Page 29 of Casual Felonies (Wildlings #1)

TRUETT

All the things I held back in a bid to avoid traumatizing him, Rami put together in seconds. Also, he doesn’t seem to understand how big a deal it is that he picked up a gun and took out the bad guys without flinching.

He’s more weirded out by the three operatives surrounding us, whom I finally recognize as Wildlings.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t lying when I told Hedy I didn’t want to kill anyone.

“Maybe,” I answer, pointing out the pool of vomit, “but I’m guessing they won’t want to recruit me now.”

One of the guys casually aims his rifle at the mess, zapping it instantaneously. “No one needs to know about that,” he says with a bright smile and an Afro-French accent.

That’s the Wildling adopted by the retired Spurs player from back in the day. Something Sehene. Honor? No— Honoré.

“Who among us hasn’t booted in the field?” says the other Wildling, offering me a small bottle of water. He’s another Bash twin, I think—son of Anders’ twin and the Blaylock Securities guy.

How many fucking twins does this family have ?

I swish out my mouth and down the rest of the bottle, trying to remember this guy’s name. Maverick’s the party boy, so this one must be Holmes.

He takes the empty bottle and hands me a mint.

“We haven’t,” says the girl with the long braid, thumbing between herself and Rami.

Maya. Rami’s twin. Apparently vomit-free in the field.

I crunch the mint, stomach dipping as I spot Anders approaching. Though…given the fact that I just joined them in a firefight, I can maybe unclench as far as the dads are concerned.

The two guys straighten. “What’s up, Uncle?” Honoré asks.

“Take these two to the penthouse. I have a feeling we’re not done with whatever this is, and we’ve got extra security in place there.”

Rami narrows his eyes. “What kind of security? We’ve already had this discussion.”

Anders shakes his head. “This isn’t surveillance. It’s actual security that came with the building.”

Holmes—I’m pretty sure it’s Holmes—responds, “Yeah, remember? Dad was the electrical engineer on that building.”

Rami nods thoughtfully. “Oh right. As long as it doesn’t involve being watched or listened to,” he says, boring a look into his dad’s forehead.

Anders holds up his hands in surrender. “Your baba and I have already apologized, and we will not do anything you don’t agree with.”

“Thank you.”

I lean into Rami’s shoulder. “How are you okay with all of this?”

He takes my hand in his, the one immobilized by advanced tech. “I don’t know if okay is the right word. It’s as if all the disparate parts and pieces of my life have suddenly fallen into place. As if a slightly fuzzy photograph is now in crisp resolve. I think I’m just processing. ”

He turns my hand over, examining it. “Is this painful?”

I shake my head. “Pretty sure it has some sort of localized anesthetic.”

And that there’s something in it making me horny as fuck.

I startle as Anders leans over my shoulder, nodding along. “We didn’t even steal that one. Uncle Odd worked with Edison to perfect it.”

“Uncle Eddie helped with this?” Rami asks, smoothing his hand up my arm. My cock twitches, thickening in my shorts as Anders Fucking Bash stands right there.

Talk about playing fast and loose with my life.

“Yep. Your boyfriend will be back to cutting hair and going viral on social media in no time,” he cracks.

“Oh my God. Dad! ”

Rami sends me a worried look, like he thinks I’m about to run for the hills.

“Hey,” I say, wrapping my good arm around his waist. Fuck, he smells so good. “It doesn’t bother me if your dad wants to tease us about being boyfriends,” I say, sending Anders a half-grimace.

“ Oh .” Rami drops his gaze. “Then do you think maybe we could?—"

Rami’s question is interrupted when Anders smacks my shoulder.

“Hey, Truett. You’re all right, kid.”

I fritz for a second as I try to process my super inconvenient boner, Rami’s unfinished question, and Anders’…approval? Anders sends me a wink, then steps away, ostensibly giving us a bit of privacy amid the madness.

Rami watches his dad walk off and shakes his head. “I swear, he is never not embarrassing.”

Biting at his lower lip, he turns to me. Rami didn’t even blink when he picked up that rifle and mowed down a shit load of bad guys, but this, right here… this makes him nervous. Like ma ybe my answer to the question he still hasn’t asked is pretty fucking important to him.

I take his hand and lay soft kisses along his knuckles. “And to answer your question, yes. I think maybe we could.”

Rami’s soft smile makes my chest warm. “I know it’s too soon for labels,” he starts, then brushes his lips against my temple. “But I haven’t let myself feel this way about someone in a long time.”

“Me either,” I admit. “But after everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, the idea of you being my future boyfriend doesn’t freak me out. Not even a little bit.”

Rami pulls away, his eyes sparkling. “I can work with that.”

