Page 13 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“Come, come,” I say as I reach for him so I can cuddle him. Before I can, the door is slammed open so hard I hear something break, but Yorick pretends not to notice as he struts into the building.
“Don’t fret, I am here, fashionably late and fashionably beautiful,” Yorick announces when he walks in.
“Why the fuck is he still around?” Terrance asks.
“Because he’s irritatingly resilient,” Casimir says. “Don’t worry. I’m only keeping him around as protection for Julian. Yorick has sworn to give up his life to protect him. If Julian is put in danger, he is to throw his entire body before the attacker.”
“I have? I am?” Yorick asks, looking a little uncertain.
“Yes.”
Yorick grimaces and turns to me. “Hey, Ezio, we could date, yeah? And then maybe he’d like me more? Or I’d be less expendable. You’re not really my type. You’re quite handsome but I don’t want your handsomeness to outweigh mine, you know?”
“So you’d date me if I was uglier?” I ask, quite confused about this.
“No, it’s not your level of looks. I just… you’re an attention seeker andI’man attention seeker and… we might seek too much attention. Like who would dote on who?”
I gape at him before snorting. “Uh… thanks, I think? I’m not quite sure.” I turn and look at Cyrus, who is staring at us. Is that a jealous stare? Or is that a “What the fuck is wrong with thesepeople” stare? And now he’s giving me a “Why the fuck are you staring at me” stare.
Really, it’s too much to follow for my already confused brain. And instead, all I can think are things like, “Are you dating Zach? Did he sweep you off your feet and into his bed? Am I just like a pebble on the sidewalk you’d like to kick into next year?”
“You two a thing now?” Cyrus asks.
“Would you be jealous if we were?”
“No. Stay focused.”
What the hell does that mean? “What? You’re the one who asked me! And now you want me to stay focused? I’m focused on the teeny-tiny knife you’ve acquired, and you’ve taken that knife and are over here shredding my heart with it.”
“Sounds quite concerning. Looks like Yorick is willing to pick up the pieces.” His look is challenging for some reason. What the hell are these mixed signals?
“Ew,” Yorick says, as though there are literal pieces for him to pick up. “I really don’t like to get dirty, you know?”
“Julian, please let me hold you,” I whine as I make my way toward him. Apparently, everyone dislikes me.
Julian cocks his head. “I’m… about to talk to everyone here; I can’t be your support wolf at this moment. Get up here.”
Dejected, I head up with Cyrus as Julian talks while everyone listens.
“Of course the wolve—” Weston starts, clearly wanting to start up with bitching, but the moment Casimir turns his eyes on him, he shuts up.
“This arrangement obviously works out much better,” Cyrus whispers. “Julian talks, Casimir glares, everyone gets along.”
“It sure does,” I agree as Julian passes everything off to Cyrus. I know Cyrus hates speaking to the large group, so I turn to him. “Want me to talk?”
“Go for it,” he says. I go over what he’s told me and then ask everyone to line up for a mini interview. A few people get fussy, but most give us details of what they’d been doing that night and are decently helpful.
When we’re finishing up, I start toward my car before seeing Cyrus rubbing his head.
“You alright? You have a headache?” I ask.
“Oh, my sleep schedule is just fucked because of dealing with you vampires. I’m trying to sleep like a few hours here and a few there. Why can’t you all just like wear full-body suits and trample around in the daylight so I can get some decent sleep?”
“I could make it fashionable,” Yorick decides.
“Could you?” Julian asks. “Looking like you’re just… wrapped up in a condom, you could make that fashionable?”
He tips up Julian’s chin with a finger and purrs, “I sure could.”
