Page 29 of With Us (Next Generation 2)

Meadow

“HOLY FUCK.” SHADE GROANED.“This pizza is amazing.”

I grinned. “I can’t believe you’ve never had it before.”

“No.” Shade glanced at Sunny. “Why is that?”

Sunny shrugged, crossing his legs at his ankles. “You have an obsession with sandwiches. That’s why we’ve never had this pizza before.”

“Fuck me.” Shade groaned again. “I’ve been missing out.”

I laughed. “It’s the only pizza I’ll order.” After it had been delivered, Sunny, Shade, and I grabbed the two pizza boxes and sat on the bed. I couldn’t remember ever spending time with the guys I slept with, but this was nice. My stomach twisted. Nope. Not going there. Things with Ashton had just ended. It wasn’t like we were serious but neither of us could deny that something was starting. I wasn’t stupid. Icouldfall in love with him but he could also break my heart at the same time. It was one reason why I was thankful he had ended it. He was far from ready to settle down. He liked variety and had a hard time being a one-woman man.

“Meadow?”

I jumped, not realizing I had zoned out. “Yeah?”

“You good?” Sunny asked, searching my face. For what, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like I showed my feelings. Ever. Not sinceheripped my heart to shreds and stomped on it in the process.

I cleared my throat, grabbed another slice of pizza and moved farther up the bed. Leaning against the headboard, I took a bite of what was delicious just a moment ago but now tasted like cardboard. I choked down the bite before I answered. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Because I’ve been around long enough to know when a woman says that she’s fine, she’s actually not fine.” Sunny moved closer to me, dropping his arm between us and running the back of his hand along my outer thigh. His fingers pushed the fabric of my dress higher, but he never took it further. He didn’t have to. That small touch alone was enough to shove me over the edge and beg for him to fuck me again.

My skin erupted into goosebumps, but no matter the effect these men had on me, I wouldn’t reveal all of my dark and dirty secrets. Although, I was sure they could figure them out all on their own. It wasn’t like I hadn’t begged for them to rip me apart earlier that evening.

“What’s going on?” Sunny asked softly.

“Nothing.” I finished the slice, wiped my mouth with a napkin and drank the rest of my beer. Shade had quickly gone to the bar, grabbed a few bottles and came back shortly after. I wasn’t sure how many times they had been to this motel but clearly it had been enough for him to just randomly grab beer whenever he wanted.

Shade stood from the bed and walked around it until he was standing directly in front of me. “I think somethingiswrong.” He lifted his hand when I went to speak. “I don’t expect you to tell us everything. It’s not like we’ve known you for long. But you will tell us. How do I know that? Because it’s how you’re wired. As soon as you let someone in, they know every single thing there is to know about you. But you don’t have many people you’ve let in, do you, little lamb?”

I swallowed hard, not liking the turn of events taking place before me.

“Answer him,” Sunny said, his deep voice rumbling through me.

“I…I have best friends.” How the hell could Shade pick me apart like that? And so soon.

“Best friends?” Shade knelt on the bed and crawled toward me. “Do they know you? Truly know you? How about the men you’ve fucked? Didtheyknow you, Meadow?”

Everything inside of me was telling me to run and hide. To get away. To shove Shade to the ground and scream how wrong he was.

But instead of running, I did the opposite. I glared up at him. “What are you getting at? Is this your thing? Both of you fuck a girl and then dig into their head? Find out all their dark and dirty secrets. Secrets that arenotyour business. You’re a biker. Are you a damn shrink too?”

Much to my surprise, Shade wrapped his hands around my ankles and pulled me toward him.

I gasped, slapping my hands against his chest. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You see.” Shade cupped my jaw and turned my head toward Sunny. “He fucked you in front of me. Just the two of you.” His nose brushed up the length of my neck. “Now it’smyturn.”

***

(Sunny)

Maybe I should have stopped it. Maybe I should have shoved Shade off of Meadow and demanded to know what the hell he was doing. I knew things were rocky between us. They had been for the last little while. That’s what happened when you spent so much time with the same person and never talked about what the issue at hand really was. It was like we had fallen into a rut and I had no idea how the hell to get out of it. Although that little piece of shit voice in my head told me what I had to do, I wasn’t sure if either of us were ready for that just yet.

I needed slow. I loved him. I loved him like he was a part of me. But I still needed slow. So instead of pushing him away from Meadow, I sat there and watched.

“Shade,” she whispered, looking up at him and then at me. “I don’t…this isn’t a good idea.”

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