Page 188 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

“I-I miss you,” my bestie says with a small smile, his red complexation deepening.

“And I you.”

Dipping his chin, his smile widens.

“When will you return? I would like to make ice cream.”

The grin that takes over my face this time hurts, and Alby’s looks like it does too. Oh, Ezzy loves ice cream.

After we made some on her birthday, she immediately took a liking to the caramel flavour, and we’ve used the machine Alby bought her several times in the past month to make it for her. It also came with a wide range of toppings, and Ez adores the cookie dough chunks as well.

Scotty considers for a moment. “Maybe half an hour.”

Silence.

All of us tense, and Scotty’s brows furrow in concern. “Ezla?”

“Make it twenty.” Then she hangs up.

I pout. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

Shaking his head, Coops rubs a hand over his face with a curse. “What ring? We’re now on a time limit.”

Mind zooming at top speed, I’m the first to come to my decision. “No gem. Ez likes us on things, right? Our initials would be the main focus, then.”

The depth of his thoughts clear on his face, Tate’s the next to decide, nodding firmly. “Yeah. I agree.”

Alby’s head bobs quickly when I glance at him.

Rubbing his palm over his stubble, Cooper thinks for a moment longer before saying, “Yeah. Yeah, okay. And she has my Avri in her face already.”

And I’m pretty sure the entire world knows it.

Ezla’s spoken on TV quite a few times—which is when she had the chance to announce that Joseph’s funeral would be private (non-existent) and that he’d want people to move on with their lives and have fun (be in misery for the rest of their lives because the oh-so-great Game Master who caused nothing but suffering for the majority of the population tragically died)—and people have seen her out and about as we’ve had in-person visits to see how things have been going around the region, so of course people would pick up on the dramatic change. The previous shock of seeing her face and scar hadn’t even died down yet before everyone started talking about its new colour, and there’s been lots of speculation, but what everyone seems to have collectively decided is that it was a training incident due to Ezla starting her practice for the Games so young, even if no one but us and inevitable workers in the Techtis Council building know just how young. They’ve clearly been studying the shades of Avri in her face extremely closely as they believe Joseph healed her with his Avri—though they can’t understand why and are assuming it was a “special case”, which is honestly the best outcome, no matter how infuriating and wrong it is that people don’t know what a true monster he was—and that when he died and his energy returned to an Avri pole, Cooper’s had to replace it.

Obviously, they’re not too far off there, even if their other conclusions are miles away, and Ez did have a struggle because of it, enraged and humiliated at anyone having sympathy for her or possibly seeing her as weak, but I’m extremely glad to say she let us know this time, and together, me and my brothers took care of her. We made her favourite ice cream and gave her the best massage of her life, and Scotty was his usual honey-pie self and took the lead as we all told her what a scary-as-fuck, intelligent, gorgeous woman she is.

“We don’t want to be throwing more permanent colours at her,” Cooper finishes his thoughts.

Scotty doesn’t hesitate to dip his chin. “I agree. But if we did change our minds and wanted the other one, we could always have that ring as her wedding band.”

Excitement ping-pongs through me, and Tate’s low voice is filled with his obsessive kind of love as he rumbles, “Can’t wait for her to call me husband.”

Cooper seems a little more hesitant. “You’re so sure she’ll say yes?”

“Duh! She loves us, Coops! What reason would she have to say no?” I point at his black suit when he still seems uncertain. “Look at you! She won’t be able to resist you, my guy!”

Faint colour tints his cheeks. Smoothing a hand over his suit jacket, he clears his throat. “I’m just a little worried,” he admits carefully. “I’m not trying to be a pessimist, but she hasn’t commented on this any time she’s caught a hint of it in our minds.”

My brows knit. That’s true, but . . . Blowing a raspberry, I wave my hand through the air. “That’s just her not wanting to ruin the surprise factor—she knows it was supposed to be a secret and that we’ve been doing our best to keep it one despite the fact she’s already aware. Her heart’s all squishy for us, don’t you worry, Coops.”

He huffs out a laugh under his breath, scrubbing a hand over his head. “Don’t let her hear you say that.” But I can tell he’s relaxed at least a little, the set of his shoulders less tense, and I smile, happy to have helped one of my brothers.

There’s a few moments of silence, and I think everyone’s taking in the gravity of what we’re about to do. Then Scotty says, voice low, “Everyone ready?”

Inhaling slowly before exhaling his breath at the same pace, Cooper seems to steel himself, dipping his chin. The rest of us follow with our own nods, Tate adding a, “Fuck yes.”

“Then let’s get these rings done and go home to our Bonded.”