Page 6
He heard water running and leaned against the wall in the masculine bedroom that Kari had decorated himself a decade ago when he’d gone through a phase of wanting everything in navy blue. The bedding matched the walls but the ceiling was white, which stopped the room from feeling like a dark box. The furniture was like Kodi’s, a queen-sized bed and gray oak furniture to match the bed frame. The lamps at the side of the bed were ones Kodi had bought from an antique shop because the brass bases were twin wolf heads.
When Kari exited the bathroom, Kodi was lounging against the wall, arms folded. One look at his brother’s pinched expression had Kodi heading for the door, feeling even more out of sorts. “You can drive.”
“Don’t I always!” Kari muttered, and Kodi heard him follow.
After a quick goodbye to their parents, Kari walked more sedately to his car. The second Kodi was strapped in, Kari drove off. Out of the driveway and on their way, Kari glanced at Kodi briefly and asked, “So, are you gonna tell me what’s up?”
Such a loaded question, and he had no damn idea where to start. “Lennon spanked my ass,” he blurted out, as was his tendency to do when stressed.
The car weaved for a second, and Kari cursed, correcting their position before they hit the oncoming vehicle who blasted their horn.
“Don’t say another word! Christ, you trying to get us killed?” The following chuckle helped release a little of the tension riding through Kodi.
“You asked,” he fired back, his lips twitching when Kari raised a brow, giving him a quick, ironic head shake.
“That was not what I was expecting.”
He drove slower down the familiar streets to a regular haunt they’d discovered on returning home. Ren’s did great burgers, and they had booths that were relatively private, for conversations like the one he was about to have.
Minutes later, sitting in the far corner of the restaurant in a side booth that overlooked the bar, away from the large screen playing ice hockey, they ordered their food via the QR code for speed and to avoid multiple interruptions.
By agreement, they didn’t talk about anything personal while they waited for their food and drinks. After the server left, Kari picked up his burger and eyed Kodi. “Let’s have it. Why did Lennon spank you? And just to say, I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.”
Kari bit into his burger, groaning, and Kodi picked up his beer and drank half the glass. He needed some Dutch courage for this.
Holding the glass, he stared down at the golden liquid, feeling a buzz from the liquor. “Wasn’t sure I ever wanted it to come out of my mouth…”
“But?” Kari pushed when Kodi didn’t know how to continue, wiping his lips with the serviette and forcing Kodi to face what he’d refused to acknowledge. Seeing his brothers falling for the PAs was so damn… samey!
“I’m attracted to Lennon.” It was part of it, just not all of it. Fuck, not by a long shot. Kodi could still recall how hard he’d gotten from the feel of being manhandled over the bed and the weight of Lennon sitting on his thighs, his hand pressed against Kodi’s damp skin and the heat from his touch.
Fuck, the guy was tiny next to him, yet he’d managed it so easily, and it had done something to Kodi’s brain because the damn thing had switched off. The same as flicking off a light switch, it turned all the manic thoughts off. The drugs had never done that.
Kari placed his burger down and reached for his non-alcoholic beer and took a sip. “You say it like you would if you had a contagious disease. Lennon is a gorgeous guy. He’s intelligent and funny—“
Kodi bristled. “I know those things,” he muttered defensively, “but why are you noticing? You and Bowie—“
“Let’s leave Bowie out of this if you want my help.” There it was, the reason Kari was acting different, the sharp tone telling Kodi he’d crossed a line. Kodi was sorry for the things he’d said about Bowie when they were first allocated their own PAs in the beginning of the changeover from Popi and Dad to them. His brain didn’t always engage at the same time as his mouth.
“I’m sorry.” He said it with sincerity, knowing he didn’t need to explain to Kari what he was apologizing for.
“I know, and it’s why I don’t take offense, but Bowie is soft-hearted and feels things differently, like you. The difference is his nature is that of innocence, whereas yours is of chaos.”
“Hey,” he muttered grumpily, “I’m not that bad.”
Kari brows winged up and he burst out laughing. “You do recall that fire, the one that burned down half the trees in the garden? Or when you drank a bottle of fire sauce because you thought the company was all hype.” Kari’s laughter was getting louder. “What about that time you went double dating with Rue—“
“Enough said about that.” Kodi shuddered, recalling how long his hair took to grow back after that disaster of a date. Trying to impress the boy—whom he couldn’t even remember the name of—he’d booked a Japanese restaurant where they flambéed not only the food, but Kodi’s eyebrows and eyelashes because he was not paying attention. His brain had been too wired on what would come later.
“Alright, laugh it up! Anyway, we were talking about Lennon!” He reached for his own mega burger and took a bite, enjoying the burst of chili heat before saying, around the mouthful of food, “He… manhandled me, pulled up the towel I was wearing and spanked my ass before we left the ranch.”
He didn’t bring up the once it had happened in the office because that time Lennon had been furious with him, and for good reason. Kodi had been having a particularly bad day. Lennon had not touched his bare butt, more swatted at his ass as he’d passed to get past Kodi to leave.
“I got hard.” He couldn’t quite meet Kari’s eyes as he mumbled it.
Kari placed his burger down and ran a hand through his hair, the other lifting to call for the server. “I’ll take a jug of the house special,” he ordered, his gaze fixed on Kodi. “Want another?”
“Yep, same, please.” Kodi waited until the young girl had left before leaning forward. “You got nothing to say? I know you like a different lifestyle, it’s just never been on my radar.” Kodi shrugged jerkily, heat radiating off his cheeks as Kari’s half-eaten burger remained untouched as he scratched at his jaw.
