Page 16 of Wild Card (Foster Bro Code #2)

Axel

Most evenings, I grabbed dinner with my brothers at the house.

A whole trail of dogs followed me inside Wednesday night. They knew my pushover brothers would feed them all the scraps they could handle.

Banshee stuck by my side as we entered the house. The others had no reservations about leaving me in the dust. They ran straight for the kitchen, tongues already hanging out, begging eyes at the ready.

Banshee raised her snout, sniffing, as we reached the kitchen.

“Smells…” I inhaled deeply. “Weird.”

The other dogs had come to the same conclusion and plopped themselves down, no longer interested in begging.

Gray glowered from his place next to Emory, who was grating a root into a bubbling-hot pan on the stovetop.

“Don’t be rude,” Gray said. “Emory doesn’t have to feed you.”

I raised my hands. “Sorry. No offense meant.”

Emory shot me a smile. “Just give it a chance. It’s delicious. I promise.”

I was skeptical. It couldn’t be a good sign that the dogs weren’t even interested. Those fuckers would eat almost anything.

A door clicked in the hallway. Holden emerged from his bedroom and started toward the kitchen. Banshee spotted him and charged down the hall.

“Hey there.” He crouched to greet her, giving her a good rub behind the ears. “How are you doing, Banshee? Is Axel treating you right and giving you all the treats you deserve?”

Bailey came out of the hall bathroom behind Holden, looking a little surprised by the love fest blocking the corridor.

“Wow, Holden. Maybe you two should get a room.”

Holden straightened quickly, as if he’d been caught doing something nefarious rather than petting a dog. “She needs attention. That’s all.”

I was pretty sure Banshee wasn’t the one who needed attention. My brother had denied himself his whole life. A dog couldn’t fulfill all that he was missing, but she could comfort him. Maybe even remind him of why contact with other living creatures could be a good thing.

“You want to keep her overnight?” I asked.

Holden stopped by the table, resting his hands on a chair back. “Are you going out?”

“I could,” I said. “If you wanted…”

Holden gnawed on his bottom lip and then shook his head. “Nah, I know what you’re doing. I’m fine.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Been a while since I played some pool.”

The doorbell rang. “Oh, that’s Nova,” Bailey said, stepping around Holden. “I’ll be right back. But if you want to go to the pool hall, I’m game. I could use a little extra spending money.”

Holden sighed and shook his head at our younger brother’s penchant for hustling pool players. Bailey was the most well-adjusted of us all, but he still grew up in the same household. He wasn’t the shiny choirboy that Holden liked to see in his head.

“He’s more excited to see Nova now than when they were pretending to date,” I said, watching Bailey grin as he threw open the door and wrapped Nova in a hug.

“It’s amazing what honesty can do for a person,” Gray said.

Bailey had only come out as gay recently—after Gray did the same. My older brother had been outed and run off, and he’d kept his sexuality and his reasons for leaving a secret for far too long.

“I wouldn’t know much about keeping secrets,” I snarked. “I’m an open book.”

“Uh-huh.” Gray grabbed a stack of plates from the cabinet and began laying them on the table as Bailey and Nova returned. “So, what happened with Deputy Handsy? No way he went to all that trouble just because he’s a good guy.”

“He is a good guy,” I said sharply.

“Holy shit, you fucked him,” he said.

“So what if I did?”

“Uh, guys…” Bailey said. “Nova’s here. Remember?”

Nova gave a nervous giggle behind me. “Sorry for interrupting. Sounds juicy. Carry on.”

I grinned. “I’d tell you everything, but I’m pretty sure Holden would stroke out.”

Holden did, in fact, look ready to pop a blood vessel. He was such a dad.

“Not exactly polite dinner conversation,” Holden said. “And I don’t want you hustling pool players. You make a steady paycheck.”

Bailey rolled his eyes. “Okay, Dad. ”

I snickered, because damn, it was so true.

“You should be glad he’s not out getting drunk and fucking around carelessly.” Gray paused. “You’re not, are you? I know when you first come out, it’s tempting to let loose, but?—”

“Please stop,” Bailey begged as Nova giggled into her hands.

“Please, our little bro only has eyes for Matteo,” I joked. “No way he’s getting his dick wet.”

“Oh my god.” Bailey turned his glare on me, face an adorable shade of red. “Emory’s friends with Matteo’s girlfriend. You can’t say shit like that!”

Emory laughed as he turned off the stove and picked up a serving dish. “It’s no big deal. Matteo worships Allison. She wouldn’t care that Bailey has a little crush.”

