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It was impossible for me to think of anything or anyone else.

“I just took a monster shit,” Tommy shared helpfully. Ryder pinched the bridge of his nose.

“How interesting,” he said through gritted teeth.

Tommy’s eyes narrowed even further. They looked like pinprick orbs behind his thick glasses.

“You’re supposed to be nice to me. That’s the bro-rule. I read the rule book. I have the soundtrack. I effing invented the Broadway musical.”

“There’s a Broadway musical?” Ryder stage-whispered to me.

“At least he’s cutting down on the swearing.”

Fallon had gotten on his ass more than once for his crude language. He had called it “barbarian” which was hypocritical because Fallon himself swore like a sailor.

“Suck a motherfucking dick, RyRy,” Tommy snapped, and Ryder bristled at the use of Addie’s nickname for him. I had to agree: it did not hold the same appeal coming out of a young psychopath’s mouth.

Without waiting for a response, Tommy shouldered past us and headed to where we had parked the Jeep.

“I get shotgun!” I yelled to the tiny devil.

Tommy merely gave me the finger and said: “I licked it, so it’s mine!” Silence. “Bitch!”

I watched him go with a chuckle and a small shake of my head. Tommy was definitely a strange little man. I supposed that was why Addie and him got along so well.

“Why do we put up with him again?” Ryder asked from beside me.

“Because Addie loves him, and we love her, so by default we have to tolerate the little shit.” I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched Tommy pointedly rub his ass against the passenger side door, as if he was staking his claim.

“Love?” parroted Ryder, eyebrow quirking.

I frowned. The words I said earlier played in my head on repeat.

We love her.

We love her.

Shit.

“I meant...like a friend. Of course.” I let out a breath of laughter, rubbing a hand through my green-tipped hair.

My brother eyed me with an inquisitive raise to his brow. His eyes - a burnt amber color two shades darker than my own - seemed to see me more clearly than I saw myself.

Sometimes, it was difficult to believe he was my brother. I had been alone for so long that the prospect of having family eluded me. Even now, staring at his face with striking similarities to my own, it felt completely surreal.

But I knew my brother's expressions as well as I knew my own.

“Friend,” he said dryly.

“Friend.”

“Who are you lying to?” he continued. “Me or yourself?”

I didn’t understand what he meant. Did he know about my feelings for her? No, he couldn’t have. I kept them safely hidden under lock and key.

Ryder’s words, however, filled me with an almost incandescent fury. My hands clenched into fists as I resisted the urge to punch him in his smug face.

“Oh please. You’re one to fucking talk. I know that you’re with Addie also. I know that you share her with Calax. How does that work? Do you get her on alternating weekends? Is it a joint-custody agreement?” Laughing humorlessly, I took a step closer to Ryder and jabbed a finger into his chest. “I’m surprised that you, of all people, are willing to be in a relationship. How long until you get bored of her? I’m honestly surprised you lasted this long and didn’t cheat-”