Page 10 of The Sunday Brothers Novellas

“Oh, John,” the Goodman person simpered in this cloying, utterly fake sort of way as my sweet pure John smiled down at him, steady and calm and unshakable as ever.

What. the. fuck? Could John not see that this guy wasn’t really into him? My protective instincts—yes, it turned out I had some—kicked in, and I set my jaw.

“Did you get him drunk on purpose?” I demanded of Goodman, probably way too loudly. “Are you trying to take advantage of him?”

Goodman acted all shocked and innocent, but I knew better.

“Goodman,” Knox said impatiently, coming up on the man’s other side. “What the hell are you doing?”

Precisely what I wanted to know.

“Knox!” The little asshole sounded way too happy. “Hey! Meet John. He’s my… we’re… boyfriends, so…”

He droned on and on about whatever the fuck, but I wasn’t listening. I was too busy staring at John, who looked miserable, and defiant, and… and miserable .

“—Grindr hookup?” Knox said, looking from John to Goodman.

I gasped. “John! You were on Grindr?” The betrayal of it all! “You said you weren’t doing that anymore. You pinky promised.”

“I…” John looked at Goodman guiltily. “It’s…”

“We didn’t meet on Grindr,” Goodman said. “We met at the bar earlier. The specifics are all a blur, but we’re very committed. Aren’t we, honey bear?”

I pressed a hand to my stomach. Honey bear?

“Committed,” John agreed, looking at me sadly. Then he let Goodman spin him back into the crush of dancing bodies.

Oh, God, how mortifying. John clearly hadn’t been that upset about the idea of me being with Other-John if he’d moved on this quickly, and yet here I was, practically stalking him at the bar.

I needed to leave, immediately, before I did something that really would ruin my friendship with John far more than a declaration of affection would have.

I turned to leave… and Knox blocked my path.

“Let’s dance,” he said again. “Trust me.”

I didn’t really want to, but I was obviously a glutton for punishment, because I let him take my hand and spin me through the crowd until we were standing next to John and Goodman again.

We got there just in time to see John spin the man around and hold him so that John’s broad chest was plastered to Goodman’s back and John’s big hand was on the man’s hip as they swayed.

Knox was a decent dancer, and he kept our bodies moving in time, which I was distantly grateful for.

Meanwhile, the entire focus of my consciousness was centered on John’s hand where it held Goodman in place.

It was so wrong, so fucking wrong , to see him holding someone else while feeling in my bones that it should have been me in his arms instead.

The flashing lights caught on John’s soulful eyes, highlighted the fine filaments of his beard, caught a drop of sweat that rolled from his temple to his cheek.

Goodman reached behind him, wrapping his arm around the back of my John’s neck, pulling John down to whisper something in his ear that made John’s eyelids flutter momentarily.

It felt unbearably intimate, watching him like this, and I knew that if John looked at me, there’d be no way to hide my hurt, let alone my overwhelming jealousy.

I lifted up on my tiptoes and pulled Knox’s head down. “Sorry, but I think I need to go. I?—”

Goodman stumbled into me, knocking me sideways. “Oops! My bad!” He smirked at me, but his gaze kept straying to the place where I was touching Knox.

Oh, really .

I narrowed my eyes and very deliberately ran a hand through Knox’s hair .

The asshole looked like he was trying to murder me with his laser eyeballs, and I felt a faint glimmer of satisfaction… before I remembered that the asshole was dancing with my John , and what the fuck was he doing being jealous of anyone else?

He swallowed hard and turned his attention back to John. Then suddenly they were plastered together with Goodman nearly bent in half, doing a bump and grind that was hotter than anything in my porn folder.

Mother. Fucker. My hands clenched into fists, and I briefly contemplated throwing down , right there in the club, despite never having been involved in a physical confrontation in my entire life.

I would enjoy it.

“Hey.” Knox put a hand on my waist comfortingly. “It’s okay. Chill,” he whispered in my ear, not understanding my chronic, congenital un-chill-ness. He obviously didn’t know about the fairy. I bit my lip so hard it stung.

“I don’t know how,” I moaned. If John and Goodman were acting like this at the fucking club, it was only a matter of time before they slipped away to the back. Or, Jesus fuck, went back to Goodman’s place. Or ours .

I was seriously going to be ill.

Suddenly, I felt a familiar hand on my wrist, pulling me away from Knox’s almost-embrace. “T,” John said, low and urgent. “Can I speak to you, please? Right now? Outside?”

For a second, I almost refused. I didn’t know if I could speak to him without bursting into tears. This was the part where he would tell me that he and Goodman wanted to go back to our apartment, wasn’t it? How could I refuse?

Then I would have to stay the night at Monica’s apartment so I didn’t murder Gage Goodman in cold blood.

Or, no. Maybe I needed to get a hotel room someplace further away.

Like downtown Boston. Or Vermont. Or Sri Lanka.

That way, I wouldn’t be tempted to go across the hall and refuse to leave until Goodman had answered a comprehensive list of questions to prove his worthiness as John’s potential suitor, including an essay question that I did not intend to grade on a curve.

I sighed, then nodded woodenly and let John lead me away.

“Can I be arrested for refusing to leave our apartment, even if you ask me to?” I demanded as he towed me through the crowd. I didn’t pull my wrist away—I wanted his hands on me, and I told myself this might be the last time I got to enjoy it.

