“You hesitated, Ky,” she grinned, her eyes sparkling with playful victory. “I saw it.”
“I was being merciful, little flame,” Kyson muttered, a faint scowl on his face as he dusted off his shoulder, as if he hadn’t just been lightly, but decisively, knocked off balance by someone half his size and seemingly half his strength. “Didn’t want to bruise your ego.”
Xander snorted, a sharp, amused sound. “Merciful? Please. You got played by a girl who used to flinch at a raised voice. She’s evolving beyond you, brother.”
Lyra arched a brow at him, a playful challenge in her gaze. “Careful, Xander. I still flinch, you know. Just not at you two anymore. Now it’s more… selective.”
“You wound me, darling,” Xander said, theatrically placing a hand over his chest, his expression one of exaggerated p
