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It had been a way for me to claim a post-secondary education when Ames kept trying to convince me to go to college after high school rather than sticking to the occasional night class when the right course piqued my interest.Why would I need college when I have a world full of teachers?I had joked once, and the term had stuck.
“One of myexes,” I continued, “from back in the day was a piercer at a tattoo studio. We were friends, then I became her piercing apprentice, and then we dated off and on for a bit. It was long enough for me to learn how to pierce. Didn’t like doing it professionally, but I stab Ames whenever she gets the urge.”
“Is there anything you haven’t learned from an ex?”
The room was silent, everyone’s eyes wide as they focused on Wren. Her lips, which were usually pulled back in a grin at these get-togethers, were instead set in a false smile as her jaw clenched in annoyance. After pushing her into the pool a few nights ago, I had expected some form of retaliation. Another outfit taken straight from an emo teen’s wet dreams, excessive flirting to grate on my nerves, bragging about the shooting lessons I knew Dev had started with her yesterday.
But dinner had gone smoothly. I purposefully kept my mouth shut, knowing I was on the verge of a dressing-down from my sister if I antagonized Wren too much at once. Touching her after pushing her in the pool seemed to have fucked with her head enough, if her outburst was any indication. Her sickly sweet tone didn’t fool anybody, and I couldn’t help the small jolt of pleasure that lit me up at the jealousy I detected in her tone.
Nor could I help jumping at the opening Wren gave me so graciously, a weakness held in the palm of her hand. So rather than ease the tension that suddenly radiated throughout the house, I met her eyes across the room, smirking as I responded, “Floral arranging.”
Wren stood in a jerky motion, fists clenched as tightly as her jaw as she stared me down. Even though her shoes were off, fuzzy blue socks poking out beneath the hem of her jeans, her anger made her look taller, towering over me for the first time since we’d met. The anger I thought I had glimpsed in her eyes during our scuffles before was nothing compared to this.
I realized I didn’t like her anger as much as I liked her tears, the latter bringing me much more joy than the hate she held in her eyes. Even during our fights before, Wren’s anger had been undercut with exasperation or desire. Now it was pure hatred, the feel of it burning my throat as I took it down.
Alex reached out a hand, attempting some sort of comfort, but Wren shook it off. She shot a glare over to Dev when he tried to approach, palms out like he was approaching a rabid dog. It was the wrong choice. Wren didn’t need to be comforted, she needed to let out the anger I knew suffused her body, taking over her cells and itching at her brain until it could be released.
So I gave her what I knew she needed, crossing my arms and cocking a brow as I asked with disdain in my voice, “You have something to say?”
“Fuck. You.” The words were simple but effective, the sincerity cutting more than a long diatribe on my failures. They would be easy to pick out, my brain filling in the blanks: I should be in jail; I have terrible taste in menandwomen; I live with my sister; I work for criminals; I have poor follow through; I abandoned my sister when she needed me most. See? She didn’t need any more words than those.
The hardness in her voice was enough to have Ames gasping quietly in surprise. Something like relief crossed Wren’s expression after her outburst, followed closely by her running out of the house and her car starting up a few moments later.
The air in the room left with her, the rest of us silent as we attempted to process the escalation that just occurred. Dev excused himself, Alex walking him to the door as they whispered more about a job Dev would be taking on. It required more legwork than they initially thought, meaning Dev was going to be busy for an indefinite period of time.
When they left the room, I met Ames’s eyes, expecting more disappointment. But instead she looked at me curiously, eyes glancing to the fists clenched on my thighs. I released them immediately, but that only made Ames narrow her eyes further, pursing her lips in a look I knew meant she was working out a particularly tough problem, or an annoyingly stubborn piece of clay.
Her eyes cleared after a moment, smiling at me as she asked, “How about that piercing?”
* * *
Wren avoidedme for the next week. I knew because despite the warm weather lingering longer than one would expect for late September, the pool remained empty. I glanced out the window of my small apartment more than once, double-checking to make sure I didn’t miss her small figure cutting through the water.
I had too much fun playing with Wren, and her ending our game prematurely made me even less friendly than usual. It only made it worse knowing she wasn’t avoiding anyone else after her outburst. Ames had come home a couple days ago smelling like Wren’s floral scent.
I knew the guys saw her as well, the two acting like overprotective brothers despite knowing her for only a few months. Plus, Alex came home with yet another bouquet for Ames the day before, giving his movements away. Not that he’d try to hide them, anyway.
The flowers mocked me from their place on the living room mantle, the island and dining room tables already holding the previous two arrangements Ames had received.
It didn’t help that Ames kept looking at me curiously, failing to blame me for Wren’s absence at the house the past few days. I avoided her gaze, hiding out in my living space and keeping the door shut to escape from the prying eyes of my sister as she worked in her studio. Most of our jobs were in the surveillance phase, requiring less hands-on work, just monitoring. Which meant I had too much time to think as my codes sorted through data and I manually scrolled through hours of surveillance footage.
My restlessness was broken the next morning. I rolled into Alex’s office early, responding to a text he sent a few minutes earlier. I expected a normal briefing before a job, where Dev would crack jokes while sitting on the edge of Alex’s desk. Instead, I found Alex sitting stone-faced at his desk, Dev sitting across from him, head tipped back to rest on the back of the chair.
“What’s up?” I asked, voice tentative as I took in their positions, their facial expressions. Something was clearly wrong, but I wasn’t sure what, my thoughts immediately going to the two women not present at our meeting.
“Wren’s shop was broken into.”
“What?” I ignored the lurch in my stomach at the words, knowing Wren and Ames must be fine if the men were acting so calm. Sure, Alex’s eyes were narrowed in clear threat and Dev’s hands were clenched into tight fists on the arms of the chair, but if one of the girls had truly been hurt, blood would be spattering their skin already.
“We’ve been meaning to put in a security system, but with all the shit with Ames’s ex and then training you and now the new job…” Dev trailed off, shaking his head.
Alex had gotten some intel about a threat against Cillian, one of their longest-standing clients, leaving little time for anything else over the past couple of weeks. Dev had recently been brought in for the legwork, trying to track down some acquaintances of Cillian that might be relevant to the threat. He sat up straighter, putting on an easy smile despite the dark circles under his eyes, likely after spending the night chasing down leads. “But I’ll make the time, don’t worry.”
“No,” Alex shook his head, eyes catching mine in such a way that I knew what he was going to say before he said it, “Bex can handle it.”
“I don’t think -” I tried to argue, but Alex cut me off before I could continue.
“Good. I don’t pay you to think, I pay you to listen.” The harsh words took me by surprise. I attempted to school my features, but I was too slow to avoid Alex’s notice. He sighed, running a palm over his face as he took a deep breath. He didn’t apologize, which I respected, but he attempted to rephrase his harsh words. “We know you and Wren don’t get along.”
