“Wow.” Alex gives me an incredulous look. “She’s fucking gotten into your head already, and you’ve known her for what, aday?” He scoffs. “Didn’t expect you to fall so damn low, Ledge.”
“Alex.” There’s so much anger in Jayce’s voice as he addresses his husband, that it surprises us all.
“You met her last night, didn’t you?” Varsha asks. “It’s why you refused to hang out with us when I asked you to come over to my place.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Technically, it was earlier today,” I say.
Varsha, Alex, and Jayce live in the same building. Where Varsha owns an apartment on the 5thfloor, Alex and Jayce own one on the 8th.
Their building’s only a couple blocks away from my loft andFinesse, so we usually hang out and have dinner together. It’s not a dedicated routine or anything, but we make sure to follow it as often as possible.
Until last night – when I was busy getting a taste of Cignette, and my crew had no fucking idea about how much trouble I was knowingly getting myself into just by seeing her.
Jayce raises a brow at me – a silent command for me to elaborate what I’d said to Varsha.
I scratch the back of my head and open my mouth to talk, but nothing comes out.
Dammit.
I glance at Varsha, then Jayce, and then Alex. They’re all looking expectantly at me, like I’m about to recite an ancient folklore or some shit.
We stare.
We blink.
We stare again.
And I’ve perhaps shifted on my ass a few times, but I guess that’s normal, given the environment.
“Well,” Alex’s voice cuts through the brief silence. “We’re waiting, Ledge.”
I swallow.
“She didn’t have her card with her,” I begin, then stop.
“What card?” Jayce asks.
“Hercreditcard, Jay,” I tell him. “And she didn’t have any cash, either.” I loosen the strap tied around my left hand, and then start to unwrap it. “She said I could come over to her place when I had the time, and collect the money she owed us for the battery.”
“Good God,” Varsha mutters. “So you’re telling me that you went to Miranda’sestatelast night?”
“I snuck in, actually,” I clarify. “After the day-shift guards left their station.”
“Fuck,” Jayce whispers. He then closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Christ, Ledge.”
“It wasn’t a big deal, okay?” I say to them. “I’m fine; they didn’t even know I was there.”
“Yay you,” Alex taunts, then scowls at me. “The guards could have killed you in a heartbeat, you fucking idiot,” he adds.
“But they didn’t –because they didn’t see me.” I lift a shoulder. “Are they even that good if they couldn’t even catch me? We’ve only heard of how dangerous they are, but never exactly seen them do anything to prove that.”
“I’m sorry,” Jayce interjects, “but did youwantthem to catch you? Were you there to witness their skills or something? Are youthatdesperate to die?”
Varsha doesn’t say anything; she’s just watching us. And, because the whole situation is making me feel constricted, I decide to give myself some space from it. Throwing my bloody hand wrap on the ground, I stand and walk over to the table where my duffle bag is placed. I pull my water bottle out from inside it and take a few long swigs from it, then lean against the table to calm myself a bit.
I knew that when I told them about this, they’d be mad. But what I wasn’t expecting was for them to be unreasonable about it; be so damn unwilling to understand.
I’m about to take another swig from my bottle, but stop when I hear Jayce’s comment.
