"Get moving. They wanted to see you, too," Apollo insisted.
"So much for you needing an escort," Valentine growled. "You lying little shit."
"Too bad you're here now. We just want to have dinner, for fuck's sake."
Valentine knew he would never hear the end of it if he left, so he resigned himself to the inevitable.
"You look like shit," Reeve said as soon as Valentine sat down.
"Thanks. At least none of my clothes have holes in them."
Reeve gestured to the mahogany knit jumper he was wearing. It had a few holes along the bottom. "It's supposed to look this way. It's vintage."
"You look like a hobo."
"You look like a vampire but not hot."
"Come on, guys, can we get drinks before you start bitching at each other?” Bas asked, ever the peacekeeper.
Valentine went to get up, but Apollo pushed him back down. "I'll get the drinks. Stay here."
"Where are the girls?" Valentine asked. It was rare for his brothers to go anywhere without their mates.
Reeve said, "Charlotte and Bridget are studying today with one of the fae healers. We haven't had a boys' night, just us, in ages."
"Could have something to do with you all disgustingly shacked up all of a sudden." Valentine needed Apollo to hurry the fuck up with their drinks.
Bas frowned at him. "You think we planned it to happen that way? Bridget was as much of a surprise to me as she was to everyone else."
"And let's face it, Lachie and Apollo were only a matter of time from the moment they met," Reeve added. "Least they will stop mooning over each other so much."
Valentine managed a smirk. "Doubt that."
"Here we go, boys," Apollo said, bringing over a tray of tall pint glasses and setting them down in front of them. "What are we talking about?"
Bas grinned over his pint. "You and Lachie mooning over each other."
"Can you blame me? He is literally perfect in every way," Apollo said matter-of-factly, and sat next to Valentine on the bench seats. Blocking him in, Valentine couldn't help but notice.
He lifted his beer and tapped it against his brother's, "Slainte."
It only took two mouthfuls before they all turned to him with their big puppy dog eyes.
And here it comes…
"We are worried about you," Bas began. "You need to talk to us."
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm fine," Valentine insisted and had another mouthful of his drink.
Apollo bumped his shoulder against his. "Come on, Val. We aren't dumb. You're having problems controlling your magic and getting it to settle again. You're not eating. You have to take an elixir every night to knock yourself out. You haven't said anything about what happened with Yelena."
"Becausenothinghappened with Yelena," Valentine snapped.
His brothers raised their brows in an eerie, almost identical manner. Valentine rubbed at his forehead irritably.
"I sent her a letter telling her I knew that she was Caelan, okay? She never sent anything back. That's it."
"What did you say in the letter?" Reeve asked, his expression shifting to a frown. "I mean, from what Charlotte has told me, Yelena's pretty easy going."
