This isn’t the same.
It’s apples and oranges.
“Do you guys always cook like this?” I ask, wiping my mouth with a napkin that appeared next to my plate. “Or am I reaping the benefits of a full-blown codependent throuple?”
Jace huffs at me, though I see him fighting a grin. “We eat like grown men who know how to use a pan.”
“Don’t let him lie to you,” Kieran says, hopping onto the stool beside me. “For the first six months of the company, he lived on boxed rice and shame.”
“Hey,” Jace protests, wrinkling his nose. “Shame tastes better than your protein pancakes.”
“They were banana pancakes.”
“They were betrayal in batter form.”
Silas finally looks up. “Can wenotscare her off before noon?”
“I’m not scared,” I state, standing to empty the remains of my breakfast. “If I were going to run, it would’ve been after the hallway camera incident. Or when an AI app sent a one-man surveillance team into my apartment. Or the illegal hacking of my digital trail. Or?—”
“You done?” Silas asks calmly.
I smile. “Not even close.”
He smirks into his mug, and the air warms just a fraction as Kieran and Jace chuckle at the two of us. I rinse my dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher as the guys spread out across the open space, settling in to… whatever it is they do when they’re not stalking me.
Kind of difficult to stalk me when I’m in the same room.
My phone buzzes on the counter. I glance at the text from Roo; she’s included a profile and picture, one of which I delete immediately. I also delete the notification banners stacked up on my home screen, and then set my phone facedown.
“I need to go to my apartment today,” I inform the room and pick up my water to take a sip.
Three heads turn as if they think with a hive mind, three brains and one thought.
“No,” Jace says, shaking his head.
“You won’t go alone,” Kieran adds.
“I didn’t ask for permission,” I clarify lightly, but my fingers tighten around the bottle of water.
Silas tilts his head, the corner of his lips tugging up like he’s ready to argue. “Then consider it a statement of fact.”
I grin sweetly at him, all poison and warning signs as I open the HimLock app…
Eris:
You’re being possessive.
Three phones ping at once, and a dancing demonic paperclip pops up on the monitor in front of Silas.
Jace lifts a brow. “You could have told him that out loud.”
I shrug. “Group chat seems appropriate for shared obsession and possession.”
Kieran meets my eyes from across the room, spinning his finger to encompass all of us. “This is the group chat.”
“You know, there are cults that are more subtle than the three of you.” I laugh at the bored looks I get. “This is the literal definition of a cult. If we get a few more followers and?—”
“You can go.” Silas’s voice stays calm though he gives me averypointed look, as if he can’t believe I was getting ready to definecultfor them. “But you’re not going alone.”
