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That was why his jaw clenched the way it did?

“Little bird,” Abel warned.

It was definitely a good thing that I’d thought to include him. Abel and I hadn’t gotten off to the best start, and I hadn’t clearedthe air with him yet, either, but he was a Daddy through and through.

Sergio was his number one priority, too. I didn’t need to be a part of the inner circle to see as much. There were times when it was slightly nauseating, the way Abel’s gaze never strayed far from wherever Sergio was.

“What?” Sergio sputtered before crossing his arms over his chest. “You all are more upset about the whole thing than I am?—”

“If I may, last time we talked, you lost your shit,” I interrupted. Sergio could go for hours arguing over absolutely nothing and not run out of steam. I raised my palms in the air when he glared at me. “It was warranted, but not the reaction of someone who’sgood.”

Sergio just huffed. I paid more attention to Abel. It was easy to see that he was measuring every word I said, testing me. I had no doubt he’d have no problem kicking me out if I overstepped in the slightest. I wasn’t angry about it. I would do the same if I was someone’s Daddy and had the kind of dynamic they had. I respected it.

Just as I respected the glint of approval in his eyes.

“I should’ve never asked you to see me at my office.” I winced. That whole series of events was one I avoided thinking about as much as I could. The entire thing was blurry around the edges, hazy in that way that made me question if I was remembering it right or if maybe I was either adding or omitting some key elements. “I definitely shouldn’t have riled you up or made a move on you. That handjob should’ve never happened, Sergio. Do you understand that?”

Instead of pinning me with a biting answer, Sergio hopped off the stool he’d been on and went to Abel. I watched as Sergio pushed him until he could make room for himself on his lap.

I was glad he could have that support.

If my arm itched because I, too, craved to have a boy to curl my arm around? It didn’t matter.

“Okay, here’s the thing.” Sergio blew hot air on his hands before splaying them over the marble counter. “I really, really could not care less about the handjob. Seriously. That’s not… It was inconsequential then, and it is inconsequential now. And don’t you dare crack a joke about me using big words. Either of you.”

I shared a quick look with Abel, then shook my head. Cracking jokes had been nowhere near the front of my mind, and I doubted his Daddy was thinking any different.

“All right,” I acquiesced. “What was consequential, then?”

The corner of Sergio’s lip twitched upward.

“You…” He sighed. “You never brought up your brother. And you were mean later, at the club, every single time. Even though I would’ve never outed you. Or confronted you about anything. Andthen, when Erika and Daddy forced us to talk about it or whatever, and I asked you why you never did anything, you?—”

“It’s gonna sound bad,”I prefaced. It had been a long-ass week. When Erika had mentioned squaring up my history with Sergio, I didn’t think I’d be rehashing the past like this. I probably should have, but… Long-ass week. “I guess the way I justified things in my head was that, if the bullying had bothered you so much, you would’ve just… stopped flaunting it.”

“I remember,”I said, cutting him off. It was twice in a short span of time. Not my best moment. “I was wrong. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

It felt like bad ideas kept following me around, as of late. I’d been debating with myself. Coming here was too soon, too fast. My nervous system was just starting to regulate at the idea of being around Jaime. Rehashing the past—Sergio’s past, to be more precise—had always felt like the final boss I had to level up for.

I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing here.

“I mean, yeah. You were.” Sergio scoffed. “Do you also think Jaime’s going to stop flaunting anything?”

I frowned. That really hadn’t been the best way to word anything while I’d tried to explain my very flawed logic when thinking about the homophobic bullying Sergio had been a victim of.

“No. No.” Bile rose up in my throat. “That’s not—did he say anything to you?”

Fuck. Now I was fumbling like a teenager in front of the guy who definitely had no interest in seeing me like this.

Being vulnerable was hard enough with the people I knew I could rely on—and not something I’d gotten a lot of experience with, given the number of people who fell under that category was limited.

“No.” Sergio scrunched up his nose. “To be honest, I didn’t let them talk a whole lot after they gave me a rundown of the wholething. So, who knows. But they’re my friend. I have a right to care about them.”

“Yeah.” I glanced up at the white ceiling. I didn’t miss how Sergio emphasized the pronouns. I just didn’t think getting into it would get us anywhere. I heard the rest of what he was saying, though. Sergio had a reputation for having taken Kara, the other Little in their inner circle, under his wing. He was her self-appointed protector and took his duty seriously. I imagined some of that protectiveness spilled out to the rest of his friends. “It’s good that you do. I don’t have any plans to take Jaime away from you. And I don’t have any plans to see Jaime upset because I’m getting between the two of you.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Sergio blurted out. I was pretty sure Abel pinched his skin. Or maybe Sergio just squirmed because he was thinking faster than he could talk. Both he and Jaime had that problem. “I don’t like not liking people, for the record. Right now, I don’t like you. At all. But I don’t like that. And it’s really unfair, but you’re not giving me any reason to change my mind about you, and hooking up with my friend does not count. And Daddy says I don’t have to just take everything people give me and make my peace with it, so that’s what I’m doing here. I’m also making it clear so I get rewards later. Cough, cough. But anyway. My point is, I don’t like you, and I’m not going to lift a finger to like you, but you’re welcome to do the work or whatever.”

I…