Page 19 of Demon Hunter

Connor’s shaking his head slowly. “You and Tom suspected this and you never mentioned it to me? Hasn’t there been enough betrayal in this family?”

In unison, we all wince—even Marc. “Too soon?” Connor asks sheepishly.

“It’s always gonna be too soon. Also, knock off the drama. Matt’smybestie, so it’s my turn,” Ian snaps. Because that’s a totally normal thing to say.

If they weren’t talking about my relationship, I’d wish for popcorn.

“You can both knock off the drama,” Gabe chides. “Matt and Dylan are informed, consenting adults. It’s only natural they’d want some private time while their relationship finds its feet.”

Aw.

“Forten months?” Ian proclaims triumphantly. “And they were screwing before that!”

“Making love,” Matt corrects, and when I look at him, there’s a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He’s totally messing with his bestie, and gotta say, in this moment, I love him even more. “Hey, remember the time you called to talk about what we were gonna get Kieran for Christmas?”

Ian studies him warily. “Yeah?”

“And you asked me if I was coming down with a cold because I sounded funny?”

The wariness turns to outright alarm. “Yeeeeah?”

“Dylan was going down on me while I talked to you.”

Connor bursts out laughing, and Gabe grins and coughs.

“I hate you,” Ian says, then switches his gaze to me. “Both of you.”

“Now, now, let’s play nice, boys.” Gabe’s smile is delighted. “We don’t see you enough for you to waste time hating each other.” The smile dims a little. “Though… ten months is a long time. Is everything okay…? No, it’s none of my business.” The words are firm, but I can hear the shadow of hurt in his voice, and I know it’s up to me to fix this before it damages his relationship with Matt.

“I asked Matt to keep us a secret,” I confess. “He didn’t want to.” Rolling my eyes, I add, “You know Matt—he basically wanted to text Ian the second we decided to make things exclusive and official. But I—” I look around at their faces, all of them ready to welcome me into their family. Even Ian’s drama is just part of who he is. If he was really mad, he’d have said so. “I needed some time with just us. And then after a while it didn’t seem like such a big deal…” I shrug. “I was wrong. This week has proved that. Matt needs his family involved in his life.”

“And your life too now.” Connor smiles angelically at me. “It’s like the Borg.”

“One of us, one of us,” Gabe chants, and Ian squints.

“Don’t I remember us making that joke when Gabe met Tom? Seriously, guys,” he shakes his head pityingly, “a secondhand joke? I’m so ashamed.”

“Me too,” Matt agrees. “Even if it’s still true and we’re never letting Dylan go.”

I lean over to lay a gentle kiss on his lips, then say, “I’m not sure how I feel about that ‘we.’ It sounds a little too orgy-esque for me.”

As I expected, all four of them erupt with gagging noises and exclamations of “Ew!”

“You did not just suggest group sex with my brothers,” Matt exclaims. “Ugh, now I need brain bleach. Can we tell the doctors I have head trauma after all and to do a lobotomy?”

“Respect, human,” Marc murmurs. “That was well played.”

When the drama llamas are done with their outrage, Gabe says, “Seriously, though, whatever your reasons were for keeping it quiet are fine, but I’m glad you’ve told us now. And I’m especially glad my airheaded little brother?—”

“Excuse me?” Matt’s indignation is clear.

“—has found someone so grounded, who knows him well enough to know Taylor Swift will always be his first love, and who understands how important youbothare to our family.”

“She’s an icon,” Matt defends. “Why are you all such haters?”

“I hope that’s okay,” Gabe continues, ignoring Matt, his gaze on me. “That we’re basically going to adopt you.”

I push aside all my fears and doubts. They’re still there—I don’t know if I’ll ever completely shake them—but after this week, I know for sure that it’s better to go through the hard stuffwithfamily than without. And if, by some freak accident, I lose my new family… well, at least I’ll have had them. Being with Matt has taught me that living with the fear is better than being without him, and that’s a concept easily expanded to include his brothers.

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