Page 28 of Lifeline

If anyone else had asked, I would have responded with ‘God, please, yes,’ just to lighten things. I, however, could remember the look in Mika’s eyes years ago when he saw a drink in my hand. A mixture of anger and disappointment, but keeping himself in check. Damn it all, I was a grown-ass man, not the partying dipshit of my college years. I had bought it on a trip into town the other day, and if I wanted to have a cocktail without checking in with him or dealing with his judgement, I should be allowed to.

“Maybe,” I said stiffly, giving him a sidelong glance.

“I don’t think that will help,” he told me, and I could smell his criticism.

“Maybe it wouldn’t help you, but I’m doing fine with my one drink,” I told him pointedly.

Reno sighed. “Oh, what did I just get stuck dealing with?”

“Nothing,” I said, but even if I didn’t know me, I wouldn’t have believed me based purely on my tone. “The straight-edge kid just needs to remember I’m a grown-ass man.”

“And I never said otherwise,” Mika said stiffly.

“Not in words,” I said with a shrug, turning my attention back to the screen. “But boy, are you good at letting someone know you’re unhappy with them with just a glance.”

“I don’t know what’s going on here, so I’m not going to take sides, but, uh,” Reno glanced at his brother with an almost apologetic look. “But that last part? That’s definitely you…okay, and he has a point with the straight-edge comment. I never thought about it like that, but…yeah.”

Mika glowered at him. “So much for not taking sides.”

“Oh, I have no idea if you’re judging him for the right reasons or if you are at all, but you are good at it,” Reno said with a chuckle and picked up my bottle, giving it a tilt and meeting my eyes. When I nodded, I smirked as he took a drink of the rum and grunted. “Ugh, warm but, ooh, warm.”

“You’ve made your point,” Mika said to his brother, and Reno glanced back, squinting and tilting his head. I watched as Mika met his eyes with no expression on his face and grunted. Reno smirked, giving the bottle of rum a wiggle, and Mika narrowed his eyes. “Fine.”

“You know, I’ve seen you guys do that before, and it’s as fascinating as it is creepy,” I said as Mika reached out and, to my surprise, tipped some of the liquor into his mouth. In fact, he took a bigger shot than his brother. “Jesus, want something to chase it down with?”

“Please,” Mika said, and I held out the pop for him to drink straight from the bottle. “I am not straight-edge.”

“You might as well be. I could never decide if you hated intoxicants because you despised the idea of losing control, or if there was a drunk or drug abuser in your family…I always guessed it was your mom,” I said, taking the pop back.

Reno blinked. “You told him?”

“No,” Mika said. “Not details.”

“Never details,” I pointed out, smiling sweetly when Mika shot me a sharp look. “What? Just because we’re working on playing nice doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the past.”

“This from the man who hid things and outright lied to me at times.”

“Hiding things out of the shame you helped me to feel over completely normal stuff? Yeah, that was fucked up on my part, but it didn’t come from nowhere.”

“Neither did my feelings on the matter, and yet that didn’t seem to matter in the face of you wanting to have fun.”

“Guys?” Reno piped up, and I ignored him.

“How was I supposed to know your feelings on it?” I wondered. “It’s not like you ever told me anything but the bare minimum.”

“I expressed my dislike of something you were doing, and you did it anyway.”

“True, not that you ever explained or gave context.”

“Hmph, in order to do something that someone you care for asks, context is required?” he asked, and there was no mistaking the unspoken jab hidden in his question.

“Required? No, but it certainly would have helped. Because, believe it or not, people like to know things about their other halves. Hell, they like to know basic information,” I said, glancing over at the nervous Reno with a pointed look. “If you want someone who obeys you without question, get a dog, not a boyfriend.”

Mika’s eyes narrowed, and he looked away with a snort. “Feel better?”

“A little, actually,” I said, surprising myself with a slight laugh. “You?”

“Hmm, I think so,” he said, sounding as surprised as I felt. “Your temper has gotten better, still as sharp-tongued though.”