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“Of course,” I immediately replied, getting a small laugh out of the other Hunter. “Whatever you guys think is best.”

Phillip eyed the two of us. The Hunter was clearly not happy I’d come downstairs and been party to their weird bet. But what was I supposed to do, wait for him in bed while another man was in the house?

“Shouldn’t you go upstairs andrest,” my partner emphasized singularly, bright eyes sliding down my body. “Sloan can come back in the morning to talk.”

Sloan regarded the two of us thoughtfully, lips raised. “I could really go for a cup of coffee, if you’ll have me.”

Glad for the change of subject, I smiled at the captivating Hunter. “Phillip, you heard the man. Go get some coffee ready.”

Phillip’s face was priceless. He hadn’t seen my demand coming, and Sloan snickered before putting a hand over his mouth. To my eternal satisfaction, the other Hunter was already fuming by the time I glanced the Austrian’s direction.

Phillip leaned over to hover uncomfortably close to my ear and his fingers brushed a sultry path across my lower back, out of the Sloan’s eyeshot. “You’ll owe me for this later, you minx.”

Knowing that Sloan’s superior hearing meant he’d heard everything didn’t help smother the blush reaching my cheeks. But it didn’t matter when Phillip strode away, a smug smile on his lips.

Jerk.

*

SLOAN DIDN’T STAY AFTERan evening spent chatting. He’d taken out a temporary lease on a place not far from Phillip’s to stay close by. It was both a relief and disappointment because Sloan was a lot of fun to talk to.

When Sloan was around, Phillip really shed his outer skin and smiled more. Not going to lie, I liked the new side of the Austrian around his favorite bro. It made the seriously jaded Hunter seem younger and full of life. Like he was just one of the guys. Like we weren’t on the run and under the eye of the same people who created us. Like he hadn’t spent over two hundred plus years living a tragedy.

Their cute bromance made my stomach all fuzzy and warm and filled my head with mushy-gushy girl thoughts, though I’d never admit any part of it to the man himself.

Thankfully for me, unlike Phillip, Sloan wasn’t the showy type and didn’t prattle on endlessly about how awesome he was. The magnetic and physically perfect man barely mentioned looks at all, aside from mine. Basically, the suave charmer called me pretty so many times, in so many ways, my cheeks were painted red the entire evening.

Aside from Nigel, no one called me pretty so persistently—and the fact that it was him and not Phillip made me a little bitter. Sure, Phillip made comments in bed. He glorified my body and sang my lewd praises, but it wasn’t the same.

I mean, not really.

Sloan’s compliments were a classification of their own, and much too sweet to ever be uttered by the likes of the self-centered bad boy. To be fair, it’d make me want to vomit if Phillip ever said anything half as sweet. Not to mention, I’d be convinced he was an imposter.

Sloan made such sweetness somehow palpable, though.

For that reason, Sloan wasn’t anything like the boys strutting around my school like they were God’s gift to women. He had every reason to brag, but he didn’t. Not for a single second. The beautiful Hunter also didn’t go out of his way to be mean or rude to me like Phillip did. Although, I’d argue it was incredibly fun to be party to a back-and-forth with the Austrian when he was extra salty; much like he’d been the entire time Sloan and I talked animatedly about life.

Sloan wasn’t afraid to ask me questions or tell me about himself. He didn’t wear his jaded heart on his sleeve like my Austrian partner did. He disclosed as much as I was willing to hear, and I found myself increasingly drawn into the intriguing life he’d led.

Phillip didn’t bother to ask me about myself, and it made it difficult to open up to him. Not that he didn’t act like he already knew all there was to know about me. But between us, it either ended in sarcastic banter or sex.

Pretty sad, actually.

I wanted to know more about Phillip. I wanted a relationship that engaged our past, present, and future the way Sloan and I easily navigated it in our first real conversation since meeting. Sadly, things were never that easy. More than that, I was afraid of things changing. Of things becoming more than they should and our relationship edging towards something neither one of us was ready to move into.

With Sloan, it was safe. It was new and far less complicated. Plus, it was Sloan’s quiet regard and compassionate empathy that were a soothing balm on a tough few weeks.

One I hadn’t been aware I needed.

Sloan never said more than necessary, but he also never made the silence awkward or uncomfortable. And when his eyes strayed over to me, it never made me feel weird or out of place. The other Hunter had an air about him, a presence, that made me feel safe and wanted. Tough to explain, but I was practically addicted to the way Sloan’s attention made me feel.

The gentle-mannered Hunter existed perfectly wherever he was, as if he was always meant to be there. And, let’s be fair, he was super easy on the eyes. Like, super easy.

Yeah, I’m pretty damn thirsty.

Still, we’d spent a pleasant evening talking about what I could expect from training over the next several weeks. Mornings would be reserved for detailed creature and magical study; afternoons for practical training to identify certain common spells and how to break them down. Phillip explained basics came first, then if we had time, I’d be taught about more complex spells. The evenings would be spent learning about the multitude of contraptions Phil and Sloan created to fight magic.

Had to give the dudes credit, it was pretty damn clever to combat magic with scientific inventions. It wasn’t something I’d seen in movies, and I was curious to see how he’d figured it all out. Particularly where magic and science interacted.