6 #2
“Does she still have reservations?” I asked, getting straight into what I wanted to know.
“Yeah, don’t worry about that.”
“Of course I worry,” I replied with a sigh.
After a short silence, she continued, “You haven’t changed your mind? You can still . . .”
“No.”
I edged toward the window, moving as far away as I could from Artie’s room before continuing.
“I won’t explain why again, okay?”
From behind me, Artie shouted excitedly, “I’ve just found a waistcoat that I haven’t worn for ages!”
Tina sighed at the other end of the line.
“I’ll leave you to get on with your business then,” she said, disappointed once again. “Text me when you can. And think it over, okay? Your mom and I . . . will always be here waiting for you. Bye.”
Waiting for me? That’s the last thing they should do.
I debated keeping the two thousand dollars and the watch I’d won at poker safe, knowing they’d come in handy later. Then Artie came barging out of her room, clearly worked up.
“All set!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, showing me her tight-fitting jeans, white shirt, and blue waistcoat. “I’ll give my hair a quick touch-up.”
Well, at least she had no problem with welcoming a Cash into the apartment.
I buried myself in my homework to keep my mind busy.
And it worked. I spent the whole afternoon working on an assignment.
When a knock sounded against the front door, I had a pen tucked behind my ear and was wearing black leggings.
I was barefoot and didn’t look like the kind of person a Tagus student would want to hang out with.
Or a person prepared for what I saw when I opened the door: Adrik, with his stubborn, sleepy face.
And next to him, Aegan, tall, imposing, oozing power and charisma. I had barely any time to process this as they both stormed into the apartment without invitation.
“I don’t know why I thought that all the apartments in Tagus were the same,” Aegan commented as he moved around the living room, looking the place over. “I was clearly wrong.”
Not only had nobody invited him today, but he was also criticizing my apartment. The nerve.
“What’re you doing here?” I blurted out, without bothering to say hello. I wanted to make it clear to him that I thought the apocalypse was more likely than for him to show up in my apartment.
“I heard that Driki was calling by to drop off some books, so I thought I’d tag along,” he answered calmly, like that answer was enough.
Driki? Oh, my goodness. He called Adrik Driki?
As I glanced back at Adrik and saw he hadn’t flinched, I knew I was right.
I could’ve laughed until I cried, snot and all, but that would’ve ruined my bugger off stance, so I stayed serious.
The only sound was the stack of books Adrik, aka Driki, dropped on the desk. They landed obnoxiously.
“Here you go,” he said.
“Is that all?” I shot back, because I’d expected a wider selection from the master of fantasy, not just three books.
“I picked these ones out specially for you,” he replied.
And that took me by surprise. Big-time. So much so that I spluttered trying to respond. “Ah—really? Well, thanks, I guess, I wasn’t expect—”
“I chose these ones because the others are really valuable, and I don’t want your hands on them,” he cut me off with slightly narrowed eyes, realizing that I’d misunderstood him. “I don’t like lending them to anyone. In any case, everyone can buy their own books here.”
And the surprise melted away. Sure, this made more sense. Obviously, Adrik wasn’t going to pick out special books for someone he barely even knew. Who did I think I was?
Just then, Artie came out of her room. One moment she was walking happily toward us and the next, she froze. Since she wasn’t wearing her glasses, the astonishment on her face was impossible to miss.
“Hey, Adrik,” she said in a puzzled tone. “Hey . . . Aegan.”
Then she looked at me as if to say, Fuck, you didn’t tell me there’d be two of them.
The brothers made very similar nonchalant hand gestures to greet her.
It struck me how different they were. Aegan didn’t look much like Adrik, beyond the basic features they had in common: jet-black hair, similar height, gray eyes, and a similar complexion.
Otherwise, they could easily have passed as cousins more than brothers.
But genetics is weird, isn’t it? Sometimes we don’t look like our siblings.
Aegan glanced at the expensive watch on his right wrist.
“Well, delivery made, let’s go out for dinner,” he said cheerfully, and looked up at me. “Are you ready?”
He had some nerve. Why did he want us to go out together?
He must have a plan. I was pretty sure he wasn’t actually attracted to me.
In fact, I was far too sure that this whole thing was a complete sham.
The real Aegan hadn’t revealed himself yet.
The smiling, gentlemanly, perfect Aegan was all part of a ruse.
“I told you I wasn’t going out with you,” I reminded him. “So, why do you keep going on about it?” I crossed my arms with a sly, suspicious smile. “Have you got a thing for me?”
Aegan widened his Grinch-like smile. He still carried the aura of a villain with a sinister plan up his sleeve.
Suspiciously, he didn’t bother answering my last question.