Page 61 of As Thick As Thieves

Stone: Admit it, you like me watching you.

Penn: You wanted me gone, so stop acting like you miss me. You did this.

Stone: I can admit I fucked up. Stop pretending to hate me.

I pushed my phone into my pocket with a huff, looking up to find Leah’s gaze on mine. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a lot of spam messages lately,” I lied. “I’m surprised you could come see me on such short notice. Did the tyrant give you the day off?”

She chuckled, putting her phone down on the table. “No. I’m supposed to be in Crestford with Will, but Jai went with him when Cruz said you wanted to hang out.”

“Aren’t you worried about Stone kicking you out?” I asked, a little surprised by her answer.

“If he keeps up his bullshit, we’ll all leave anyway. We have plenty of money saved, most of us could retire comfortably if we invested properly. Do you actually understand the money your guys have? They’d probably put your father to shame.”

“I don’t care what money they have, I need to find a job once I’m healthier so I can rely on myself. Not that the guys seem too keen on the idea,” I sighed, giving Harley a smile as he brought our food over. He seemed busy and didn’t stick around, leaving us to enjoy our meal in peace.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but they’re just worried you’ll get hurt because of how easy you are to manipulate,” Leah said with a cringe. “You’re missing a lot of social skills that we rely on to stay alive in our world. I mean, you jumped into your kidnappers’ car and willingly left with them. What if they’d raped and murdered you? Did you even question their intentions?”

“Of course I did. I was desperate to escape Dad’s, so I chose to leave and thought I’d escape from them too. I didn’t plan on sticking around,” I chuckled dryly, taking a forkful of food and shoving it into my mouth. The food here always tasted good, Harley and Alex had a good business going on.

“I’ve seen you around the guys when they’re being assholes. You want to please them, and it’s how Stone keeps fucking you over. You blindly trust him all because he says to. You can’t do that, Penn,” she warned quietly.

“I just want to be normal,” I mumbled, her face softening with pity. “I want to earn my own money, and live independently. I want to learn to drive, and do my own groceries. Giving someone control over my life has caused nothing but pain, and I refuse to allow it to continue happening. I love the guys, but if they love me, they’ll teach me to rely on myself.”

“They will, just take small steps. Focus on healing, then I’ll even help you look for a job, okay?”

“You’ll help me?” I asked with surprise, earning a look as if I were crazy.

“Of course. You’re my friend. You going to tell me about the filthy shit your guys do to you yet?” she teased, amusement filling me.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Definitely. I’m nosey.”

Knox was the only one who seemed to give a shit about people knowing the nicer details about him, so I shrugged. “Knox fucks like he has something to prove. He likes to keep all the control which I’m completely fine with. Cruz and Drake both like to change things up. Sometimes it's hard, other times it's sweet. Like last night, Cruz got home late, and we just ended up having some kind of sensual, slow-grinding sex while Knox slept beside us.”

Leah sighed dreamily, her food forgotten as she watched me. “Who’s the most romantic?”

“They all have their own way of romance,” I answered, not liking the idea of comparing them.

“Jai’s romantic with one of the girls he fucks, but he’s not like that with me. I don’t know what to think. We agreed to be casual, and I still want that, but he’s only having a fling with her, too. I don’t understand why he doesn’t do sweet stuff for me, you know?”

“I don’t know much about dating, but I do know a lot about casual sex. The more casual it is, the less drama can come from it when it’s over. You work with Jai, he doesn’t have to bullshit you into his bed. He probably doesn’t care about hurting the other girl later when it ends, but he still has to see you at work and you’re also good friends. That changes things,” I offered, making her nod.

“I guess that makes sense. Jai won’t even let me sleep in his room,” she said lightly, but I could hear the hurt in her tone. She was way too into him to keep their relationship casual.

“It’s okay to want more with him. I think you two would be good together,” I said carefully, thankful when she gave me a grin.

“I appreciate what you’re doing, but it won’t work. Neither of us want to commit to one person.”

“Me either,” I smirked, taking another bite of food before adding. “But that’s why I’ve got three holes.”

She laughed, checking her phone and texting for a few minutes while finishing her food. I jumped when the office door slammed and Harley stalked out, raking a hand through his hair as he cursed quietly. Alex followed him out, the pair of them speaking in low voices, but I caught a few words about someone quitting and Alex had to leave.

“Uh, is everything okay?” I asked loud enough for them to hear me, and Harley scowled.

“It’s fine. I had someone coming in this afternoon to help in the kitchen, but they bailed.”

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