Page 47 of Gin & Sin

“Incoming!”

A male voice startles us apart.

“If you’re fucking on the stairs, tuck it in,” another voice says.

“What the hell?” Kit twists around, protectively blocking me from view. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We live here, moron,” a guy with bright green hair says as he pulls his coat off.

A very pretty blond man peels out of a fashionable wool coat, glancing over Kit’s shoulder at me. “Indy and Salem are right behind us. The storm shifted and it’s expected to be heavier here now. The bar pretty much emptied out, so we called it early.”

The door opens and two more men I recognize from the bar step inside, the smaller of the two kicking snow off his boots and shivering.

“It’s coming down so much harder now,” he says. “We could barely see in front of our faces walking over.”

“We helped Wren and Florian wrap things up. Everything’s a mess, but it’ll be there for us when the storm clears,” the taller man says.

The two men standing next to the banister look at me with curious eyes. “Introductions?” the one with darker hair says.

“Yeah, of course,” Kit says, pulling me by the hand so that I’m right beside him. “Guys, this is Stewart.”

The guys wave at me.

“From the left,” Kit continues, “Indy, the mastermind of the bar. His man, Salem. Lowen, the designer. Ridley, our loveable wild child, Bane, and Jerryn.”

“Hey, we don’t get titles,” Bane says. “Rude.”

“The twins?” Salem says with a cheeky grin on his face.

“You’re twins?” I ask, causing Kit to choke on a laugh.

“No.” Jerryn’s cheeks turn pink. “Friends.”

“I called them the twins until I got their names right,” Salem explains. “Now I would call Bane strong and silent, and Jerryn…” He taps his chin, narrowing his eyes like he’s really thinking it over.

“Do I want to hear this?” Jerryn asks.

“I’d call Jerryn our puppy,” Salem says. “Loyal, adorable, liked by all.”

Jerryn looks stunned for a second as he leans into Bane. “Um, thanks, Salem.”

“Welcome, Stewart,” Lowen says. “We heard you have a hot water problem?”

“Heater’s out, and of course no one is available until hopefully next week.”

“I have some good contacts around town. When the storm passes, we’ll call.”

“Thank you.”

“We’re gonna do a movie night,” Ridley says. “And it’s my turn to pick.”

Bane groans. “It is, but remember the rule from last time.”

Ridley huffs. “Fine, no sappy rom-com. Horror this time. How about a nice haunted house flick?”

“I’m in.” Salem rubs his hands together.

“I’ll watch it, but you owe me an art film,” Lowen says to the group.

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