Ezra
A few days after we return to Diamond, my sister Hayden stops by to see me. She bounces in the door, bubbling with happiness.
“Let me see her!” Hayden shouts as she drops several bags by the door.
“See who?” I ask innocently, entering the living room.
“Oh, for dragon’s sake. Don’t tease her!” My friend and lawyer, Gaz, enters the house behind Hayden. “She’s been insufferable the last few days. She thinks you’re up to something and she wants to know what.”
“What do you think I’ve been up to?” I ask, turning to Hayden.
She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.
“Ezra Fox, you’re in love. I just know it. You haven’t returned my calls or holograms in three days. Something is up and I know what it is. You’ve met a woman. Now tell me before I tear your damn house apart: where is she?”
I sigh and point to the stairs. Dagger is upstairs sleeping. She’ll be in for a surprise when my sister bounces onto the bed and starts hugging and cuddling her. Hayden isn’t very affectionate with people outside of the family, but once she accepts someone as part of our unit, she’ll love that person forever.
“What’s with the bags?” I turn bag to Gaz and point at the pile Hayden dropped.
“She went shopping for your lover,” Gaz raises an eyebrow. “Although, to be fair, I wasn’t aware that you had a lover. In fact, I also wasn’t aware that someone stole my damn bow until Hayden informed me of it this morning.”
“Fucking Hayden,” I growl under my breath. I was hoping to return Gaz’s bow before he realized it was missing. Looks like my little sister beat me to the punch.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Gaz frowns my way. “She’s a good person, Ezra. She just wanted me to give her a ride over.”
“What’s wrong with her hovercar?” I ask, but Gaz shakes his head.
“I don’t even know anymore. It’s in the shop again. Seems like this happens every week.”
“I offered to buy her a new one,” I tell him and he shrugs.
“I did the same, but you know Hayden. She wants to prove herself, brother. She wants to prove she can do things on her own. It’s good for her, so I don’t push her.”
“You two seem awfully close these days,” I point out the obvious. I don’t know what Gaz’s intentions with my sister are, but even if he wants to date her, I can’t complain. Gaz might be from Orchid, but he’s a good person. He’s been on Sapphira for many, many years, and he lives a solitary life. Being with Hayden would be good for him.
Hell, it’d be good for both of them.
I worry about my sister more than I should. Ever since her kidnapping, she’s kept a safe distance from men in general. She doesn’t date and as far as I know, she doesn’t sleep around. She just works and spends time with her girlfriends.
And Gaz.
She’s always spending time with Gaz.
“She’s helping me on a case,” Gaz says, but he clears his throat and looks away. Interesting. I wonder what the “case” is that she’s helping him with, but it’s none of my business and I should respect that.
A scream sounds from the second floor followed by incessant giggling.
“Looks like Hayden found your girl,” Gaz says.
“Dagger can handle her,” I tell him.
“She’s something special, is she?”
“You have no idea,” I tell him. “She’s incredible.”
She’s perfect.
She’s wonderful.
She’s fantastic.
She makes every moment worth living, every breath worth breathing.
“Congratulations, Ezra,” a huge grin spreads over Gaz’s face and he smiles at me. “You deserve to be happy, my friend. I couldn’t be more pleased. Although I would like my bow back,” he adds with a frown.
“Of course. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”
“Ha! You didn’t give me much choice, my friend. You didn’t give me much choice.”
I head into the kitchen and grab the bow off the table. I’ve cleaned it and Gaz won’t realize this until later, but I’ve added a few special features he’s going to love.
“Did you catch any fereers?” He asks when I hand it back.
“I caught more than that,” I say. We hear the girls storming down the stairs and then they barge into the kitchen, laughing and giggling. “I caught the woman of my dreams, Gaz. What could be better than that?”