Page 73 of We Are Yours

I was at peace…

For the first time in my life, I was truly safe.

I hope this calm will last forever, but I felt a storm was brewing. Julius grinned with a mischievous gaze as if he could read my thoughts. I swallowed the saliva that had suddenly pooled in my mouth. My skin was feeling flushed all over, and he wasn’t even touching me.

“Care to elaborate on what you’re talking about?” I asked, smirking like a fool.

The intensity that radiated from his demeanor had me weak in the knees, and I found it hard to breathe. He slowly licked his lips with his predatory regard as he eyed me up and down.

He was there.

Permanent.

Embedded in my heart.

Julius turned eighteen, and Kraven and I turned seventeen. We spent our first Thanksgiving and Christmas together, and I didn’t burn the turkeys for either holiday. We put up a tree that we cut down ourselves. I figured we’d create ornaments out of paper or something, so I was surprised when Kraven said I could use what was in the garage.

I found a lot of amazing memories, but I tried not to use them. Especially the ones where the boys made the ornaments. I was surprised by how much their parents kept, giving me hope that maybe it wasn’t always bad for them.

There were several gifts under the tree. From clothes to shoes to a new backpack for me. My most treasured gift was the AirPods Julius upgraded for me. I couldn’t believe he spent that much money. He also managed to transfer all of my music from my old MP3 player to my cell phone. I had no idea when he managed to pull that off.

I made him a dinner coupon book featuring all his favorite meals and added a few pictures of us from my phone, which I then put in a frame for him.

Kraven and I exchanged gifts, too. I told him I’d tutor him in math, and later that night, there was a black cat, a stuffed animal on Julius’s bed. I didn’t have to ask Kraven to know it was him.

I’d been sleeping in Julius’s room. He was insistent about it after he got back from his weekend trip that afternoon. He still slept on the couch, not setting foot into his parents’ room. They wouldn’t even shower in there.

When Julius was at work and Kraven was around, we’d hang out. It was different from when it was with Julius and me. The more I learned about the brothers, the more I realized they were nothing alike. Complete opposites in almost everything.

As time went on, Kraven’s guard was still up, but he’d show me glimpses of who he was here and there. Julius was secretive, too, and I tried not to pry.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Julius grinned like a fool right back at me.

I looked around the room. “To who?”

“You’re cute when you play innocent. Alright, I’m game.” With the back of his fingers, he swept my hair behind my ear. “What are you thinking?”

“How frustrated you make me.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Depends on who you’re asking.”

“Well, I’m asking you.”

He didn’t falter in replying, “You frustrate me too.”

“How?”

“You want to have this conversation here? Where Kraven could interrupt us at any moment? He seems to have a knack for that.”

In one quick, fluid motion, he backed me up against the wall in his bedroom. I sucked in a breath.

“Isla…” he muttered along my mouth. “This is what’s going to happen next. You’re going to be my good girl and get your sweet little ass on the back of my bike so I can take you for a ride.”

“So no kebabs?”