Assa collapsed onto the couch. “Probably decompressing, taking a few minutes now that he’s home. It’s been a bit of a dumpster fire in his department lately. These late-night emergency meetings are killing him.”
“That sucks.”
“It does.” Assa stretched his arm out and tugged Zinn down next to him. “Hey, tell me how Ked’s doing. Bruises go away yet?”
“Sort of. They’re in that gross yellow-green phase now. Meaning his face just looks super dirty.”
“That’s fun—”
“Shit!” Wes exclaimed from the kitchen.
Assa sat up straight. “I’ll go see what’s up.”
Zinn put a hand on his thigh. “No. You promised to read to Ryde. Let me.”
In the kitchen, Zinn found Wes running his palm under cool water in the sink.
“I spilled the kettle water on myself making tea,” he explained gruffly. He turned the sink off and dried his hand with a paper towel.
“Let me see.”
Before Wes could stop him, Zinn grabbed his palm and turned it up to inspect the damage. The skin was red and puffy, but there was no blood or blistering he could see. “It’s probably going to hurt tomorrow, but I think you’ll be okay.”
Wes snatched his hand back. “I’m fine.”
Zinn flinched.
“Sorry,” Wes said. “Rough day.”
“I gathered.” Zinn leaned against the counter. “I saw you when you came in earlier. You looked upset.”
“Nah. Just work stuff.”
“You could have come into the den with us.”
Reaching into the cabinet above the microwave, Wes pulled out a first-aid kit, rummaging around until he found a bandage. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Disturb us?” Zinn raised an eyebrow. “In your own house?”
Wes began wrapping his hand. “No chance you’ll let this go?”
“Highly unlikely.”
Wes sighed. “I guess I just didn’t want to barge in on you and Assa. You and he have yourthing, and I don’t want to interfere with that.”
Zinn pushed away from the counter and gently took Wes’s injured hand. “Let me do this.” Slowly, he unwound the too-loose bandage. Pinching the edge against Wes’s wrist, he looped it around his palm, asking softly, “What do you meaninterfere?”
Wes’s pulse jumped beneath Zinn’s thumb. “You know,” he mumbled. “How you two are so close. Best friends.”
“You and I are friends too.”
“Yes. But it’s not the same.”
Zinn considered Wes’s words. His first instinct was to dismiss them, but he couldn’t. Ever since the day he’d met Assa, they’d had a special connection. Assa understood him on a level no one else could. Added to that, Zinn was in love with Calder and deeply intertwined with Valentin. He could see how Wes might feel like he and Zinn shared a lesser bond.
But that couldn’t stand. This was the man who fought for Ryde, who had been such an amazing professor to Asher that his brother decided he should raise Zeller’s son.
“Wes, I’ll concede that I’ve spent less time with you than I have with Assa, and of course our alphas.” Wes’s head snapped up at the way he’d phrased it.Our alphas. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t share your day with me. Or that we’re less connected.” Raising Wes’s hand to his lips, Zinn kissed the bandaged palm. “We’re just getting started.”
