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“I think they know by now you didn’t do it on purpose,” Ash said.
“Well, I still wanted to say it. So yeah. Stop treating me like I’m the enemy. I’m not. Even if some of you seem determined to act like I brought you here on purpose.” I looked at Cyn and Ezra in turn. “You don’t have to like me, but you will respect me in my home—or at least keep your bad attitude to yourself.” When they made no move to say anything, I sighed. “Anyway, rules.”
Zeke sat up, tossing a popcorn shrimp into his mouth. “No dog eating. Easy.”
Ash shook his head, leaning back on his left hand and bracing his right forearm on his bent knee. “You don’t even eat dogs to begin with.”
“Well, no. But she said that’s rule number one.” Zeke flashed a bright smile in my direction. “Right?”
He reminded me of a puppy, eager to please. “Right. Rule number one: no dog eating.” I rolled my lips in and tried not to laugh when he waved a hand at Ash as if to say, “See?” It was easy to slip into Zeke’s pace if I wasn’t careful.
Ezra finished the last of his meal and stacked his utensils on his plate. “What other rules do you have?”
“Well, I figured we could work them out together.”
His brow arched. “Together?”
“Yeah.” I twisted my hands in my lap. I hated how nervous Ezra made me feel. “I mean, I’m sure you guys have things you might wanna—you know what? That’s weird.” I frowned. “Why would you have rules for me?”
Trying to walk the line between mutual respect and setting boundaries to keep myself alive and sane made thinking straight impossible.
Ezra tilted his head back, looking down his nose as he considered me. “Do you need rules?”
“What?”
“Rules. Do you need us to give you rules to follow?”
I laughed. “No. This is my house.”
“Then why would you think we should have input if you don’t want us to tell you what to do?”
“I don’t want you to tell me what to do.”
Making a humming sound, he fixed me with that unsettling gaze he used whenever I entered the room, making me feel as though he were peeling away my layers to reveal something forbidden.
“Just because you’re used to bossing them around doesn’t mean you can boss me around,” I mumbled.
I could tell without being told that Ezra led their little group. If his father was the ruler of Elyrdin, it made sense.
“So, what’s the next rule?” Cyn said, cutting into the tension hanging in the air between Ezra and me.
Why couldn’t I engage normally with these men?
They aren’t men, that’s why.
I looked around the room and then at the empty plates on the table. “Food.”
“Food?”
I looked at Zeke. “Yeah. Cyn cooks a lot. I’m used to just grabbing coffee, maybe a small bite before work. But he’s cooked a lot, and I already need groceries without factoring in what you’ve eaten for dinner or lunch.”
Ash frowned. “You need to eat more. It’s not healthy to eat as little as I’ve seen you eat since we arrived.”
I stared at him, taken aback by his concern over my nutrition.
“Zeke needs to eat,” Cyn said, grabbing my attention. He shrugged, as if that provided enough explanation.
“Yes, everyone needs to eat, but I need to buy it. There are four of you, so the grocery bill goes up by default.”
