Page 50 of Outside Looking In

“Your family will wonder why I don’t seem to move when I rest.”

“If only.” Liam laughed and handed Nathan a piping-hot mug of his new favorite beverage. “You play tug-of-war with the blankets in your sleep.”

“I do?”

“Even in a REM cycle, you’re still a prick.” Liam kissed his neck, sending a rush of heat through his body. “Are you still up for dinner tonight at the house?”

“Absolutely.” Mark had convinced them to come out of lambing hibernation for a family dinner. He’d been nice enough to bring over home-cooked meals. Nathan looked forward to other human contact.

“We’ll just remind the ewes not to pop out any lambs after four o’clock.” Liam leaned against the kitchen counter, mug in hand, his shirt half-unbuttoned, glancing out the window at the livestock.

Nathan was hard in seconds.

“Are you getting good research for your film role?” Liam asked.

And then he wasn’t. Nathan had drafted a synopsis of the grittyBabereboot to show to Liam, more proof of his alibi (and his shoddy writing skills). The guilt over lying to Liam and his family lingered in the back of his mind everyday. He wondered how much longer he could keep the truth locked away inside him.

“I’m getting really good material to use, yeah,” Nathan said. “I’ll make sure you get acknowledged in the credits.”

“I have to admit, I love seeing my name in the credits. This time, I won’t be mentioned alongside a hundred other visual effects artists.”

“Is this your family?” Looking for a change of subject, Nathan picked up a framed picture partially hidden on the corner of Liam’s desk, one of those awkward family photos destined for internet mockery.

“Nah yeah, it is.”

Nathan pointed to the youngest child on his father’s lap. The boy was giving the camera a pouty sneer, one that had been given to Nathan several times when he first started on the farm.

“That’s me.”

“You have a big family.” Nathan felt a twinge of jealousy.

Liam came over and wrapped Nathan in a hug from behind as he looked over his shoulders. “I have four older brothers.”

“That’s hot.”

“Why is that hot?”

“I don’t know. Five brothers is just hot.”

“You think we sat around giving each other hand jobs?”

Nathan pictured being in the middle of it. Liam yanked the picture away.

“It was not fun being the youngest.”

“Aw, you got teased?”

“Yeah.” Liam’s voice got heavy. “Mark’s great, but Callum, James, and Oliver were…they loved to torment me, beat me up. They called it roughhousing so Mum and Dad wouldn’t punish them. They knew where to hit me so our parents wouldn’t see the bruises.”

“Punches in the thigh because they left the biggest marks,” Nathan said with familiarity. The phantom pain tingled in his leg. “But you’re all adults now.”

“You might want to remind them.” Liam stared at the family picture with a mix of sadness and disgust. “By being the youngest, I was the black sheep without even trying.”

“I’m the ginger sheep,” Nathan said. “Only there’s nothing lighthearted and playful about my family’s hatred of me.”

“The ginger sheep?” Liam replaced the picture on the table. “Cause of your hair?”

“My oldest cousin, Damian, called me that and it stuck. He was named after the demonic child inThe Omen, which seemed to be appropriate foreshadowing.”