Page 20 of Little Did We Know
“What the hell, boys?Did you get mugged on the way over?”
River— No, wait.That was Reese.Reese snorted and shrugged out of his jacket.“A mugging would’ve been entertaining, at least.We got beat up by a Krav Maga whiz the other day.”
Ah.I’d heard they were into martial arts, but I wasn’t convinced it was just a hobby of theirs.Reese had a way about him, and not just from when he’d saved my ass from embarrassing myself at a Christmas party in the middle of summer.
“At least you’re here—even if you’re late,” I said.
River checked the time and furrowed his brow.“Five minutes late.That’s nothin’.”
“It’s twenty minutes,” I told him.Then I proceeded with intros before anyone could correct me.“This is Lucian.Lucian, River and Reese.”
Lucian cocked his head.
“Reese has more ink if you need somethin’ to tell ’em apart.”I threw that out there.
“No, that’s… I recognize you,” Lucian said to them.“Have we met before?”
Reese looked like he was trying to solve a painful math problem.
River beat him to it.“It’s the vampire,” he blurted out.
I lifted my brows.
“Pardon?”Lucian cocked his brows too.
“Yeah, we stood in line at some club together.”River snapped his fingers, seemingly pleased he’d figured it out, and he sat down next to me.“I think it was your name—what’s your last name?It made you sound like a vampire.”
Oh—I figured it out, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.His last name was Leroux, right?That was the last name I’d seen on his corporate credit card.Goddamn, River had a point.
“Leroux,” Lucian responded, a little miffed.“I remember now too.Your brother seemed nice, and you had your face buried in your phone.”
River smiled.“That’s me.I use it to avoid talkin’ to people.It’s effective.”
I snorted.
Reese sat down next to Lucian and eyed him.“Okay, it rings a bell.Not the vampire shit, but I think I remember you.”
“Let’s not dismiss my theory so fast,” River said.“We’ve only ever seen this guy after dark.”
I cracked up.
Lucian’s mouth twitched, though he held on to his look of disgruntled…ness.“If you wish to get bitten, just say the word.”
Reese found that funny, but he was soon distracted by his phone.
River was just pleased.“Have at it.As luck would have it, I had a shit-ton of garlic in my spaghetti for lunch.”
That earned me a look from Lucian that practically screamed, “And you thought it was a good idea for me to meet these people?”
My bad.
“That’s not luck,” Reese muttered, eyes glued to his phone.“It’s laziness and lack of knowledge of other flavors.”
“Fuck off, it’s brilliant,” River swore.“Spaghetti, butter, and garlic.”He thought that deserved a chef’s kiss, and I was inclined to agree.It sounded great.Throw some meatballs and sausage in there, too.
“Yeah, whatever.”Reese pocketed his phone again.“West sent us his love.He doesn’t want us to have too much fun without him.”
West, as in… “As in, Lucas?”I asked, to which he nodded.“I invited him.He seems like a social butterfly.”
