Page 59 of Bend

“Actually, I kind of feel like I do.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Damn, you two really are related,” Revel says, strolling in from the back with a protein bar like he hasn’t just walked into the exact kind of mess he enjoys most.

Sayshen turns, already done with him. “Where the fuck did you come from?”

Revel just smirks and takes a lazy bite. “Oh, I’ve been here. Just hanging back, enjoying the show.” His eyes sweep the room, downright fucking gleeful. “This is gold. Wait till I tell Cece. Mami’s gonna lose her mind. This is her own private telenovela.”

Talon looks at him. “For fuck sakes, we’re not telling Cece, or anyone else.”

“Awh, come on, man, I was just messing around.”

“Say one more word and I’ll kick your ass for fun.”

Revel shuts up. Temporarily, anyway, but his smirk only gets bigger.

Draygon is still staring at me like I personally keyed his car. He’s in an all black tank, ink crawling up both arms and over his neck, shoulders thick under the garage lights, dark hair falling just messy enough over his forehead to make the whole pissed-off act even more offensive.

But under all that annoyance, there’s something else there too. Curiosity. Intrigue. Like this whole mess should’ve put him off, and instead it’s just making him look harder.

“I see how it is,” he says. “You had time for them, but not me, huh?”

I blink. “You know, I really don’t think that should be the takeaway here.”

“Oh, there’s plenty to take away from this shit,” he says, folding his arms. “That is absolutely one of them.”

Wolfe mutters, “I mean… he’s got a point.”

I swing toward him. “Whose side are you on?”

Wolfe looks genuinely confused. “Nobody’s. I’m just saying, from his perspective—”

“My perspective?” Draygon cuts in. “My perspective is I got bar-bathroomed and then ghosted while she was apparently off starting a side quest with you two.”

Revel makes a sound that’s suspiciously close to choking to death trying not to laugh, and Sayshen shoots him a death stare.

Thorne’s whole expression darkens. “Bloody hell, could you not call it that, mate?”

Draygon’s eyes narrow. “You want me to call it a betrayal instead?”

“Okay, betrayal is a bit dramatic,” Wolfe says. “Not like any of us has any claim to her, or asked her about her family, or life, did we? Can’t really be mad she played all of us.”

I put my wrench down before I throw it at somebody. “All right, enough. Nobody was played.”

Three male voices answer at once. “Wrong,”

Wolfe, still somehow the calmest person here, just says, “I will admit, it is a bit messy, but I mean, I’m always down for a bit of a mess.”

I point at him. “You’re loving this aren’t you.”

That almost gets a smile out of him.

Draygon folds his arms. “So what, then? You were just collecting teammates?”