Page 16 of Little Bunny

Elijah groaned. So much for Percy being discreet. He’d asked for one thing. One stinking thing, and Percy had done the opposite of what Elijah has asked him to do. His best friend was a chaotic mess. A menacing gremlin who always meant well but a lot of times only made things worse.

Unfortunately, he was Elijah’s only friend. He cared about Percy, loved him like a brother, but wanted to wring his neck sometimes.

Most of the time.

Elijah was not surprised when the door flew open and Percy was hauled in.

By Santiago, no less.

More like coaxed inside the room by gentle hands. Like he was a damn guest.

“Hey, Elijah.” Santiago grinned. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

Un-fucking-real. The guy was treating this like they’d run into each other at a coffee shop.

“Would feel fantastic if I could get out of here.” There was no use trying to run past him. Santiago’s frame filled the doorway. It would be like trying to get past a bear.

“Sorry about this.” He glanced at Percy, who, for the love of god, was not only smiling at Santiago but outright blushing.

Lord save me from incompetent people.

“It’s just a precautionary measure,” Santiago said to Elijah. “No hard feelings?”

Elijah stared incredulously at him. “It’s all the hard feelings in the world. Your asshole boss locked me in here with no explanation!” Elijah turned his scowl on Percy. “And you can act like you’re enraged, even if you don’t mean it!”

“He said he was sorry,” Percy argued. “How is this Santiago’s fault?”

Elijah was being held against his will, and Percy was defending his captor because he was hot?

Correction, Lord save me from smitten idiots.

“Stop making googly eyes with the enemy!” Elijah was beyond exasperated.

“He’s not the enemy,” Percy huffed. “You weren’t calling him the enemy when he brought that roast over and you ate half of it.”

He really thought a well-cooked roast canceled out kidnapping? Percy had switched sides, fully fawning over Santiago because the guy had smiled at him. Elijah had lost his best friend the second Santiago smiled at him.

Elijah couldn’t even. He slipped off the bed and faced Santiago. “So, if I try to run past you, you’ll stop me?”

The guy appeared genuinely hurt. “Don’t, Elijah. I don’t want to lay a hand on you. Matias wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t necessary.”

Elijah stormed over to him. Santiago braced, as if preparing to stop him if he had to. “Fuck Matias and screw you, Santiago. I actually thought we were friends, but you’re going along with this insanity, uncaring that I’m being held against my will. Save your excuses and apologies for someone who wasn’t kidnapped.”

Something gleamed in his eyes. Elijah took a step back, swearing he’d seen a slight glow in them. It had to be the lighting.

“I’ll bring you guys some snacks,” Santiago said. “Watch some television.”

“Thanks!” Percy grinned, making Elijah want to smack him. Worse, he wanted to punch Santiago when his eyes lit up at Percy’s appreciation. Elijah was trying not to scream into a throw pillow, and Santiago was getting butterflies over Percy.

Elijah was surrounded by morons.

Matias being the biggest one.

No. Matias was the biggest asshole Elijah had ever met. Now he felt like a fool for eating up the guy’s attention last night.

Drunk Elijah was no longer allowed to flirt. He’d lost that privilege when he’d drooled over his future kidnapper.

Chapter Five

---