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CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

EASTON

I pushed to my feet and stormed out. I didn’t need anyone’s fucking permission to marry Gary. I didn’t need permission to do a single thing in my life. It was my life. Gary was my choice. Anyone who had a problem with that could fuck off for all I cared.

“Easton!” my old man barked. “Sit down!”

This time, Gary didn’t have a hold of both my hands and couldn’t stop me when I flipped them all off over my shoulder.

I dragged Gary out of the room with a death grip on his hand, silently seething as I made my way to the front door, only to stop when Manny, the modern version of a butler, stepped into my path and shook his head.

“You can’t leave, Easton. There’s a storm going on outside. Your car is already half buried.”

I shoved past him, ignoring his warnings, and ripped open the front door, only to be hit in the face with icy winds and snow so intense it made my eyes water.

I glared out into the storm, seriously considering making a run for my car, but then I heard Gary whimper beside me.

He was glued to my side, his face buried against my arm, and he was… shivering.

Shit.

Gary hated being cold. It was why he started stealing my hoodies.

It wasn’t surprising since he didn’t have enough body fat on him to keep him warm, but it meant I couldn’t drag him out into the storm.

If we got trapped along the way, it’d be more dangerous for him than me.

And my car wasn’t big enough to cuddle to conserve body heat anyway.

I shoved the door closed, which was harder than it looked with the wind fighting me.

I wasn’t sure what to do next. I wanted to run, like I did so many damn times when I was a teen and felt the pressure of being Charles Warner’s son.

The bastard son with a druggie mom in prison and a whole host of baggage, making him so vastly different from the family he was born into.

Gary shivered again. The temperature in the foyer had dropped significantly thanks to me, and he was dressed all nice to impress my family with his button up and jeans.

Whereas I came as I was. I wasn’t pretending for anybody.

Not even my old man. With one hand, I tugged my hoodie over my head, one of the last ones that Gary hadn’t commandeered, releasing him long enough to remove it completely and pull it over his head instead.

Wide brown eyes looked up at me, confused and a little scared.

I didn’t like him looking at me like that, so I pulled him against me and let my body heat warm him back up, resting my chin on the top of his head.

“Easton?”

Arthur stood nearby, a deep frown on his face. My serious older brother was the mediator, the go-between for the old man and the rest of us when he was working too much and not around. I had no doubt he was here to fix things again. I just wasn’t sure I wanted him to.

It was supposed to be a ruse. A fucking prank.

To get Gary’s family to back off and leave him the hell alone.

Gary went out of his way on day one to help me keep up with school.

I wanted to help him, too. But when my old man acted like it wasn’t going to happen, I lost my mind.

That possessiveness that I had for Gary morphed into an almost violent indignation for anyone who’d deny that he belonged with me.

I already got that shit from Angel and from Gary’s stupid sister.

I was done listening. The little nerd weaseled his way past my defenses, and I wasn’t letting him go for anything.

Gary’s fingers spasmed and his shoulders tensed when he heard Arthur call my name. I fought back the knee jerk reaction to yell at my brother for freaking Gary out, hugging Gary tighter instead when I replied with a simple, “What?”

“Come back and eat.”

I shot him a dirty look. Not a chance in hell.

He pressed his lips together, and surprisingly, he didn’t look annoyed with me. He looked… sympathetic? Feelings were stupid and hard to read.

“No one will talk about your engagement. I got them to agree to stow the conversation for the night so they could wrap their heads around it. Come eat. It’s too dangerous to leave tonight, and you need to eat something.”

Probably. I was starving when I got here, and my friends always said I was a real asshole when I didn’t eat. And Gary had to be hungry, too. I loosened my grip on him, tipping my head to see him better when he didn’t immediately look up.

“If you’re expecting me to read that expression, you’re going to be disappointed. You look constipated.”

“Easton!” he whined, burying his face against me again. It only made me smile, and I felt some of the tension wash away. Gary was good at that, distracting me when I wanted to hurt someone. I’d need to reward him later for keeping my head on straight.

Chuckling, I threw my arm around his shoulder, forcing him to walk or topple, and followed my brother back through the stupidly vast house. Gary was right. You needed a damn map, or you’d get lost in this place.

The tension in the air was thick when we came back into the dining room.

I could tell my stepmother was surprised I was still here.

Her eyes flicked to Gary, who had shrunk in on himself a little.