Because John was incredibly quick-witted—and, yes, used to dealing with my random thoughts after a year of friendship—even while slightly inebriated, he didn’t hesitate. “No, you couldn’t. But then, I’d never ask you to, so the point is moot.”

I hustled faster to stay by his side and used my free hand to grasp his bicep.

“Pick one, John!” I insisted passionately.

“Showing consideration for your best friend and roommate, even if it means no sex… Or having loud, passionate sex with a guy just to get your rocks off, even if it leads your roommate to abject misery later.”

John stopped and blinked down at me sadly. “Those the only choices?” he asked, his voice so low I had to read his lips. “Friendship or sex?”

I nodded solemnly, making my hair fall over my eye. “I just don’t know how else it can work. I’m sorry. I know you’re disappointed.”

His whole face collapsed, but he nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s… that’s safe to say. Well, that answers that, I guess. Thanks for letting me know. I’m heading out. Enjoy your night with…” He glanced back at the dance floor. “Whoever.”

I blinked at him, definitely feeling a few margaritas shy of comprehending what was going on here.

“John!” I yelled, my voice getting lost in the buzz of chatter as I darted around patrons in an attempt to catch up. “Excuse me. John, wait, I— Oh, oops. Pardon me. John !”

Miraculously, he heard me and turned toward me.

“John, why are you?—”

I slipped on a wet patch of floor, and suddenly I was falling. I grabbed for the closest thing to break my fall and ended up yanking Nicki to the ground along with me…

Or, more accurately, yanking Nicki and the full tray of drinks she carried to the ground along with me.

I screamed in shock as a torrent of icy liquid ran down my back and arm, plastering my shirt to my body. Nicki’s tray thumped down on my head.

“Oh, shit! Teagan!” Nicki cried, grabbing the tray. “Are you okay?”

Was I? I landed hard on one knee and one palm, and I knew both would bruise. But far, far worse was the sting to my pride. “Yeah,” I sniffled. “I’m okay.” A small sob bubbled out of my chest before I could help it.

“T? Oh, fuck. Oh, Jesus. Teagan?” John’s voice held none of its usual calm steadiness. As soon as he reached me, he knelt and scooped me bodily off the floor like I weighed nothing, then held me in his strong arms. “Are you okay? Baby, your head. Are you…?”

For one second, I let myself revel in the feeling of him holding me. It was everything I wanted.

“I need to go home,” I told him. And not just because I smelled like several breweries, a distillery, and an orange grove had all vomited on me simultaneously.

“I’ll take you,” John said firmly. He set me on my feet but held me against his side, much the way he’d held Goodman earlier. I was too weak-willed to push him away.

After spending ten minutes assuring Nicki and her manager that I was okay, and apologizing profusely for the chaos, I let John lead me out .

Outside, the night had gotten much cooler. A cold breeze blew against my soaked shirt, and I set my teeth.

A group of women chatted noisily while smoking cigarettes, and a pair of men were huddled on the curb, one holding his head in his hands while the second hovered protectively. The second man stood up as we approached.

“Teagan?” Knox asked, his deep voice concerned. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Hey. I… had a little incident with a tray of drinks.” I massaged my sore palm. “I’m fine. Just soaked.”

Knox looked at John with narrowed eyes, like maybe he was responsible for this debacle, then back at me. “I’m taking Goodman to our hotel. Our ride’s on the way. But we can take you to?—”

“John!” Goodman called drunkenly without looking up from the sidewalk. “John! D’you remember what I said earlier?”

John looked at me a little guiltily and licked his lips. “Uh. The one where you compared men and… murder cows?”

“Jesus,” Knox muttered.

“No!” Goodman said defensively. “Although, dude, I stand by that. I mean the part I told you when we were dancing.” He lowered his voice to a very loud whisper. “The part about… eyeballs ?”

“Oh. Yeah, I remember.”

Eyeballs? Oh, fucking lovely. They had inside jokes now? Had they exchanged numbers, too? Were they going to see each other again? I was miserable and jealous and soaked to the skin, and now I felt tiny and inconsequential, too.

I tried to step away, but John’s arm tightened around me.

“Are you okay, Gage?” he asked.

“Me? Fuck yeah. Doing great ,” Goodman confirmed. “In fact, we should go dance some more. Because I got mooooves and—” He started to push himself to his feet, but Knox held him in place with a hand on his shoulder .

“How about you settle down, Magic Mike,” Knox said dryly. “Before the world starts spinning again.” He turned to me. “Our ride’s arriving. Come with us, T, and we’ll drop you off on the way.”

I started to shake my head, but John spoke up before I could. “His name is Teagan , and we’re all set. I already got us a ride. Thanks anyway.”

Knox grunted. “You good with that… T?”

I found his concern really, really sweet, and in my emotional state, I got a little teary. “Yeah, we’ll be fine.”

He opened the rear door of their Lyft for Goodman but turned to look back at me. “I’d feel better if you take my number and send me a quick text when you’re home.”

I nodded and plugged his number into my phone, ignoring John’s growing impatience. “Got it.”

Knox still didn’t seem convinced. “If you’d like, I could?—”

“ Thanks anyway ,” John repeated, all but growling this time. “But Teagan’s with me. I’ve got him.”

I buried my face in his chest and shivered, suddenly exhausted.

“I wish you really had me,” I murmured.