“Ugh.” Bailey groaned as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “Now I feel about eight years old. Thanks. I don’t have a little crush. Matteo is hot, but I’m not pining after him.”

“Our friend Drew is totally into Bailey,” Nova offered up. “But Bailey won’t make a move.”

“Poor Drew can’t compare to Matteo,” I said with a sigh. “It’s a tragic story of star-crossed love?—”

“Shut up!” Bailey stood and whacked me with his placemat. “You guys are assholes.” He gave Nova a chiding look. “And Drew is not into me.”

“But he gives you the look all the time,” she said.

“What look?”

“You know…” I turned to Emory, swept my gaze over his body, then met his eyes with a searing look.

“Knock that shit off,” Gray grumbled.

“I felt that,” Emory said with a chuckle. “Dang. Did I choose the right brother?”

“Hey!” Gray took the serving dish from Emory’s hands, plopped it on the table, then grabbed his face and kissed him with enough heat that Nova fanned her face.

Gray broke the kiss. “What were you just saying?”

Emory blinked dreamily. “That I definitely chose the right brother?”

“Damn right.” Gray swatted his ass. “Don’t you forget it.”

“I would never,” Emory said. “I just like how riled and jealous you get.”

I laughed. “It’s good entertainment.”

Gray flipped me the bird while we all took our seats around the table. Emory had made some sort of pasta with…

“What the hell is that?” I asked, nose wrinkling.

Sugar sat up, showing mild interest when we got to the table. Years of trust told her that there should be tasty scraps incoming. Loki seemed less certain, his ears twitching, while he watched from afar.

“It’s garlic-eggplant pasta,” Emory said. “It’s really good. I got the recipe from my cousin, Shayla.”

“Shayla’s got a problem with chicken?” I asked, poking a piece of eggplant with my fork.

“Just say thank you and eat it,” Gray said. “Geez. You really need to get out of the junkyard more often.”

Nova forked up a bite without hesitation, humming. “This is really good, Emory. What all is in it?”

He gave her a rundown of ingredients. Basil, lemon, blah-blah-blah. I mostly tuned him out as I tentatively took a small bite.

Garlic, bold and rich, flavored the creamy sauce. The rigatoni was tender. The eggplant texture was a little odd, but all in all, not half-bad. But it was the crumbled feta on top—adding a sharp tang that brought it all together—that won me over.

“Okay, you win,” I told Emory. “It really is good.”

He grinned. “See?”

“Still think it could use some chicken.”

Gray rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He’s got no culture.”

Bailey snorted. “Yeah, he loves the poor man’s skillet we make with hot dogs and macaroni, so…”

“Hey, that’s a classic,” I defended.

Holden chuckled. “I think the dogs might agree with you, though. Banshee turned up her nose when I tried to slip her a bite.”

Vindicated by my pack. They were always loyal.

The conversation shifted back to Bailey and this Drew character. “So, are you going to make a move on this guy and finally get laid?” I asked.

“Not everything is about sex, Axel,” Holden said.

He would say that. The poor guy never got any. No wonder he was always so wound up.

“Drew is super cute,” Nova put in. “And he definitely has a thing for Bailey. Back when everyone thought we might be dating, he used to tell me how lucky I was to have him.”

“Aw,” Emory said. “That sounds really sweet. Maybe you should ask him out?”

“I don’t think so,” Bailey said. “He’s not really my type, and he’s transferring to the University of Nebraska next year, anyway. Not much point to starting something.”

Holden perked up. “Well, it’s not like you can’t go to the same college next year.”

Bailey shifted. “I don’t know. I just don’t see myself going there.”

“Don’t count yourself out before you even apply,” Holden said. “You’ve got the grades.”

Bailey gave me a fairly desperate look. “So, did you ever go to the animal shelter with the deputy like he wanted?”

“Yeah, on Monday.”

“And?” he pressed.

I wasn’t sure that Bailey really cared about it that much. But he was clearly looking to change the subject, so I took pity on him.

“Dalton was hoping the shelter could make what I do more official.” I shrugged.

“They don’t have the resources to expand their foster program, though, and I don’t like the way it’s set up.

I don’t want to take pets to the shelter to be locked in cages first and then eventually released to my care.

I want to save them that trauma and have them go straight into a good home, you know? ”

Holden nodded, glancing down at Banshee. “That would be the ideal situation. Is something like that even possible?”

“I don’t know, but it would really benefit the shelter because they’re at capacity, and their funding was cut.”

“That’s awful,” Emory said, voice full of sympathy. “Do they take donations?”

