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“Okay,” Avery replied. He leaned back against the sink’s counter. “I’m sorry he said that to you. It wasn’t right. You’ve been as good as a father to him and Auggie these past few years.”
Gray smirked. “Years ago, him saying that would’ve been like a knife to the chest. Now? It’s more a bee sting. He and I are a lot closer. I recognize that he’s scared right now. Underneath that snarl is a loving heart. I’ve seen it plenty of times. It helps in moments like this.”
“At least he’s not as bad as he used to be.”
“No, now Auggie’s getting older and filling his shoes. What is it about your brothers? You were never like this when you were a teenager.”
“Yeah, but I had our parents for most of my teens,” Avery replied. “They didn’t.”
Gray’s smile faded some.
“Not that you haven’t been wonderful to them. We all love you very much.”
“I understand that… but I also realize I’m not Papa or Daddy. They miss them. I do, too.”
Avery smiled wistfully. “Same.”
Silence hung between them, along with a lingering hint of grief.
In an attempt to change the tone, Avery asked, “Is it possible to skip the shitty teen years with kids? You might want to look into that for yours.”
“If only,” Gray said with a smile. That smile faded. “So… which one of us is going to have the talk with him?”
That talk was something Avery had been dreading for years. He did not want to explain to his seventeen-year-old brother how to sate himself during a heat. He was fairly sure the boy knew how to masturbate. “Maybe you should?” Avery suggested. “I mean… you need the practice for your own brood. Right?”
“You suck,” Gray whispered. “And you owe me one. Abigone.”
“I owe you a big one. Just not Auggie’s heat,please.”
“Oh, you’re doing that one.Trust me.”
Avery hung outside his brother’s bedroom door, listening to the calm instructions his uncle gave Lake for enduring his first heat. It sounded so much like what his own papa had said to him. Pain lanced his chest at the memory, and the need for his parents to be there nearly took his breath away.
“Well,thatwas traumatizing,” Gray whispered once on the outside of the shut bedroom door.
“You did a spectacular job.”
Gray held his stare. “Didn’t seem like it.”
“You sounded like papa.”
Gray caressed Avery’s cheek. “Thank you.” He dropped his hand, smiling. “Do you have enough of your pills for him to make it to tomorrow?”
“I do. I need a refill soon, but I’ve got enough to take care of him tonight.”
“Good.” Gray sighed, clearly exhausted. “I’ll come over in the morning to stay with him. You can go to work.”
“You have enough on your hands… I’ll call in sick.”
Gray eyed Avery, suspicion in his expression. “You left work early, and you don’t want to go in tomorrow. What happened?”
Wilder happened.
Warmth flooded his body, his whole system in chaos. After the misbegotten lunch date they’d shared, Avery wasn’t in a rush to return to work.
“Nothing.”
Gray searched his face, still clearly skeptical. “I understand you’re searching for theft up on the top floor. They need you.” Gray chuckled. “The manny can keep my kiddos. Consider it a break for me. I could use it.”
