situation and you’re just doing the best you can, you know?”
I shrug. Maybe I am afraid to ask.
One thing’s for sure—I’m tired of floating around, waiting for whatever comes next.
I already know the answer, but I have to ask her again. “Leah, you’re happy with Dmitri and Gage. Two guys. Right?”
“It’s pure bliss.”
That’s what I want. Unfortunately, it looks impossible from where I’m standing.
Troy
Samuel Grinnote has always struck me as too easygoing for someone in the police force who is also on the Layton Family payroll. Seems to me he should be nervous all the time, looking over his shoulder.
But no, he’s cool as anything at his family barbecue when Edmund and I drop by.
“Come in, come in.” He opens the door wearing swim trunks and a Hawaiian print shirt, unbuttoned to show off his trim physique. Sunglasses are perched on his head of blond hair. “My dad’s grilling in the back. You guys want a burger?”
“Nah, we can’t stay long,” Edmund says. “You said you wanted to tell us something?”
“Yeah. Out here, though. My wife will kill me if I leave the party too long.” Grinnote leads us through a generically nice house and into a generic back yard. The American dream, complete with wife, kids, and a golden retriever.
“Sure you don’t want something to eat? You look like you could use a burger or three.” Grinnote eyes me up and down. “I bet you need twenty-thousand calories a day just to survive.”
Funny. Not. I don’t smile.
Grinnote sighs. He’s used to me not engaging. “Fine, yeah. Business as usual. So, you know the Vorsongs are moving in? Well, we think your new friends are stirring up trouble on purpose.”
