Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(45)

“Well, I’m glad you were there with me.” I release him and step back.

The night was going so great until the gunfire. Ugh, the gunfire, I totally forgot about it.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’re a team and stick together,” Jay says as the others murmur their agreement.

Noah pokes my side. “Stop trying to get rid of us.”

“Why would I want to do that? The whole point of this place is to win, and so far with you, I’m doing that.” I wink at him.

“Ha! We’re in the lead because of you. No one else is going to come close to your numbers this week.” He high fives Lucca.

“We still have a long way to go. That is unless they kick me out, or someone kills me.” I was kidding at the end, but they take my statement seriously and tension fills the room once more. Now we’re back to where we started.

“We need to talk about this.” Parker sits on one of the desks.

“Can we get situated for bed first? I don’t think any of us will sleep anytime soon, but I would still like to get comfortable, at least as comfortable as possible in this dress. Maybe I should have gone back to the cabin. Fallon, Lily, and Lara are going to worry. They probably don’t know what happened down here. I think I was the only girl from our cabin in this dinner round.” I’m torn, now, but I made such a big deal about staying here with them. Being with them is where I want to be because I want to talk about tonight while it’s fresh.

“Here.” Parker takes off his shirt. “You can wear this to sleep in. It will probably be longer than your dress.”

Under his dress shirt, Parker wears a ribbed, white tank. His muscles flex as he hands me the shirt, and I can’t help but admire how good he looks.

Before I start drooling, Lucca pokes me in the side. “Stop staring.”

“How can I not stare? He has a great body. You all have great bodies.” I need to start fanning myself.

I pull the shirt on over my dress and try to reach around to unzip the dress, but I can’t reach it.

Noah walks up. “May I?”

“Sure.” I close my eyes as he does it. I’ve never had a guy help me undress before.

After he unzips the dress, he steps back. I slip the dress down so no one sees anything. Parker was right; the shirt is longer than the dress.

“Lucca, come with me. There are some blankets and things in a closet down the hall.” Parker directs Lucca out the door.

I slide my shoes off and walk to the windows. Blinds we’ve never used are pulled to the top of the windows. Assuming they work, I climb up on the heater to reach the cord, but it’s still too high. I’m about to jump when hands grab my waist.

“Monkey, what do you think you’re doing?” Noah shakes his head at me as he lowers me down.

“I wanted to shut the blinds, but I can’t reach the cord.” Isn’t it obvious what I was doing?

“You’re in a room full of tall people. You’re allowed to ask for help,” Noah says as Jay moves to shut the blinds.

By the time the blinds are down, Parker and Lucca return with the blankets. “How do you want to do this? We can pile a couple together and then have to lie close to one another, or we each get two and deal with the hard floor.” Even though Parker addresses all of us, he looks at me.

I shrug at him. “I trust you guys. I don’t think any of you would do anything I didn’t want if we were alone. I definitely don’t think you would try anything while we’re together. This isn’t the first time I’ve slept with you guys.”

“Okay. Let’s put them in two groups. Cassie, you can pick where you want to sleep.” Parker is evil.

I don’t want to pick. “I don’t care where I sleep. You guys go wherever you’re most comfortable.”

I pick the blankets on the left to lie on. Now, they’ll have to choose. I end up with Parker and Jay. They argue that Noah and Lucca spent more time with me earlier.

For a few minutes, we lie in the quiet dark before Lucca brings up the events of tonight. “What do you guys think is going on here? Are we not safe?”

Lucca doesn’t sound worried, but Noah does when he responds. “I’m not sure what to think about all this. Some girl here is being targeted. We can ask around to see whose mother’s name is Lesia.”

“Well, we know it wasn’t me.” I stare up at the dark ceiling. “My mom was a Jane Doe. No one knows where she came from or what her real name was. She was unconscious and dying when the paramedics found her. They barely managed to save me.” I’ve been told the story a few times by different foster parents.

“Not that I want anyone to get hurt, but I feel better knowing it isn’t you.” Jay elbows me. “I would have to watch your cabin from now on when you’re not with us.”

“That’s great. Did I mention earlier I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me?” I elbow him back. “I think I’m talking to myself with you four.”

Jay throws out ideas on what we should do next. “We should do some background checks on the people here we know. We can connect Lesia to Mr. Smyth. That might give us an idea of where to start.”

“I can do checks on the camp as well. If we can figure out what company runs this place, we can check on them, too.” Noah now sounds excited. He’ll be in his element checking this out.