Rule (Marked Men #1)(99)

Shaw came out of the bathroom pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail. Cora turned from the front desk to scowl at her. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me for that ass**le. I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Ahh I’m going to miss you too girl but I’m never there and I’m sick and tired of having my stuff in two different places.” Shaw was moving in with me and Nash this weekend. We had put it off even though she was there five to six nights a week because I didn’t want to burden Nash. It was my best friend that finally told her over breakfast one morning that if she agreed to do most of the cooking then she was welcome to just move in. We were both grateful because I liked our place, it was super convenient for work and I really didn’t want to move or ask Nash to leave. The three of us got along great and Nash was gone enough nights that we never really got on each other’s nerves. The girls were bummed she was going and I knew she was really going to miss Ayden and Cora, but they hung out enough and declared every Thursday girl night that I wasn’t worried at all about her regretting her decision.

Cora screwed up her face looking like an angry Tinker Bell. “I just hate the idea of moving a stranger in. You and Ayden were like the perfect roommates ever and after what happened to you I don’t trust some random stranger off the street to move in.”

Shaw sat in the chair I had vacated to clean up and I hid a grin as she sneakily ran her fingers up the inside of my thigh. Nash looked up from the owl he was working on and looked back and forth between me and Rowdy. “Isn’t Jet coming back from tour soon?”

“Yeah. So what?” Artifice had hit the big time, booking a slot on Metalfest and tapped Jet’s band Enmity be on the opening stage for them. He had been gone for over six months and while he was on the road the girl he had been shaking up with had hooked up with some ex con so Jet was out on his ass but we all just figured he would crash with Rowdy or one of the other guys in the band.

“You can rent the room out to him.” Nash said it like it was perfectly reasonable. “He’s cool with Ayden and he’s always on tour our whatever anyway. I bet he would be a good fit.”

Shaw and I shared a raised eyebrow look. Jet was cool with Ayden, in fact they had developed an independent friendship outside of the rest of us that often left us all questioning how close the country girl and the metal boy were. They were close but so opposite it was hard to understand how they ever had anything to talk about, if anyone asked me Jet moving under the same roof as the dark haired beauty was just asking for trouble, or a really good time depending on how you looked at it. I cleared my throat and reached out for Shaw’s hand.

“My older brother will be back in a few months too. He’s gonna need a place to crash until he figures out what he’s doing. That might be another option you want to consider.” Cora nodded and turned back to whatever it was she was messing with on the computer. “You ready to go home?”

I loved asking her that. I loved that she knew I loved asking her that. She smiled at me and gingerly reached up to give me a quick peck. I knew her side had to be hurting her. Four hours of getting drilled was a lot and she normally sat like a champ, still as stone. I was going to put her in a hot shower and make her feel all better.

“Yep.”

We walked out of the shop hand in hand and headed toward the Victorian. She liked to run her thumb back and forth across her name on my knuckles and it never failed to make me smile.

“Do you want to put me in your portfolio Rule?”

I wasn’t expecting that question so I looked at her in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. You put all your really big pieces in there, I just didn’t know why you would want to leave this one out.”

I wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her to me so I could kiss the top of her head. “Because those are work. I put them on people and then they go out into the world where they are hopefully appreciated and loved by other people. Anything I do for you, anything between us isn’t work and it’s for you and I to appreciate. When I work on you I do it knowing what I put on you will be with us forever. Like I said if you want it in there I’ll be happy to put it in, but if not then I’ll be happy to be the one to admire all my handiwork every day.”

She stared at me in silence for a second and then burst out laughing. “You give the most backasswards compliments in the world but that was lovely and you’re absolutely right. The only person that I really want to see it is you.”

I growled and tugged on her hair. “That thing covers half your butt cheek. I better be the only one looking at it Casper.”

Her green eyes glowed in a way that only I could make them. “I do love you Rule Archer.”

Every time she said it I had an easier time telling her, “I love you back” and that’s all it was. I didn’t have to question, didn’t have to worry, didn’t have to fall into the tunnel of darkness because whatever Shaw felt for me I just gave it to her back and knew that was enough. I didn’t have to try, I just did and every single day I did it better than the day before.

“So what about Jet or Rome going to live with Cora and Ayd?”

She snuggled into my side as we approached the Victorian.

“I can’t wait to see how that plays out.”

I snorted. “That’s what everyone said about us.”