Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“I’m not a dog,” Chase snarled at him. I closed my eyes. I hated seeing them fight, but I knew this had to happen. If Chase didn’t release all his anger and frustration over the situation, he’d explode.
And that was even worse than what was happening now. When Chase exploded, he became destructive.
“Then stop acting like a little bitch,” Trigger snapped. He jabbed a finger into the mattress behind me. “Bed. Now, Chase, or so help me, God—”
Chase threw a pencil at him. Trigger moved his head just in time to keep himself from being stabbed in the eye. But then, I felt the bed dip behind me. Trigger smiled at him as if they hadn’t just been at each other’s throats and Chase hadn’t just damn near taken his eye out.
“See? Was that so hard, princess?” Trigger taunted.
“I hate you,” Chase growled, but there was no real heat to his words. He just sounded tired and in pain. Rolling over in Trigger’s arms, I reached for Chase. He wiggled closer before his arms banded around me as well, his chin resting on top of my head. I burrowed my face into his chest, inhaling the scent that was purely him—all man, mahogany teak soap, and him. All him.
“You need to rest,” Trigger said softly, his arm sliding over me to rest on Chase’s hip. “That’s all I’m asking for, baby. Just rest.”
Chase nodded. “Okay,” he said simply.
I shivered when I felt Trigger lean over me so he could kiss Chase. Chase’s arms tightened around me, and before long, his breathing was evening out. I pressed a kiss to his bare chest and snuggled closer, letting my own eyelids fall shut. When Trigger began running his fingers through my hair, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep, too.
18
Chase
Ilifted the blunt to my lips, inhaling deeply and letting the smoke settle in my lungs for a moment before I slowly blew it out. I’d woken up two hours ago and hadn’t been able to sleep, my mind running a million miles a minute, worrying about Trigger going out there, more than likely going radio silent, and not knowing if he was going to make it home alive… if it at all.
I didn’t fucking like this shit at all. I’d felt like I was crawling out of my damn skin as I laid there in bed listening to Trigger and Sophia sleep, so I’d finally rolled out of bed and come out here, sitting my ass on the picnic table and slowly smoking while I waited on the rest of the world to wake up.
My hand twitched for my gun when motorcycles rode up to the gate. Squinting to see better, I gripped the handle of my pistol and clicked the safety off. But when the gate rolled back to reveal Blayke, I relaxed. Of course, he was the only one besides us who would have a key—well, besides Johnston.
The door behind me opened as they rode onto the lot, Lawson stopping long enough to close and lock the gate back behind him. Trigger’s woodsy scent infiltrated my nostrils, and some of the tension bled from my shoulders. Clicking the safety back on, I set the weapon aside and lifted the blunt to my lips again, not turning to look at him, even when he rested his large hand on my bruised shoulder.
“You should be resting,” he rumbled, his voice still thick with sleep. No doubt, he’d woken up, realized I was missing, and had come searching for me. When I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, I realized I was right. He was only wearing his boxer briefs—nothing else. Jesus. The bulge at the front left nothing to the imagination.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I told him, looking back out over the lot again. Squeezing my fingers around the tip of the blunt, I put it out, then set it aside. “And I didn’t want to disturb you or Sophia,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” he said, always ready to call me out on my shit. I snorted. “It’s cold out here. You need to head back inside, at least, even if you don’t go back to bed.”
I blew out a soft breath and closed my eyes. Bracing my elbows on my knees, I leaned forward, scrubbing my hands over my face. “The cold numbs my head,” I muttered into my palms. I didn’t like confessing it, felt like it made me weak, but I knew if I could be vulnerable with anyone, it was Trigger. He’d never judge me.
Trigger’s hand slid from my shoulder to the back of my neck, where he clasped me tightly, his fingertips digging into my throat. I swallowed thickly, a shuddering breath leaving my lungs. His hand tightened just a little more, and suddenly, it felt like my lungs could actually expand. Something they hadn’t truly been able to do since Scorpion had announced Trigger would be heading this bullshit retaliation plan and Trigger had just… accepted it.