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200 pages, ebook
First published September 4, 2018
My reviews are posted on DirtyBooksObsession
"Excuse you???"
⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱*It Was Alright*⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱
“I see you.”
Austen swallowed hard. Zach was so hopped up on drugs, he had no idea what the hell he was saying. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to remember anyway, so why argue?
“Sure, big guy.”
“You’ll see,” Zach replied softly, his lips tugging at the corner in a smile. Like he knew some big secret Austen didn’t.
Austen shook his head. “Take care of yourself, Z.” He turned to go, but Zach caught his hand, Zach’s palm warm, skin soft, and fingers gripping Austen just tight enough to let him know what he wanted.
“Stay.”
“I can’t.” Austen hated that his voice broke. He hated that his heart was being an asshole and pulling him back to Zach’s side. He especially hated the little spark of hope pulsing from somewhere inside the darkness of his soul.
“Do I have eyes? That’s a ridiculous question. Of course I think he’s sexy. He’s beautiful, funny, smart, and when he smiles, my God, he steals my breath away. But he’s more than that. He’s complicated, and moody, and I wish I could make him see how beautiful the rest of him is, not just what’s on the outside.”
The room had gone silent. Shit. He’d been rambling. Why was everyone staring at him wide-eyed? No, not at him, but behind him. Oh crap. No, no, no.
Zach turned slowly, smiling sheepishly as he waved at Austen. “Hey.”
Austen arched an eyebrow at him. “Hey.”
“We weren’t talking about you,” Zach blurted.
“We were totally talking about you,” Una stage-whispered.
“Oh my God.” Zach turned to glare at Una and spoke through gritted teeth. “You are so dead.”
“Hey, what have I told you about supporting your cousin?”
Ramsey stood and stomped over to his dad. Little shit. “All you guys are doing is making things worse for him. He’s going to think he can do anything when he can’t, and then one day it’ll get him hurt!”
“Hey,” Austen snapped, startling Ramsey, who turned his defiant glare on Austen. “Your cousin can do anything, and I’m going to prove it.” He dropped to one knee in front of Caley, and put his hands on his small shoulders. “When I was your age, I was just as small, but I didn’t have anyone to look out for me like you do. I got pushed around and beat up a lot, but you know what I learned?”
“What?” Caley asked almost reverently.
“That I was the one in charge of my destiny. I got to choose who I was, and I wasn’t going to be weak.”
“Oh my,” she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “You boys certainly have your hands full with those two.” Shaking her head in amusement, she left with their dad in tow.
“And that’s why, dear brothers,” Bram stated, jumping from his chair, “I don’t do relationships. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make. PR’s been on my ass to arrange another field trip to Unit Beta.”
“We do that all the time,” Colin said with a shrug. “What’s the big deal?”
“The teacher whose class they want me to show around is a prissy pain in my ass,” Bram grumbled.
“Have we worked with him before?”
Bram shook his head. “He was just added to the roster. Some guy called Felipe Bautista.” Bram wrinkled his nose. “Even his name’s pretentious.”
Zach and Edan exchanged glances, and Edan smiled wickedly. “And you care because?”
Bram rolled his shoulders back with a sniff. “I don’t. Like I said, he’s just a pain in the ass.” Bram seemed to get lost in thought for a moment before shaking his head and leaving the room. Colin’s bemused expression mirrored the rest of theirs.
If Austen didn’t put an end to this once and for all, he could end up falling for Zach, and when Zach saw, really saw, how messed-up he was, he’d run. And it would break Austen. He’d spent too long protecting what remained of his heart to take such a risk, especially when he knew what the outcome would be.
He and Zach had no future. If Austen cared about Zach, he’d leave. Now. Time to stop giving Zach—and himself—hope.
Austen shouted into his phone (to Sparks). “You tricked me!” His eyes went comically wide. “Oh my God, are you laughing?”
Brayden and Zach exchanged glances before bursting into laughter again.
“You know what? You can all bite me!” Austen hung up, and crossed his arms over his chest, his pout fierce.
Zach threw himself into the snow and rolled, front paws holding on to his back paws as he wriggled happily. He frolicked around, thrusting his snout into the snow, sending small waves of it cascading into the air. […] Silly bear.
Ears flattened, Austen [cheetah, sprawled on Zach’s back] braced himself as Zach launched down the snowy hill on his belly like a furry sled. Austen’s chirps were high-pitched as he told Zach off, and they only stopped when something bigger whooshed by, and Austen stared after Edan [bear] whizzing by on his stomach, Brayden [snow leopard] riding him like a surfboard.
“Dude. You’re going to be a case officer.”
“And that’s funny why?”
“You’re going to manage Dexter J. Daley.”
“Fuck.”
“[…] I have to manage the fucking Daleys.”