Page 9 of Siren

Saxton snorted. “That’s nothing that a phone call from your dad can’t fix.”

I grinned. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”

“Where is Fox, by the way?” Sutton asked. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Not sure,” I answered honestly. “He left this morning, and I haven’t heard from him.”

“I saw him in passing earlier,” Ross supplied. “But we didn’t talk. We were trying to get to class.”

“Speaking of getting to class, I need coffee if I’m going to make it through the day,” I announced. “It’s been a rough couple of days.” Looking at Saxton, I added, “Hey, and thank your dad for me. I know he’s throwing his weight around and keeping the media away.”

Saxton winked at me. “Will do.” I smiled, but that quickly faded when he added, “Don’t think you’re getting out of my lecture.”

Before I could head over towards the coffee cart, Rylee asked, “Are you going to get in trouble? For August?” She looked so worried that I felt a small pang in my chest. “I mean, I know you’re not going to get arrested or anything, but…in your role of a supporter, surely there are going to be some issues with you killing a member, right?”

“I’m a big girl, Rylee,” I told her. “I can take my lumps. Besides, even if they do try to make an example out of me, I have a good relationship with my parents. It’ll be a hell of a fight.”

“Not to mention that she has me and Saxton,” Hastings chimed in. “They’ll have to go through us, too.” Saxton kissed her on the side of her head, and it was the sweetest thing ever.

“Well, she’s got me, too,” Sutton announced. “I mean, I’m not sure I can do anything, but-”

“You’re a Carmichael now,” Ross said, interrupting her. “You can do a lot. Plus-” He looked my way. “-she’s got us.”

“Same here,” Stone added, and it was sweet that he said it before Rylee could.

I scanned all their faces. “Look, I appreciate the gestures more than you can ever know, but I’m not scared of-”

“Of anything,” Saxton grumbled, running his hands through his hair. “You aren’t scared of anything, and it’s giving me grey hairs.”

I smiled as everyone laughed. “You’re a Voss,” I replied cheekily. “You can handle it.”

“Handle what?”

I turned and saw Fox walking towards our group, and a warming sensation bloomed inside my chest at the sight of him. While all the guys were good-looking as hell, I wasn’t in love with them. I was in love with Fox, and that made me blind to anyone else ever looking better than the six-foot-one god walking my way.

“Your girl,” Saxton answered. “I’m complaining about grey hairs, and she’s telling me to suck it up.”

I felt Fox’s arm wrap around me from behind when Ross asked, “Got attacked by a mountain lion, did you?”

Fox flipped him off with his unoccupied hand. “Like your wife’s closet isn’t filled with scarves and turtlenecks.”

Ross just grinned.

“We were just talking about the meeting tonight,” I informed him. “Rylee’s worried about me.”

Fox just snorted. “The last thing anyone needs to do is worry about you, doesn’t she know?” He said it with enough bite that it wasn’t hard to guess where his head was at.

When I had woken up this morning, and he was gone, I hadn’t thought much of it. The man had a life, and so did I. We didn’t smother each other. Us needing to be around each other all the time came from a sexual need, not a controlling one.

“She does,” I answered as calmly as I could. “Everyone does.”

“Right,” he replied, his arm falling away from my waist. “Anyway, I’ll see you guys tonight. I gotta get to class.”

No one said a word as Fox took off to avoid the fight that we so obviously needed to have.

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