Shaking my head, I shuffle us in a half-circle so our backs are to his fathers. Rami raises his brows, a silent question.

“As your not-quite boyfriend, I should tell you that whatever they gave me is making me really fucking horny,” I say under my breath, surreptitiously untucking my shirt and adjusting my cock to sit behind my waistband.

Ah fuck. Sweet relief.

“Holy shit, me too.” Rami laughs, making similar adjustments.

Leaning against me, he whispers, “You know, my fathers were always open about sexuality, and we talked about the variety of boners you could get—the morning boner, the I’ve-got-a-crush-on-someone boner, the I’m-eighteen-and-everything-turns-me-on boner, the headache boner, even the flu boner.

But never once did my fathers explain the murder boner. ”

I chuckle, still shell-shocked. “That feels like a miss on their part.”

“Right?”

Now that we’ve covered our dual situations , we return to the group. Only…Omar’s expression is dark. Shit. This is definitely not the time for romance.

“Baba? What’s wrong?” Rami asks. “Why do you look so worried? ”

Omar scans the area, peering into the shadows. Finally, he answers Rami’s question. “We did a good job of taking down this team, but until we know where they came from, we don’t know who we just pissed off. If they came after Brantley, who’s to stop them from coming after you?”

Rami’s eyes hit the ground, and I put my arm around him. “Are you okay?”

He shakes his head. “I forgot Brantley was killed. How could I forget that? And why aren’t I feeling it?”

Honoré taps his shoulder. “That’s what happens in the heat of battle.

Your brain sets aside the memory so you can focus on what’s happening in front of you.

You didn’t forget. You simply put it in a safe place until you’re ready to retrieve it.

It might be a few days before you can process his death. ”

“He’s right, son. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t feel the impact right away,” Omar says, nodding along. Turning to the two special-ops Wildlings, he says, “Given the unknowns in this situation, I’m having you two stay with them at the condo.”

“Yes, sir,” Holmes says, his tone serious.

“Holmes, buddy, you never have to call me sir.”

Phew. I was right about his name.

“Sorry, Uncle. We’re in the field and it helps me keep things straight.”

I imagine it must be hard, trying to maintain protocol in a family of rebels.

“Can I go with them?” Maya asks, rubbing Rami’s arm. “I haven’t spent time with the cousins since this one tossed my brother out on his ear,” she says, gesturing a thumb in my direction. “He got drunk on one beer and couldn’t stop whining about how you rejected him.”

“Shut up,” Rami growls, then places a kiss on my cheek. “You can come too.”

I lean in and whisper, “As if I’d be anywhere else tonight.” He blushes, so I try to further lighten the mood. “Wait, you whined about being rejected?”

“Shut. Up.”

I can’t help my smile.

“I’m definitely going home with you tonight, but I have appointments tomorrow,” I explain. “Unless you think you’ll need me to stay with you.”

He shakes his head. “Maybe it’ll be different tomorrow, but I think I’ll be okay.”

Omar smiles at Rami, then puts his arm around Anders. “It’s not the same as you and your brother, but I’d like to note that our son kills like he’s breathing.”

“I don’t know if that’s anything to be proud of,” Rami responds, rubbing the back of his head. “I mean, is this a delayed trauma response? Am I going to wake up in a pool of my own snot and tears tomorrow?”

Anders lifts his good shoulder. “Maybe. But you are related to me, so probably not.” He turns to me, gesturing at my untucked shirt.

“By the way, that injection Maya gave you might leave you a little randy tonight.” He gestures to Rami’s untucked shirt.

“I’m sure my son will be happy to accommodate. ”

Rami drops his chin to his chest. “ Dad .”

“Serum boners and murder boners are completely natural, son. We’ve all had them. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

H and H nod, and so does Maya. She laughs at my shocked expression and shrugs. “Lady boners count.”

“And that’s coming from an aegoromantic,” Anders provides helpfully.

Maya stares up at the stars. “ Dad .”

I elbow Rami. “See? He was just waiting for the appropriate time to bring up the other kinds of boners.”

“You’re not cute,” he grumbles. “Also, now that my dads are aware that we’re sleeping together, you do know this means they’ll take every opportunity to scare the shit out of you, right?”

Whatever. I’m over being scared shitless of the dads.

“That’s fine,” I say out loud. “Just as long as they know I plan on taking it out on your ass every time they do.”

I return a wink to Anders, who laughs his ass off.

Omar looks at all of us like we’re a bunch of disappointments, then kisses Anders’ cheek again. “I can’t wait to tell Mama Bash that one of our children is a stone-cold killer.”

Anders’ grin is terrifying. “She’ll be so happy.”

Maya sends me an apologetic grimace. “Welcome to the family.”