Page 171 of Defend Me
“Itisyou.”
“I’m not a duck.”
“No, you’re a brain hijacker. I’m so tired of that song.”
“Sounds like you’re boring. Bet West would be all over it.”
“Because he’s psychotic.”
“Damn right, he is. Just like you. My little druggie boyfriend.”
I scoffed. “It’s not a drug.”
He pinched my chin to tilt my face up before he kissed me with sickening sweetness. Uncrossing my legs, I sat up on my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck. I resisted the urge to freak out when he lifted me off the bed. With my legs wrapped around his waist and his hands under my thighs, he carried me into the kitchen.
“Aw, that’s adorable,” Kai crooned.
Brooks set me on the counter and flashed him a smile. “Jealous?”
“Maybe I want to be carried.”
“You have too many pounds of muscle and a couple inches on me. Nobody can pick you up.”
“Want me to try?” Sen asked.
Kai chuckled and hopped up beside me. “When are you guys leaving?”
Brooks glanced at his phone. “A few minutes. We’re gonna stop for a sugar-filled breakfast, then make our way downtown, walking fast-”
He grunted when I kicked him in the stomach. Sen cackled and it made me laugh. I’d learned that he was all about stirring up trouble, which apparently hadn’t been the case when he first came to school. He’d been corrupted by their weird ass group of friends, plus he was learning who he was after all the shit he’d gone through his whole life.
“What are we supposed to do when your parents get here?” Sen asked, looking a little nervous.
Brooks shrugged. “Tell them I’m on vacation. You’re a smooth talker, Kai. Or be a dick. Doesn’t matter to me. Besides, I cleared it with the leasing office for you guys to be here for a week and my parents will just get pissed and leave. What else are they gonna do?”
“Kill us?”
“Eat us,” Kai added.
Sen grinned. “Sacrifice us.”
“Sell us on the black market.”
“Ooh. I bet they’d get a lot for you. You’re gorgeous.”
“I’m worried about you two,” Brooks noted. “You’ve become unhinged. You’re not gonna trash my place, right?”
Kai hummed thoughtfully. “We might just fuck on every surface.”
My nose wrinkled. “Can you not?”
Brooks pointed at him with a stern expression. “I’m offering you the privacy of this immaculate apartment so that you can make your boyfriend scream and not disturb your roommates. Don’t take advantage of my kindness.”
“Your kindness is noted,” Kai said as he tugged on a strand of Sen’s hair hard enough for him to punch him in the side. His fingers shifted so that he could grip it at his scalp and force Sen’s head back.
Brooks looked at me and rolled his eyes. “If you find my coke stash, leave it alone.”
Sen’s eyes widened and he looked around. “What?”
