Page 57 of Of Blood So Cold

Me:Okay…

Iama menace, after all.

Dor:Cigs, I swear.

Me:What the fuck do you want me to say?

I all but drop my phone when it scares the shit out of me by suddenly ringing and vibrating in my hands.

“What?” I say after receiving the call.

“Tell me what’s bothering you,” he urges, and his voice, paired with the sound of his breath, brings goosebumps to my skin.

“I’m fine,” I state, drumming my nails against my knee.

“Yeah, and I’m the resurrected version of Mahatma Gandhi,” he counters.

My lips twitch, but I don’t smile.

When I don’t say anything, he sighs. “Cigs,baby…” I hear him excusing himself, and the sound of music soon muffles as he clearly moves away from the foyer. There’s a click of a door being shut, and then he speaks again. “Take a guess at where I am right now.”

“What am I, Sherlock Holmes?”

He chuckles. “I’m in the same room Timothy was in before he left. I don’t know if Varsha and Alex have scouted the space yet, but my God, itreeksof weed and sex in here.”

“You’d know, obviously.” I regret it the second the words slip past my lips. I’m not the jealous type, but in this moment, I am. Kind of.

“Come on, Little Swan, it’sme,” Dorran says.

“I’ve seen her pictures, Dor. She’s really pretty.”

“She is also someone I’ve just vowed to be a brother to – for the rest of my life,” he tells me.

I blink. “What?”

He sighs once again. “Yup. We bonded over tough pasts and difficult life choices that have led us to where we are now. Hers is just as pretty as ours, apparently, albeit in a different way.”

My chest tightens. “You okay?” I ask, wrapping an arm around me as the chill grows.

“Yeah. But Safiya sharing these things with me made me realize that the four of us are not so alone, y’know?”

“I know.” I look down at the grass as I dangle my feet above it. “And I’m sorry I doubted you. I didn’t mean to, I swear.”

“Oh, sweetheart, don’t worry about it. If anything, I felt complimented by the lingering accusation.” I know the smug bastard is grinning. I can practicallyfeelit from here.

“You’ll take any excuse to stroke your ego, won’t you?”

“I take pride in the little joys life throws my way every so often.”

I roll my eyes. “Please go sit on a cactus. That’d bringmeimmense joy.”

“I don’t want a sprinkler for an ass, thank you,” he quips.

I laugh. “God, sometimes I forget that we’re full-blownadults. Just look at how wespeak. Fucking immatures, both of us.”

“I honestly don’t care. As long as I can make you smile, I’m good.”

“And what about me?” I ask.