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Kale twitches beside me but doesn’t speak.

Orzo appraises us both. “Cinnamon told me she would be with others, never did I think she would find the two of you.” He picks an apple out of the wooden bowl in front him, taking a bite. “You two will need to sort this shit out.”

“Sort what shit out?” I ask.

“If we’re all going to be her boyfriends, we can’t try to kill each other.” He offers up a shrug.

“What the fuck do you mean?” I clip out.

He takes another bite before answering me. “Isn’t it obvious? She wants to be with all three of us, so that’s what we’re going to do. You two hash it out. I’m going to check on our girlfriend.” He tosses the apple in the trash. “Future wife?” He smiles at that before leaving Kale and me in a stunned silence.

***

“You tried to have me killed,” Kale states bluntly, taking up Orzo’s spot at the bar.

I’m tired.

Confused. Annoyed. Sad. Guilty.

A dozen other micro emotions chomping at me as I process through everything.

“Benedict’s choice,” I decide to offer up, moving to the other side of the bar and watching Kale.

He looks similar to the picture Orzo provided, but it does not convey the energy that wraps around him. When we were younger, Kale was the responsible one, the one who stayed out of trouble.

I was the chaotic, asking for forgiveness, diving in head first type.

But then I was forced to grow up.

Kale heaves a sigh, pushing his glasses up and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

They’re the same ones he wore in our youth, and a small internal warmth fills me at the thought.

Kale sinks further into his chair. “I missed you, ya know? Only friend I ever had. A mutual understanding of what it was like to live through hell and come out on the other side. To endure violence and abuse and persevere. I never thought we would end up like this. The only reason I even learned how to make untraceable poison…”

He lets the truth linger between us. “Was for me. For my dad. Before you added the green blood feature,” I offer up. “I know. I never… I only ever blamed myself. For Maple. For everyone,” I admit. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t want to hire the hit. I didn’t send the email for it. Couldn’t make myself do it.”

“I know. I read the emails. I could tell it was your right-hand-man, good old Colby. I saw him meet Cinnamon at the restaurant too.” Kale thrums his fingers on the bar. “She’s...special.”

Two words, but there is an infinite amount of meaning contained within.

“You know her well?” I watch his expression as realization hits. “Oh, I see... You know her very well.”

He raises his eyes to mine, a faint smirk adorning his features. “She fell on me, literally. And I haven’t been able to get away from her since. She’s a sticky sweet syrup that I want as much of as I can have.”

“I can relate. I hit her with my—”

“I saw.” Kale laughs lightly, his eyes lighting up.

And it’s in that instance that I see exactly what was swirling across his features. “You love her,” I accuse.

“How can I? How do I deserve to?” He grimaces, his head drops into his hand and he swipes his fingers through it. “And if my father finds out her connection...”

“I ordered the hits.”

“Not those. Think about it. My father had a monopoly on the poison I created. If he finds out someone else might have recreated it… He would do anything to hunt down who that person is…”

“Her boyfriend’s death…” The thought circulates. “We can’t let that happen. We need to finish this. Once and for all.”