She’s wearing thigh-high black boots and a long-sleeved silver dress that stops a few inches above the knee, the fabric hugging every curve, catching the light as she moves. Her hair is twisted into a loose mass of curls on top of her head, a few pulled down around her face, showing off a pair of silver hoop earrings. But it’s her smile that really does me in.
She’s stunning. That’s the only word for it. And if I had to actually concentrate to make my heart beat and my lungs fill with air, I’d be dead by now.
“Right, Ani?” Baz’s voice cuts into the haze, and I tear my eyes away from Stevie and look at him, blinking rapidly.
“Sorry, what?”
Baz shakes his head and laughs. “Oh, you’ve got itbad, man.”
“I’ve got… what?”
He cuts his eyes to Stevie, who stopped near the entrance to chat with a few guys playing D&D, then back to me. “That’swhat.”
“It’s not… Stevie and I are just… I mean…”
Baz holds up his hand, his eyes fiery. But not angry fiery, I note with relief. More like… amused fiery.
“Truth is,” he says, “weallfeel something for her. Even Cass, much as that bastard will never admit it.”
I shake my head, denial at the ready. “It’s just the bond, Baz.”
“Yeah?” Baz laughs. “Then why don’t you stare atmewith that sappy, goopy-eyed look?”
I laugh and turn down my nose at him. “You’re not my type.”
“But she is,” he says. It’s not a question.
I lower my eyes. There’s no use denying it anymore—not to my brothers. My best fucking friends. “Yeah,” I whisper. “I think maybe she is.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Maybe because I spend my whole fucking day trying to come up with ways to make her laugh? Because the days I get to go adventuring with her are the best of my life? Because one smile from Stevie can get me through all the fucked-up family shit? Because being around her makes me believe all this bullshit is worth fighting for? Because—”
He holds up his hand again, cutting me off. “You made your point.”
I glare at him, waiting for the smartass comeback, the “keep dreaming, buddy” that’s bound to come.
But Baz only nods, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and giving it an affectionate squeeze.
“Wait… That’s it?” I ask, incredulous. “I lay my soul upon this hearth before us, and you just… nod and squeeze?”
He considers me a moment, then cocks a devilish grin. “Nothing left to say, brother. You took the words right out of my mouth. Kirin’s too, I suspect. And yeah, like I said, Cass is probably writing the same love song.”
I glance back at Stevie, who’s dutifully inspecting the miniature monsters her friends have positioned on their game map, and blow out a breath. “So where does that leave us?”
“Depends on her, I guess,” he says. “What she wants. How she feels.”
“And you’re telling me you’re cool with it?”
“With sharing her?” Baz shrugs. “Not exactly my first choice, but come on. As far as competition goes, I could do a lot worse than the Brotherhood, and so could you.”
I stare at him open-mouthed, trying to process this.
“Look,” he says, “don’t act so surprised. Everyone knows Stevie and I have been spending a lot of time together. And everyone also knows she’s been in love with Kirin since… I don’t know. Back when he was hanging out at her tea café, I guess. She and I have talked about that. And yeah, as much as I’d love to keep her all to myself? I would never, ever want her to chose. I’d never ask her to do something that would break her heart, not even for a minute.”
I nod, taking in his words, a surge of gratitude rising up inside me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Baz says. “I’m not the one you want to kiss, remember?”
