Page 66 of Colin

The doorbell kept ringing repeatedly while they cleaned themselves up.

Colin was a little resentful of it, honestly. He was all fucked out, loose-limbed and hazy, and it was frankly a bummer being brought back to the real world so quickly. Especially after witnessing how adorably affectionate Dane was when tipsy.

“Shouldn’t we get that already?” he asked, pulling on his shorts. “It doesn’t seem like they’re going away.”

Fox glowered over in the direction of the front door. “It’s three in the fucking morning. It’s gotta be Jamie. Dude can wait.”

Colin shrugged and sat back on the couch, ready to slouch down and let the twins handle it, but then averyfamiliar muffled voice called out, “We know you’re in there! It would be very rude of us to break down this door, but we will!”

Holy shit.

Jaywas here.

Colin hopped up in a flash, evading Fox’s grabbing hands and running to the door, the twins hot on his heels. “It’s cool,” he reassured them breathlessly. “I know him.”

He flung the front door open just as the bell rang for the thousandth time. “Jay.”

“Surprise!” The little vampire beamed back at him sweetly, as if he hadn’t just been threatening to break the door down seconds ago.

He was dressed in his typical nonfashion fashion—were those purple corduroy overalls?—his messy brown hair grown long enough to flop over his eyes. And there by his side, of course, was Alexei, looking the complete opposite, his long blond hair in its usual bun, the outfit covering his massive form lacking even a hint of color.

“This is Jay?” murmured Fox from behind Colin, and then strong arms were being wrapped around Colin’s middle, pulling him against a hard torso that smelled of dark chocolate. “We’ve met him before. Back when that feral vamp needed dealing with. Thought his name was Yo-something.”

“Hello again!” Jay chirped, and then he cocked his head, staring at Colin. “Um, Colin…you smell like sex.”

There was a softly admonishing “Jay” from Alexei, but Jay only huffed. “Well, he does!” He gave Colin a pointed look. “Youdo.”

Dane came around Colin’s other side, pressing closer until his chest brushed against him, eyeing Jay up and down. “I remember this one. He’s so…little.”

Colin frowned at him. “What were you expecting?”

Meanwhile, Jay was now studying the twins, both pressed against Colin like goddamn Velcro strips. He cocked his head and shot a coy look at Alexei, then back to the three of them. His eyes widened. “Two Alexeis,” he whispered, seemingly more to himself than anyone else.

“They’re twins, short stack. Not clones. They’re not the same person.”

“Of course not,” Jay said, but he was still looking at Alexei strangely. After a long moment, he shook his head and sighed. “I suppose one Alexei is enough.”

Alexei leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

Jay preened, then threw his arms up in Colin’s direction. “Colin! I’ve missed you!”

Colin made to move forward and hug his friend, but he found himself stuck, the arms around him tightening.

Jay was frowning at Fox over his shoulder. “I want to hug Colin,” he explained, as if lack of clarity were the issue.

“Good for fucking you,” Fox said.

Alexei was suddenly not looking quite so casual. “Watch it,” he growled.

Colin cleared his throat loudly. “All right, that’s enough. I’m not interested in any dick measuring contest between muscled idiots.” He turned back to look athistwo particular muscled idiots. “I’m going to hug my friend now.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly, looking down at the arms encasing his middle.

Fox loosened his hold with a put-upon sigh, and Colin soon found himself with an armful of tiny vampire. He hugged back as tight as he could. “What are you doing here, short stack?”

Jay leaned back to peer up at him. “We heard these two were making plans to get the vampire who turned Riley.”

Colin didn’t exactly feel like that shed any light on the issue. “And you wanted…vengeance?” he asked hesitantly. Because that didn’t really sound like Jay. He wasn’t the vengeance type. More the befriend-everyone-and-everything type.

“Jamie saidyouwere involved,” Jay explained. “You’re human.” He twisted and shot a frown in the direction of the twins. “He’shuman.”

---