Page 81 of Burden of Proof

He was easy to find. Hadn’t even bothered to go into the bathroom. Instead, I found him pacing the hallway, hands bracketed around his waist as he walked.

“Hey,” I said, holding out his drink.

For what it was worth, he didn’t even startle, taking the glass out of my hand and pressing his shoulders against the wall.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Is this about Neil and Annette?” I asked, aligning myself to his side so our shoulders touched. He tightened his grip on the glass and stared up at the roof.

“Sometimes I wish I’d never gotten involved with them.”

“Why?”

“Because none of it was worth this.” Finn poured the rest of his drink down his throat, then clinked his empty glass against mine. “I really do need to piss.”

And with that, he disappeared into the bathroom.

I knew better than to follow him, understanding his moods better than most. Finn would talk when he wanted to talk, and not a second before. We were quite a bit alike in that way, and I tried to think about how I would feel after having Lincoln and losing him. The thought of it alone was enough to have my chest tightening to a point where it was hard to breathe. I rubbed at my sternum and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, scrolling through my messages until I got to Lincoln’s name.

Have fun tonight if you go out.

In response, he sent me a picture of him and Silas on Marshall’s couch, limbs tangled together and a remote control in Silas’ hand. It definitely looked like the two of them were gearing up for a wild night in.

Can I see you this weekend?

I hope so.

My dick is about to explode.

Mine twitched at the thought.

Do you want to go to Rapture tomorrow?

Can we talk about it later?

Definitely.

Enjoy your snuggle.

Enjoy your brothers.

I slid my phone back into my pocket, thinking about Lincoln’s invitation. The only things I knew about Rapture were the things Lincoln had told me. I’m sure Marshall could shed some light on the goings on, but I’d meant it when I said I didn’t want to know that much about how any of my brothers fucked.

It was a weird thing to think about putting my bedroom preferences on display in public, but it wasn’t like Lincoln’s bedroom activities were top secret. He had a healthy following on his video account and was clearly a lot more comfortable with being out about his special interests than I was.

Sighing, I scrubbed a hand down my face. I just wanted things to be as easy outside of the house as they were inside of it. It seemed unfair I couldn’t wrap me and Lincoln into a cocoon and stay there until I was ready to be somewhere new.

The bathroom door pushed open and Finn emerged, looking marginally better than when he’d gone in.

“You’re still here?”

“Of course I am.”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m good, Hunt. I promise.”

“You’d tell me if you weren’t?”