I blew out a long breath and tried to dial things down a notch. “I guess you’ve met Lee. We, uh, weren’t expecting anyone home.”
Cash’s brow furrowed, and I saw the second he figured it out. Cash was quiet, but he wasn’t stupid. He nudged me with his elbow and mouthed,Jizz Guy?
“We’re not calling him that,” I said. I glared at Lee, who was still holding his cheek and hovering near the door like he was either going to make a run for it or call 911. “Andyou. You can’t just sneak up on people, asshole.” I knew it was unfair of me to give him shit when he’d clearly been punched in the face, but he’d upset Cash, and that was always gonna bring out my protective side.
Lee’s eyebrows rose into his hairline. “I thought he wasyou!”
“He grabbed me, so I punched him,” Cash whispered. Which was about what I’d figured, and I could tell he felt bad about it.
I hugged him closer. “I know. It was an accident. He thought you were me.”
“I’m so—fuck. I don’t know what happened,” Lee said, his cheeks red with—anger? Embarrassment? Who could tell? “I didn’t know anyone else was here. You never said you had a brother.”
Cash nodded against my shoulder and mumbled, “It’s okay.”
“He said it’s okay,” I said.
Lee tilted his head at that, but then he gave a sharp nod, which was a relief. I wasn’t in the mood to explain about Cash not talking to strangers right now. He could figure it out for himself. Plus if Lee was gonna be a dick about it, I was pretty sure I’d have to dump him.
Then Cash lifted his head and peeked at Lee and said in my ear, “Jizz Guy’s hot.”
That was a weird thing for Cash to say, but I said, “I know.”
Cash gave a cautious grin and whispered, “Too hot for you.”
“Fuck off,” I grumbled.
Cash let out a snort that was almost a laugh, and the mess of tension in my gut eased. I already knew Cash was gonna give me shit about this for days—weeks probably. But I could deal with him laughing at me if it meant he wasn’t freaking out about punching someone.
I’d still probably fuck things up with Lee, though. No way would he want to be involved with me and my bullshit now. He probably couldn’t wait to get out of here, and who could blame him?
Except when I turned to face Lee, one arm still draped around Cash’s shoulder, he leaned back against the kitchen counter and said, “You gonna introduce me?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out if he was yanking my chain, but he just stood there leaning back against the counter, so maybe he was serious. “So, this is Cash. We’re twins.”
“No shit,” Lee said, looking between us. “Which one is the evil one?”
Cash nudged me and gave me a wobbly grin.
“Fuck you,” I said. “I’m the good-looking one.”
Lee looked between us and said, “So Cash must be the smart one.”
Cash raised an eyebrow, but the ghost of a smile appeared.
“Yeah,” I said. “He is.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lee said and held out a hand.
Cash stared at it, brow furrowed, before reaching out to shake Lee’s hand briefly. He didn’t speak, and I hoped Lee wasn’t gonna be weird about it. But he just ran a hand over the back of his neck and said, “So, I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
He rubbed his neck again and glanced at Cash. “Sorry again.”
Cash shrugged.
Lee only made it a step through the kitchen door before he was back again. He lifted his chin and said, “And did you still wanna hang out sometime?”