I hated that. He’d been exploding out of his shell since I met him, and a sassy, playful nerd was coming out to play the more time he spent with me and the guys.

But now, with his shoulders up by his ears, and his eyes on the floor, he looked like the Gary I first met.

Dejected and resigned to be unhappy. I hated that.

“The weather took a turn. It’s not safe for them to drive tonight,” Arthur explained as he sat down beside Evie. “Come sit down. Your food is getting cold.”

I did, but I dragged Gary’s chair closer to mine to keep him next to me. He was still cold, and I wasn’t letting him even an inch away from me until he stopped cowering.

The first half of the meal passed in awkward silence, not even the sounds of people eating like there would be at The Hideout.

No, the Warners were much too proper for that.

They tried to send me to finishing school once.

I got kicked out after the first week. I snorted at the memory, and the sound drew Gary’s attention.

He frowned, cocking his head slightly in a question.

“Did I tell you they tried to send me to finishing school once?”

Jayden snickered from his seat next to Gary. “I forgot about that. How long did you last? Three days?”

“A week,” Arthur answered, flashing me an amused lift of his eyebrow. “You told the teacher she was wasting good oxygen by opening her mouth to talk every day.”

Gary spluttered, sitting up straighter to gape at me. “You did not!”

Yeah, I didn’t even bother to hide my grin.

“I might’ve said something like that. She told me I’d never go anywhere in life if I didn’t learn to eat with my mouth shut.

” I stabbed a bite of my steak and popped it into my mouth before continuing.

“I told her where she could shove her etiquette. She didn’t like that. ”

Gary’s mouth fell open again. “You still do that! It annoys Angel so much, he puts in earplugs if he has to sit next to you at the table! Do you just do it to annoy people?”

I shrugged. It was fun. People got so bent out of shape over one stupid thing.

Gary never complained about it. He just rolled his eyes at me and kept eating.

Even now, he shook his head, exasperated, but there was a smile pulling at his lips.

I hooked his ankle with my foot, giving him a playful pull, and the smile blossomed a little more.

There. That was better. It was easier to focus when he was smiling.

“So, Gary. You’re in your first year, like Easton, correct?” The old man interrupted the fun conversation, and my hackles went up immediately. Gary’s shoulders went back up and I could practically feel the anxiety coursing through him.

“Yes?”

“Do your parents pay for your education?”

Gary shook his head quickly. “No. I got a scholarship for part of it, and student loans for the rest. I did the math, and if I go by starting salary for accountants straight out of college, I should be out of debt within five years if I’m careful. I work part time too to offset what I can.”

My eyes narrowed, daring that old man to say something else to upset Gary, but he just nodded in approval.

“You’re careful with money, then. I admire that. And you’d be okay with a prenup? To protect Easton’s assets.”

Gary’s brows furrowed. “Yes, of course–”

“That’s not happening.”

All eyes turned to me again, and I waited for my old man to object, but he just studied me for a moment before moving on, giving his focus back to Gary.

“Aside from the job, what are your plans for the future?”

That made Gary tip his head and frown. “What do you mean?”

“A man is not just his work.” He gestured to the room. “There’s family to consider. Hobbies. Easton was an excellent guitar player in his youth. I don’t know if he still continues the habit.”

Gary swung around, all curiosity and a touch of eagerness. “Do you?”

I shrugged. “I still can. I just haven’t in a while.”

It was probably a good thing that his back was to my family, because the heated look that flashed over his face made me smirk. Gary already had a thing for tattoos and piercings. Apparently, his bad boy fetish included guitars. I was totally going to use that later.

I had to jerk my chin to remind Gary he hadn’t answered the old man’s question.

He flushed bright red and spun around, rubbing the back of his neck self consciously.

“I, uh… I haven’t had a lot of time for hobbies.

I need good grades to keep my scholarship, so I spend a lot of my time studying.

But I like reading. I think if I could afford it, I’d want to visit some of the more interesting libraries around the world.

Of course, that was his answer. If I didn’t know Gary’s history, I’d wonder why he wasn’t going for a career as like an editor or something.

Something where he’d get to read for work.

But that wasn’t him. He wanted stability, and while I was sure he’d make a decent wage as an editor, he’d make more as an accountant and the job market would never cause him trouble.

People always needed accountants. I’d still mention it, though.

He deserved to be happy after all the shit he’d been through.

I’d always help him if he needed it anyway.

He could choose a job that he enjoyed better.