Page 47 of Colin

“Passable?” Jamie scoffed. “You just haven’t tasted him is all. Sweet as pie, our Colin.”

He winked at Colin, the ass.

Luc let out a low growl, pressing Jamie harder against the wall. “Watch yourself, flower. I’ll be at the bar. If I come back to find your mouth on his, his life is forfeit.” Luc grabbed the back of Jamie’s head and planted another scorcher of a kiss, then stalked out (after a last glare at Colin, of course).

Colin scowled at Jamie. “Dude. Why exactly do you want me dead?”

Jamie shrugged, stepping up to the pool table. “If I get him riled up enough, I get to fuck him later.”

“And will you be topping him next to my rapidly decaying corpse?”

Jamie laughed, as if Colin had told some hilarious joke. When Colin didn’t even crack a smile, he held up placating hands. “Okay, fine. I’ll tone it down. But I’m not completely full of shit.” He began arranging the balls on the table, looking up at Colin between his thick lashes. “I really did like the kissing, you know?”

Colin rolled one of the stray pool balls his way. “You were too cool for me by far.”

“Me? Cool?” Jamie placed a hand on his chest, all false modesty. He tipped his chin to Colin. “As if that mattered, anyway. You’re the coolest guy I know. Good at art, decent style, don’t give a fuck. What more does anyone need?”

“I’m not…” Colin twisted his bracelets, trying to find the right word. “I’m not charming, or whatever. Charismatic. You are.”

Jamie shook his head, rolling the eight ball into place. “Charming is relative. Half the people I meet might say so, but the other half would say I’m annoying as hell. Doesn’t matter. It’s none of my business what other people think of me.” He straightened, giving Colin a coy look. “Don’t sell yourself short. I bet you have those two gingers wrapped around your little finger.”

“They’re easy enough.”

Jamie coughed something that sounded an awful lot like “bullshit.”

Colin shrugged, grabbing two cues off the wall for them. “It’s true. I don’t really have to do much. I just have to, like, exist in their proximity. They get a kick out of following me around.”

“Oh realllly,” Jamie drawled with a knowing smile. “I bet they say you smell real good too.”

“Well, unlike some, I shower regularly.”

Jamie shoved Colin’s shoulder as he grabbed his cue. “Hey. I’ve got impeccable hygiene.”

That was true enough, but Colin was deflecting. No matter what Jamie thought, Colin didn’t have the twins wrapped around anything. He was just…there. A distraction. A convenience. He’d set himself up to be, hadn’t he? Shoved himself into their lives just to get a taste of what it would be like. Wasn’t that the whole point?

So why did he feel so fucking empty all of a sudden?

He leaned over the pool table, lining up to take the opening shot, but straightened quickly when Jamie let out a quiet, “Oh fuck,” his eyes caught on something behind Colin’s shoulder.

Was his psycho boyfriend back to murder Colin for real?

But it was a different familiar voice that came from behind him, one Colin had been hoping to never hear again. The verysame one that spouted all those ugly words in his head, when Colin was at his weakest.

“Sup, Jamie? Can I get next game?”

Colin turned to find him standing there, barely changed since high school. The same dirty-blond hair. Same stormy gray eyes. The person Colin had thought he’d loved before he’d known what love should feel like. The one he’d let see who he really was, only to be rejected totally and completely.

Derek.

That fucking asshole.

thirteen

Fox

Fox stalked into the bar with Dane behind him, feeling more than a little irritated and restless. He hadn’t wanted to let Colin run off on his own tonight, but he’d been trying to follow Dane’s wishes and avoid smothering the human.

(It wasn’t like Dane was any better—he’d been checking his phone every three minutes, even while they’d been tracking the strange vampire’s scent.)

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