“Obviously not. Look at the company you keep.” Brooks gestured toward himself and the most obnoxious snort laugh burst past her lips.
“Now that I think about it, you’re right. Please vet her for friendship starting with a thousand-page questionnaire about her intentions. And while you’re at it, fill one out alongside her.”
“You’re brutal, Siren.” He shook his head and waved her over. “Don’t just stand there. Come sit.”
“I’d love to. My feet are killing me.”
Xia sat in the chair beside him and moved to pull the worn shoes from her feet, but before she could reach them, her chair was sliding around abruptly. Brooks turned her to face him and pulled her legs up to rest in his lap. He unlaced both shoes and dropped them to the side before settling her feet in an accessible position.
“Is this comfortable?”
“This is perfect,” she whispered. Xia closed her eyes as she rested her head against the back of the wooden chair.
Brooks applied gentle pressure to massage the pads of her feet as he stroked his thumb along the bottom, rubbing smooth circles with his other fingers. When he was pleased with the amount of attention given, Brooks moved up and started working her calves. The tenderness pointed to how sore she would be the next day.
“Nyx was in a really foul mood this morning. More so than normal, I mean. I scared the shit out of her when I asked to help. She seemed pretty lost in thought.”
Brooks was silent for a beat too long, the space between them growing thick with tension. “I haven’t seen her since our… you know.”
“Oh. Okay. I guess that makes sense.”
Brooks had been overly protective since arriving in the town, and it seemed to get worse every day. That included reading too hard into everything, and Xia had never been good about hiding her feelings.
“Makes sense for what?”
“Just that she was… upset.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Xia?”
Xia sighed, resigned. If they were going to be partners, then there shouldn’t be lies and half truths between them, right? “She said some things to me this morning that I don’t think she meant. I wanted to talk to her again, but wasn’t sure when the right time would be. I was hoping she’d come back here to calm down, but it doesn’t seem that was what happened.”
A chill nipped the air as neon flames sparked in his eyes.
Careful, God of Chaos.
“What did she say to you?”
“The words don’t matter, Brooks. Just the resolution.”
“I want to know what she said. She’s already on thin ice as far as I’m concerned.”
“She has every right to be upset. If you did to me what you did to her I would be furious. You crossed a serious boundary, and most people aren’t so forgiving.”
“I would never do that to you unless I had to.”
The Siren sprang to the forefront of Xia’s mind as she spit and hissed.
Xia pulled her feet from his lap and raised her voice an octave. “Hadto? What the hell does that even mean Brooks?”
“If it was a matter of your safety, I wouldn’t hesitate to search for the answer in your memories, Xia.”
“You are so fucking unbelievable. Did last night mean nothing to you?”
He looked down as he answered, “It meant everything to me.”
“My words, Brooks. Did my words not make it through that thick skull of yours? I asked you to stay by my side as I grew, to be my safe space as I figured out who I am. You said you would learn to do better. And then I gave you my body because I trusted you to keep that word.”
“I am trying, Xia.” His eyes were pleading, but she wouldn’t let that deter her from driving the point home.
