“I can’t believe you.” Angelo shakes his head in disbelief.
“What?” Brandon finally looks up from his phone and up towards Angelo.
“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?” He asks, dumbfounded.
“Yes.” Brandon gulps, “And?”
“And if you hurt that girl like you’ve done the others, you know damn well you won't live long enough to feel guilty.”
I chuckle at the implication and that's when Angelo shoots me a stern look, “And you are too, aren’t you?” he accuses.
I can feel myself pale and my eyes shift back to Brandon who is not smirking around his glass of water. “How can you tell?” I ask.
“You never laugh. Ever. Especially when it comes to women. And not to mention, the permanent scowl is missing.” Angelo chastises and shakes his head. “I like that one, so help me god if you hurt her in any way…” His sentence ends when the front door dings open and the very topic of our conversation waltzes in with Max and Drake on her heels.
“I told you not to enter until Drake checked the place out, Harpy. Are you trying to get killed?” Max yells, completely red in the face.
“Surely the people trying to kill me wouldn’t be stupid enough to try it here.” She rolls her eyes and her eyes narrow on Brandon. Not an angry narrow, but hungry. Seeing her take him in with such need makes my own jeans grow tight and uncomfortable.
I shift in my seat and her eyes bounce to me, a smile creeping over her features.
“I can’t believe it, you’re sleeping with her too?” Angelo yells at Max.
“Pfft, he wishes.” Drake snarks and everyone's eyes lock onto him, you can hear the silence take over as we all narrow our gazes on him. “Sheesh, sorry.” He holds up his hands in mock surrender and backs away, joining Jessica at the front door.
“He’s right though.” Zoe laughs and shrugs her shoulders as she takes her seat. “How are you, Angelo?” She asks in such a soft voice that I barely recognize it. I’ve never heard her speak to someone with such kindness and the flutter in my chest can be confused with both jealousy and pride.
“I’m okay little spitfire. How are you?” Angelo leans against the booth while passing her a glass of water.
“I’d be better if I had some pasta in my belly.” She says with all the seriousness in the world. I observe their brief interaction; how natural their conversation is, and I can’t help but let the happiness swell in my chest. She really is part of this family now, almost officially. It’s time we put her through the ritual, mark her as officially ours. When my eyes move to Max, I can see it in his features too, as if the gears in his head are real, I hear them click at the same time mine do.
“Soon.” Max says to me directly, “Just not yet.”
“Why not tonight?” I ask, upset that we can’t lock her in officially.
“I need her all to myself first. It’s only right.” I can’t help but agree. If she really is going to be ours, she needs to be wholly ours. And I know what Max needs, he needs to break her. Heneeds to mark her on his own before he can call her his. And after he does that, she can officially be ours. Mind, body, and soul.
Angelo takes everyone’s orders before heading back to the kitchen and we all settle into our seats.
“Has anyone heard from Teddy?” Max asks the table.
Brandon and I both shake our heads and Zoe just giggles to herself. “Harpy?” Max asks.
“He’s doing just fine…” She trails off as she stares intently at her phone. “He just told me he’s going to do the ‘dog thing’. What does that mean?” She furrows her brows and looks to us for answers. Just the mention of it sends chills down my spine.
“That means he got all the answers he needed.” Max says simply, and he shifts uncomfortably in his chair too.
Zoe scoffs at the vague answer, “Okay, but what is the ‘dog thing’?”
Brandon is the one to answer, “You really don’t want to know, princess.”
37
String Theory
Teddy
Tiger gave me everything I needed, and because of all the hurt he caused Everly… He got the ‘dog thing’ as everyone likes to call it.