“I would think so. Not sure. Plus, you could help by adopting.”

“More dogs?” Gray said. “I live in fear of losing my balls as it is now.”

“Taz is not going to eat your balls,” I said dismissively.

“He’s vicious!”

Emory chuckled. “I’ll protect your goods, babe. Don’t worry.”

“Of course, Holden could just adopt Banshee, and that’d free me up to take in another dog…”

Holden made a startled noise. “I thought…” He swallowed. “Don’t you want to keep her?”

“She likes you. She’s content over here. And let’s be real.” I put my hands over Sugar’s ears so she wouldn’t hear this next bit. “Banshee is a bit high-class to be living in a junkyard with the rest of us mutts.”

Holden’s mouth twisted. “I don’t know.”

“Just think about it.” I scratched behind Sugar’s ears. “It might be good for both of you.”

Emory set down his fork and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “I still can’t believe they cut their funding.”

“I know, right? Someone should talk to the city council.”

Emory nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, but if the budget’s set, it might not do a lot of good right now. Allison runs the Riverton Community Foundation. They provide local grants. Plus, she’s great at hunting down state and federal grant opportunities. She might be able to help.”

“Really? That would be great.”

“I’ll text her,” Emory said. “We’re meeting up for drinks Friday. You should come along. Maybe you two can talk about it.”

“Oh, well, it was Dalton’s idea to begin with.”

“So bring him,” Emory said, as if it were that easy. “Gray is coming with me. It won’t be a big deal. We’re just gonna hang out. I think Matteo will be there too.”

“Sounds like a party,” I said.

A party of two couples and me, the fifth wheel, unless I asked Dalton along.

“You all should come,” Emory said, including Bailey and Holden in the invite.

“That’s okay,” Bailey said. “Nova and I are going to a concert in Omaha that night.”

No wonder he wanted to make extra money playing pool. Concerts weren’t cheap.

“What about you, Holden?” Emory asked.

Holden shook his head. “Nah. I’ll stay home and watch Banshee. If I’m going to think about adopting her, we need some quality time together.”

Damn. Now I really had to invite Dalton, or I’d be the odd guy out. Maybe I’d leave out a few details. If he realized he was my plus-one to a table full of couples, he might think twice about agreeing to go.

“Are you sure Allison won’t mind us talking shop on her night off?”

“Nah, she loves this stuff,” Emory said as he texted on his phone and chuckled. “Yep. She’s already suggesting we all meet up.” He shot me a wide smile. “She’s the best.”

Gray got riled when I flirted with Emory in front of him, but when Emory talked about his best friend—and former girlfriend—with such fondness, he was totally unfazed.

He brushed a kiss across Emory’s temple and collected their plates. “I’ll clean up.”

Bailey glanced at me. “So? Pool hall?”

I shrugged. “Sure, if Holden doesn’t mind dog-sitting?”

“I can handle it,” Holden said. “Just stay out of trouble.”

“Nova can come along,” I suggested. “She’ll keep Bailey from pissing off anyone with his pool hustling.”

“Ooh, it’s been a while since I saw Bailey absolutely rob some big dude of all his money. This should be fun!”

“Okay, so Emory will keep Bailey in line,” I said with a laugh. “You’re coming, guys, right?”

Gray half turned from the sink. “Oh, I don’t know. We were just going to watch a movie.”

“Come on, man. Don’t make me the responsible party. You know that never ends well.”

Emory smirked. “We can go for a bit. It’s fine. But can you do me a favor too?”

“Anything,” I said.

“I’m moving my stuff out of my apartment next week…”

I groaned. “Son of a bitch. I walked right into that one. Don’t you have family and friends to torture?”

“You’re my family, aren’t you?” he said so sweetly I almost missed the mischievous spark in his eye.

Gray slung an arm over his shoulders and smirked at me. “Yeah, Ax. Doesn’t our bro code extend to our boyfriends?”

I sighed. “Fine. But only because Emory’s so adorable. And I appreciate you calling Allison on this grant thing. The shelter can really use more funds.”

Emory blew me a kiss. “You’re the best.”

Gray dragged him toward the sink, asking him if he needed another reminder of which brother was his boyfriend.

I smiled to myself. Emory was gorgeous and sweet. I’d do him, sure. But he was way too soft for a guy like me. Not to mention too committed to a relationship.

He’d landed the perfect brother.

I would wish that I could be so lucky, but…that wasn’t in the cards for me. I liked to have a good time and blow off some steam.

The steam had been pretty spectacular with Dalton.

But when it came to more, there was no point. Not when nothing could ever last.

Not for me.