Page 25 of Fire of the Fox

Glaring at Rune, he put his hands on his hips and snapped, “What did you do to her?”

Rune bared his teeth at Akira as he walked me through the entryway and into the large living room with a very comfy couch. He sat me down and glared back at Akira. “I didn’t do anything. Those same bastards from the club showed up at the mall.”

“Oh my gosh!” Akira fell onto the couch next to me and hugged me tightly before pulling back to look at me with concerned eyes. “Oh sweetie! Are you okay?”

At that same moment, Rune’s other friend from the club came into the room from down the hall. He had his long black hair pulled up in a messy bun on the top of his head, and he looked like he’d just gotten up for the day. As soon as saw me, he looked at Rune. He pointed a finger at me and asked, “What did you do to her?”

Rune groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Again, it wasn’t me.”

“Bassel, honey,” Akira started as he rubbed my back in a reassuring pattern. “She was attacked by those animals from the club again.”

Bassel stood in front of me and peered down. “Are you okay?”

Before I could answer, a third and unfamiliar redhead came into the living room. He hesitated when he saw me before finally moving to the high-backed chair, watching me carefully. He glanced at Rune while tugging on his hair in a nervous fit and whispered, “What did you do?”

Rune threw his hands up in the air. “What is with you guys? I didn’t do anything!”

Akira rolled his eyes. “Well, you are the asshole that’s forcing her into being your girlfriend.”

Despite myself, I laughed. It was funny, in a way, how everyone here knew Rune’s charming personality so well that they blamed him without a second thought. After I laughed, all four of them looked at me.

Akira beamed at me and said, “Lookie there! We made you smile!”

“So,” I started, looking between the friends. “You guys know about the fake dating deal?”

“We do,” Bassel answered hesitantly. His eyes were sympathetic as he continued, “We’ll be going on that trip with Rune to his hometown, so we know about his whole plan to pose as a couple with you. It’s really great of you to agree to help. I’m sure it sucks being roped into this.”

I nodded at the accuracy of that statement. The only thing that didn’t suck was the money I’d get from the arrangement.

Akira placed a hand on my arm, turning my attention back to him. “I know our first meeting was unusual. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Akira, one of Rune’s roommates and best friend. That’s Bassel,” Akira explained, pointing to the familiar face.

Bassel gave me a friendly wave. “Nice to meet you. Officially, that is.”

“And that,” Akira said as he pointed to the redhead who quickly averted his eyes, “is Marlow, another one of our roommates.”

“It’s nice to meet everyone,” I said as I gave them each a nod.

Akira turned to Rune, who still stood by the couch. “Why don’t you go make some coffee or something warm for our sweet Bria here.”

Rune shook his head and mumbled, “Yeah. Okay.” His honey-colored eyes softened as they met mine. “How would you like your coffee?”

“Black is fine.”

He cocked an approving brow at me. “Really? You have good taste. I’ll be back in a minute.”

As Rune left for the kitchen, Bassel sat down on the other side of me. “So what happened?”

My dismay was quick to resurface at the thought of what had transpired, but Akira quickly leaned across me to slap Bassel on the side of his head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

Akira rolled his eyes and dropped his head into his hands. “Don’t ask her what happened. You have absolutely no tact. She can tell us when she isn’t still scared shitless.”

“I like being scared,” Marlow said.

We all looked at him. He was staring at the wall with a deranged smile.

Akira let out a sigh and shook his head. He pursed his lips, looking bored with his friend. “Yes, well, that’s because you’re a weirdo.”

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