When he'd discovered that her front door was unlocked, he'd let himself in, expecting to find her poking around her new kitchen. Instead, he'd found her asleep. She was on her back on her sofa, breathing heavy, her hair absolutely everywhere. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen it down, it was a lot longer than he'd remembered.
He also didn't remember her having a tumor, but she seemed to have grown one. A six-foot-two, one hundred and seventy pound tumor. Liam was was on his side, his face buried in her hair, one of his arms draped across her stomach, one of his legs stretched across both of hers.
They were both deep asleep, Liam even snoring lightly. It looked like they had been that way for a while. There was a plate half full of food on the coffee table, and it was all cold to the touch. Most of the lights in the apartment were off, just the tv was on and the lights in the kitchen.
Wulf stayed completely silent and let his eyes wander over them, trying to figure out what exactly had gone on. Had they had sex? If they had, how would he handle that? Not well, he was sure. No, if he found out they'd slept together, he was pretty sure he was going to put his fist through something. Most likely Liam's face.
But he didn't think they had slept together. A glance down the hall showed that Katya's bed was made and free of wrinkles. Both of them were wearing all their clothing; Liam even had his shoes on. If he had to guess, he would say they'd had a meal together, then they'd cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie, falling asleep after a long enough time.
He took a deep breath and tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck. Trying to lower his blood pressure. He couldn't get mad. Wulfric Stone didn't get mad. Getting mad didn't help anything – it just ended in people fighting in a garage, or throwing cake in a reception hall. So even though he was seething angry and he wanted to commit murder and it felt like part of his soul was dying when he looked at another man touching Katya, he schooled his features into a mask of neutrality. Then he cleared his throat. Loudly.
Katya's head twitched, then she yawned and stretched out, raising her arms above her head. He cleared his throat again, and then counted to ten in his head when she rubbed her hand up and down Liam's arm.
“You're snoring,” she murmured. Liam snorted.
“You're snoring,” he grumbled back.
Wulf full out coughed.
“What time is it?” she yawned again, struggling to sit up a little. “I can't believe we fell asleep. You're so late for -”
She completely froze when her eyes locked onto Wulf. No hint of sleepiness remained and while he watched, she swallowed thickly and began tapping Liam's arm.
“When I said you had to make dinner,” Wulf finally spoke. “I meant for me.”
“This is not what it looks like,” she spoke quickly. He rolled his eyes.
“Don't be cliché, Tocci.”
“Liam!”
A solid punch to his shoulder finally brought the other man out of his sleep. He snorted again and pushed himself up, then wiped at his jaw.
“How long were we out for?” he asked through a yawn. Katya slithered out from under him, falling onto the floor.
“We have company,” she replied, ignoring his question and all but leaping to her feet.
“Tori's supposed to be at work,” Liam mumbled, finally shifting into a sitting position. He stretched his arms above his head, then finally looked around the room. He paused when his eyes landed on Wulf, then he slowly smiled. “Oh. Oh, this is too good.”
“Please, Liam,” Katya groaned. “Don't make this worse than it already is.”
“Don't have the time,” the other man sighed. He climbed to his feet and made a big show of buttoning his pants and putting his belt back to rights. Wulf arched up an eyebrow and glanced at Katya. Her face was beet red, her lips pressed into such a hard line, they weren't even visible.
“Please, don't let me interrupt anything,” Wulf said. Liam chuckled.
“Don't worry – you're too late to interrupt anything.”
Katya's jaw dropped at that statement, but Liam didn't give her a chance to argue or deny anything. He leaned down over her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head before ruffling up her hair.
“I'll call you tomorrow. Thanks for dessert.”
With a wink and pat on Wulf's shoulder, Liam left the apartment. The door falling shut behind him was loud in the quiet space, almost seeming to echo. Katya stared at Wulf for a long time, looking like she was caught somewhere between nervous and angry.
This should get very interesting, very quickly.
*
This is going to get very ugly, very quickly.
Katya stared at Wulf for what felt like an hour. His face was completely blank, not one thought or emotion showing on it. That made her even more nervous – like the calm before the storm.
“Um ...” she finally spoke. “What, uh … what are you doing here?”
“You missed dinner last night,” he replied. “I wanted to see what you were up to tonight.”
“Oh.”
“Apparently, you were very busy.”
“We watched a movie and we fell asleep,” she said quickly. He nodded.
“Of course, obviously. I often undo my pants in order to enjoy a good show.”
“Don't be ridiculous. Do you really think I was banging Liam on my couch just now?” she asked, throwing her hands up. He shrugged.
“Honestly, I don't know what to think about you anymore.”
She glared at him, then bent over and grabbed Liam's plate from where she'd knocked it onto the floor. She placed it on top of her own and carried them into the kitchen.
“You know what? Screw you. You could've walked in on me blowing him, and it's okay, because not only are you NOT my boyfriend, but this is MY apartment, which you shouldn't be walking into, PERIOD,” she informed him while she scraped her left overs into the trash.
“Are you really going to lecture me about coming in here uninvited?” he asked, standing on the other side of the island. “I find that hilarious, considering I caught you walking around my apartment the other day, when I wasn't even home.”
“Don't even try to make me feel bad about that – you never ask before you do anything, why should the rest of us be any different?” she asked, tossing the plates into the sink.
“Is that a serious question?”
“Screw you. What do you want, Wulf?”
“I told you. Dinner.”
After she'd rinsed the plates off, she turned around to face him, folding her arms across her chest.
“I am not making you dinner,” she told him.
“I guess I got here too late. Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Not then, either.”
“I spent a lot of money on this kitchen, Tocci. Pick a date that's good for you,” he told her. She shook her head.
“I didn't ask for a whole new kitchen, Stone. You can't buy my forgiveness, or my love, or whatever it is you're trying to do,” she said.
“Oh really? Then tell me what Eden did. What kind of lie did you believe this time, so I can know what kind of bullshit to spout off to get you to forgive me,” he replied.
“I don't get you. You talk to me like I'm the stupidest person you've ever met. If that's how you feel, then leave,” she snapped, pointing at the exit.