Which I hadn’t liked, Dorian in my life and acting like he had a place in it. I didn’t know what they had been talking about when I’d come in, but I prayed Dorian hadn’t been rude to the one person outside of my brother who I had.
Dorian had been so out of line, and Ares’s cursing stole my attention.
He had his phone in his hand, his head shaking.
“It’s D,” he said, but his phone silenced in his hand. He messed around on it, his thumbs moving at rapid fire. His eyes bugged out. “Shit, he’s called me like five times. Texted too.”
The guy’s thumbs dashed on his phone screen like his friend hadn’t turned his face a completely different color yesterday. I could imagine Callum hadn’t mentioned it because he hadn’t wanted to be rude, but the evidence of what Dorian had done was there.
“I must not have heard him since Bru and I were gaming.” Ares pushed his hand over his hood. “He wants to meet.”
He had to be joking.
“Yeah, and he also did that to your face.” I was actually really angry at this point, angry that Dorian could think people would just bend and move for him. He’d done that to me.
I didn’t know why I cared he was doing that to Ares too or at least, cared enough to say something.
“It’s not so simple.” Ares’s focus didn’t leave from his phone. “He’s my brother, little. I’d take a bullet for that kid. Even when he’s being stupid, I would.”
I blanched. The guy was completely serious about what he said. “Why?”
“Because he’d do the same for me when I’m being stupid.” His gaze dragged up. “We’re there for each other. Same with Wells and Thatch. Those guys aren’t just my friends.”
They were family, something he’d said before, and Dorian too. This obviously all extended to Bow Reed too. Hell, I’d seen it firsthand.
“You think he’s being stupid?” I asked, for some reason that coming out of my mouth. “Stupid about me and everything?”
Last time we talked, the jury had still been out on me.
Ares’s head lifted, his eyes narrowed. “I need to go see about him. He says it’s important. I’m sorry.”
He breezed past my side, but stopped in the middle of the hallway.
He turned. “I was thinking, with your brother being sick, it might be a good thing to bring the project over to your house.” He waved a hand. “That way you can work on it and not be too far from him. You know, when he gets home?”
The project? I hadn’t even been thinking about that. My mouth parted. “You’d be willing to do that?”
“Not much of an adjustment,” he said. “That okay? I can bring it by. Today even.”
“I’m not sure when I’ll be able to work on it. Bru and I could be here for a little while.” My brother’s condition was temperamental at best.
He nodded. “That’s okay. I’ll work on it in the meantime, and you can join whenever.”
He was being so lax, and Ares had never given me an inch on his deadline. He’d been really serious about it.
“I’ll text you the garage code. It’s the same one to get past our gate,” I said, shrugging. “That’d be nice to work on it from home and thank you.”
“No problem. Tell the kid to feel better. He can text me if he needs anything.” His mouth moved. “You can too. I’ll be around.”
His phone rang again, and he gazed down at it.
His hand lifted before I could answer, and shifting around, he strode down the hall. His phone pressed to his ear, his low words quiet and muted. He disappeared from my sight when he turned the corner, and I headed back into my brother’s room. I let Bru know what his friend had told me to relay to him.
Even if the conversation had, once again, left me confused.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dorian