I rolled my eyes and headed off.
Hiro snickered again.
We continued forward and then turned the corner.
Far ahead of us, the Claws and Fangs surrounded a building taller than my men by a foot. The Fangs leaned against other structures. The Claws sat in chairs they had dragged over. Kaoru and Yoichi were holding coffee. Toma had his head pressed against a bag of ice like he had the worst headache of his life.
While they looked clearly exhausted, they had smiles on their faces and a few wildly chatted with their hands in the air. They were the happiest exhausted men I had ever seen in my life.
A few Fangs straightened up when they spotted me.
The Claws didn't even bother.
My Tiger has turned my men into an entire army of degenerates.
Then I saw Rin and almost tripped over my own feet.
What the hell?
He was standing at the end of the line near the building.
Not slumped.
Not bored.
Not staring through the wall at nothing the way he usually did.
In fact, he was fuckingsmiling.
Oh no.
I tensed in horror.
He’s fucking blushing.
The twins were in chairs on either side of him. They each held a cup of coffee, pointed at his neck, and laughed.
Concerned, I put my gaze on his neck.
What?
One dark bruise bloomed under his jaw. Another was on the side of his throat where it met his collarbone. A smaller one was just below that. A cluster lower still, dipping into his clavicle. Each one was purple at the center and edged in a deep wine red, the kind of marks left by a mouth that knew exactly how long to stay in one place.
They weren't subtle.
They weren't hidden.
They weredisplayed.
Because Rin was wearing a goddamn red shirt with it completely unbuttoned and opened. He even had on designer gray slacks with no belt.
Is this really Rin? There’s no way he’s changed THIS much.
I had known Rin for years. I had seen him in white at funerals, in white at temples, in white at midnight battles on rooftops, in white in the rain, in white standing over bleeding bodies. I had never once seen him in any other color.
I had assumed white was his religion.
The hairstylist must be stopped.
