Always Crew

“I know.”

He raised a hand, rubbing at his forehead. “The funny thing is that at the end of this, I think Tab and I are done. She made that decision, and she’s not asked to come back to me, but Zellman?” He nodded his head upwards, toward the house. “He’s up there fucking some girl. He’s been out, making friends everywhere, and he’s the one I bet is going to get back with his girl.”

Wait. What?

“Sunday?”

He nodded. “He calls her every night.”

I leaned forward, my mouth falling open. “Every night?”

“Almost every night, or a text just to check in. He’s doing it for me, asking about Tabatha, but he’s asking about her, too. The baby. She still hasn’t given birth.”

Right.

Drake’s kid.

My ex’s kid. My ex who was in prison, and to our knowledge, is still alive. And that caused my stomach to clench.

“So, Sunday and Zellman, huh?”

He nodded. “Yep. I think so.”

I squinted at him, cocking my head to the side. “A hundred bucks says they don’t.”

Jordan’s head whipped back to mine, his eyes widening. “What?”

“You heard me.”

But his grin was slowly spreading. “You’re on, because I know my boy, and he’s going to end up married to her.”

I groaned. “Let’s hope not.”

He laughed, then tipped his chin up toward me. “Heading to work?”

“Yeah.”

“You nervous?”

“Yeah.”

He chuckled while standing just as I did. We both grabbed our coffees. “You’ll be fine, Bren. You always are. You’re our stronghold, you know.”

Cross mentioned something similar, but I never really considered it. I didn’t know what to think of that, to be honest, so I just grinned, ducking my head, and we went back inside. Jordan put his coffee away, then headed back to his room. I was pouring my own coffee into a travel mug when I heard more footsteps coming from the living area.

“Hey.”

It was Cross, and he was yawning. Tired lines were around his eyes, his hair was messed up, what there was to actually be messed up, and he was only wearing boxers. His chest was stark and more lean than normal. Jesus. I loved him. I slept with him. I was now living with him, but I forgot sometimes how hot he was. He was reaching for the coffee when he caught me checking him out.

He smirked. “Trust me, you don’t have time for round five, unless you want to be late for work.”

I flushed, the back of my neck getting warm. “Shut up.”

He laughed.

I stepped away, but he hooked a finger in my pants and pulled me to him. My back hit his chest and he leaned forward, catching my ear. His finger moved around to the front and dipped inside there, too. “Call me if you get a bad feeling at work, okay? I’ll be there for you.”

I nodded, my breath catching in my throat.

His hand was moving down under my underwear, and his mouth started moving on my ear, then my jawline, then moving farther down to my throat. He swept my hair aside, his mouth exploring back there, and I was full on sagging against him, just as his fingers began to rub over my clit.

“Cross,” I moaned.

“Jesus.” His arm tightened as his fingers dipped inside of me, thrusting upwards.

I gasped, and then he growled, turning me in his arms. His fingers stayed inside, acting like a pivot and then I was up in his arms and he was carrying me to our room. “You’re going to be late for work.”

He kicked the door shut, dropping me onto the bed and coming right down with me.

That was totally fine with me.

CROSS

Bren had just tore out of the house right when my phone started ringing from the bedroom.

I went back out, naked, the shower still running for me. Grabbing it, seeing who was calling, I bit back a groan.

“Yeah?”

Bren’s brother laughed harshly from the other end as I went to turn off my shower. “What a greeting. Hello to you.”

I went back, sitting on the bed and raking a hand over my hair. “Don’t start. I know you’re calling with bad news.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know, because, of course, I am. Good news, I’m calling my sister.”

My point exactly. I sat up, the energy I had after being with Bren was fast leaving me. I was exhausted once more. “What’s up, Channing?”

“I’m coming there.”

Whoa. I jerked up. “What?” I was suddenly all the way alert, more than I wanted to be. Post-sex was usually nice and happy and lots of extra endorphins. It wasn’t this. He was putting a lid on my post-sex good feeling. “When? Why?”

“Today, and with my guys. Bren called our dad last night. You know that?”

I went still, super still. “No. When?”

“I don’t know when, but she did. What’s going on up there for her to suddenly decide to do that? I don’t want her around him. He is not good for her.”