My throat closed.
He said, “Would you like a shower?” His nose wrinkled slightly. “I think you could use one.”
That sounded wonderful. But there had to be a catch. “Yes.” Then, “Please.”
He hummed under his breath. “In a moment, Kelly is going to break the line of silver. Will you attack him?”
I shook my head.
“Will you attack us?”
“No.”
“Do you believe I can stop you if you try?”
“Yeah. Yes.”
And then he said, “I’m trusting you, Robbie,” and I wanted to howl at the moon.
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” I was panting.
He nodded again. “Good. You won’t be alone. Consider it a safety measure. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, so I don’t think you’ll need to be worried about it.”
Nudity to wolves was natural. Still, it felt like showing part of myself I wasn’t ready for. “You?”
He tilted his head. “Would you prefer someone else?”
I glanced at Kelly but didn’t reply.
“Okay,” he said slowly. “That’s fair.”
“Ox,” Joe said, a warning in his voice.
“I won’t hurt him,” I snapped. “He’s….” I didn’t know what he was.
>
Joe threw up his hands. “Fine. But we’ll be right outside the door.”
“Carter said you don’t have boundaries here.”
Joe gaped at me before recovering. “Uh. Yeah. I guess. I’ve seen Carter’s dick more times than I care to think about.” He frowned. “I really regret saying that out loud.”
“And yet there it is,” Ox said dryly. “Thanks, Joe.”
Joe grinned at him adoringly. It took my breath away. They were close. It wasn’t like it was in Caswell. At least it wasn’t for me. Sure, I’d had Ezra, and he’d—
I hung my head.
“Kelly,” Ox said.
Kelly stepped forward, a determined look on his face. He hesitated as if he thought the silver was still going to hurt him.
It didn’t.
He pushed a foot through the powdered silver, and the line broke.
The sounds became louder, the smells stronger.