Page 145 of Mark & Don't Tell

“I trust that you guys know what you’re doing.” Linc says. “You and Terrance seem to get along well.”

I side-eye him. “He’s a good co-worker.”

Linc’s lips pull into a smirk. “I’m not jealous.”

Shaking my head, I step into the elevator. “You know, for someone who is so good at figuring out if someone is lying, you’re terrible at it.”

“Yeah, well.” He tugs me into his side as the carriage takes us to the lobby. “Terrance is great, but if he even thinks about you naked, I swear he’s fired.”

“How will you know if he thinks that?”

“Trust me, I’ll know.” Linc’s grip tightens on me ever so slightly.

“Okay, big guy. Take it easy. No one is going to steal me away.”

“Oh, I know that.”

I arch an eyebrow. “You know?”

He nods. “Yup. Because you love us, and we give you the best orgasms you’ve ever had, and you keep stealing my shirts and hiding them in your nest.”

I bite my lip to keep from giggling, because he’s not wrong. And the rest of the way home, Lincoln and I work our way around the awkwardness of what happened until it’s a distant memory.

There’s no football practice today, so we find Marco and Vic in the living room, shouting at the TV as their characters fight off a fresh horde of zombies. Marco doesn’t even react when we come in, and that comfort, the peace of mind in knowing he isn’t afraid, hits me in the heart. I break away from Linc and settle onto the couch next to my brother.

“Daria,” he complains when I side-hug him. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Accept my love.” I hug him even harder.

“Nooooooooooo! Dang it, I died!” Marco sets the controller on the couch and lightly shoves my shoulder. “This is your fault.”

“Just respawn.”

Vic scoffs. “Respawn, she says.”

Marco nods in his direction. “Like that’ll fix everything.”

The two of them share a gamer moment. Marco pats my arm and leans his forehead against mine for a second. “I love you, sis, but I need to focus.”

Blowing out a dramatic breath, I release him and slouch against the cushions. “Fine, play your zombie game.”

“Thank you,” he says, grinning at me before jumping right back into the fight.

Linc is clattering around in the kitchen as they play. Kai shows up a little while later, dropping a quick kiss on the top of my head before going to help Linc. I’m certain he doesn’t know what happened, but it’ll only be a matter of minutes before the truth comes out.

I tuck my legs under me and chew on my cheek.

Vic’s phone buzzes on the table, and he pauses long enough to look at the message. Frowning at the screen, he quickly taps out a response and sets it back on the table before focusing on the game for a few minutes. “I’ll be right back,” he says when his character dies a little too conveniently.

As soon as he leaves, Marco hands me the controller.

I sigh and start playing, doing an absolute shit job of eradicating the flesh-eating monsters.

“So, they’re talking about you, right?” Marco asks.

“Probably,” I say with a shrug. “Some shit went down at work.”

“Oh?”

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