Page 54 of XOXO

“You’re the one who keeps trying to top me.”

“Trying?”

“You’ve yet to succeed, despite my offers.”

A throat clearing makes both of us freeze.

There, on a rumpled bed, a burly guy in a white tank top and gray sweats sits on the edge of a bed. His hair is disheveled from sleep but his eyes are clear.

And there’s a revolver in his hand.

Chapter Four

“Not that I mind two beautiful women breaking into my room, but what are you doing?” the guy with a gun grumbles.

The firearm remains pointed at the ground. He doesn’t seem angry so much as tired. His shoulders are slumped and there are bags under his eyes.

He’s coated in shadows, though.

Flashlight. A flashlight would be great right now.

I suck at thievery.

“Six shots,” Brynn whispers to me.

“What?” I mutter back.

“She’s tellin’ ya’ how many bullets are in my gun,” the guy interjects. “I’d rather not have to clean up a couple of bodies. Tell me what you’re doing before I decide it’s worth the effort.”

I debate going for the mace in my duffel. With my luck, I won’t find it in the bottom, will have to dump all the contents, and probably spray myself in the process.

“I didn’t know gnomes have enhanced hearing,” Brynn says.

We reorient ourselves so at least we aren’t sprawled out on the floor, but he shakes his head at us before we can stand.

“Most people think gnomes are only a foot tall and wear pointy hats. Do I seem to be a foot tall ta’ you?”

No, he’s definitely not that.

If he stood, he could probably reach the ceiling. No red hat in sight. The only similarity is the spray of facial hair that’s closer to a five o’clock shadow than a beard.

He raises a bushy eyebrow. It was a rhetorical question, but now I feel like he wants an answer.

“No,” I stutter out. “You seem more like a giant than a gnome.”

Our mysterious third barks a laugh at that. “Aye, that I do. Hundreds of years of propaganda and bribes to the sprites will do that. Most of the non-magical population is clueless. I can assure you I’m proportionate in all ways.”

I roll my eyes, but he isn’t bad to look at. Broad shoulders and forearms like he’s spent his life swinging a pickaxe. His nose has been broken, much like the rest of the gnomes, but somehow it suits his wider face and square jaw. It’s like he needs an imperfection to seem less uncanny valley.

For someone who regularly strikes out on V-Day, tonight has been . . . interesting.

“Thanks for the clarifying info,” Brynn says. “What do you want to let us leave?”

I have already vetoed seduction, Brynn.

Even with him.

“I’m not sure, truth be told,” he answers. “I’ve never had someone break into my room while I’m sleeping. I’d think you were here to pursue me but ya’ haven’t made a pass. You’re also not dressed how I’d expect a honey pot.”

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