Jaden (Jaded #3)(55)

“What?”

He had noticed my look. “You care about them, too.”

He nodded. “They’re good guys. I do. I’m firmly in the friend-zone, so yeah, I feel like I’m actually friends with all of you guys, not just you.”

“Thank you, Denton.”

“For what?”

I gestured around the room. “For this, sheltering us.” For caring about my family, too. “Thanks for everything.”

He gave me a half-grin. “Aw, Sheldon. You’re such a softie inside.”

I scowled and gave him the middle finger.

“See.” He pointed at my hand. “Even that’s with love. I can tell.”

“Shut up.” I laughed.

“Listen, I’m all for staying up and making sure the guys are fine, but,” a yawn escaped him, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

“*.”

“I’ll take it.” He grinned. “Come on, Sheldon. Tonight’s been a long night. Go to bed. The guys will be fine. They’ll be here in the morning.” He pointed to my phone. “Corrigan texted you. You know they’re fine.”

“Yeah, maybe.” If I were in bed, I wouldn’t be here when they both walked in; I wouldn’t feel the urge to wrap my arms around both of them, never wanting to leave them again. Then I shook my head. What the hell was going on with me? I grinned, laughing at myself. I was becoming a sentimental fool. Denton was right. Bed was the right place to go. They’d be there in the morning, no awkward middle-of-the-night hugs to be had.

“Okay.” I stood up.

Denton lifted an eyebrow. “That was easier than I thought.”

“Yeah, well, you’re right. I should get some sleep. Tomorrow . . .” Tomorrow would be another day spent trying to figure out what the hell I could do. “’Night, Denton.”

“’Night, Sheldon.”

I left for my room alone. He went to the refrigerator for something. If I was going to avoid the late-night awkwardness, I had to go now. If I waited to walk with Denton, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to go. I’d wait at that table the whole night, if I needed to, but when I got to my room and after getting ready for bed and crawling under the bed sheets, it didn’t matter.

I was still restless.

I still wanted to be up.

I still wanted to hug both of them.

I lay in bed for an hour, tossing and turning, until I heard someone’s voice in the hallway. My heart leapt to my chest. Was it—”’Night, Bryce.” A door closed, then light flashed under my door. I slid out of my bed without thinking. No, that wasn’t true. My internal logic was yelling at me to stay put, but I switched it off. The need to see Corrigan was too much.

I opened the door just as he was closing his.

It opened again, and his head poked out. “Sheldon?”

I sighed. He looked good, so damn good. My fingers curled around the doorframe, and I rested against it, not moving another inch. I could see him. That was good enough. “Hey,” I whispered.

His face transformed. The slight concern morphed into a tender grin. “Hey, yourself.”

My heart started to pound more, growing stronger with each beat. “You guys are okay?”

“Yeah.” He paused, glancing to Bryce’s door. “They had questions about Guadalupe for him.”

“Oh.” I swallowed, a light-headed sensation was filling me up. “Like what?”

He shrugged, the corner of his mouth lifting in a teasing grin as he studied me. He knew what was going on with me. I’d been the one to crawl into bed with him for so many nights. I licked my lips. They were so damn dry.

Corrigan murmured softly, “Like the last time he saw her. What happened? When was the last time he called or texted her? Questions like that.”

I frowned. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah, it is. They asked the last time he saw her assistant, too.”

“They did?”

He nodded. “He gave them her phone.”

“Oh.”

“He said you might be mad since that was a big thing from going to the hotel that day.”

“Yeah.” I folded my arms over my chest and turned so I was leaning onto the doorframe. I wanted to go to him. It was the next best thing to hold myself back. “I wanted to see what else was on that phone.”

He nodded. “I know. Bryce feels bad, handing the phone over, but he thought it would help. He thinks the police are looking into Maria more. Maybe they’re taking this case more seriously and looking at other suspects or something.”

“Wait.” I pressed a hand to my forehead. “You think Maria killed Grace?”

He lifted a shoulder up. “Who knows? Guadalupe’s assistant is bat-shit crazy. I wouldn’t put it past her—hurt someone that had hurt you, set you up. Bryce showed me some of the messages she sent him. Some were just crazy. She was threatening him, saying that if he didn’t go back to Guadalupe, she’d do something to hurt the ones he loved.”

“Me?”

“It makes sense. It gives her motive.”

“That’s insane.”

“Yeah. She’s insane.”

“Oh.” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I had never considered Maria as a suspect. Yes, she hated me and she was nuts about her boss, but killing? “Yeah, maybe. That’s crazy, though.”