Page 18 of Whisper Woods

Theo only cocks his head, eyebrow raised, his “really” is unspoken.

Roan at least takes pity on me, smacking Theo’s thigh playfully. “Give it a rest, you brat. Seff, tell us how work’s going.”

And so we dive into the topic change and I explain a little about what’s been happening, like the drama between the crews and me butting heads with Dad over him encroaching on my jobs to “help.” I try to remember to add in a few of the good things too. Though I leave out the story about the guy that offered to pay with a blow job.

It’s not like Iacceptedthe offer or anything. That’s a line I’ve never crossed and I’m not about to start. Even I know better than that.

Eventually Seldon comes back with a tray of neon coloured drinks, all way too sweet and deadly potent. He takes a seat on the stool between the two couches we’ve occupied, placing the drinks on the low table between us.

“Drink up, then,” he announces, waving his hand at the tray, picking one for himself. We collect drinks and just as I’m leaning forward, Seldon swings himselfabout to face me. “I saw Alex by the bar.”

I freeze, my drink halfway to my lips, the hyper awareness slamming into my body. My eyes flare back at Seldon who is smiling at me over his vivid green cocktail. His leg, one crossed over the other, bounces with delight. With absolutely no finesse, grace, or subtlety I slide down on the couch, ducking my head as if that can hide my giant nearly seven-foot frame. I desperately want to look around and check but I don’t want to draw any more attention to myself.

Seldon is snorting with laughter anyway. “I am KIDDING. Gods, your face! I thought you were a great big wolfy predator!”

Theo and Roan join the laughter, so I pull a face at the lot of them, flipping them off as I drink the sugary and extremely potent drink down in one go. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I straighten myself, rolling my shoulders and trying to pretend I have at least some dignity left.

“Haha, Gods. Could you imagine?” I shudder and laugh with the guys. That would be an actual nightmare. Seldon kicks my leg with his heeled boot, the devilish look not having left his eye.

“Seriously, though, I did see that badger shifter you hooked up with a few weeks ago. He noticed you’re here and seemed very pleased about it, too. And Muscle Bro over there asked about you, too.” He stops swirling his drink to lick the straw suggestively, “All this attention on you, and you’re not even interested. I feel rather put out, you know.”

That he stops his dramatic pouting to throw a seductive smile and wink at someone walking past which kind of ruins its effect.

“Yeah, Selly, you look devastated. Real blow to the ego.”

He takes objection to my mocking tone, if the way he playfully kicks out when I pat his boot is any indication.

“Gods, knock it off you two.” Roan groans.

His hand slides back under Theo’s crop top to stroke the skin there. Right on cue, Seldon and I roll our eyes at each other with matching snickers.

“Sure thing, Daddy.”

Under the flashing lights of the club, Roan turns a fiery red at Seldon’s dig.

“No! Absolutely not. Nope!” He can’t seem to get the words out quickenough, visibly recoiling at the label.

“Naw, come on boss, it’s fine when Theo says it!” Heat from the alcohol making its way through me makes my laugh come out a little louder than it should, earning me a glare of my own from Roan.

Showing that he is still the only genius among us, Theo jumps to his feet, grabbing Seldon’s hand. “Yeah, no. We’re not doing this now. Let’s go dance.”

Despite Seldon’s laughing protest, he still lets Theo haul him off into the crowd.

Roan wipes a big hand over his face. “Gods, remember when he was all quiet and timid? I miss those days.”

“Yeah, I guess we all change, don’t we?” It comes out a lot more melancholy than I meant, earning me a far too discerning look from Roan.

But he gets distracted by the sight of Theo and Seldon grinding up against each other on the dance floor. They look good together. So similar yet entirely different, they compliment each other. We watch them for a few songs; the tension rolling off Roan like waves of indecision and competing emotions. He stinks of it.

When a lithe fae, tall and dark-skinned, with buzzed hair dyed a florescent yellow slides his way in between them, positioning himself so his nipples are basically rubbing Theo in the face, Roan looks like he’s going to flip the table between us and charge on to the dance floor in a rampage. To save us from getting kicked out, I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees and whack his leg to get his attention. I have to do it three times for him to break his focus.

“How’s Mauvy?”

Roan finally looks my way again, his face lighting up in a different way to talk about his best friend. “Yeah, she’s alright. Feel like a right dick with how much I’ve been leaving her with the tavern. Though,” he pauses, poking at the ice in his drink with the cocktail stick, “I’m also slightly concerned that she’s got used to running the place without me and is gonna stage a coup.”

“You know she’d never take you out.” I reassure him, our attention again diverted to the guys on the dance floor, dipping and shaking their asses like they are getting paid for it. “She’d have to do the book work. Dealing with all of thatwith half the beings there trying to pay in trade? She’d rather see the place burn.”

“Strangely enough, that is not the reassurance you think it is.” He smirks, still nursing his cocktail. But then he looks at me, his dark eyes flitting over my face. “You okay? Really?”

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