Page 74 of Gravehouse

She grins, flashing pearly whites. “Because he’s going to be hurting, and in turn, that pleases me.”

Tossing the gloss onto the vanity, I scoff. “Your brother doesn’t hurt.”

When she doesn’t answer, I find her already watching me in the mirror. “Well, if that fails, at least he loves you in black.”

My shoulders stiffen. “You don’t know that.”

Khloe catches my reaction. She’s way too observant to not, and I’m currently way too fragile to hide it. I’m starting to get the gist of this family dynamic and their specialties. Reading people is probably a shared family hobby, right beside emotional repression and delayed torture.

She lifts one shoulder. “Please. To everyone else, Asher is a master at hiding his feelings behind steel walls and a pretty smile, but I know him?—”

That’s not the Asher I came to know at all. Not until recently, at least.

I open my mouth, mostly because I want to know where she heard the him liking me in black thing, when the door swings open onto Atlas.

His eyes drag over me with zero shame, from the lace at my chest to the slit at my leg. There’s enough mischief darkening his smirk to know exactly how this night is going to play out.

He whistles. “You look fucking good, V.”

Khloe plants a hand on her hip. “What about me?”

Rolling his eyes, Atlas pushes off the doorframe. “You look aight.” His mouth twitches, and when Khloe looks away, his face softens toward his sister.

Khloe points the lipstick tube at Atlas like a weapon. “You’re dead to me.”

Atlas clutches his chest, feigning shock. “Again? That’s, what, the fifth time this month?”

“Sixth. “ Khloe snatches her clutch off the vanity without looking at him. “After you sent me on a wild chase across the damn Atlantic.”

Atlas presses his lips together to hold back his laugh, but nods slowly. “Okay, sure, that wasn’t fair, but when I lost, you dropped me in the middle of the Drake Passage with a bunch of Fisherman and I legit almost died, so…”

Khloe groans and moves for the door. “You and Asher always complain when it’s my turn, but none of you hear me bitch when I have to walk six days through the desert because you wanted to see how long the human body could last without fucking water!”

I lift my finger. “What is going on right now?”

Atlas waits for me to pass first. “A game we play. It’s called Around the World. Basically every month, we jump on call, and talk about all the shitty things that happened to us that month. The one who has the least, loses, and the other two get to choose where to drop the loser in the world with nothing but a bag that we pack.”

I sigh, shaking my head. “You’re all insane.”

Khloe chuckles. “Welcome to the family.”

I brush by Atlas as he closes the bedroom door, and he dips his head just enough that his voice stays between us. “You’re about to ruin my brother’s evening.”

Without turning, I keep my voice low. “I don’t know about that.”

Khloe moves ahead of us in a red flash, muttering under her breath about ungrateful brothers and the legal rights of younger sisters, as Atlas falls into step beside me, hands in his pockets.

I focus on walking. On the drag of the dress against my thighs. On the ache in my ribs every time I breathe too deep. On anything but the stupid sentence still circling in my head.Think of Atlas in the Drake Passage with a bunch of fishermen ready to throw his ass overboard.

A laugh vibrates low in my belly.

He loves you in black.

It dies.

Where did she hear that? From Elea? From Atlas? From Asher himself? which feels the most ridiculous.

We take the stairs toward the rooftop, the sounds of dinner growing clearer with every step. By the time we reach the top landing, my pulse is beating hard enough to piss me off.