46

~Darlina's POV~

The last day of our little trip at the cabin, I huffed to myself as I hoisted my bag down the stairs while getting ready to go. Emmett had already put all his things in the truck along with Atlas, the latter of the two leaning against the ginormous vehicle with his arms crossed.

I lifted my bag, struggling to put it into the trunk of the vehicle. Out of nowhere, I felt a smack against my butt, causing me to jolt in surprise and squeak, almost dropping my suitcase. Atlas caught it before I could drop it, a smirk tugging at his lips when he saw the appalled look on my face, and proceeded to easily set the bag into the back.

"Hey," I huffed, glancing around the side of the truck to make sure Emmett hadn't come out and seen that. Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen so I turned back to Atlas, who was looking down at me with an amused smirk on his lips. "You can't smack my butt like that. Emmy might see." I scolded him with a frown, only making him snort with mirth in his dark eyes.

"Like I'd care. He's seen me do far worse things with a girl." He retorted, causing me to cock my head to the side, unsure what exactly he meant by that. "Really?" I frowned. "Like what?" I asked, unable to deny my curiosity.

Atlas looked at me for a second like he was debating on telling me. "Uh," He scratched the back of his neck, now looking almost a little embarrassed, which was incredibly new to me. I'd never seen him looking embarrassed before. "Em and I used to, you know, sometimes have sex with girls together. Threesomes, but only a couple of times." He said, causing my lips to part in surprise. The only reason I knew what that meant was because of Emmett, honestly, so maybe it shouldn't have surprised me to hear but I was still taken aback nonetheless.

Lips parted, I just stared at him, stunned. Honestly, a big part of me felt jealous that he had done that sort of thing before, but not angry, really. It was more so the idea of him with a woman that made me feel jealous, though I clearly knew he'd been with at least a couple of women before. Still, I didn't necessarily like to hear about it.

"Oh." I said quietly, pursing my lips as I glanced down at the ground. I hadn't realized that he was into things like that, and it had me second guessing myself. I liked Atlas a lot, but was that the sort of thing he would want me to do? "What are you thinking of, Lina?" He asked after a few moments of tense silence passed, neither of us quite sure what to say after that.

"Well, I just..." I hesitated, trying to think of the best way to ask the question on the tip of my tongue. "I mean, is that something you'd want from me? Doing that sort of thing?" I asked, admittedly not very keen on the idea. I wasn't sure if that was something that I could do, if he did.

However, Atlas' eyes flashed with something unfamiliar and he scowled at my question, as if he hated the idea. "Absolutely fuckin' not." He refused immediately, not even hesitating. I blinked up at him, surprised by how quickly he had answered and how harshly. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." I squeaked, but he sighed heavily and ran a hand through his dark hair. "I'm not upset at you, so don't apologize. But just know the last thing I would ever do on this planet is ask you to fuck anyone or be touched by anyone except me."

Realizing now what had caused him to snap like that, a small smile tipped up the edges of my lips. He seemed rather jealous even at the mention of me with another man. "Okay." I said with a giggle, amused and perhaps a little pleased.

At my laughter, Atlas shook his head and slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants. "But did you actually think I would be interested in that? Sharing you?" He asked, cocking up an eyebrow as he looked at me. I shrugged. "Well, you're the one who used to...do that." I mumbled, fiddling with my fingers shyly. "Can you blame me for thinking it?" I responded, watching as he cringed slightly.

"I guess not." He reluctantly admitted through a heavy sigh, causing me to smile up at him. I stepped closer after making sure that Emmett still wasn't around, reaching out a hand to grasp his when I saw we were still alone.

His eyes flicked down to where my hand now laid in his and he flipped his hand over so mine was on top, brushing his thumb over the back of my hand. "How do you feel about what happened the other night, smalls? I know we haven't spoken about it, and you're covering the marks again." He mentioned lowly, flicking his eyes to meet mine. I flushed, stepping closer to him and shrugged slightly. "You know I said Emmett can't know, not yet. I don't want him to put too much expectation on anything, I guess."

Atlas frowned. "Do you regret it?" He wondered, surprising me greatly. I stared up at him with big eyes, unsure why on earth he would think that. "Of course not." I assured with a shake of my head. "I really do like you, Atlas, and I haven't regretted it for a second. I'd do it again." I admitted shyly, a blush creeping up my neck and into my face. "I hope we do it again, and I hope we do more, too."

My words caused a smirk to form on his lips. "Again, hm?" He repeated, ducking his head down so his face was closer to mine. "Sounds like I'll have to keep that in mind."

Right as I went to reply, I heard the faint sound of the front door to the cabin slamming shut and I quickly pulled away, putting about a foot of distance between us. Emmett came striding out with a big grin on his face. "Sorry I took so long, I was taking a dump before we have to be on the road for the next couple hours. The last thing I want is to have to stop at a gas station to shit, you know?" He said to the both of us, causing Atlas to snort at his bluntness whereas I scrunched up my nose in disgust.

"It really wasn't necessary for you to share that information with us, Em." I mumbled with a shake of my head. Emmett smiled and tugged open the driver's seat door, swiftly pulling himself up into the front seat before slamming the door shut. "Come on, get in guys." Em told us hurriedly, completely ignoring my statement.

The two of us climbed up into Em's truck, me with a significantly higher amount of effort than what it took Atlas. I buckled my seatbelt and hid a smile as I felt Atlas brush his hand across my thigh after he did the same, allowing it to linger for a moment. "You excited to start your new job in a couple days?" Emmett asked Atlas after we had been driving for about fifteen minutes, glancing into the rearview mirror.

I glanced up at Atlas, who was nodding his head. "Yeah. I still feel kinda bad that I've just been living with you guys for free, basically." He responded, rubbing the back of his neck. Em and I exchanged a look, the both of us frowning. "You know that it's not like we mind. I invited you to stay with us because I wanted to help you." Emmett sighed, dragging his eyes back to the road to focus on driving as he spoke.

Atlas bit his lip and then released it, poking his tongue out to wet his mouth. "Yeah, so you've said, but that doesn't really change that I feel like a bit of a leech." He muttered, his words causing me to furrow my brows, not liking how self-deprecating he was being. I placed my hand on his wrist, but tried not to make a big deal out of it by staring out the window. His hand slipped into mine a few moments later, fingers interlacing with mine.

"Well, regardless, I hope things go well, man. I know how much you've been wanting this." Emmett said as he glanced at Atlas through the rearview mirror once more, a small smile on his lips.

Emmett turned the radio on after that, allowing the conversation to come to a stop, but my thoughts continued to wander. If Atlas was starting his job in the next couple of days, then that meant he would no longer be volunteering with me at Dina's and I'd go back to working there on my own. This shouldn't have been surprising, as I knew that this was going to have to happen eventually and more so that it would have to happen some time soon being that he now had a job, but I still found myself feeling a little bit upset at the realization.

However, I knew that this was a good thing in the end. Atlas was finally able to get a job like he wanted, which was hard with his record, and so I was happy for him in that aspect. But was it selfish of me to wish that I could have him stick around at Dina's for a little while longer? Probably. He doesn't even get paid for being there, after all, and he's happy about this new opportunity.

I shook my head, biting on the inside of my cheek as I continued to watch the scenery pass by out the window. It would just take a little getting used to his absence, that's all. Besides, he lived with me, so it wasn't like anything was really changing. He just wouldn't be going to Dina's with me.

This is a good thing, especially if it makes Atlas feel productive and happy.