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Nathan laughed and I felt it ripple through my entire body, easing the sting that had accompanied the brief memory of my brother.
“Oh, wow,” he said.
“Yeah…I got him back, though.”
“How?”
“I snuck into his bed every night for three months. I even accidentally wet it once or twice when that fucking rabbit of his would move around in its cage.”
“No you didn’t,” Nathan scoffed.
I held my hand up again in silent deference to my time in the Boy Scouts.
The sight of Nathan’s lingering smile did something to me I didn’t want to think too hard about, and I reached for my drink to swallow the rest down in a healthy gulp. The burn in my belly had nothing on how hot I felt all over as I watched Nathan resume his meal.
“Better?” I asked.
“It’s no crying like a baby in the shower, but I’ll take it,” he said.
I chuckled at that and watched him eat the rest of his food. When he was done, he pushed the plate away. “There’s more in the fridge,” I said.
“No, thank you,” he responded. “That’s more than I’ve eaten in a while. It was delicious.”
He could use a lot more meals like that, but I kept that thought to myself.
“So, what’s the plan?” he asked.
It was a question I’d been waiting for, but I was reluctant to answer. Maybe because I knew what would happen as soon as I did. Whatever these few minutes had been between us would be gone. It shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did.
“I try to figure out who wants you dead, I find them, take them out, you keep breathing,” I said simply.
“That easy, huh?” he said doubtfully.
“Never said it would be easy. I just told you what’s going to happen.”
“And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” he asked.
“Whatever I tell you.”
Predictably, the answer had all the tension leeching back into his system.
“So, I just put my life on hold? Give up everything I worked for?”
“Would that be so bad?” I asked. “After all, one less politician-”
“Fuck you, Vincent,” he snapped. “You have no idea how hard I’ve worked-”
“I don’t care,” I cut in. “Spare me your speeches about how you just want to make this world a better place. You want your brother’s forgiveness for whatever you did to him, be a fucking man and ask him for it! While you still have the chance.”
The last words left my mouth before I could call them back, and I quickly reached across the table to snatch Nathan’s plate just so I’d have something to keep my hands busy.
“What does that mean?” Nathan asked, and I wasn’t surprised when he followed me to the sink where I began rinsing the plate.
“Nothing,” I bit out.
Nathan’s voice quieted as he said, “You don’t know a thing about me.”
I laughed at that as I quickly put the plate and silverware into the dishwasher and then wiped my hands on a dishtowel. “You’re such a fucking cliché, Nathan. And the fact that you’re working so hard to prove to yourself you’re doing all this just for Brody and other people like him makes the whole thing that much more pathetic.”
“What thing?”
“Nothing, never mind,” I said as I turned away from him, since I had no desire to get into this with him.
Not surprisingly, Nathan forgot all my previous warnings about not touching me and grabbed my arm. I spun him until his back hit the fridge.
“I told you-”
“Tell me what you’re talking about!” he interrupted. His voice had jumped several octaves and I actually felt sorry for him. God, how far in the fucking closet was he really?
“This,” I said as I pressed my lower body against his and felt his hardness graze mine.
Nathan gasped and then struggled to get away from me. I used my heavier weight to keep him pressed up against the refrigerator. Our bodies were flush and he was breathing hard.
So was I, for that matter. What had started off as a lesson in reality was quickly turning into something else.
“You’re wrong,” he whispered. “I’m not…I’m not…”
“Can’t even say it,” I murmured as I shook my head. The fact that he was blatantly lying to me and himself had me moving his arms above his head so I could pin his wrists to the refrigerator with just one hand. I slid my free hand down his body and felt a violent shudder wrack his entire body, even as he tried to seek out more of my touch.
“So this,” – I slid my hand over his groin and squeezed his erection – “doesn’t mean anything to you?” I asked. My lips were just inches from his.
He didn’t say anything, and I felt a moment of guilt when his eyes slid shut, and not from pleasure. I removed my hand and lifted it so I could clasp the side of his face. “Open your eyes,” I commanded.
