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The words are a bucket of ice, an uncomfortability I don’t expect.

He slides into his vest and boots.

“Good,” I say. Even though a larger part of me wants to demand he not talk to another soul. I want Orzo more than I expected. There’s a possessive nature that is entirely unfamiliar.

Nothing to do with him making me finish twice and realizing I like things in my ass and my nipples pinched.

Was this a sexual awakening?

Do I deserve to feel fulfilled like this?

There’s a tiny voice screaming that I do, but I shove it down.

I stuff the sheet and last night’s clothes in the dry bag, hiding it back under the board.

I’ll come back later, grab these, and change them out.

He bends down, scooping my phone off of the ground. He unlocks it with a code I never gave him and types away. “My number is in here. If you need me, I will be there. No questions asked. And I want to see you again real soon.” He presses the phone into my chest.

Bending down, he captures my lips, sealing his words into me. And my brain forgets how much Orzo seems to already know about me.

On the bits and pieces that are suspicious.

On the multitude of questions I still have for him.

“Should I be upset another man is already texting you?” He presses into my lips.

He must be talking about Durian.

I decide not to acknowledge his words. “Let’s go, our rides should be here soon.” I don’t expect him to scoop me up.

I know I’m not light, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care as he carries us through the sand, back to the path that will take us up to the road.

That will lead us back to the real and scary world.

25

Your Behavior is Bananas

Reuben

“She never picked up the cinnamon? How did she manage to kill him?” I stare out my window, watching the outside world pass by.

Unlike the other families, I chose to remain in the center of town. I traded their mansions for a high-rise.

I believed being in the center of it all was the best way to grow roots. To become a part of this city and not just another evil attempting to stain it.

“From what I am gathering from our intel, he had a hidden allergy to…cinnamon,” Colby says from behind me.

I jolt, spinning around. “How could she have known?”

Colby’s brow is furrowed. He doesn’t like mysteries, and I know this one will eat him up. “She was odd.” He lands on. “It wouldn’t surprise me that she knows exactly who you are. That from the very beginning, this was her plan.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you have a crush.” My tone is intended to be joking, but instead it is accusatory.

Colby’s cheeks tinge pink, and he raises hands. “I would never. My beautiful wife would kill me.”

Brandy Barley. Benedict’s oldest sister.