“But you didn’t,” he grumbled.
Her tiny hands flew to her hips. “Yet.”
Adorable. So much that I greeted her. “Ayla.”
Coming to flank me, she mimicked my tone. “Gedeon.”
I smiled at the little devil at my side. “Would you like to play a game?”
Zion’s face went slack. He knew what it meant whenever the two of us teamed up. “N?—”
“Hell yes,” she interrupted him, a sparkle of excitement leaking through.
Zion scratched his chest, his nails leaving haphazard lines of pink. “Where did you learn that word?”
She scoffed. “Not your business.”
“Ayla!”
She snickered. Truly, she was the best accomplice I could ask for. As close as Zion and I were, he still had no clue his sister and I had made a pact: whenever he pissed me off, she helped me to take him down in exchange for me teaching her some…not very nice words.
Or as both of us liked to call it—a game.
I tousled her sun-kissed hair, earning a glower in exchange. “I have a task for you.” This dissipated her ire, and interest took its place. Leaning into her ear, I asked, “Can you pretend that I’m telling you how I’m going to destroy your brother? If you do this, I will explain what ‘fuck’ means.”
Serious as ever, she gave me a curt nod. “I can do it.”
I struggled to contain my amusement.Aylahad been pleading with me to reveal the mystery of the swear word for the last month. Had said her parents had heard her use it once and reproached her for it. So, obviously, she desperately needed to know what it stood for.
“You have my word.” I extended my right hand for her to shake. Better than the pinky promises she had subjected me to at the beginning of our partnership.
Satisfied, she deadpanned to her brother, “We will hand you your ass.”
“Godsdamnit, Ayla.” Zion rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know where you are picking this up, but please, for the love of gods, don’t speak like that near our parents. They think it’s me teaching you! I’ve already gotten enough lectures from them.”
She twisted a lock of her straight hair around her forefinger. “What? You don’t like my filthy mouth?”
Zion’s jaw dropped, and I clutched my core from laughter.
I had shared this line with Ayla just last week, after Zion had gotten me in trouble at school by picking a fight with me. Naturally, I had also convinced his sister to sprinkle a spoonful of salt on his school lunch for the following four days.
And now, hearing her say the phrase out loud, in that high pitch of hers…it couldn’t get more hilarious. Particularly when she popped her hip out, just like I had instructed her. I doubted she understood exactly what the saying meant, but Zion surely did.
“Zion! Ayla! Gedeon!” A breeze toyed with their mother’s loose, pale-blue pants as she waved from the shoreline. “Come back; you’ll freeze in there!”
“Let’s go.” I tucked Ayla into my side, away from Zion, who was failing to stare her down.
You protected the co-conspirators of your crimes. And she was the cutest of them all.
As we trudged toward the yellow-and—white-striped beach blankets spread far from the cliffs casting a shade on the sand, he asked, “What did you tell her?”
Raising my chin, I relishedthe last sunshine before autumn brought on the rain. “That’s our secret.”
“Oh, come on, it was a joke. It’s not like you’re actually going to do anything to me.” He scratched his chest again, deepening the paths his fingernails had left before. “Right?”
I smirked.“You can beg as much as you want, Zion, but I am.”
17 YEARS OLD
