The Virgin Next Door (Stud Ranch 3)

“Nine.”

“I don’t like it.” Liam felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle at finally admitting it out loud. He walked over to the window and put his hands around his eyes to peer out into the darkness. “Anything could happen out there on the road. The deer are fecking suicidal around here. I had two jump in front of me car just last week.”

“Yeah, well,” Mack said, grabbing his laptop and sitting down with it on his bed, “she’s driven these roads all her life. Pretty sure she knows what she’s doing.”

Liam glared at Mack. “Do you have an emotional bone in your feckin’ body? Our girl is out there, God knows where, and you’re just gonna sit there and what?” Liam reached for the laptop again. “Check your Instagram feed?”

Mack jerked the laptop away at the last second and closed the lid again. “Why are you here again? I don’t buy any of this concerned Prince Charming bullshit.” He gestured Liam up and down.

“Why do ya always have to be such a poxy bastard about everything? Jaysus. Did your mother drop you on your head as a small child or somethin’?”

“That’s it,” Mack growled. He tossed his laptop to the side and got to his feet.

“Ooo,” Liam said, putting a hand over his mouth. “The big scary man is comin’ for me. Run for me life!”

Liam grinned when Mack’s glare went a shade darker. At least pissin’ with him would help distract Liam from worrying about Calla.

Besides, he only had a few more weeks of this. Fuckin’ with Mackenzie Knight whenever he pleased. After that, Mack would move on, and it would just be him and Calla.

Which was good. It was what he’d wanted in the first place. To get the girl.

So why did the thought of never seeing the big angry bastard in front of him feel like a kick to his gut?

The thought had the smile falling from Liam’s face. Did he actually care about—

Jaysus. No.

He wasn’t that much of a fecking idiot. Or a masochist.

Right as Mack grabbed for Liam’s shirt, Liam jumped back and heard the sound of the front door slamming below.

“Calla,” he and Mack said at the same time, their gazes locking. Good. Time to put this back on familiar fecking territory. With Calla firmly between them.

They both went for the door at the same time. Mack got there first, the wanker. He met Calla halfway down the stairs.

“You okay, honey? You’re late. We were worried.”

Liam rolled his eyes. What a crock of shite.

He ignored Mack and joined them.

“Did you have any trouble on the road? Are you hungry? We kept a plate of food for you in the fridge.”

“For Christ’s sake, she just walked in the door.” Mack shoved Liam to the side so he could pass by with Calla on his arm. “Let her breathe before firing twenty fucking questions.”

Liam would have tried to batter the bastard, but Calla was leaning on him like she was glad for the support.

Shite. Something was wrong. Liam knew it. She hadn’t been acting herself all week. Something was off.

“I ate on the road.” Calla’s voice was little more than a whisper and it sounded scratchy. Like she’d been crying. Liam’s head jerked up to Mack and he nodded. He heard it too. “I’m just tired.”

Why wasn’t she confiding in them?

Mack didn’t lead Calla to her room. Instead, he took her straight to Liam’s. The rest of the guys were downstairs watching a game and at this point, Liam didn’t care if anyone saw them. Calla needed them and it wasn’t like the twins or Nicholas were gossips.

Liam suspected Xavier knew something of what was going on, but if he did, he wasn’t saying anything about it either.

Mack led her to Liam’s bed and sat her down while Liam shut the door behind them. He hurried over to Calla and sat beside her on the bed, grabbing her hand in his. It was ice cold. He rubbed it between his palms.