17
Cam
The smell of real food cooking woke me. I rolled over, still dressed in last night’s clothes, and barrelled into Saint’s hard chest. “Fuck. Sorry. Shit. What?”
He skewered me with the kind of stare that could sober a pisshead after a three-day bender. Ahotstare that made my breath catch in my throat and my blood run south.Jesus.I wasn’t awake enough to handle that.
I was never awake enough to handle his gold-dust smile. “Don’t laugh at me, you fucking cretin.”
“But you make it so easy.”
I hoped so. Saint deserved to laugh, even if it was at my expense.
Yawning, I sat up, rubbing my face. “What time is it?”
“Sixish.”
“In the evening, right? I’ve got no clue anymore.”
“It’s nearly dinner time. Rubi made a ruby.”
“Huh. Maybe I’ll keep him around. How long have you been in bed with me?”
“I’m not in bed. Neither are you.”
“Since when were you so fucking pedantic?”
Saint chewed his lip. Swallowed.
I waited, as ever, but I felt no impatience. Somehow, over the last few months, I’d got over myself and giving him the time he needed was easier now.
“You were restless,” he said after a few beats. “I didn’t want you to dream on your own.”
“You wanna share my dreams?”
“If it keeps me out of mine.” Saint lounged against the headboard, his T-shirt riding up his abs. There was mud on his skin. Grass stains on his jeans.
I plucked a leaf from his wild hair. Fuck, he was gorgeous. “Where have you been all day?”
“Around.”
“Around where?”
“Lots of places. Nash gave me the lists, and Rocco’s mates haven’t shown up on the compound bugs yet, so I figured I’d go looking.”
“You started with the friendly Crows?”
“They might be brothers one day. I wanted to know who they were before they knew we were looking.”
I turned the notion over. Matched it with similar thoughts of my own. “It makes sense to know who we’re offering sanctuary to down the line. I don’t want to be scrambling for that shit.”
“It’s leverage too. In case Rocco is a liar. We’d never go after their kids, but Lexi’s right. They don’t know that.”
Lexi. God, that sounded good with Saint’s voice wrapped around it. “He’s still here, right? He didn’t leave?”
“He’s here.”
“How is he?”