Page 68 of Drilled

That stopped me right in my tracks. I hadn’t even thought about the lockbox. With all the illegal utilities and connections we were tracing between Sandy and my unit, how could the possibility have bypassed my brain? The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I bolted down the stairs and straight to the hiding spot I’d found under the staircase.

To my utter relief, the lockbox was still there, right where I left it behind the access hatch. I gave a shaky sigh of relief. “Still here.”

“Interesting place to stash it,” Bear commented, looming behind me in the cramped space.

“I had to improvise,” I murmured.

“Guys, you need to see this.”

Silas’s voice carried up from the master bath, and Bear and I hurried around the corner. Sy was crouched over the concrete pit, his heavy brows notched together. He looked up at me with concern. “Did you move the temporary cover?”

My mouth suddenly went dry.

“No,” I choked out. “I mean yes, when I took out the lockbox earlier, but I put the plywood and concrete cinders back exactly as they were.”

Sy hummed, running a hand over the shifted edge. “Then that’s what they were looking for.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, a sudden, icy chill settling between my bones. Bear noticed. Without a word he shrugged off his jacket, then draped it over my shoulders. “We’re staying here tonight. Both of us,”

“Bear—” I started.

“I’m not hearing it, Lane. Sy and I are gonna stay here and make sure whoever had the balls to break into your house doesn’t get a second chance. Is that clear?” he said firmly.

I finally gave in, recognizing a lost fight.

But the rush of relief that flooded my chest was too embarrassing to admit, even to myself. Sy stood to his feet, brushing drywall dust from his knees.

“I’ll take the couch upstairs,” he announced, already turning to the stairs.

That was a stupid idea. I reached out, my fingers wrapping tightly around his forearm just as he passed me. He froze instantly. I reached back and caught Bear’s wrist. Then I looked between them both, my heart doing a completely different kind of fluttering now. I couldn’t quite believe the words coming out of my mouth.

“Stay with me down here,” I asked softly.

Sy blinked, genuinely confused. “But where are we gonna sleep?”

Bear however, let out a low breath. The sharp intensity in his dark eyes let me know he’d already decoded exactly what I meant.

I took a slow step backward, into the bedroom, gently pulling both of them with me.

“In my bed,” I answered, holding their gazes. “With me.”

25

Silas

I watched as Bear immediately took Lane into his arms and started making out with her without so much as a glance in my direction. My brain felt like it was lagging. She wanted us both to sleep with her?

I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that she had something going on with the other guys too but I just assumed it was just a hookup thing. Even though sex with Lane hadn’t felt like a hookup to me at all. But still, the idea of actively sharing her with them wasn’t something that ever crossed my mind and truthfully, I didn’t know how I felt about it.

Even watching them now, I felt like a perv. Like I was doing something I shouldn’t be.

Lane was completely wrapped up in the kiss, twining her arms around Bear’s neck and pressing her body against his. I remembered what that felt like all too well. Light jealousy surged through me.

“Sy?” she asked when she finally broke their kiss. She looked at me almost shyly, holding out her hand. “Do you want to do this?”

Did I?

I didn’t know.