The Lies We Tell (The Four #1) - Becca Steele Page 0,23

my face is punishment enough for him keying my car. But whatever, I’ll stay. And yes, I’ll cook breakfast, if that’s what you’re trying to ask me.”

“Good. You can sleep in my bed if you want?”

“I thought you said I was off limits?”

He sighed. “Yeah, better not. Stay in here, then. It’s our spare bedroom. You’ve got a bathroom through there, and you can lock the door from the inside if you want to.”

“Thanks. You’re really not so bad.”

“I’m fucking awesome. You’re not so bad, yourself. I’ll get you something to wear.”

He disappeared out of the room and returned a few minutes later with a soft black T-shirt that he threw onto the bed.

“There you go. Sweet dreams, Winter.”

“Night.”

Finally, I was left alone. I took the key from the outside lock, shut the door firmly, and locked the door from the inside, then sent a quick message to Kinslee, although she’d been dead to the world by the time I’d left her, sleeping off the effects of the tequila. Pulling on the T-shirt, I slipped under the covers. How had I ended up sleeping here, of all places?

Overcome with exhaustion, I closed my eyes and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

EIGHT

Have you ever woken up and stumbled downstairs all disorientated, to be confronted with the hottest guys you’ve ever seen?

I have.

I thought I was dreaming for a moment, but when I closed my eyes and reopened them, they were still there. “They” being Cassius, Weston, and Zayde. Caiden hadn’t appeared as I stood, bleary-eyed, my hair a tangled mess, wearing the T-shirt Cass had thrown at me, chopping mushrooms and tomatoes ready to go in the omelettes. Weston stood next to me at the huge black marble kitchen island, grating cheese.

Did I mention they were all shirtless?

I wasn’t the type to mindlessly drool over men’s torsos, but anyone with eyes would appreciate this view. Weston’s lean, toned body close to mine, and Cassius’ golden skin and his tattooed arms leaning on the island across from me, and Zayde… I let my eyes trail across his pecs, his abs, his arms…every single inch of ripped, exposed skin was covered in tattoos, and it was hot. So hot.

“Babe, when you’ve finished eye fucking us, I think the mushrooms are ready.” Cassius’ amused voice snapped me out of my reverie, and I shook my head, focusing on breakfast.

“Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t eye fucking any of you, by the way. I was just…thinking about stuff.”

“Course you were.”

“Hang on, do you have matching tattoos?” I noticed an IV tattoo on Cassius’ left pec, just over his heart, and the same one on West’s ribs.

“Sure do, babe. We’re the Four. Hence the tattoo.” Cassius shrugged.

Right. “Where’s Zayde’s?” I mumbled under my breath, stealing a look at his inked body again. He gave me a cold, blank stare, and I turned to the range cooker, my face flushed.

As I tipped the eggs into the frying pan, the boys were forgotten and my mind turned to my mother, against my will. I needed to get closer to her, to find out as much as I could. She—

Every thought I’d had flew out of my head as I turned around to grab the mushrooms, right at the same moment Caiden sauntered into the kitchen.

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

Days.

Maybe my stupid hormones were taking over, because my heart rate shot up and my mouth went dry as I drank him in. Faded, ripped jeans, the top of an IV tattoo just showing above the waistband, tantalising me, acres of tanned, tattooed skin, and muscles all over the place. As my eyes trailed up to his face, I saw an angular jaw, a fucking perfect nose, grey-blue eyes shadowed by ebony lashes, and just-rolled-out-of-bed messy black hair. Yep. Caiden was insanely gorgeous. How could anyone be that good-looking?

Hang on a minute.

I did a double take, noting the marks on his jeans, and the way his hands were stained a bright pink. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

Anger filled Caiden’s face as he noticed me standing by the oven.

“What the fuck? Why is she here, and why is she wearing my fucking clothes?” He practically snarled his question at the other three, and I noticed Weston slinking around the island to put as much distance as possible between us.

“What’s the matter, mate? She was tired, and she crashed here, and needed something to wear to bed. I just grabbed what I could. So she ended up in your T-shirt. No big