“Is there a reason we’re barging in today?”Max demanded dryly as he followed them in, looking every inch the dangerous man he was.Unlike the two princes, Max wasn’t royalty—but he’d been tied to them for years through business deals, mutual respect, and the occasional willingness to scare people half to death.
Rylan glanced up from the couch, his glare sharp enough to kill.“Go.Away.”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” Saif commented, strolling into the room like he owned the place.
When Rylan stood, all three men stared like they’d just spotted a wild animal walking upright.Saif was first to recover.“What happened to you?You look like you wrestled a bear and lost.”
Zayn poured three mugs of coffee—because of course he did—and handed one to Saif and the other to Max without breaking stride.“Not a bear.Maybe a small car.”
Rylan scowled but didn’t deny it.“I said go away.”
Max leaned against the wall, one hand cradling the mug of coffee, his face unreadable.“I’m staying.This has potential.”
“Why are you walking like that?”Zayn demanded, now studying him like a doctor about to give bad news.“You’re hobbling.Did Tom beat you on the mats again?”
“I can take Tom,” Rylan grumbled, gripping his coffee like it had personally betrayed him.“And no, this has nothing to do with sparring.”
“Then what?”Saif’s grin was growing by the second.“Don’t tell me—sex injury?Did someone finally outmaneuver you in bed?”
“Now that I’d pay to see,” Zayn added, smirking into his coffee.“Imagine Rylan bested by a woman.”
Rylan’s glare deepened.“All of you, out.Now.”
“Not a chance.”Saif sprawled into a chair, stretching out like he had nowhere else to be.“We’re here until you talk.”
Max pushed off the wall, his voice low and cutting through the chatter.“Let me guess—itwasa woman.And she introduced you to something you’ve never done before.That’s the only thing that explains this much limping.”
“It wasn’t kinky sex,” Rylan snapped, forcing himself to stand again and praying to every god in existence that he wouldn’t faceplant.“It was…” He hesitated, glancing between them like he was weighing whether it was worth the humiliation.“Yoga.”
Silence.Then—
Zayn’s eyebrows shot up so far they nearly left his forehead.“Itwasa woman!No man voluntarily signs up for yoga unless he’s trying to impress someone hot and very flexible.”
Max tilted his head.“Why do you immediately assume a woman was involved?”
Saif snorted.“Because this is Rylan, and if it’s not business or beating someone senseless in a ring, the only thing that motivates him is a woman.”
Max paused… then chuckled.“Fair point.”
Zayn stepped into Rylan’s path toward the kitchen.“So.A woman you want in your bed, then?”
Rylan ignored him and kept walking.
Saif shook his head, still grinning.“She must be something else if she convinced you to try yoga.What was it—hot yoga?Goat yoga?”
Max’s mouth twitched like he was holding back a laugh.“I’m more interested inwhyyou let her talk you into it.”
“I didn’t let her talk me into anything,” Rylan shot back, setting his mug down with enough force to make the ceramic clink.“She challenged me, and I accepted.”
“Yoga as a challenge?”Zayn’s laugh boomed through the room.“Cousin, you used to climb mountains for fun.Now you’re trying to impress women with downward dog?You’re slipping.”
Saif leaned forward, his grin wicked.“Tell us, Rylan.Was it worth it?Did she twist you into a pretzel before or after you got her in bed?”
Rylan groaned, leaning against the countertop.“You’re all idiots.”
“And yet, you love us anyway,” Saif shot back, grin widening.
Max straightened, the faintest smirk tugging at his mouth.“Sounds like she’s gotten under your skin.Dangerous territory.”
