“Making a new group chat.” I show him my screen with a smirk. “One that includes our girl so we can keep her in the loop. Y’know, keep her updated with things, like the fact we’ll need to take turns touching her so we don’t blow our load the next time her darkness wants to say hello.”
Zeek grimaces.
“Please think about this, Sai,” Julien says, flitting to my other side to glance down at my screen.“We could always make our own private group with her.”
The sneaky fuck. I give him a devious smirk, letting him know I heard him loud and clear.
“It’s a good idea.” No one is more shocked to hear Kane say that than me. Well, maybe his brother, but the point still stands.
Kane keeps his stern expression as he steps out of the shadows by the door. “The four of us together can be overwhelming for most. But for our bond...”
I swear I actually wilt at those words.Our bond. Fuck.
All of us seem to soften during that tiny pause.
“She was with us last night, and then again this morning—all of us together—while she’s still learning control, with that rune hindering her…” Kane always speaks clearly, with no ambiguity, and it hits us all at once: we’ve been pushing her too much.
Taking too much.
Great. Now my chest feels tight.
“We need to be more careful,” he adds. “Spend time in smaller numbers. Alone. In this realm and the dark.” He nods at my phone. “This way, we can still keep communication as one.”
“And any ideas on how we’re going to phrase this, brother?” Zeek asks, steering us back to the problem at hand. I begin to open my mouth, but he rudely interrupts, “Please take this seriously, Sai.”
I ignore him. “How about I open with: ‘Did you know Zeek was humping your adjoining wall last night?’ ”
I cock my head and grin wide at Zeek who glares at me, before looking back at my phone to tap in the final touches. “Done. You’re all in there, so you fuckers can do it.”
I walk round to Zeek’s chair and drop into it, kicking my feet up onto his desk, ready to watch the drama unfold.
And one by one, they each pull out their phones and stare at their screens.
Red's Enforcers (Definitely Just Friends)
“I know, not my best work, but I figured‘Red’s little lap dogs (totally platonic)’might not go down as well.”
I tilt my head one way, then the other, then snap my fingers with the click of my tongue. “Got it, what about‘Four shades of desperation (for friendship)’?”
Julien nods approvingly. “I like it.”
I smile. “Thanks, buddy.”
Kane remains silent.
“How do you come up with these so quickly?” Zeek sounds equal parts exasperated and impressed, which does awful things to my ego.
My markings pulse. “Mate, if you think that’s impressive, you should hear the things I say in the bedroom—”
All our phones vibrate at once.
I shut up, and watch every gaze drop straight to their screens, including mine.
Red: Cute group name.
Seeing asIcreated the name, she’sbasicallycalling me ‘cute’, right? Right.
Me: Thanks, Red. You wanna hear the other options?
