He looks at me flatly. “Then get your fucking sushi.”
I narrow my eyes at him, a sly smile forms at my mouth. He’s completely gone for my best friend.
Before I can reply, someone steps in close behind me.
“Do not speak to my woman like that,” Markev growls. “Or I will kill you.”
“All talk,” Hunter replies calmly. “No follow through.”
A blade embeds itself in the wall just behind Hunter’s head as he ducks, missing his ear by inches.
Unbothered, he pulls out his phone, already tapping at the screen.
Adelaide sighs.
“Kill each other or don’t,” she says. “Just deal with the bodies yourselves. I’m not calling my team.”
Isaak mutters something I don’t catch, but Adelaide clearly does, because the two of them immediately start shouting at each other.
“Enough,” my sister says firmly. “Everyone order their own food and stop posturing.”
I sink down onto the carpet by the fireplace, my elf slippers stretched towards the warmth. Markev sits beside me, his cologne reaching me as I inhale discreetly.
It’s intoxicating.
He glances at me. “So, sushi?”
“Yes. A double portion,” I say. Then, after a moment, I add, “Actually, I want both, the hot rolls and the cold ones.”
Arlo frowns. “I thought Italians lived on cured meats and pasta.”
I narrow my eyes. “How… reductive of you.”
Isaak tilts his head. “Cuisine isn’t cultural confinement. Italians are perfectly capable of eating sushi.”
Adelaide snorts. “Shocking.”
Everyone orders their own food, which means several different restaurants.
Markev handles ours.
Soon the doorbell rings, once, twice, and the table fills with boxes and bags. We end up sharing a lot more than planned. I don’t share my sushi, but Markev ordered extra anyway.
Adelaide puts on a saccharine Hallmark film after arguing with Isaak for nearly half an hour. At this point, they should probably just kiss and make up, the sexual tension between them is off the charts.
After we eat, someone brings out drinks, some alcoholic, some not, and everyone loosens.
“We should play something else tonight,” Piper says. “I’m tired of Clue.”
Adelaide brightens. “One Lie, Two Truths.”
Everyone seems to agree, which is surprising, Isaak usually feels the need to contradict Adelaide.
It saves me a headache, so I’ll take it.
I lean back against the sofa, the fire crackling beside me.
Arlo volunteers to start.
