“What?”
“And maybe kiss him. McKay is so… straight.”
I chuckle. “He really is.”
“But that’s just because he’s… I dunno. A little bit uptight. Don’t you think?”
“A little?”
“A lot.” She laughs again. “So I told Donovan he needed to get McKay used to the fact that he’s in this, whether he planned for it or not.”
“In… what?”
“Us, you dummy. Me. You. Donovan. And McKay. I’m tired of taking turns in everyone’s bed when nothing ever fucking happens. Well.” She pauses.
“Well what? Is something happening?”
She shrugs one shoulder. “Donovan and I mess around a little.”
“Hmm.”
“Are you jealous?”
“No. Of Donovan? No.”
“It’s been months. We’re settled in. Things have gone back to normal. We’re more normal than ever, if you think about it. It’s time to move on. Just… be who we’ve always known we are.”
“What are we?”
“A team.” She says this simply. And her voice is a little bit small. It’s easy to forget Indie is very young. She’s got an old soul, for sure, but twenty-four is practically a child. I think back to when I was twenty-four—we’d had Indie for just one year back then. And I had no idea what I was doing. Of course, at the time I thought I had it all figured out, didn’t I?
I bought a girl at a Company auction. With the express intent of using her as a weapon. With the express intent of not using her for sex. With the express intent of never getting another one. Of never turning into my father.
But look where I am right now. I have Indie. I have Maggie.
And that’s just where it starts.
I almost laugh. I only hold it in because Indie will ask me what’s funny and I’m never gonna admit this shit out loud to anyone, let alone her.
But I turned into him anyway, didn’t I?
I am my father’s son.
“We’re on the same side, Adam,” Indie says.
She’s so naïve and young. Always has been and always will be. Indie is never going to be normal. She will never grow up.
She will always be that little girl in that cage.
She will always be the little girl who used to climb out her window and creep into the woods.
She will always be the little girl who used to go to church with me.
And now, I take her daughter to church instead.
It’s kinda hard to wrap my head around that.
“I’m sleeping with you tonight,” she says.
“Yup. It’s my night.”
Her eyes twinkle a little bit. “We could mess around a little. If you want.”
“Uhhh…” I don’t know how to answer that. It’s not like I’m not attracted to Indie. She’s a beautiful creature. Very smart. Very capable. Very sexy. But she’s got a big ol’ mess of lovely darkness hiding inside her.
Looking at her right now, and thinking about her offer—well, that’s like being on your knees, leaning over so you can look down the rabbit hole. You don’t know what’s down there. Could be an amazing trip of epic proportions. Could be just a pretty little nightmare waiting to happen.
She gets up and extends her hand to me. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
She could be my wife.
I mean, she’s never going to be my wife. But she could be. I stole her daughter, didn’t I? I’m that girl’s father now. No way in hell anyone can take that away from me. So Indie could be my wife. We could just… slip into this. Easily. We have Old Home. We have each other. We have everything we need to grab the good old American Dream. We could have more children if we wanted. And things would turn out differently this time.
I would not turn into my father.
We could start over.
And maybe… just maybe… McKay would join us.
Could McKay ever do that? Will he ever love me the way I love him?
“Stop thinking so hard.”
I take Indie’s hand and let her pull me to my feet. Then I click off the TV and we walk through the mosquito netting all lit up with fairy lights, and head towards the house.
She holds my hand as we walk, squeezing it a little. It feels natural, but then again, weird.
This girl—woman, now, I suppose—she has been off limits to me for so long. It’s really hard to get that out of my head. And sometimes, when I look at Maggie, I see Indie.
It’s just… weird.
Indie doesn’t lead me to the front porch. She takes me around the side. “Where are we going?”
“To spy on them, of course.”
“Ahh, I don’t know.”
She stops us on the side of the house in front of the office window. “Stop being a baby. Don’t you want to be with McKay?”
And this is weird too. Since when do I talk about my feelings with Indie? With anyone, actually?
“You’re really trying hard to find an excuse, aren’t you?”
“I’m not.” It comes out defensive. “Of course I love McKay. Of course I want to be with him.”
“So what’s the problem?”
I hesitate. She just shakes her head at me and drops my hand. “Fine. Then stay here. I’ll spy.”
She turns away and continues walking along the side of the house, then looks over her shoulder one last time before she disappears around the corner.
I jog to catch up.
Fuck it.
When I round the corner, Indie has her face pressed against the glass of the family room window. The only lights on inside are the ones under the kitchen cabinets. So it’s a low light. A soft glow of yellow But it’s more than enough to see them.
Donovan and McKay are kissing.
I exhale and then heat fills me up. And I don’t remember breathing, but I exhale again. And then again. My chest rising and falling as emotions flood into my bloodstream.
“It’s kinda hot,” Indie whispers.
I have to agree. It kinda is. But it’s a lot of other things too.
They are both shirtless. And I’m not gonna lie, Donovan is just as nice to look at as McKay.
That’s not the only reason it’s hot though. This looks like a real fucking kiss. McKay is even kissing him back. And then Donovan’s hand slips down McKay’s chest, then down his ridiculous sixty-four-pack abs and rests on the waistband of his jeans.
Indie sucks in a little breath of surprise. “Damn. I didn’t think they’d… ooohh. Wow.”
Donovan is gripping McKay’s cock through his jeans. And McKay pulls out of the kiss. I have a moment of hope that he’ll push Donovan away. McKay looks down at Donovan’s hand as Donovan grips his cock and begins massaging his hand over his groin area.
But McKay doesn’t push him away. He closes his eyes and leans back against the counter. Practically giving Donovan permission to do whatever he wants.
“OK.” I sigh. “I’ve seen enough.”
I turn and walk back to the front of the house. Indie jogs behind me, catching up by the time we reach the porch. I make a lot of noise coming up the steps and even more when I open the main door.
I can see them in the kitchen pulling apart. McKay disappears out of view before we step into the foyer. But Donovan remains in view, running his fingers through his thick, dark hair as he smiles at us.