Page 218 of Fragments

Laughing softly, I hold my hands up in defense. “Alright, simmer down.”

Kang huffs, shaking his head. “Whatever. I’m still pissed at you.” He peers at Ren.

“Yea, yea. You’ll be begging me to protect you next time Sid Vicious’s creepy cousin comes skulking around.” He pokes Kang in the side, and he flinches, smacking Ren’s hand away. “We’refriends, Byron. No matter what. Don’t forget that.”

Kang peeks at him. And something softens in his features. I can tell he doesn’t want to be mad at Ren. But he’s stubborn, and whatever his beef is, he seems to be hanging onto it pretty tight.

“I haven’t forgotten shit,” he sighs, then storms out of the room.

My gaze follows him out and I sigh tiredly, slipping my fingers through Ren’s as we slowly shuffle after him. In the hall, I notice Trevel toward the front of the pack, walking with his head down.

“Jamesy,” I whisper to Joy, and she glances at me. “What’s up with the new guy? I didn’t even know anyone new had come in…”

Her eyes follow Trevel for a moment, the visible unease on her face directly contradicting her typically aloof gaze. “Yea, 102. He came in rather… abruptly.”

“What does that mean?” Ren asks.

“Just be careful around him,” she grumbles. “I think there’s more to his arrival than meets the eye.”

Joy’s ominous words cause a stiffening of my spine. I peek at Ren, and we share a look before slowly glancing back to Trevel. Kang, who’s marching a few feet ahead of us, seems to be looking at Trevel too…

But with a little more curiosity, and a little less concern than the rest of us.

“So I come back from my run, and I open the door to find Kemper chasing Sobaka around the house. Turns out, the damn mutt had one of my jocks in his mouth and was playing with it like a toy.”

A cackle flies from my lips while Dash laughs in my ear. “Oh God, please tell me it wasn’t dirty.”

“Of course it was!” He chuckles. “He picked it up off the bedroom floor, giving Kemper even more ammunition to bitch at me about leaving my clothes everywhere.”

“The dog was sniffing your dirty panties??” Ren leans in closer, basically resting his head against mine so we can both listen at the same time.

My eyes flick across the table, where Darcey and Kang are both giving us disturbed looks. I can’t help but laugh harder at their faces.

“Excuse you, I keep my shit fresh,” Dash chirps. “You’d be lucky to bury your face in my used jockstrap.”

“Sounds like a fun Tuesday afternoon,” Ren teases, and I elbow him.

Dash sighs out his laughter. “Anyway, Kemper clearly isn’t familiar with how dogs operate. I was like, ‘The more you chase him, the more he thinks it’s a game.’”

“We’re pretty familiar with that concept,” Ren says, winking at me.

“Poor Kemper.” I giggle. “Dealing with youandDog? The dude deserves a spa weekend or something. Plus, you’ve got him remodeling your house to your exact bougie specifications, like a spoiled, purple-haired princess.”

I smirk while Dash chokes in my ear. “Trust me, he’s very well compensated.”

“You two would make great porn,” Ren speaks into the phone.

“Hell yea,” I add. “Big hulking Kemper, and Dash in his hot pink jock.”

I chuckle, but Ren aims a fiery glare at me. Swallowing hard, I bite my lip, a flush rising into my cheeks. I already know what he’s thinking. I can read it in his sky-blue eyes.

He’s still jealous about Dash and me making out.

But so far, he’s kept his promise. He hasn’t said anything to Dash about it. Honestly, I couldn’t handle making things weird between me and Dash. He’s my best friend in the whole world, and I love hearing him sound so happy, considering how purely miserable he was the last time I saw him.

These weekly phone calls have become a highlight, for all of us. Even Darcey started coming upstairs to talk to Dash, and it’s been fun getting to know him a little better too. Although, Kang still isn’t happy about it.

Truth be told, Kang doesn’t seem happy aboutanythinglately.