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It was oddly quiet now. The only sound was the gentle whirr of an air conditioner. The apartment was a bit on the cold side. It was cool outside, so it baffled me as to why they had the air conditioner running.
Brandon called out after we entered. “Anyone home?”
There was rustling behind a door and a moment later, Raven emerged from his bedroom, wearing only pants.
My heart skipped. For some reason, I knew he’d be getting out of jail today but I hadn’t expected him.
Raven was broad from the shoulders all the way down to his waist. The tattoos over his body depicted a lot about a past life that he told me about. He had his lip ring in. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like he’d added a new smaller tattoo to his chest. It stood out because it was a little crude, not as elegantly done as the others. I couldn’t see it until he got closer and into the light.
A scarab beetle. Over where his heart was.
Mark of a thief, he had told me once.
The button of his jeans was undone. I got the feeling he’d been in his room naked and he just slipped them on for presentation.
“I didn’t know you were out yet,” I said.
“This morning,” he said, his Russian accent thick.
There was a pause as we inspected each other. I was itching to say something, like I was glad he was out. Only I couldn’t think.
He came toward me. He put his arms around me, and I put mine around his shoulders.
I punched him in the back while I was holding on to him. It was an awkward punch as I was at a bad angle. “That’s for you pushing me off the boat.”
He swatted me on my lower back, close to my butt, just has hard. “You already hit me for that.”
“I meant the second time.”
“Oh.”
“Stop hitting her,” Brandon said. “She just got out of the hospital.”
“Oh,” Raven said again, and then backed off and released me. “Right. Forgot.”
“How can you forget? She was there for weeks,” Brandon said.
“I was out of commissioner.”
“You mean commission?” I asked.
“Same.” He paused and thought about it. “Wait. No, not really. I used the wrong word.” He reached back to me, tugging me toward his bedroom. “Do you need to lay down?”
“I’m fine,” I said, resisting. At that, Raven stopped tugging.
“Where’s Axel?” Brandon asked.
“Meeting,” Raven said. “In your apartment.”
“You’re not with them?”
“I think it’s about me. And her.” He nodded toward me.
He frowned. “They aren’t waiting around now, I guess. I’m going to go check. Stay with Raven,” Brandon told me.
We watched him go. His head was down, and he avoided looking at me as he left.
It made me uncomfortable. They were having a meeting about us. We weren’t invited…
“What’s wrong?” Raven asked me. “What did he do?” He motioned to the door where Brandon had disappeared. “Why does he look like that?”
The numerous questions picked at me like beestings. I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but maybe it was better from me than Brandon right now, who didn’t want to talk about it. “He sold the garage. So we could leave.”
Raven frowned. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Raven turned to me, tugging me to the bedroom. “Come talk to me.”
“Shouldn’t we go listen in on what they’re talking about?” I asked. “It’s about us, right?”
“No. They’ll tell us afterward.”
“Is it about...what we did?”
“No, it’s about what to do with us.”
I frowned, disliking that. “Shouldn’t we be involved? Shouldn’t we be talking?”
“It’s not...” He grunted and shook his head. “Come on. Let Corey explain it.”
“Corey?”
I followed him to his bedroom door.
Corey was inside, just lowering a T-shirt onto his body, the lower hem falling low over his boxers. It wasn’t fast enough to hide bite marks along his torso.
I blinked in at him, at the room. Most of it was familiar, but the bed in the far corner looked ransacked and there were pillows all over the floor. The blanket was half hanging off.
I got that feeling like I was walking in on something I probably didn’t want to ask about. But also, I got a feeling like I wanted all the dirty details.
Corey realized it was me in the doorway with Raven and flashed an awkward smile. “Not what it looks like...”
“We had sex when I got in,” Raven said. “Hope that’s okay. Since we’re married.”
Corey rolled his eyes. “Okay, so it’s exactly what it looks like...”
I held a hand up. “Hey, um...I don’t need details.” Yes, yes I did. I wanted anything to cheer me up after today. I wasn’t even sure it would work, but I wanted to distract myself and talking about their relationship had me feeling better.
“Axel said we can’t hide relationship information anymore,” Raven said.
“I don’t think he meant she needs a report about what we do,” Corey said, and then spoke to me. “I mean...um...look, it’s weird. I know.”
I kept my hand up and started waving it. “I’m not jealous or anything. Don’t apologize.” How could I make up some weird rules about who they could or couldn’t hook up with? I was the one who was married to Raven, interested in all of them, and Blake. And I’d just told Brandon I didn’t think I could handle open dating just now but I was okay with this in a weird way. Maybe because I knew about it before…
And in a way, I was happy to see this. I’d known Corey had a crush on Raven. And I’d learned recently Raven had a crush on him, too. They’d been holding back for this long. It was about time they hooked up.
Corey seemed to brighten at this. “Really?” Then he frowned. “I mean, I’d like to... you know... date you, too.”
It was odd to hear him say it. After earlier, I wondered if he’d told Raven what we did at the hospital. “I know it’s complicated,” I said. “And the others…”
“And we’re married,” Raven said, putting his arm around my shoulders, but looking at Corey. “So you can date her because I said it’s okay. If she wants to. And the others can. Only when I say so.”
Corey groaned at this. “I’ve been trying to explain just because you’re married, it doesn’t mean...you know... you’re married. Russia’s a bit different when it comes to relationships.”
Raven shook his head, released me and went over to Corey. He put his hands on his shoulders and looked him in the face with the sincerest of gazes. “If they’d let me, I’d marry you, too. But they won’t let us.”
Corey’s face flushed instantly. “Raven...”
“I’m not supposed to lie about relationships,” he said. “I’m trying to tell the truth.”
Corey made another grunting noise and looked at me for help. “He’s been saying this all day. I can’t get him to stop.”
I waved at them shortly, trying to redirect the conversation. “What are they talking about in the other apartment? Can’t you listen in?”
“I’m not supposed to,” Corey said.
“Why not?”
“It’s not like we’re in trouble. It’s more…strategy for what to do next.” He motioned to the bed. “Want to sit down?”
He spread out the blanket on top of the bed properly. I crawled onto the foot of the bed, collecting a pillow to hold against my body. Corey sat up against the wall the bed was pushed close toward, his knees up and his elbows resting on them.
Raven started by sitting on the edge near the head of the bed, but then moved over, throwing a leg through Corey’s bent one and rested his heel on my leg. “Remind me to get a bigger bed. For three.”
Corey blushed at his comment but ignored it and focused on me. “Anyway, don’t worry about them in the other apartment. You aren’t in trouble.”
?
??Why would I be in trouble?”
“Because...” He paused and then shrugged. “No reason, really. It isn’t you, it’s us.”
“Dr. Roberts hinted that there were some issues with the Academy. And Axel said something earlier...”
“We broke our own rules,” Raven said. “So we get into trouble.”
“It’s not about being in trouble anymore,” Corey said. “We kind of knew we’d get in trouble over it. And Alice making that call didn’t help because it just proves to them us disappearing is the right call. But it’s a question of do they basically tell us to go and stop associating with us or how much help they can give. Giving any at this point really puts them at risk. The longer we keep in contact with them, the more likely she’ll figure out what the Academy is.”
“They probably would have kicked us out anyway since you’re my wife,” Raven said. “And also the others with you.” He tilted his head and seemed to consider this. “Like other husbands, but not officially. Boyfriends? What’s the word for more than boyfriend but not officially husband? Is there an English word for that?”
