“Because I’m trying to be more considerate of my new roommates. Also, I think Rhett would have kittens if I told him I was just… not coming home for three days.”
We laugh again, mine less enthusiastic than Gabby’s. She finds a certain joy in driving my boyfriends crazy, but I want to make this work. Springing changes in plans on them would be a dumb move right now, with everything happening with Seth and Darren. The investigation into my stalker has not yielded any results, as we’d been informed that there was no hope for any conclusive fingerprint or DNA evidence. There was too much contamination, just from the other tenants, not to mention guests, maintenance people, delivery drivers, and who knows who else. It had been a long shot, and it missed.
Alexandra is doing her own due diligence, discreetly offering rewards in exchange for any security footage or eyewitness accounts that lead to a break in the case. But because of the time of day, the few businesses around my building weren’t open, or didn’t have cameras pointing in the right directions. And despite the reward being described as (and I quote) “more than enough to get someone to remember seeing something suspicious,” not one person has come forward. She’s not taking it very well, and has been throwing herself into her work, staying later and going in earlier for no real reason.
Seth has been far too quiet for my liking, and that unsettles me more than anything with the stalker. My gut tells me that everything at the beginning of the month was all designed to get me to miss that court date. Proceedings are public record, so it’s not a stretch as to how he could have figured out what was going on. It all feels way too coincidental to me. Now that we missed our window, I’d expected the harassment to continue. But no one has seen spray-tanned hide or greasy hair of the skeezy bastard. It’s only a matter of time before he pops up again.
We pass the time hammering out the details of our sleepover. It’s fun, inane, and just the type of light-hearted banter I need in my life. If I stop and think for too long, all the craziness starts to sink in, and it spells a one-way ticket to an anxiety spiral. Gabby is in the middle of explaining why we can’t use the pack suite at Wickland House–she doesn’t want to think about which surfaces the pack has and has not defiled–when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Pulling it out, my shoulders slump as I read the new message.
Jason: Call me when you get the chance. We need to talk about something.
I swipe away the notification, not responding. It’s been a few days since our fight, and I’ve only messaged him once when he threatened to get Rhett involved in our dispute, letting him know I wasn’t dead, and I’d let him know when I was ready to talk. I know it’s childish to give him the silent treatment, but so is Jason threatening to tattle on me.
“You know, he messaged me last night.”
I look up and find Gabby giving me a gentle, concerned stare that catches me off-guard.
“Since when do y’all talk?” I ask harshly.
“For, like, years, babe,” she says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world that my best friend and little brother talk to each other when I’m not around.
“What did he have to say for himself?” I ask, deciding to put a mental pin in this revelation and come back to it.
“Mostly, he asked questions about you and your guys. Are they treating you okay, what sort of vibe do I get from them, that sort of thing,” she goes on, shrugging one shoulder.
As I consider her words, I frown. I’m not mad that she talked to him, more like surprised that she entertained his round of questions. She’d been justifiably pissed on my behalf when I’d told her about the conversation.
“To answer the question, I know you’re dying to ask, yes. I gave him hell for being a bigoted piece of shit,” Gabby says, speaking before I can even fully open my mouth.
I give her an appreciative grin, nudging her foot with mine. “Can always count on you to keep the alphas in my life honest.”
“How you’d survive without me remains one of the world’s greatest mysteries. Anyway, after I gave him the ol’ what for, he admitted to acting like a complete tool. He just wants to know how to fix it,” she goes on.
I let my head tip back to rest between my shoulder blades, eyes staring unfocused at the ceiling. I want to believe her, but nothing is stopping Jason from putting any of this in a text message and sending it to me.
“I can’t say that I’m surprised he had a less than stellar reaction to finding out you’re dating not one, but three dudes,” Gabby says.
I blush, thinking of the hour I spent with Lucas in my nest, just kissing and talking and kissing some more before everyone came home for the day and we had to go upstairs and be social. He let me help him cook, if helping included handing him ingredients. It could have been patronizing, but it was honestly nice to feel included.
“I’m only officially dating Rhett and Mateo. Me and Lucas haven’t really talked about labels,” I grumble, looking away to hide the hot flush of my cheeks.
Gabby slaps the counter and shouts triumphantly before pointing at me. “I was only bluffing, but I fucking knew you and Lucas have something going on!”
Gasping, I whip my head around, mouth wide in shock. “What? No, I didn’t—there’s nothing—What I mean—”
Gabby cackles at my flustered stumbling, and I shove her lightly, my face hot enough to fry an egg. She wipes her eyes and I roll mine, huffing a sigh. Damn her and her overly acute powers of observation.
“So, come on. Spill. How big is his dick? It’s always the skinny ones who are packing—”
“Gabby!” I hiss, looking frantically at the door to the back room and hoping like hell Wila didn’t overhear.
“For fuck's sake! I’m growing cobwebs over here. The least you can do is give me a ballpark range,” she whines, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
I snort a laugh and roll my eyes again. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet,” I reply neutrally.
“Yet implying that you want to,” Gabby presses.
I press my lips together, enduring a few more minutes of her needling as my imagination takes off. It’s not strictly true that I’ve never seen Lucas’s cock. A few days ago, I woke up from a mid-afternoon nap and went in search of Rhett and Lucas to see about dinner plans. I found them in the gym above the garage; Lucas bent over a padded bench with Rhett absolutely destroying him from behind. Lucas caught me in the mirror, but I turned and ran before he told Rhett. I wasn’t able to look either of them in the eye for the rest of the day.