Page 94 of Necessary Time

“Drunk on lust.” I rolled my eyes.

He mocked me, breaking away from my embrace.

“Hardly,” he said. “It’s been hours. Look.”

He stretched his arms out on either side of him and walked a straight line toward his dresser like I was a cop who’d pulled him over for a DUI. When he reached his beer, he picked it up, took a swallow, then spun and walked back to me in the same fashion. When our toes touched, I took the beer out of his hand and gulped a large drink for myself.

“Message received.”

“This is what I want for my birthday,” he said, which earned him a frown.

“Are you sure?”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want this too, for his birthday or otherwise. I knew most of—if not all—Hendrix’s feelings would be directed at me anyway. There wouldn’t be any fallout for Wesley. Just for me.

It was a big ask, and I still didn’t think Wesley understood the scope of it. I was still getting to know his brother, and I liked him enough as a person and as a friend, but I knew when he found out I’d been dating, sleeping with…when he found out I was in love with…his little brother, everything was going to change.

“Colin.”

I swallowed, shifting my stare back toward Wesley’s bright and expectant face.

Holding up three fingers, I asked him, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

He scoffed. “Three, officer. You know this game would be a lot more fun if they were inside of me and I had to guess like that.”

“Jesus.” I scrubbed a hand down my face and thumped my head against his bedroom door.

“You can’t honestly expect me to believe you want to go out there and keep your distance from me.”

Yeah, Wesley had definitely rehearsed this.

“I don’t,” I agreed.

“And I don’t want that either. And I don’t think it’s fair for Grayson to have to keep lying for us.”

“He’s made it very clear he won’t do that.”

“Evading the truth then.”

“You’re going to have a rebuttal to everything I come up with, aren’t you?” I asked, taking the beer back from him again and finishing off the contents of the bottle.

He nodded and smiled. “I have a whole list. Like, reason number seven is that if we tell him at my birthday party, he’s less likely to cause a scene.”

“How many reasons did you come up with?”

“Sixteen.”

“And you’ve given me?”

“Less than half.” Wesley took the empty bottle out of my hand and tilted his face in toward my throat, licking a swirl around the bump of my Adam’s apple.

“Alright,” I conceded, knowing he was right on the reasons he’d shared and most likely all the ones he still had in his arsenal. “You win.”

“Really?” He bounced, giddy like a child.

“Really,” I promised, hoping I wouldn’t regret it. “But let’s still take it easy on the affection. It’s probably best to ease him into the idea.”

“Fine.”