Isiah slowly stood up, and the two of us stared at one another for a long moment. Every time I saw him, my mouth dried up. I didn’t know anyone could be so gorgeous. He was maybe only an inch shorter than me, but since he was lean, he looked smaller than he actually was. But his leanness somehow covered up the fact that the man was ripped as fuck underneath those clothes. Not that I’d seen him naked or anything, but I’d seen him without a shirt once when he’d stayed on my couch overnight and used my shower the next morning. I’d only seen him for a few seconds, but the sight of those abs was burned into my memory forever.
One look at him, and you’d think he was a little punk kid with his gauge earrings, zillions of leather bracelets on one arm, a black bracer on the other, cords around his neck, tight, dark jeans, and the tight t-shirt of some band I’d never heard of on it. He looked young, too young for me, but the fact was that he was old as fuck.
“Hey, Laz.” His soft voice rushed over me as he rocked back on his heels and stuffed his hands in his back pockets. Almost as if those two words had power in them, all the nerves I’d felt leading up to tonight rushed out of me in a huge gulp of air, and I sagged in instant relief.
Stepping up to him, I muttered, “Hey, Izzy,” then I wrapped my arms around him in a hug.
Izzy paused for a beat before he patted my back and gave me a quick squeeze, then we both stepped back at the same time. I hadn’t planned on hugging him. In fact, now that it was over, I was embarrassed by my actions, but it had seemed out of my control. That strange calm he permeated had put me in a trance, and I’d moved without thought.
Isiah’s lips quirked up on one side as he looked me in the eyes and said, “You look good, Laz. It’s nice to see you again.”
My mouth was dry again with him staring at me like that.
“How have you been?” he asked, still in that soft voice.
It took me a few seconds to find my voice. “I’ve been alright. What about you?”
He smiled. “Fine. Keeping busy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I heard you guys haven’t had a break in a few months.”
He lifted a shoulder. “The baddies have been coming one after another, so it seems like every time we catch one, we’re getting our next call before we even have a chance to sit.”
“That sucks. Grades said you have a week off, though? You’re staying here, right?”
He nodded and smiled—a tiny, little thing. “We are. Hopefully, that means we’ll be seeing you a lot this week.”
For some reason, my cheeks began heating up, maybe from his intense gaze. “Only if you want to.” Shit. Why did I say that?
That corner of his mouth lifted again. “I want to.”
My eyes widened, and I had no idea what to say to him. Maybe he’d really meant it when he’d said we could work on being friends. I hoped he did.
Loud footsteps storming down the stairs interrupted us, and before I could say anything, Raphael appeared under the archway, stopping only a few feet from me. His eyes darted back and forth between Izzy and me before that sexy smirk of his formed on his lips. “Laz.” He nodded. “Long time, no see.”
And there goes the dryness in my mouth again. Ugh.
Raph was dressed similarly with dark clothing, necklaces, leather bracelets, a bracer, and even gauge earrings—maybe the punk, dark and mysterious look was a warlock thing, I’d have to ask—but that was where the similarities ended. Other than their styles, Raph and Izzy couldn’t be more different. Raphael was tall, dark, and handsome. But where Isiah was almost pretty, Raph was more rugged and gruff. His face was unshaven but trimmed, his dark hair was somehow messy and neat at the same time, and his brown eyes were dark and almost dangerous.
Or at least dangerous to me because I already wanted to jump his bones, and I knew I couldn’t.
My eyes ran over him, taking in his large, muscular arms, his big shoulders, and that chest… Jesus, I wanted to bury my face in it and have him wrap me in his arms, safe from the rest of the world.
When I finally brought my eyes back up to Raphael’s, I knew I’d been caught checking him out. Shit. That was the last thing I needed. He may be hot, but sometimes he was a royal, arrogant jerk.
He opened his mouth to say something—some asshole thing, I was sure—but Alaric came into the room with a huge smile, saying, “Hey, Laz. I’m glad you could make it.” He walked over and pulled me into a side-hug even though I just saw him yesterday, too. Maybe it was different since normally I saw Alaric and Grady at work—they worked in a comic store a few doors down from the antique shop I owned.
“Thanks for inviting me,” I said as I returned the hug and thanked him silently for interrupting whatever it was his brother was about to say.
Alaric grinned and pulled back. “Dinner’s ready, so find a seat.”
Everyone followed him into the dining room, and as Izzy and Raph walked around the table to sit, I suddenly felt awkward. I was here with two couples. Well, one couple and a kind of couple, anyway. And I had no clue where to sit because I was now the fifth wheel. It was stupid to feel weird in this home. This was Grady’s house, and I’d always felt like I was welcomed. I’d felt like it was a second home to me since he’d moved in years ago. Out of all the men here, I’d been here first, before even Alaric.
Isiah’s gaze met mine, and he pulled out the chair at the head of the table right beside his and patted the seat. Was he a mind reader or something? So I walked over and sat down, throwing him a thankful smile.
That was the thing about Isiah. Sometimes I swore he didn’t like me, but then he’d go and do something super kind, sweet, and thoughtful. It made no sense to me at all, but I truly thought he was one of the kindest people I’d ever met.
Worrying my bottom lip with my teeth, I glanced at Isiah and Raphael again. They were both rather stiff and tense sitting there, almost as tense as me. Which… was weird. Usually, they were goofing-off, or Raphael was saying something stupid, and Isiah was fixing it since that was what he did. Raph messed up, and Izzy fixed it. No matter what it was.
I’d never seen them with this tension between them. It was weird. Were they fighting? Did something happen?
Leaning forward, I placed my hand over Isiah’s without thought—I swear he used magic on me to make me do shit like that, although… could you even do that with magic? I’d have to ask Alaric. Isiah and Raphael might not tell me the truth. Especially not if they were using a spell on me. Even with those strange thoughts swirling around in my head, even thinking that he was making me want to touch him, I didn’t pull away. The truth was that I didn’t want to. Maybe it wasn’t Isiah’s magic at all, maybe it was simply his presence that set me at ease around him. Even when he was tense, his presence brought me a sense of peace, of calm, that I didn’t feel anywhere else. But I didn’t like that he seemed uncomfortable right now.
So I squeezed his hand, and when he brought his attention to me—he didn’t pull away from my touch, either—I whispered, “Are you alright, Iz?”
A ghost of a smile flitted over his lips, and he turned his hand over under mine, then squeezed my fingers back. “Yes, babe, I’m fine.”
My heart flipped in my chest. He’d never called me that before. And it was… kinda nice even if it didn’t mean anything, even if he called everyone that.