Baz crinkled his nose.“She’s my sister, don’t call her ma’am.”
“It’s called respect.I know you haven’t heard of it.”
Bold words from the guy who had bulldozed into Baz’s life and demanded to be fucked.
“I think Sami’s right, Baz.Dad left the church and went to therapy.He hasn’t made a single transphobic remark yet.And he called me yesterday, freaking out about having messed up with you, so there is some self-awareness there now.”
Of course he had tried to gain Eevee as an ally.
Or were those the actions of a man genuinely trying to reconnect with his children?How was Baz to know?
He had been spectacularly wrong before.If Sami had been any less determined to get into his bed, Baz would have missed out on getting to know the sweet, caring person he truly was.And since the world wasn’t black and white… What was the harm in seeing for himself that Eevee wasn’t falling into any traps?
“I guess I can hear him out.But one ounce of his manipulative self-pity, and I’m out.”
“Me too.Would be empowering for us to kick him out,” Eevee said.That, it would be.Almost made Baz hope this was a ruse after all.“You can bring Sami too, if you like.”
Baz frowned.“Why would I like that?”He had subjected Sami to so much trauma already; any more and he might be liable to a lawsuit for emotional distress.
“Having your boyfriend there might make it easier.”
Hold up.Boyfriend?Where had that come from?
“That’s not—”
“We aren’t,” Sami agreed.
“We would never.”
“Definitely not.”
“We don’t even like each other.”
“Hives everywhere just thinking about him.”
Wow.He didn’t hold back on the dramatics, did he?Actually—not a bad trait to confront Jack with.Baz never had the chance to come out to him.Rocking up with a man he could touch and kiss in front of him might rip the mask of tolerance right off his face.
“Unless you want to come?It might piss Jack off.”
“I do enjoy pissing people off,” Sami mused.“You know what, sure.I’d love to meet the man who screwed you up this bad.”Sami’s arms slithered around his waist like an amicable snake.Not reciprocating the hug would be rude, and that was Sami’s domain.
“You’ll be the poorly trained dog I’m bringing along as an excuse to leave when you start acting up.”
“Oh, I’m very good at acting up.”
“Finally, a use for you.”
At this point, Baz was convinced there was an actual star trapped in Sami’s eyes, the way they shone with the intensity of a thousand suns.Before he got lost in the vast galaxy, he pressed a kiss on Sami’s forehead.
Sami nuzzled into his neck.The scruff of his beard magicked goosebumps onto Baz’s skin.
“And you’re… not together?”Eevee asked, her brows furrowed, her eyes darting back and forth between them.Here she went with the hopeless romanticism.That was why Baz had never brought a guy home when they lived together.Sami had better appreciate the honor of being the first.
“Why would you think we are?”
“No reason,” she mumbled.
Strange.
