Page 94 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

Cooper looks at me like I’ve grown three heads. “Are you really asking me that right now? I know you’ve been better with your jealousy, but come on, Tate.”

My lips purse. He has a point, but still . . . “This is a different situation. You’re meant to want to worship Ezla. Why would you even consider a shower instead of a bath with her? That’s not how she deserves to be treated.” My tone has grown darker and darker with every new word, matching the ever-increasing tenseness of his jaw.

“Don’t fucking question my treatment of Ezla, Tate. I was trying to be considerate. I mean, it might be a little bloody awkward when the woman we’re here for is asleep and the two of us are just sat in a tub together—”

“Don’t make it fucking weird,” I interrupt, nose scrunching in disgust.

Ignoring me, he continues, “And you should bloody know it’s a worry of mine that I might accidentally do something shitty with the kind of person I am. My biggest fucking fear is unintentionally mistreating her, so don’t tell me I’m doing that now when I was just trying to think of your comfort.”

I pause.

Avoiding my gaze after his revelation, he scrubs a hand over his face before moving over to the other side of the bathtub, snatching up the shower cream on the way. I’m quiet as he lowers himself into the water, taking in the stormy set of his brows and jaw.

A moment passes by before I mutter, “Sorry.”

He huffs but nods, features loosening just slightly. Then they melt completely as he focuses solely on our girl.

I realise then especially that what I said was entirely stupid—anyone who looks at Havoc the way he is clearly has each and every atom of their being devoted to her. Pretty fucking shitty of me to throw accusations around like that in the first place, but I’ll always take anything to do with Ezla to the extreme. I need to know she’s being treated like the queen she is, and I won’t accept anything less. And the thing is, I know how fucking well my brothers treat her—it’s what made me start to accept them in the first place, to reach the point where I consider them brothers. But I also need to stick it more firmly in my head that Cooper and the rest of Ezla’s Bonds are as obsessed as me. They show it differently, but that doesn’t mean their feelings for her are ever about to waver.

Spreading the shower cream across my palms, I get to work on Ezla’s shoulders, but it’s slippery in here, and Cooper quickly moves closer with a slosh of water before she can sink more than an inch further down than she did. “Want me to hold her if you’re going to use both hands?” he offers.

My eyes slit as I scrutinise him. “You just want her in your lap.”

His lips twitch like he’s fighting a smirk, and any heaviness from before is gone as he says, “Can you blame me? Besides, that doesn’t mean it’s not helping. I hold her, you get to use two hands; you hold her, I get to use two. I’d say that’s pretty fair.”

Considering him, I grunt.

Victory flashes through his eyes as I hand Havoc over to him as gently as possible. He settles beside me with her in his lap, wrapping his arms around her middle and propping her head up the same way I did.

I don’t hesitate to get on my knees for our girl and continue washing her, moving slowly to soak up every inch of her as well as clean her thoroughly. I only pause to hold her up when Cooper pours some shower cream into his hand before his arm secures her in place again, and we’re silent as we work on our Bonded together.

I’m not sure how long it’s been before I hear quiet footsteps, and I glance up to find Scotty. Evidently, me and Cooper had been too focused on Havoc to notice his arrival sooner.

His blue eyes flick over the two of us and our Bonded between us, but he hardly bats an eye at the sight before him, only a small twitch of his features giving away any mild surprise. No doubt, he felt everything happening through the bond. “Tiger and Alby are waiting in the bedroom,” he tells us quietly.

Flicking my eyes behind him, I catch sight of the two in question sat on the huge bed in the middle of the room. Wide-eyed, they sit cross-legged at its centre, both in their pyjamas like Scotty is, staring right through the open doorway and into the tub.

Scotty moves closer, attention shifting to Ezla. He visibly melts at the sight of her as he continues, “I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. The bond went quiet pretty abruptly for a second, then completely. Logically, I know she’s just asleep, but—”

“She’s fine,” Cooper cuts him off, not harshly, but to stop the explanation he doesn’t need to give. “Don’t worry, Scotty. She’s safe here. She’s with us now.”

He cups the back of his neck and squeezes like he’s trying to shove those words into him. “I know. I know all of us will do everything we can. But she’s still got the Avri in her eye, her skin . . .”

Jaw firming, I flick my focus to that glowing blackish-crimson scar. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

“We will.” Sighing, he bends down to plant a kiss to Ezla’s forehead. “I think we should make that a priority, breaking that connection he has to her. We can’t just wait until we finally manage to kill him.”

“And how do we do that?” Cooper asks, tightening his hold on our Bonded.

“We—”

“I do not appreciate being woken by your worrying.”

All of our spines snap straight.

“Fuck, sorry, Love.”

Scowling at him, I growl, “That was your fault.” Then I look back at my Havoc and the stunning mismatched eyes revealed to us, rubbing a palm up her side. “Sorry, Havoc, baby.”