“Ow.” I closed my eyes, wincing at my now-sore tailbone.
Knox’s grip tightened to the point it toed the line of painful. My eyes shot open and I found him with his gaze glued between my slightly parted legs. Creed’s shirt was bunched around my hips and my bottom half was on full display.
Mortified, I went to snap my legs shut. The intense look he held stopped me. His eyes had darkened, and his brow was pinched, giving him a mixed look of agony and want.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from his, not when they made me feel…desired. Did he want me? Did I want him to want me? Yes, I did, and that terrified me. I brought my knees together and began pushing my shirt down to cover up. “Knox, I—”
“Well, this was not what I was expecting to see when woken by a loud noise,” a voice I knew belonged to Keelan said.
Knox ripped his hands from my legs like they were on fire and moved back until he bumped into the fridge. We both looked toward the voice and found not only Keelan, but Colt and Creed standing in the dining room.
“Same here,” Creed said, frowning at Knox.
Colt and Keelan didn’t appear to be upset, but kept looking from me to Knox and back repeatedly.
“It’s not what it looked like,” Knox said.
“That doesn’t make you sound guilty at all,” Keelan said caustically.
“He’s telling the truth. I fell and Knox tried to catch me.” I pulled Creed’s shirt down as far as it would go. “Unfortunately, I ended up exposing myself.”
Creed let out a frustrated noise and Colt ran his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. Keelan was staring at Knox with a smug look that seemed to piss Knox off more.
“Well, actually, I ended up flashing him before I fell.” I was blushing badly. I cleared my throat and looked at Knox. “In my defense, this all could have been avoided if you hadn’t made a fuss over me hanging the banner.”
He frowned at me. “You were going to fall.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was fine.”
“Accident or not, that doesn’t explain why he couldn’t remove his eyes from between your legs,” Creed snapped and scowled at Knox. “You said you didn’t want her. You said you didn’t want to have anything to do—”
“Creed,” Colt snapped, silencing his brother. I swore, whenever Colt hulked out, it always surprised everyone. It was such a drastic change from his kind demeanor. “It doesn't matter,” Colt said, calmly.
Creed’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t argue.
Colt’s attention flicked to me and his angry expression softened. “What are you doing up?”
It took a moment for me to answer because I was still digesting that Knox had told them that he didn’t want me. I shouldn’t have been upset about that. I shouldn’t have because I was in a relationship with Colt and Creed. I shouldn’t have, yet my heart hurt. “I couldn’t sleep,” I said and tried to scoot to the edge of the island, but my bare butt was sticking to the granite.
“Are you stuck, baby girl?” Keelan asked with mirth in his eyes.
I didn’t find any of this funny. “Can you all close your eyes? I get that everyone has seen my vagina, but I would like to get off this counter with a little dignity.”
Keelan spun around. “If it makes you feel better, I haven’t seen it.”
“Fucking Christ,” Knox cursed and turned around.
The twins averted their eyes and I hopped off the island. “I’m down,” I announced and Keelan and Knox turned back around.
“Did you sleep at all?” Creed asked me.
I busied myself with collecting the plastic wrapping that the decorations had come in. “I don’t want to sleep.”
“That’s not what he asked,” Knox grumbled.
I shoved what I’d collected into the trash can with a little more force than necessary. “An hour.”
“You need to come back to bed and get some sleep,” Colt said.
“I said I don’t want to sleep!” I roared. Guilt hit me instantly and I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t believe I had just exploded on them like that. “I’m sorry.” They were pushing the matter because they cared. They didn’t understand. I opened my eyes. They all seemed surprised, except Knox. He was watching me carefully with his intense brown eyes. “I’m sorry,” I said again.
“You want to tell us what that was about?” Creed asked.
I forced myself to appear calm even though panic was building in my chest. “I guess not sleeping is catching up with me. I’m sorry I yelled. You’re right. I should go back to bed.”