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But the caveman part of his brain didn’t care. It was excited that Cort had to stay at the house. It was even more excited that Cort threatened to sleep on his couch. He was already stretched out in his bed now. Cort could stay there. Forever. Grey would be able to feel Cort’s smooth skin and warmth when he fell asleep at night and when he woke in the morning. His sleep-rough voice would greet him.
The world was a better place now because Grey had Cort close to him at all times.
Yet, was this fair to Cort?
Grey wasn’t entirely sure how Cort felt. His emotions didn’t come through as clearly as everyone else’s, which was strange all on its own. Grey could get hints of Cort’s emotions when they were particularly strong, like extreme joy, fear, and rage. But for everyday moments, Cort was a blank.
No, that wasn’t accurate. He was like a mentally cool, shady spot when the rest of the world was sun-scorched earth. When Cort was near, he didn’t feel overwhelmed. He never needed a break from Cort like he did the rest of his family. But Grey couldn’t figure out if that was who Cort was, thanks to all of his training, or if there was another reason.
Even if he couldn’t read Cort’s emotions, he didn’t think this was just a hookup for him. Cort didn’t seem the type to fall into bed with random guys.
Could Grey risk building a relationship with Cort when he was supposed to be finding his soul mate? Not that Cort couldn’t be his soul mate. The only problem was that he’d never be completely sure. He couldn’t see the damn red ribbon that was supposed to link them.
And now that the stupid thought was in his head, he wanted it to be true. He wanted Cort to be his mate. He wanted to link them together for the rest of their lives, so he could protect Cort and they could share their lives with each other.
The question he should be asking himself was not whether Cort was his soul mate, but whether he was acting in the best interests of the man in his arms? Or was he only doing what he wanted?
He had a pretty good guess at the answer, and still the arm he had wrapped around Cort’s waist tightened.
Thankfully there was a knock on his door to distract him from his thoughts. From the bedroom, he could clearly hear the doorknob rattle softly before it turned and the door opened. Baer’s deep voice drifted through the apartment.
“Hey, Grey. You around?”
Grey bit back a sarcastic retort as he attempted to carefully slide out from under Cort, leaving the man to sleep for a little while.
Cort hummed a little and he mumbled, “I’m awake.”
“Rest. You’ve had a busy morning. I need to go meet with the others.” He wanted to bend down and press a sweet kiss to Cort’s lips, but he could hear the man starting to move around on the bed. He was likely going to miss, or worse, break one of their noses.
“Nope, I’m awake now.” The bed shifted again, and Grey could no longer feel Cort’s warm skin against his own. Cool air swept between them, and Grey nearly reached out to bring him close again. “Be right there, Baer!” Cort called out.
There was a low rumble of laughter that Grey didn’t want to think too much about before Baer replied, “Take your time. We’re meeting in the family room to talk about the attack and make some plans.”
“Thanks. Be there in a few,” Grey said. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and listened to the sounds of Baer leaving.
“Are you okay?” Cort asked, breaking the silence.
Grey grunted and gave a little nod. He started to push to his feet, but Cort caught his shoulder and pulled him down. “I know you’ve got a lot going on, but is this about what happened? I mean, between us.”
There was a little hesitance and nervousness in his voice that made Grey want to smile. It was evil that he felt better over the fact that Cort wasn’t perfectly pulled together when it came to what was happening between them. He hated being the only one caught off-balance.
Turning his head toward Cort, Grey shut his eyes and murmured, “Kiss me.”
The bed shifted as Cort moved closer. A second later, warm full lips pressed against his. The kiss was gentle, reassuring, and chaste. Grey pushed, sliding his tongue along Cort’s bottom lip before moving inside. He kept the kiss sweet, but it also opened up his access to Cort’s emotions, which was more than a little interesting. He tucked that information away for later while concentrating on what he could feel. The fear and worry were still there, but low level. And they were wrapped in the best wave of happiness. Cort was happy to be with Grey, happy to be kissing him. Just happy.
