Page 31 of Four Love (Ever and Always 2)

“I hope by ‘in’, you mean ready for bed.” Owen grimaced. “I don’t think I’m up for anything else.”

“After all that dancing, and the day we had before I went to work, that actually sounds good.” Lorenzo winced. “Besides, the guys outside still haven’t heard from Trent and I’m starting to get anxious. I’m probably not good for much either. Sorry, Holly.”

“Don’t worry, Owen took care of me.” She grinned.

“Thanks, man.” Lorenzo held his fist out to Owen, who grinned when he bumped it.

“More like she took care of me. I might not get hard again for a month.” He yawned.

They snuggled while Lorenzo did his thing. Holly had finally started to drift off when the bed dipped and Lorenzo burrowed into the spare pillow he’d brought to Owen’s bed before looping an arm around her and cuddling up to her back. He was warm, and clean, and smelled like a blend of vanilla and fresh sawn wood. Last time she’d nearly overdosed on sniffing his hair he’d told her the scent was called cumaru.

She felt so comfy, and…loved that guilt swamped her. “I hope Trent is okay.”

“He’s tougher than he looks.” Lorenzo smiled down at her, though the corners of his mouth were pinched. He placed a kiss on her neck and held her tighter.

She smiled sadly. “That’s got to be good because he looks pretty damn strong to me.”

“Let’s get some sleep and hope he’s home in the morning.” Owen curled his arm, eliminating the gap between her and his chest. “And if not, we’ll talk to the security guys about getting an update, okay?”

“If they don’t know, then we’ll reach out to Ford, assuming he’s not already on it,” Lorenzo added.

“Good plan.” Holly sighed. Despite their reassurances, she was still concerned. She hoped nothing about her kidnapping was coming back to haunt Trent. She’d been so stupid, running like that when she should have stayed and fought for what she wanted.

It was too late to change the past, but she swore to do better in the future, for all their sakes. If Trent or the other guys did something dumb, she’d have to show them they were making a mistake and resist bailing.

With her strategy set out in her mind, it began to quiet enough that she could doze off.

Right before she went under, she had a random thought that just popped out of her mouth. “There’s a farmers’ market every Saturday that has some cool local art I think you might like. If you take me there on a date, I’ll help you pick out some stuff to put on the walls. You know, if you want to make this place more your own, put down some roots…”

Owen hugged her. “Yeah, that sounds nice. And normal. You make me more normal.”

Holly wrinkled her nose. “Ew. The worst thing anyone could ever call me is boring.”

“Oh, I didn’t say that. Get some rest and I’ll show you howexcitingyou are in the morning.”

Lorenzo chuckled. “I’m down for that.”

“Deal. Good night, guys.”

“Night.” Owen kissed her forehead and never once let her go.

From behind her, Lorenzo happy sighed. He whispered in her ear, “You’re so good for us. Thank you.”

She fell asleep with a full heart, even if she was still worried about Trent and what was taking so damn long. If the guys were concerned too, they hid it from her, crisscrossing her with their arms as they drifted off together.

14

Trent slammed the door, then instantly regretted it when he remembered that, unlike him, his roommates had probably gone to bed hours ago. You know, like before it had already started getting light outside and the birds were chirping as if the world hadn’t gone to shit in the past forty-eight hours.

Moose was right there to greet Trent, his tail slapping back and forth like windshield wipers on the deluge setting. “Hey boy. I missed you too. Did you make sure Holly was safe for me? Yes, of course you did. You’re my good boy.”

He ruffled Moose’s ears and the dog stood up, his bear-paws nearly reaching Trent’s shoulders as he tried to lick Trent’s face.

“You going to make out with the dog all day or get your ass in here and tell us what’s going on?” Lorenzo bitched from the direction of Owen’s room. Huh. Trent would bet the millions he probably wasn’t going to have for much longer that Holly was in there with them.

At least one thing was going right.

“You’ve never been a morning person, have you?” he teased as he headed for the open door into his friend’s room.

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