Page 92 of Tangled Like Us

“How are they?” Banks asks me, tossing and catching a lime.

“Fine. One journalist so far.”

He bobs his head. “They’ll be alright.”

I nod too.

I turn to Akara. “What’s the word on Grandmother Calloway?” The last we’ve heard from her, she cancelled her afternoon tea. She didn’t even call or text Jane. Just let her assistant email her. Letting her know thatunder the circumstanceswith the current headlines, an afternoon tea with potential suitors would be inappropriate.

Akara looks to me. “Not a sound.” He pushes his black hair back, fitting on a baseball cap backwards.

Banks motions to the Omega lead. “I hear she’s crawling back underneath the dirt from which she came.”

Akara grabs the liquor bottle. “Hey, she even saw her shadow.”

I check over at the archway on instinct, then look back to them. “Looks like we’re due for a long winter, gents.”

Akara smiles. “If only she were actually a groundhog, man.”

We all know she’ll be back at some point.

No one spends that much effort on a fucking ad without being invested in the cause. And in this case, it happens to be setting Jane up with some upper crust, gold-brick-shitting asshole.

“Do we have eyes on their grandmother?” I ask, opening the fridge.

“Twenty-four-seven,” Akara confirms. “You can thank Jane’s dad for that.”

Connor Cobalt.

I don’t interact with him often, and I’m not sure if this op will change that. Unlike my family, her parents know this is all for show.

I grab a couple beer bottles. “Do you two even know how to make caipirinha?”

Banks throws the lime at me. “I thought you did.”

I catch the lime and chuck it back.

He grabs it easily.

“No,” I answer.

Akara shakes his head and then calls, “Hey, Quinn!”

Quinn pops in the archway. He’s rolling up the cuffs to his floral short-sleeve button-down. Recently he’s been wearing a lot of florals shirts. Today: green palm leaves with yellow flowers.

His brother already gave him shit for being LA trendy. Whatever that means.

All I know is that when Akara moved in, he and Quinn refused to let me and my brother bunk up. Banks and I offered. Of course. We’re twins. It’s the easiest shuffle.

But Akara said we shared a room most of our lives, and they both didn’t want us having to do it again. So like Luna and Sulli, Quinn and Akara now share a room.

It’s a big deal to me and my brother. Not many people would choose to have a roommate and sleep on a bunk bed for us.

In the kitchen, Quinn notices the empty pitcher. “You need help?” He wanted to make the Brazilian drink today because Luna said she’s never had one before.

Most of us in security have had them. Just never made them ourselves.

“Yes we do,” Akara says smoothly and shifts to let him in, and I give Quinn space, squeezing past everyone and leaving the kitchen.