“Naked. I need skin,” he mumbles. He looks up and blinks a few times. “Anna?”
“Anna,” Bonnie smiles awkwardly, “I don’t suppose you could help me get him to his room?”
I inwardly groan. The last thing I want to do is be close to Riggs when he’s about to get naked with Bonnie. “Sure,” I shrug.
We each take an arm and struggle to help him stand. He’s a big guy, but we eventually manage to guide him to his room. He stares at me the entire time, and I feel so uncomfortable that I’m relieved when we get him into his room. “Thanks, Anna,” says Bonnie. “Goodnight.”
She follows him into his room and closes the door. I roll my eyes. Riggs’ words from earlier today about me seeing the real him come to mind. It didn’t seem like he was acting just then. Besides, none of the guys were around to hear him when he said he needed skin, so who was he pretending for?
I go back to bed with images of Bonnie and Riggs naked together and my heart hurts, but at least this confirms that I made the right decision. I have enough problems right now without making things more complicated.
It’s been a few days since we came to stay with the Reapers. I’m becoming more settled as the days pass and I can’t deny that I love it here. It’s the first time I’ve felt like part of a family. Eva and Esther have always treated me like I belonged with them, but there are so many more people here and everyone is so welcoming. Malia looks so happy that it warms my heart. When we have to leave here, it’ll be hard.
Since my midnight encounter with Riggs and Bonnie a few days ago, I haven’t seen him. He’s around, in his office mainly, but he’s avoiding me, and I know it’s because I turned him down.
Eva sits down next to me on the couch. Malia is staring at the large screen television in the main room with Ziggy by her side. “These two are so cute,” she says, nodding towards the kids.
“She hasn’t asked once about school. I thought she’d miss it, but it seems as long as she has Ziggy, she’s happy.”
“Do you think he’s her soul mate?” asks Eva wistfully.
I laugh. “Maybe. I don’t believe in all that.”
“Anna,” she gasps. “You have to believe there is someone out there made for you.”
I scoff. “With my luck? No way. My soulmate is probably a drug addict with no teeth and bad body odour.”
“Blade, do you believe in soulmates?” Eva asks him as he shovels cereal into his mouth. He pauses and thinks over her question. “No.”
She gasps again. “I feel so sad for you both. Please tell me you believe in love at first sight?” she wails. I scoff again and she cries out with mock distress.
“I believe in lust at first sight. I felt it when I met you, Evalyn,” Blade grins.
“Umm, I think you feel that with most women you meet, Blade,” she says.
“You mean you don’t look at me and wonder what’s under these clothes?” he asks. “You don’t feel the need to rip off my shirt so you can run your hands over—”
“Finish that sentence, I dare you!” growls Cree from the other side of the room.
Blade winks at us and presses his lips together. “Soz, VP. Just kidding.”
“Go wash my bike,” says Cree without looking up from his laptop.
“Come on,” cries Blade. “That’s the prospect’s job.”
“And now it’s yours. Get to it.” Blade mutters under his breath and stalks out of the club.
“Check out Mr. Jealousy,” I whisper to Eva.
“Are you kidding? The most the guy’s ever said to me is that I’m not to look at any of his brothers in any way other than as friends. He’s odd. He growls at me. He had the chance to kiss me when we first came here, and he didn’t. Mixed signals.”
“I still think he’s shy,” I say.
“No, he’s not,” she scoffs. “I think he’s weird. I need a man to tell me straight exactly what he wants. Cree can’t put words into a proper sentence.”
I raise my eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know about that. He was pretty clear to Blade just then.”
“My mom loves him. Says she gets good vibes from his soul,” says Eva with a smile.
Leia joins us. I like her, and although there are five years between us, you wouldn’t know it. She opens her nursing revision book. “Riggs has paid my tutor to video call me so I can watch the lecture on my laptop,” she says. “Can you believe that?” She sounds outraged.
Eva smirks at me. “Gosh, what a beast. How do you put up with him looking out for you like that?” she mocks.
“I know you think I’m ungrateful, but it’s not the same. I want to go to college and see my friends.”
“Just your friends?” asks Eva, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Trust me, when you have a bunch of over-protective guys who all treat you like their little sister, there are no boys on the scene. If these guys get a whiff of a man, they’re like ravaging dogs.”
“I think that’s sweet,” I muse. “I always wanted a big brother to protect me.”
“It’s not sweet. It’s annoying. How am I ever going to lose my virginity?” she whispers, and we laugh. “Nineteen and I live like a fucking nun.”
“Leia said a bad word,” says Ziggy, and Leia sticks her tongue out at him playfully.
“If I was a boy, it would be totally different. I’d have lost my V-card years back!”
“I hate that it’s different for men and women. Equal rights are bull,” says Eva. “It’s the same argument that men can sleep with as many people as they like and they’re heroes, but girls do it and they’re hoes. I hate inequality.”
“Eva, please. You once turned a guy down because he wanted to
