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“Uhh…” I said as he walked out of the room. My head whipped around to Julian and I bugged my eyes out at him. “What’s going on?”

Julian shook his head furiously. “If he cooks something for you, don’t eat it,” he said in a quiet rush. “Don’t ever eat it. I’m being serious here.”

I frowned, confused.

“What?” I asked loudly.

“Shh,” he hissed at me. “Quiet or he’ll hear you. It’s a sore spot with him.”

I had no idea what he was talking about.

“What’s a sore spot with him?” I asked.

“He can’t cook,” Julian whispered harshly, almost frantically. “I’ve gotten sick, actually sick to my stomach, eight different times from eating something he’s cooked for me. It’s that awful. What’s worse, is he keeps trying and never gets any better. I keep eating it because we live together and no one else is stupid enough to come around if they know he’s cooking. He likes cooking and I eat it to make him happy. Thankfully, it’s rare that it makes me physically sick. Unfortunately, it always tastes like shit. But I always eat it. You, though? Now that you know, you should try really hard to avoid it at all costs so that you never have to be subjected to its horrors.”

My lips parted in surprise and I felt a laugh bubbling up inside me. He had to be lying. Hehadto be. No one was that horrible of a cook. And on the off chance that he wasn’t lying to me, Julian had to be completely off his rocker to continue to eat things that made him physically ill. Who did something like that?

“You’re lying,” I choked out.

He shook his head sadly.

“You have no clue how badly I wish I were lying right now,” he whispered darkly.

He looked as serious as his voice had sounded and I believed him. He must really love Damien to keep eating his food like that. I couldn’t imagine ever loving someone that much.

“Who are you calling a liar now, Ariel?” Quinton asked from behind me.

I rolled my eyes at Julian before twisting around to find Quinton standing with a shoulder against the doorway.

“Does no one know how to knock around here?” I grumbled. “Dash must have some open-door policy that he’s yet to explain to me. I’m surprised there’s even a lock on the stupid door since it doesn’t seem to work very well. Sheesh. No wonder there’s no alarm, it would be a waste of money.”

“He lives out here in the middle of the woods,” Julian said gently. “Who’s out here to break into his house? He doesn’t see a need for an alarm.”

I felt my lips twist in disgust. These people were unbelievable.

I drained my coffee in four large gulps and handed the empty mug off to Julian. I stood up from the couch and turned around to face them and wasn’t surprised to see that there were more of them now. Tyson stood beside his Uncle. Damien stood just inside the room with a donut on a black plate. He had an eyebrow lifted in curiosity and there was a slight curve up to one side of his lips. I think he was amused. Finally. Something other than blank emptiness. I would take it, gladly. I didn’t even care if he was trying not to laugh at me. Anything was better than nothing. Don’t hold me to that, I was likely to change my mind on the subject at any given moment. I’m a girl, this was my right.

I eyeballed them all as I placed my hands on my hips.

“Has no one heard of backwoods butchers? Or, escaped convicts who find a house out in the middle of the woods and they break in and terrorize the people who live there for no particular reason other than they could and they got off on it? Oh, no, wait. That one wouldn’t count because of the breaking in part. Here, they’d simply have to walk right in, no breaking necessary.” I lifted a hand from my hip and waved it around in front of me, dismissing the entire thing. “Never mind. Just forget I said anything. I need to take a shower and unpack some of my things. I don’t want to be living out of cardboard boxes. My not having unpacked so far is rude to Dash. If I unpack some of my things, then he will know that I’m serious and plan on staying. The longer I wait to unpack, the more it will look to him like I could load my boxes into the back of my Rover at any second and take off on him. That’s not a very nice way of saying thanks for letting me move in with you.”

I started walking towards the doorway but came up short when a hand wrapped around my wrist gently. I turned my head to the side and back, seeking Julian out with my eyes.

“Yes?” I asked.

He grinned at me and, for the first time since he sat down beside me on the couch, I noticed what he was wearing. White, short-sleeved t-shirt with a V-neck. Blue jeans so worn there was a hole in one knee and they were frayed at the hem where they kissed the floor. His feet were in flip flops with wide black straps. There was a wide, thick brown leather cuff wrapped around his right wrist and a silver ring glinted off of his thumb. His gold lip ring had been exchanged with a thin black hoop. I liked it and couldn’t help but wonder if he realized we now matched. I thought it looked cute on him. I hoped he thought mine looked the same on me.

“Nice lip ring,” I said and watched in fascination as his eyes darted down to my lips and heated.

I should have kept my mouth shut and not said a word. I would never learn.

“We match,” he murmured. In a louder voice, he said, “Don’t forget Damien and I have clothes for you to try on after your shower. Shoes, too. We got you a few other things. We can bring it up to your room while you are in the shower and we will help you unpack, if you’d like.”

I wanted to say no, out of habit. But the look in his eyes that had switched from heated to gentle as he talked, changed my mind. He only wanted to help. There were no hidden motives with Julian. Damien, maybe. But looking into Julian’s eyes, I knew he meant well.

“Alright,” I agreed quietly as I shook his hand off my wrist.

Why was I always making a scene with one of them in front of several of the others? It seemed I couldn’t help myself.