Not for the first time, I wondered if the house had been this dramatic before I arrived. Surely tensions existed when you were stuck with people you wouldn’t necessarily give the time of day to on the outside. But I couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room–I had changed the all-male dynamic. I took a deep breath, and turned the handle.

I called out softly, so as not to disturb the peace. “Luther? Are you in here?”

Silence was my only response. Then, from the corner of the room where we had pulled two of the overstuffed wing chairs together, I heard him. “Over here.” We had pulled them next to the window overlooking the garden while we did our useless research, as if the sunshine could inspire some helpful information that hadn’t yet come to light.

I sighed, more in relief that he was talking to me than anything else. As I made my way over, I didn’t bother waiting until I was in front of him to start my apology. “Luther, I am so damn sorry. It was rude of me to do private things in a common room. I should’ve kept it to the bedrooms. And I’m sorry you had to find out like that. I’m sure you’re absolutely disgusted with me.” I cringed at the memory as I rounded the chair to face him. I wasn’t ashamed of what we had done, but for someone who wasn’t used to it, it would be a shock. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, or make him feel left out.

Luther sat in his chair, looking me over like he had never seen me before. His brown eyes roved over my face, my messed-up hair. They ran down my arms, and across Theo’s shirt. He reached my legs, and something unexpected happened. He laughed.

“What the hell is so funny?” I asked.

He pointed to my legs. “You seem to have forgotten your pants.”

I followed his finger to my bare legs and immediately blushed. It was difficult to make a serious apology about sex when I was standing in front of him with just my shirt and panties on. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry about what you saw downstairs.”

“Why?” Luther ran his fingers through his curls, cocking his head at me. “Why are you sorry?”

“Um…well…” I took a deep breath, collecting myself as best I could while missing half of my clothes. “I’m sorry you had to see us all together like that. I’m sure it wasn’t what you wanted to see. I promise to keep sex in the bedroom from now on.”

He patted his knee. “Come here.”