Page 82 of Tangled Like Us

She ended up just keeping one 24/7 bodyguard on-duty. After that happened to her, I took time to ensure she was protected.

I thought it was because I was a lead. But Banks believed differently.

I just nod a couple times, and I scrutinize my brother for a second.

He shaved closer this morning, making his jawline appear narrower. Which makes me look about two years older than him, but only six-minutes separate us in reality. Growing up, he’d tell our dad I was the “older brother” to shirk responsibility.

I didn’t care that it wound up on me.

I am six-minutes older, but I’m constantly turning to him for advice.

My phone pings, and I read a text.

Do not rush if you’re preoccupied, but I have an announcement that you should hear. You can find me in my bathroom.– Jane

It can’t be an emergency if she’s saying not to hurry. But I’m still on guard.

“Jane?” Banks guesses off my expression.

“I need to head over there.” I read the text out to him.

The corner of his lip hikes up like I read a portion of her diary. “In her bathroom? First a kiss, then a—”

“We have boundaries set,” I cut him off, pocketing my phone. “This is just to protect her.”

“But you like her,” Banks says.

“Doesn’t matter.” I have to follow the hierarchy. Breaking the rules will rip a bullet through security and plunge all of Omega headfirst in boiling water with Alpha and Epsilon.

Banks nods and starts to crawl back underneath the car. “Gomesegiam’…you’re in over your head?”How do you say…you’re in over your head?

I exhale through my nose. “Fuck.”

16

THATCHER MORETTI

I’min Jane’s bathroom, and she isn’t the only one here.

“Just a fair warning: if you fuck with Jane during this fake-dating stunt, I won’t come for you,” Maximoff says firmly, spearing a territorial glare into me. “Because I’ll go after your brother instead, and I’ll break both of his kneecaps and stake his head on a fucking pitchfork.”

Gut reaction, I almost glare.

I’d die for Banks, no hesitation; the idea of living without him is eviscerating—but I get Maximoff’s protectiveness of Jane. Fully.

“He’s being hyperbolic,” Jane says to me, her eyes widened. Cautious. Like all four of us are on the edge of a cliff together.

I steal another brief glance at her. She’s in a purple bathrobe, hair twisted in a nest, and zit cream dotted on her chin and forehead.

Her ability to be comfortable in her own skin—it’s gorgeous. Flat-out, and for once, I allow myself to think it without reprimand.

“Pretty sure I’m being honest,” Maximoff says, pulling my attention back. He never shifts his intense green eyes off me. A straight razor is in his hand. He was shaving short stubble on his jaw.

The second that I ducked beneath the doorway and straightened up—only a foot inside the bathroom—Jane, Maximoff, and Farrow rotated towards me. And Maximoff got the first word out.

Sorry—the firstthreatout, and I don’t blame him. Hell, I’ve been waiting for something like this from Maximoff. Being around the Hale family for a long time, I’ve heard their sharp-tongued threats. His dad is more brutal, but on some deep level, I know Maximoff is just as serious right now.

I open my mouth to reply.