Page 36 of Laken's longing

“He’s my brother,not my boyfriend.” He sailed past Laken to his desk. “And tomorrow works.”

As he bent to retrieve his crumpled looking clothes, he heard the lock snick and the door open. The sound of voices had him stay low, not wanting to be caught bare assed until the door clicked shut.

Isley sagged against the desk and groaned aloud. Left with his own thoughts, he couldn’t decide whether Laken coming to his apartment was his best idea. Last time it hadn’t taken much to lose control, and now there was no buffer. Isley wasn’t sure if he could keep his hands to himself. He heaved a sigh at the realization his animal side wasn’t the only one with little control. “What have I done?”

Once dressed, finding no answer, he was sitting in his seat, flipping through emails when Laken returned carrying two coffees in a holder and a paper sack tucked under one arm. The scent of sweet pastries made him groan as he noticed the label on the paper. “You went to the bakery?”

His voice was more squeak, which embarrassed him enough to cause his cheeks to heat. Laken shrugged and placed what he held in the middle of the desk so Isley could easily reach.

“We need to eat, and we missed lunch.” A quivering note to his voice had Isley stop mid reach to watch Laken root in the paper sack and pull out some paper serviettes and lay them down, then place an almond sweet pastry on top of it. They were Isley’s favorite.

He struggled to swallow past the lump of emotion growing in his throat at the sweet action. Isley couldn’t remember anyone he’d dated recalling what he liked and then buying it for him without being asked.

Told you he wasn’t going to sack you.

Be quiet.

The rest of the day was meeting after meeting. Isley was exhausted after his lack of sleep and how full-on things were. He got back to his office after six to find Wilder lounging in the seat in front of his desk.

“Hey,” he said, glancing up from his phone, “I thought you’d gotten lost.”

“Nope, I’ve been playing catch up after Laken took yesterday off.” He grabbed his laptop bag thinking about the fifty or so unopened emails that needed addressing. He would sort them at home, once he’d eaten. He’d had nothing else except the pastry, and that was hours ago. His stomach gurgled loudly as if in agreement.

“What were you after?”

Wilder slid off the seat in a way that made him look as if he was performing some dance routine. He was hypnotic to watch, and he didn’t even try. He wore a cheeky grin permanently, though it was missing right now. He had cut off his dark curls last year and now wore his hair short to his head, which required littleeffort, or so he said. Today he wore black fitted trousers and an elaborate pink shirt with flowers around the inside of the collar and cuffs. It was over the top, and totally Wilder, who carried it off with panache, whereas Isley would just look silly. Mahogany brown eyes revealed Wilder’s concern, and Isley frowned.

“To see if you wanted to go out for a drink. From the sounds of your stomach, I’d say food was more important. Did Laken make you work through lunch again? That man is a machine, and he should remember we don’t get paid for that!”

Isley eyed Wilder and gave in to the need to talk to someone about the situation he found himself in. “I missed lunch because of a… situation.” He carried his laptop bag and slipped an arm through Wilder’s. “Wanna hear about it?”

“Oh, now this sounds intriguing, and as I’ve absolutely no social life you can tell me all about it over dinner, my shout.”

“You’re on.”

Twenty minutes later, sitting in a booth in Ren’s burger joint, their orders taken and their drinks sat in front of them, Wilder motioned to Isley. “Spill.”

Isley took a drink of his soda. “It all started at the ranch.” Wilder went to say something, and Isley shook his head, stopping him. “Just let me get it out.” At Wilder’s nod of agreement, Isley took a deep breath.

“Laken is one of the most hard-working men I know, and that includes his dad who is a machine. I get it, and I do everything I can to make his life easier. Except he…” Isley ran his fingers over the chilled, damp glass.

“He…” He wasn’t sure how to put it.

“Acts like you don’t exist. Like you’re not even in the room, even when they are issuing orders. Maddening, isn’t it?” There was a sadness about him, and Isley knew why. Wilder was in love with Jupiter. Stupidly in love with the one man who didn’t want anyone. Wilder had confided in Isley after the swaphappened between him and Ziggy. He had moved to PA for Silas while Ziggy went to work with Jupiter. It had caused some concern to all of them when Hollis had originally been adamant they weren’t switching up. Then Wilder had fallen in love with Jupiter and Ziggy, who at the time was having issues with Silas, had agreed to switch brothers.

Jupiter was hard to pin down with feelings, but to Isley, Jupiter wasn’t happy with the swap despite Wilder’s messing with Jupiter’s sex life. They’d all laughed at Wilder numbering Jupiter’s conquests instead of using their names when they called.

“Am I right?” he prompted.

“Yes, I suppose. Maybe not to the same extent.” Isley threw up his hands. “I lost my cool at the ranch and during the night I shifted and my animal marked Laken as if he was ours.”

There was a pause as Wilder stared at him like he didn’t know him. His head tipped back, and gales of bright laughter erupted out of his slim body. Several heads turned in their direction, but Wilder didn’t notice as he slapped the table, choking out, “I bet your animal had fun doing that and I can only imagine how fucked Laken is right now, smelling you all the time and not understanding why.”

“He never mentions it,” he whispered, darting a look around to check if one of his brothers had decided to come for dinner. It was close to work and very popular.

Wilder’s laughter died, and he grabbed hold of Isley’s hand holding the glass. “You’re shitting me!”

“Nope. Now things are worse.”