Page 34 of Absolutely Pucked (Punk as Puck #3)

His thumb brushed under my left eye. “I can tell that happens a lot.”

My cheeks heated. “It’s embarrassing, I know.”

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head and tilted over to snag a kiss. “You fucked me like you were never going to see me again. Is there something you want to say?”

I let myself breathe for a few moments. “I’m falling in love with you.”

His eyes widened. “I—oh. What the fuck, dude? That’s not what…”

“No, I know,” I told him. “I’m sorry.”

“For loving me?”

“For being me. For making this impossible.” I curled against him, wrapping my arm around his waist. “We have to tell him, and when we do, he’s going to make you choose.”

“I can’t,” Ford whispered, the sound of his voice breaking.

I nodded. “I know.” I didn’t tell him that he wasn’t going to have to. That I was going to make the choice for us because healing from a single heartbreak would be so much easier than losing the entire family he’d worked so hard to create.

He probably knew it too.

Wrapping tightly around me, his trembling breath began to even out, and once again, I was drawn into sleep. It was deeper this time. Better .

Easier.

But it also wasn’t going to last.

“…shut the fuck up. You’re going to wake him!”

“I’m sorry, you want me to care about that? Ford, what the fuck were you thinking? I mean, I knew you were hiding something, and Hugo told me about the shit he saw on your phone, but this?—”

“You don’t understand! It’s not what you think.”

“So finding you two in bed touching naked dicks was what? An accident? You tripped and fell and got stuck together?”

“Uhg. No, but?—”

Sitting up, I shattered the whisper-argument happening a few feet away from me. I was still naked, covered by a sheet, and Ford was in a robe with his arms crossed, glowering at Boden, who was leaning in the doorway on his crutches.

I managed a grimace, which was supposed to be a smile, but I didn’t think he would have accepted anything genuine from me in that moment.

“How much do you want to know?” I asked.

He eyed me for a long, long beat. “When did it start?”

Ford groaned. “That’s none of your?—”

“A few months ago,” I said. “But it was only once back then. He didn’t know who I was.”

“But you knew who he was? ”

“Not exactly,” I confessed. I spun around and grabbed my sweats. “I had an idea who?—”

“I can’t hear you. Turn the fuck around and face me when you’re speaking.”

I blinked in surprise, but the moment I had my pants on, I did as he asked, and only then did I realize he was wearing hearing aids. ‘Sorry,’ I signed.

His eyes widened. “I…you know ASL?”

“It seemed like a smart language to take in college. When I passed the bar, I wanted to be able to take Deaf clients and make sure they never felt left out,” I confessed. “Would you prefer it?”

“No.” His jaw ticked. His eyes darted to Ford, then back to me. “Repeat yourself.”

“I—oh. Right. Uh, so we met at a club one night. I figured out he knew Tucker after we, you know…”

“Started touching naked dicks,” Ford snarked. He was clearly trying to pick a fight.

Boden ignored him. “And?”

“And I didn’t see him again until I came back into town.” I shrugged helplessly. “I wanted to come speak to Tucker.”

“And instead, you decided to fuck Ford for…however long this has been going on?” Boden demanded. “At least since we were in Montreal.” He turned narrowed eyes on Ford. “I’m going to assume you knew exactly who he was the whole time, considering he’s Tucker’s fucking twin brother.”

Ford flushed brightly. “He…looked different when we first met. He had a beard, his hair was all…” He made a weak gesture around the top of his head. “But when he showed up again, yeah. I knew. ”

Boden swallowed heavily. “Tell me you were just distracted by Ford’s dick, and I might be able to overlook the rampant bullshit and lies that have been going on for a while.”

I took in a deep breath, then shook my head. “We made the choice not to tell Tucker right away. He’s so happy. I didn’t want to ruin that.”

Boden burst into a mean-sounding laughter. “Yeah, because stealing his wife wasn’t bad enough, you had to go and fuck his friend behind his back. God, you are a?—”

“He didn’t steal her!” Ford shouted.

Boden’s eyes widened. “Bullshit. You know what happened. We have spent years listening to his pain. We have spent almost a goddamn decade helping him recover from what this asshole put him through!”

Ford took a deep breath. “You and I both know that Tucker’s story is only one side.”

I couldn’t take this anymore and held up both hands. “There’s more to the story, but as I’ve been saying this whole time, it doesn’t matter. I’m the one who hurt my brother. I’m the one who crossed a line that should have never been crossed.”

Boden looked at me for a long, heavy beat. “Tell him. Right now. I’m going to call him on speaker, and you are going to tell him.”

“Boden—” Ford started to beg.

“No. And if you want even a chance for him to forgive you, you’re going to let this happen, Ford. Just because you got bored and wanted to get your dick wet and play with fire doesn’t mean you get to burn the rest of us! ”

Ford crumpled. He sagged down to the bed, his hands over his face, and his shoulders were shaking. All I wanted in the entire world was to go to him, but I knew that would ruin what little hope I had to salvage this for Ford.

“Call him.”

Boden’s jaw tensed, and he nodded stiffly, pulling out his phone. There were a few long moments of silence, and then the phone began to ring. It only took a moment for Tucker to answer.

“Why the fuck are you calling me this early? I swear to God I will come over in the middle of the night and?—”

“There’s something you need to know,” Boden said.

I couldn’t do this over the phone. Not like this. I took a step closer and squared my shoulders. “Hey, Tuck—er. Tucker.” Damn it, I would never get that right.

The silence was so thick I could almost feel it like a physical thing. Then he coughed. “Um. What the fuck? Killian?”

“Yeah. Could you come over to Ford’s?” I asked. Ford’s head shot up, and he met my gaze, betrayed. “I’m here, and we need to talk.”

For a long moment, I thought maybe he’d hung up, and then in a very small voice, he said, “I will be there in ten.”