Page 19 of Bros Come Before Hordes
"Yes," I said, striding closer to him.
"The three dragon shifters..." He tilted his rock this way and that so the overhead lights glistened on the wet paint. "I think they all like you."
I moved behind him and smoothed my hand over his dark hair. "What makes you think so?"
He looked up at me. "You're all they talk about."
A warm spot bloomed in my chest. "Does that bother you? That they like me?"
"No, because I like you too. And I talk about you a lot too." He grinned, and his cheek dimples went straight through my heart.
I squatted next to him. "You're my favorite. You know that, right? Us being in this castle doesn't change that. The three dragon shifters won't change that. Not ever."
"You're my favorite too." He touched his forehead to mine, which dissolved everything inside me into a puddle and leaked it out my eyes.
What I wouldn't do for this kid. Sometimes it scared me how much I loved him.
Tavis burst in with a huge cart of food. "Who's hungry?"
"Me!" Asa launched himself out of his chair.
"No," I snapped and immediately regretted it. Even though he was safe as part of the dragons' horde, he would not be touching that food. Still, I didn't have to be a dick about it. "Sorry, Asa. How about you and me eat a little later?"
"Then who's that for?" He frowned at the cart filled with trays of bacon and sausage, fruit arranged in fancy shapes, and little pancake sandwiches that looked much too pretty to eat.
"Also me. I'm starving, which is why I'm having second breakfast with you."
He gave a slow nod as he tore his gaze from the food. "I can get on board with second breakfast."
I smiled at him. "It's like you're related to me or something. In the meantime, remember you were telling me about the TV in your room with the cowbell whatever? How about you go watch that for a little while?"
"I see how it is. You're trying to get rid of me." He started for the door, and when he passed by, he made grabby hands at me with his paint-covered fingers.
I leaped back and then blew him a kiss. "You're seeing it right, then. And wash those hands."
"I got a special project later for us, big guy," Tavis said. "Top secret. No one can know."
He turned before he shut the door behind him, his eyes huge with excitement. "Noice."
"The kid reminds me a lot of me." Tavis winked as I crossed toward him. "A real charmer."
"Yeah, I think before long he'll have blue hair just like you."
“Or right now if he runs his hands through it,” he said with a chuckle.
Nodding, I scanned the cart of food. "Did you make all this?"
"The kitchen staff did." He picked up an off-white card from the middle with elegant lettering embossed in the middle spelling out my favorite moody shifter's name. "I'm pretty sure I just stole Calhoun's breakfast."
I winced. "Oops."
"It's fine,” he said, waving it off. “What kind of brother would I be if I didn't screw with him? He would think something was wrong with me if I didn't. And now that I added a little something extra to it, he won't want it anyway."
"If you say so." I sighed, my gut cramping at how little I wanted to stick something in my mouth that could be poisoned. The food looked amazing, but I wasn't so sure I could even chew it up and swallow without gagging first. "I'm not ready for this."
"It's actually pretty easy. When you're poisoned with something that can kill you, the poison is either slow and quiet or fast and dramatic. There are a ton of things you can poison humans with, but there are six that are especially deadly, and most are colorless and tasteless."
I blinked at him for several stuttered heartbeats. "Wow, you weren’t lying when you said this was easy."
