Page 93 of Taeja

“We should all say what our favorite things are about each other—”

“No,” Zain interrupted.

Taeja rolled her eyes. “Yu know seh yu too bad breed? It nago kill yu fi seh sum nice about your brother.”

Damon snickered. “He doesn’t want you to know how much helovesme.”

“I do notloveyou,” Zain argued.

“Sure.”

Taeja smiled. “This is exactly how me know seh unu love each other.”

“Whatever you want to believe,” Zain mumbled. “What were you guys talking about earlier?”

Taeja looked at him. “Wa yu mean?”

“Something about—”

A shriek ripped from Taeja’s mouth. Her eyes widened at her burning fingers. Blood gushed out of a long cut, staining the vegetables a vivid shade of red.

“Fuck!” Zain swore. He rushed toward her and grabbed her hand. He turned the pipe on and shoved her finger beneath the stream, making her wince. “Damon.”

“I got it,” Damon shouted over his shoulder, already halfway out of the kitchen.

“You need to be careful!” Zain hissed.

“I’m sorry,” Taeja cried, tears rushing down her cheeks. She tried pulling herhand away, but his grip tightened.

“No.Fuck. I’m sorry,” Zain rushed out. “Don’t look at it. Look at me.”

Taeja forced herself to look at Zain. She couldn’t see him through her blurry vision.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?” he said in a gentler tone.

She nodded weakly. Who was Zain trying to fool? It was her fault. She was good at making mistakes, and his yelling at her further proved so.

“I found it!” Damon ran into the room. He placed the first aid kit on the island and rummaged through it.

Tightening his hold on her finger, Zain rested his free hand on her lower back and led her toward Damon.

“This might sting a little,” Damon said as he unscrewed a bottle cap.

“It’s alcohol. Of course, it’s gonna fucking sting,” Zain hissed at Damon.

“Zain,” Taeja forced out, shaking her head slightly. As he sighed, she gave Damon a watery smile. “It’s okay.”

“Okay…” Damon poured the alcohol on her cut, making Taeja hiss. Damon winced. “I’m sorry,” he said, proceeding to tenderly nurse her wound. The white bandages were a stark contrast to Taeja’s dark skin.

“Not too deep,” Zain mused.

Nodding, Damon added, “You’re lucky, baby. You could’ve lost your fingers.”

“I’m sorry,” Taeja mumbled.

“Mistakes happen,” Damon said. He took her from Zain and wiped away her tears before hugging her. “I’ll help Zain cook. Why don’t you go wait in the living room?”

“We promise not to kill each other,” Zain added, and Taeja weakly laughed even though he wasn’t trying to be funny.

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