“Makes sense to me.”
“You can’t claim someone and then tell someone they aren’t your girlfriend in the same breath.”
“I just did.”
He unlocks the car, and I stand there staring at it for a second, wondering how we went from tearing at each other’s throats to whatever this is, but then I get in. Clay starts the engine and pulls onto the street, and we drive in silence for a few minutes before he speaks. “What time does your shift end tonight?”
“Why?”
He doesn’t answer, simply drives with one hand on the wheel and his elbow on the windowsill.
I turn back to face the road and realize these are the most words Clay has ever said to me that weren’t intended to make me feel unwelcome. I have absolutely no idea what to do with that.
Clay
I want to smack Ares in the head for the way Kayla was creeping out of his room. I didn’t ask her what went on; it’s not my business, not that she would have told me anyway. But once we reached the diner, I thought of a way to make her feel better—watching me punch her ex. I know it would have made me feel better if the roles had been reversed.
After I dropped Kayla off at her house, I went back to the island to check on the Vesper situation. I collected Brawley since I needed him at my side because the psycho bitch is feral, and he is the only person she responds to without biting. Last night she injured a man she was chasing and then lost it when he tried to role-play. I didn’t ask for too many details because I only care that we don’t let her brand of crazy loose to do too much damage.
I spend the rest of the afternoon doing the job I’m actually paid to do, checking the cameras and walking the perimeter to make sure no one is trying to hide anywhere they shouldn’t. By the time I get home, everyone else is already back.
Brawley is at the table eating, and Vero sits beside him. Ares is leaning against the wall, and all three look at me as I walkinside. I drop my keys on the counter and glare at Ares. “What did you do to Kayla?”
As the question bursts out, I know I should have left it alone. But it has been eating at me all day, and I refuse to acknowledge why.
Ares glances over at me. “Nothing she didn’t consent to.”
“That is not what I asked, and you know it.”
“She was in my bed again.” Ares selects the right words to use in a measured tone. He always fucking does this, and we let him because we are all monsters here. The difference is we let our demons show, whereas his are on the inside—but he is a monster nonetheless. “It was a physical response, a natural progression of the situation we were in. It doesn’t need to be made into something it wasn’t.”
“A natural progression,” I repeat in disbelief.
“Correct.” He takes a sip of his coffee. “It was an isolated incident. She is a grown woman who made her choice, so I do not see why this requires a debriefing.”
“Because this morning she walked out of your room looking like she wanted to put her fist through a wall,” I say, gritting my teeth. “And now you’re standing here talking about an isolated incident.”
“She was fine.”
“She was not fine.”
“Clay,” Ares warns, looking at me and then at Vero.
“She wasn’t fucking fine, Ares. And that says a lot coming from me.”
I hold his gaze, and he holds mine, and I see the moment that he is done engaging.
Vero must see it as well because he jumps up from the table. He has been quiet this entire time, and Vero doesn’t do quiet. He stares at Ares, his expression flat, and the Vero that we all lovebut all want to strangle is not there. “You made her feel like shit,” Vero snaps. “Didn’t you?”
“Vero,” Ares says in a voice he reserves just for him. “I think you’re reading too much?—”
“Don’t you fucking dare use that voice on me!” Vero takes a step toward him. “I know what that voice is for, and I know what you do with it. Don’t you dare do it right now.”
Ares says nothing, which is worse than if he had kept talking.
“She is not an isolated incident.” Vero’s voice cracks. “She is a person, and she is our person.” He saysourand nothis, which means he is attached.
I won’t lie and say I don’t like having her around too. She challenges me in a way no one else ever has, and I think I like it.
