Page 46 of How to Trust a Hellhound
I tried really hard not to stare at his dick, because, you know, it was justthere. And that was definitely enough for my mind to focus on. Or not focus on. Or whatever. Dear god, would no one give the man some pants?
“Atlas, you can’t go walking around naked,” I said. I thought my voice was quite reasonable considering… you know,everything.
“Clothes are itchy,” he answered.
“Yes, well, that’s neither here nor there. You still have to wear them, especially when you’re with company.” My god, I sounded like someone’s mother. Maybe I could lecture him about washing behind his ears next.
Atlas just grunted, though, and then he was gone.
Fluffy was back. He grinned a doggy grin at me and sat down.
Nope. Not thinking about that. Nope.
“Is Atlas going to get pants on?” I asked, and yeah, I knew it was stupid even while I asked it, but Atlas was gone.
Q dragged his hands down his face then gestured to Fluffy. “Actual hellhounds, Josh.”
“That’s not a hellhound. That’s Fluffy,” I answered.
Except Fluffy was on fire. I stared. Yes, that was fire, dancing all along Fluffy’s body. He seemed fine, but the cabin was brand new. New wood everywhere. Did they even have a fire extinguisher in here? I kind of doubted it, and I was going to live here, and now it was going to burn down before I ever got the chance.
Everyone was staring at me. I could feel it, but I was staring at Fluffy as the flames seemed to reach a little higher, and he wasn’t standingthatfar from a small, wooden side table.
“Fluffy, we do not go around all…” I paused and gestured toward him. “Flamy. It’s rude. This is a brand new cabin, and I willnotbe happy if anything catches fire.”
Fluffy was no longer on fire, but he huffed at me in displeasure.
Liam chuckled, and using a typicalyou got in trouble and I didn’tvoice said, “Yeah, Fluffy, no flames in the house. First the naked thing, then this. What, were you raised by wolves?”
Q elbowed Liam in the side, and Fluffy narrowed his eyes and growled.
“Boys,” Wilder said mildly, and everyone settled down and looked at him. And at me. At us. Wilder was still holding my hand.
“Not my fault he’s mad he offended step-dad,” Liam muttered.
Well, that seemed to be the point where reality checked out, because Fluffy was once again Atlas, and he wasstillnaked, and Atlas lunged at Liam, and the two of them were rolling around on the floor smacking each other and wrestling.
I must have been the only one having a break with reality, because Quinton just muttered, “idiots,” under his breath, and Aiden just backed up. Wilder heaved out a sigh ofexasperation.
“I think I need a CAT scan,” I murmured. “Unless it’s a CT scan. Never can remember which is which. Or if they’re the same.”
Q snorted, but I ignored him. I was too busy watching the grown men—the hallucinations—rolling around on my floor.
They seemed to be mainly playing, although they were coming awfully close to the wooden side table that had my Lego camera on it.
As if manifesting the chaos, which is probably what I did, because they were my hallucinations, after all, the two rolled into the table. The Lego camera fell off and broke into pieces.
Both of them stopped, staring at me guiltily. Atlas was still naked, but my hallucination at least kept Liam clothed. They literally had their hands around each other’s necks, although they didn’t appear to be choking each other at the moment.
I stood up, staring at them. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, but then I saw the broken Lego camera again and sighed.
“Andthisis why we don’t roughhouse inside,” I said, going over and picking up some of the camera pieces. “Stand up, for goodness sake. And put some clothes on, Atlas. Or a towel. Or something.”
Atlas grabbed a dish towel to hold in front of himself. Yeah, that was definitely going in the wash. Because apparently I was just going to embrace my mental breakdown.
Why not? Wilder was here, and when I looked over, he just looked pleasantly amused. He winked at me, and my insides felt a little warm and fluttery. He didn’t seem bothered in the least.
I turned back to Liam and Atlas. “You’re grown ass men, and you should not be rolling around on my floor fighting each other.”
