Page 26 of Our Deceptive Heat
He introduced me to Mako and Tyr a week later, and the four of us have been inseparable ever since. Back then, we were just brothers, friends with different mums. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I started seeing them differently.
It’s hard to think the four of us from the tiny village of Carmine would be sitting on a private jet with everything we could ever want at our fingertips. We’re on track to surpass even Derisions’ popularity.
Our finances are picking up, and the money we get from this tour will pull us out of the danger zone.
We are famous now. Very well known.
That kind of fame comes with chains, we’ve discovered. We can’t shop, we can’t go out for a walk. We need to disguise ourselves and not be seen together.
The plane levels out, and I loosen my hold on Envy’s leg. He releases my hand and goes back to staring at his tablet.
Auryn pulls her laptop out again from where she stashed it.
“So, have you forgiven us yet?” I throw at her, unable to leave her alone. I hate her sitting there ignoring me.
“For which part?” she asks without looking at me. I smile, knowing despite her bland tone, I’m getting under her skin. It doesn’t take much.
“Well, for roping you into being our entourage.”
She glances up, her eyes like blue fire. “I am not and never will be your entourage.”
I bite my lower lip, looking her up and down, the way I know she loves to hate.
“What are you, then, love?”
“I’m your marketing expert!” she snaps and then takes a breath, visibly calming herself. “I’m not here for messing around. I’m here to work. And I owe you a song. Here, listen to this.”
She tosses her phone to me. I catch it and see the song lined up. I press play, listening intently, and then quickly get out of it and send myself a message. Then I send Tyr one and Mako.
She makes a strangled sound as she realises what I’ve done. I look at her, daring her to say something.
I remember the day I realised she had a new number. Fuck, I was so angry I wanted to storm up to her and shake her until her teeth rattled. Instead, I sent her flowers with a message that told her she could run, but she couldn’t hide.
I still remember the way she stilled on the sidewalk as the delivery guy handed them to her. Only her alone on the huge busy street of people bustling, and I brought her to a standstill.
That’s when the amusement of our situation had fled, and I’d really acknowledged the depth of my feelings. That’s when this stopped being a game.
And the absolute truth is, there is no way she can be ours. But I need her in my life, even if it’s just in the smallest way.
I am the most selfish person alive, but I’m not alone. Tyr and Mako are with me. Only Envy holds his decorum, but his feelings are just as strong. Where the bonds can’t hide him, I can tell how much he misses her, too.
Tony Renshaw, our manager, gets out of his seat and goes and sits beside Ryn. I’m not jealous, not at all. He opens a folder, and they start talking quietly. The older man is married with a wife who lives in our village. They have three adult children and are good friends of ours. I trust him as much as I trust my family. It’s just, its Ryn. His salt and pepper hair shifts in the air conditioning, and I want to rip his wrinkled face off when he smiles at her. He still has charm and charisma, and she’s smiling back at him.
My smiles.
He’s known her for years, too. I know he missed her a lot.
I watch them like a hawk while I pretend to listen to the song, but Envy snatches the phone out of my hand and plays the song again. His fingers twitch and drum on his jeans.
And because he’s listening, Tyr is listening.
“No, the melody is wrong,” Tyr growls.
“What’s wrong with it?” Ryn challenges, proving that she, too, is listening far too closely to us.
“It’s too light. It needs to be darker,” Envy says slowly.
Ryn frowns and bites her lower lip, listening to the music with her head cocked to the side.
