Page 37 of A Hurt So Good

“Exactly my point. You don’t know what you like until you’ve experienced it, Arya. And I plan on exploring all sorts of things with you.” I can feel the pulse in her neck thumping against my fingers rapidly. She can stand here and deny it all she wants, but she wants to see what I have to offer. She wants to know what I want to do to her. Neither of us moves, standing in a stare-down that neither of us is willing to break.

“And the others? They don’t mind sharing me?”

“No. In fact, we already claimed you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“That means you’re ours now, Arya. It means if another man puts his hands anywhere near you, I will cut them off and make you watch. Do you understand?” She nods her head slowly, but I don’t think she fully understands I would actually do it.

“You’re crazy.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I ask her. I pull my hand away from her, and she dips under my arm and goes around me. She doesn’t run like I thought she would but instead goes back to her laptop and sits down. I move around the table and sit across from her.

“Are you going to watch me work?”

“I like to look at beautiful things, so yes, I am.”

“It’s a little weird while I’m working, War.”

“And I don’t care, Arya. Now that you belong to the three of us, I can do whatever the hell I want to do. This isn’t the first time I’ve watched you,” I remind her.

“What does that mean?” I ignore her question, not willing to tell her I’ve come into her room more than one night to sit and watch her sleep. It’s kind of my thing now when I’m here.

“You’re ours. That’s all you need to know.”

“Did any of you three think to ask what I wanted?” she asks, staring me in the eye.

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah, it matters!”

“Okay. Go ahead and tell me you don’t want us, and I’ll let the guys know,” I challenge her. She looks down at her laptop before looking back at me.

“That’s all I have to do?” I throw my hands up and rest them behind my neck as I nod my head.

“That’s it. Say the words.” She chews her bottom lip for a long minute while I wait. I almost think she’s going to say it, but then she releases her lip, looks back down at her laptop, and gets back to work.

I knew she fucking wanted us.

Chapter 16

Harlon

I’m coming up blank with my search for anything. There’s nothing there. Except one thing. Arya’s dad. He’s in prison for the attempted murder of Arya. Now I know what secrets she hides under her shirt. I was able to find information about his arrest and conviction, but I don’t know if I should share that with the guys just yet.

I want to know more. I need more. None of this is making any kind of sense to me, and that pisses me off. I’m the one who finds things, the one who gets what we need, but not this time.

“Yo, Har. We’re swimming,” I hear Denz holler at me. I close my computer, rubbing my eyes. Maybe I should give this a break for a while. I set the laptop off to the side and stand, heading out the back door. I see the guys stripping down to their shorts before Denz rushes toward Arya. At first, I laugh until I hear Warren yell.

“She can’t swim!” It’s too late now, though. They’re already in the water. I run down the steps and toward the pool just as War dives in. I can see Arya, her arms moving and flailing around. Denz comes up for air on the other end just as War gets to Arya.

“She can’t swim, dumbass,” I yell at him. His eyes move quickly to where War is pulling her out of the water. He holds her up as she coughs and sputters, swimming with her to the shallow end where she can put her feet down. Denz is there in seconds, grabbing her face in his hands, a look of pure panic in his eyes.

“I didn’t … Fuck, Arya. I didn’t know,” he tells her. She reaches up and wipes the hair from her face, smoothing it back after she catches her breath.

“I didn’t tell you. It’s not your fault,” she says. War turns an angry gaze toward Denz as I strip out of my clothes and climb in with my shorts on. War’s about to move toward Denz when I step in between them.

“All’s good, right?” I ask, looking between them. War flashes me a nasty glare before nodding his head.

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