Page 106 of Cruel Tides

27

Claira

Alengthy creak signaled the door was, in fact, opening, and the one thought in my mind was that Barren couldnotsee us like this.

With a sudden jolt of panic, I rolled off Leander and Kai’s laps and hit the floor in front of the couch with a heavythunk.

Leander was the first to his feet. “Fuck, are you okay?” he asked, and I answered with frantic hand gestures, desperate to silence him before Barren overheard.

“Hide!”I mouthed as Kai stood from the couch. Staring wide-eyed up at both of them, I mimed for them to zip their mouths and drop to the floor with me.

Please, please, please let them understand.

Even though my stomach was empty, it churned at the thought of Barren’s stony expression if he caught us. How repulsed he would have been after realizing what we’d done in his living room. On hiscouch, of all places.

Why, oh why, had I gone along with it?

The delightful aftershocks still tingling through my legs served as one reminder. Okay—maybe it had been worth it. Maybe. But then again, it was possible Barren wasn’t the one at the door at all, right? Laverne could be back. Maybe Barren had given her a key when he left. Maybe?—

“Oh, hey there, big guy,” Kai said the moment he whirled around, and my spiral of panic strengthened into a full-blown tornado.

I waited for the inevitable, but nothing happened. Why wasn’t anyone saying anything?

As the silence stretched, I slowly realized what kind of scene Barren had walked in on. Sure, he couldn’t see me, but he could see Kai and Leander. Standing nearly shoulder to shoulder. Naked.

“How’d it go?” Kai asked finally, his tone pitched at least an octave too high.

The sound of Barren’s deep voice caused a fresh wave of anxiety. “You’ve become close.”

I covered my face with my hands, wishing I was anywhere but here. If there had been space under the couch, I might have crawled underneath it.

“Uh… Yeah,” Kai said, and I peeked between fingers to see his shoulder brushing against Leander’s arm as he spun back around. My heart skipped a beat, thinking he might turn down to me, but he only glanced at Leander.

Apparently, there was something about this situation that pretty boy found incredibly hilarious. And although Leander didn’t utter a sound, he was hunched forward, his chest shaking with laughter.

“The best of friends,” Kai added, somewhat mechanically, an eyebrow rising at Leander.

That’s when I noticed what it was Leander found so funny—the one detail I’d overlooked. All my breath left me as I stared at my scattered clothes sitting well away from the couch where I was supposedly hiding.

… Shit.

“Mmh,” Barren mumbled, and I stifled a yelp as the floor shifted with one of his heavy footsteps. “Getting a shower,” he declared, and I nearly cried out in relief as his footsteps moved further away. “Think about what you want for breakfast.”

Then his steps hesitated. “Mind if I grab clothes from my bedroom, Claira?” he asked, and my stomach plunged.

“Uh…” Kai looked straight down at me, and I covered my eyes with my hands, utterly mortified.

Leander’s amusement only escalated. “I think you’re good, man.”

The floor creaked with Barren’s departure, and when I heard the bedroom door ease shut, I was sure that my spirit had left my body.Ugh. Of course, he’d known I was down here. Why had I tossed my clothes around so carelessly? And most importantly, how would I ever look him in the eyes again?

Now that Barren was gone, Leander collected my garments from the center of the floor, his smirk growing as I scrambled to my knees. “Should I open a window so you can jump out of it?” he teased.

I ripped my clothes from his hand and huffed as I started working them back on. “Oh, sonowyou’ll open a damn window.”

“Why were you hiding?” Kai cut in, his eyebrows knitting together.

“It isn’t you guys, it’s just…” With my pants halfway up, I paused to collect my thoughts. “I didn’t want him to have to see us like this, you know?”

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