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I look up to meet his eyes. “I love you too, Loch.” Through the swelling and bruises, there’s a bright spark in his heavy eyes. But it quickly disappears when I add, “I love all you boys. You’re family.”
“Yeah. Family.” He sighs as he returns his gaze to his hands in my lap.
Once I’ve got him all taken care of, I grab a glass of water and a few Advil, sliding them across the counter to him. “I’m going to bed. Help yourself to anything else you need, ‘kay?”
“Thanks, réalta.” I smile at the Irish nickname. Star. The boys all use it occasionally, but Lochlan uses it the most. “I got some stuff to take care of.” He waves his phone, and I know that means there are calls to be made and police to pay off, tying up any loose ends to whatever happened tonight.
I begin to walk away before remembering. “Crap, the guest room sheets are still in the wash—”
“I’ll take the couch, no worries.” His lips twitch in a halfhearted smile.
“No, no, you can sleep with me. Just come up whenever you’re done.” It feels perfectly natural to invite Lochlan to my bed. He’s fallen asleep while watching movies before and I let him stay. Like I said, we’re family. And that’s all.
He nods and I head to bed.
I don’t know how much later it is when I’m woken by the shifting mattress. He slides under the covers wordlessly, probably in a pair of sweatpants and T-shirt he leaves here for nights like this.
I’m on my side facing away from him. I don’t give away that I’m awake, listening to him settle on his back and sigh. I close my eyes and begin to drift off again when he rolls toward me, lightly cradling my body against the curve of his.
1. Play “One Life” by Dermot Kennedy until end of the chapter
Chapter 4
Chicken
Stella
Whoever said crime doesn’t pay clearly never met the Foxes. 1
The rooftop pool off the penthouse would be extravagant enough, even without the brothers betting tens of thousands of dollars like they’re damn pennies on games of chicken.
Reggie’s eyes narrow in on me from her perch on top of her husband, Roan, who also happens to be the tallest Fox brother. His shoulders rise out of the pool like boulders.
“Ready to kick their asses?” Lochlan asks me with a playful smirk as I make sure my locs are secure in their bun. Roan cocks a snide grin, and I growl, “Yes.” Before shoving Lochlan’s head below water between my legs.
I climb onto his shoulders, and he wraps his arms around my legs before standing, raising me out of the pool. Reggie and I are eye to eye now, with me making up the couple of inches Roan has over Lochlan.
I squeeze my thighs around his head, knitting one of my hands into his long, wet hair. I teeter, accidentally pulling on it harder, and he muffles a groan. It’s a rough, intimate sound that zips through my chest and settles in my stomach.
“I’m not complaining.” He chuckles. “But when I imagine my head back between your legs, this is not what I pictured.”
“Yeah, well, beggars can’t be choosers,” I snark, my heart thumping, hoping no one heard him say back between my legs. No one knows about us in Phantom’s office, and I want it to stay that way. It’s not that I’m embarrassed, but it’s never going to happen again so what’s the point of anyone knowing?
I was used to the playful back and forth that comes with a flirt like Lochlan even before my birthday. He makes those kinds of comments to anything with legs. But lately, they seem to hit differently, his tone more serious even when joking, his gaze lingering longer.
Reggie makes her first move. Her hands shoot out and tug on my shoulders. I wobble on Lochlan but steady myself by wrapping my hands around her forearms. Her grip is tight, but my limbs are longer. She’s already overextending herself by trying to push me over, so I pull her forward while shoving Roan farther away with a foot to his face.
“Foul!” he shouts as my heel digs into his cheek. Ignoring him, I cheer victoriously as Reggie topples into the water with a splash, followed by a slew of profanities in Spanish. Harlow and Effie cheer from their pool loungers, and Finn holds out his palm to Roman with a smug look. “Pay up.”
Lochlan stands up straight, lifting me several feet above the water, and spins around with his hands in the air. “Victory!” My cheeks strain from laughing. I smile as he lowers me again, floating off into the water.
His hands find my hips and he spins me toward him. “That was dirty, réalta,” he says on the end of a husky laugh.
My stomach drops in a messy knot. “What?”
“A foot to the face? That’s brutal.” He tugs me infinitesimally closer. It’s so subtle, I wonder if it was even on purpose or if it was just the water moving us closer together.
“I guess I’ve learned a thing or two from your family about that.” I laugh. Instead of joining in with the jokes like he usually would, his only response is a slow but confident lift of his chin.
