Page 5 of Married to the Beasts
It’s not the temperature that has me quivering, so I don’t answer. Instead, I follow him out. He starts offtaking big strides with those long legs of his, but slows his pace to match mine and stays at my side.
The living room curtains are parted a few feet now, and it’s painfully sunny outside. I’ll bet there’s a spectacular view out there, but I can’t bear to look.
I catch sight of motion through my squinted eyes and open wider to find Conal’s brothers at the other end of the room. Rafe Curran is lifting lids from various plates on a room service cart. Bron is behind the bar, pouring something into a glass, but stops when he sees me.
“Morning, Hazel!”
I give Bron a small smile and mumble a response. He did his share of flirting with me last night, from what my tattered memory can piece together, but I don’t remember us having any heart-to-hearts. Of course, everyone who pays any attention to entertainment news knows all sorts of things about the Curran brothers, the kinds of things that make a person blush.
And I just woke up in bed with all three of them.
“Hair of the dog?” Bron lifts a bottle my way, offering me alcohol, and I quickly shake my head, then wince again from the sudden movement.
“No, thank you.”
Waking up with just Conal would have been intimidating enough, but being here alone with all three brothers is something else entirely.Where is Bliss?
“Bring her some dry toast,” Conal tells Rafe.
The guitar god nods once but doesn’t say anything. Rafe’s in jeans and a black t-shirt, and I scold myself when I notice the way the fabric stretches across his impressive chest. His dark hair is wavy, cut shorter than his brothers, and his usually clean-cut jaw is shaded with stubble. I don’t suppose I should be admiring other men now that I’m a married woman, but Rafe’s piercing gray eyes are mesmerizing.
The idea of being a married woman almost makes me laugh out loud. This is all too ridiculous to be real, but another glance at the ring on my finger sobers me immediately.
I sink into an armchair as Conal retrieves a blanket from a closet. At the same time as he brings it over and drapes it on my lap, Bron approaches holding a glass of cloudy-looking liquid.
“Have some coconut water. It’s good for hydration.” He’s wearing a navy tracksuit with the top unzipped and no shirt beneath it. I try not to look at him, but it’s impossible. Playing drums apparently providesan amazing upper body workout. He’s got tattoos too, and I know Rafe’s also inked, from shirtless pictures I’ve seen of him.
I feel guilty admiring Conal’s brothers, but I can’t help but wonder … why were they both in bed with us? It’s not as if there was only one bed available in this massive suite.
If it were just Conal and me here, I’d be asking questions, but the idea of talking to all three of these famous men about how I can’t remember last night makes me want to crawl under one of the sofas and never come out. Instead, I take a tiny sip of the drink Bron gave me.
I’ve tried coconut water before and didn’t like it, so I’m definitely not expecting to enjoy the taste today with the way my stomach’s feeling, but I don’t want to be rude. Surprisingly, it’s not unpleasant. Encouraged by the fact that the aspirin Conal gave me hasn’t rebelled, I take a bigger drink.
Conal intercepts the plate of toast from Rafe and sets it on the end table next to me. As I’m thanking the three of them, a phone rings in Conal’s back pocket. He takes it out, glances at the screen, then silences the ring with what I’d swear was a satisfied smirk.
When Rafe’s phone rings a moment later, Conal shakes his head. “Don’t answer it.”
“Wasn’t going to,” Rafe says, as he stands in the middle of the room drinking from a mug.
I take a tentative bite of toast, and when my stomach doesn’t protest, I take another, washing it down with a small sip of coconut water. The men seem unbothered, eating and drinking like it’s a normal morning, though from what I’ve heard, they’re probably used to partying hard.
When I clear my throat, all three of them look my way, and I’m again tempted to hide somewhere. Instead, I say, “There’s a chance my sister might show up. I talked to her, and … she wanted to know where I was. I …I told her not to come, but she was worried about me.”
Rafe and Bron return to their breakfasts, and Conal nods easily, which helps me relax a bit. “I’ll tell security to send her up if she comes.”
His reaction is a relief, because if Conal didn’t want to let Ember in, I can imagine her getting the police involved, or maybe her three men would fight their way in.
Encouraged by Conal’s response, I bring up another concern. “Do you know where my friend is? Bliss?”
“She’s in another room here at the hotel. We assumed you’d want to see her today.”
I nod, and try to act like all this is normal. I probably only missed a few hours of my life last night, but they sure were important ones.
HAZEL
As I continue to nibble on my toast, I sit calmly, but inside, my mind is spinning like a hamster wheel. I have so many questions, but I decide to save most of them for Bliss.
I wonder what her room here looks like. It’s hard to compare spaces, but I think the suite I’m sitting in could contain the entirety of the house where I live with my mom and little sister. I never knew hotels had rooms this large and lavish, and I can’t even begin to imagine how much it costs to stay here.
