“Yes?” Rett appeared in the doorway, wide gray eyes going right to Kieran.
“Don’t look at him,” I snapped.
Kieran’s lip twitched, and he turned completely to face Rett. “Make sure you come see me before you leave.”
A wary look crept over his features. “Why?”
“Because you’re Haz’s family, so you’re mine now too.”
Excuse me?I held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but I think my ears are malfunctioning. I could have sworn you just called him yours.”
Kieran glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
“My guyyy,” I drawled, something hot and ugly making a mess in my stomach. “I will open a Nature Valley granola bar on your bed.”
Kieran’s eye twitched.
“You’ll be finding crumbs in your crevices for weeks.”
Kieran looked at me. I wiggled my fingers toward my nether regions and made a face.
“What the hell kind of threat is that?” he asked, looking disgusted.
I stepped closer until our feet bumped. “No threat. Just a promise to slowly dismantle your life with creative consequences until one day you catch yourself wishing I had just pulled out your veins and used them as shoelaces.”
His eyes narrowed. I smiled.
“You think I’m family?” Pip’s small voice was like a wrecking ball to the hostile vibes I was throwing down. I mean, he’d probably prevented a duel.
We turned, and something inside me splintered. The kind of hairline fracture that probably couldn’t be seen but would be felt forever. I didn’t know how I’d managed to walk away two years ago, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it again.
Mine.
Not Kieran’s.
Mine.
“Yes. So make sure you say bye before you leave,” Kieran replied.
A duel was probably imminent.
“O-okay.” Pip nodded, his eyes luminant even in the low lighting of the bedroom.
“Go eat before it gets cold,” Kieran instructed like he was the boss around here.
FYI: He wasn’t.
Pip’s eyes flickered to me before he turned and disappeared.
The second he was gone, I reached out and grabbed Kieran’s nipple through his shirt and twisted.
“Owww.Jesus, fuck!” he roared, slamming his arm down across mine and breaking the contact. His dark eyes were incredulous. “Did you just purple-nurple me?”
“You deserved it,” I spat and started to turn.
He caught my arm again, and I reacted instantly, bulldozing him across the floor until his back slammed into the wall. With my good forearm pressed against his throat, I forced him in place.
“If you were anyone else, you’d already be dead, and you know it,” I said quietly. “Consider this the only friendly reminder I’ll ever give. That little pipgeek out there is mine and mine alone. Donottest me.”
