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A few months later…
The sun hadlong set when Wilder Jaymes knocked on the front door to his brother and brother-in-law’s house, three pizza boxes in his clutches. Above, the sky was as dark as his thoughts, clouds obscuring the moon and stars—and chilling the autumn evening even more. The door swung open, and Rohan eyed him with a grin. “You made it. I was having my doubts.”
On his way inside, Wilder passed his best friend and brother-in-law, and spun once inside the warmth of the house. “I was having my doubts you’d actually open the door. It’s freezing out there.”
He placed the pizza boxes in Rohan’s outstretched hands before removing his overcoat.
“We were upstairs—” Rohan started.
Wilder hung his outerwear on a hook near the door before eyeing his friend. “Ido notwant to know what you were doing with my brother.”
Rohan’s smiled ebbed. “No worries on that account.”
“You don’t have to lie to me, either,” Wilder replied with a chuckle. His brother and Rohan were very much in love. Sickeningly so.
Wilder noticed what appeared to be pain in Rohan’s expression. The long months of his brother’s illness had apparently worn on both Jamie and the alpha.Of course they haven’t… his mind trailed off. He couldn’t imagine his brother being intimate with anyone. He actively avoided it. The lack of that intimacy over the course of the illness hadn’t even been a consideration—but of course they hadn’t been together. Likely for some time. “Sorry… I spoke without thinking.”
“Forget it,” Rohan replied before plastering what appeared to be a fabricated smile on his face. “We’renotdiscussing that.”
He felt terrible. They were the best of friends, yet here Rohan was… struggling… and, in some small ways, Wilder couldn’t be a shoulder to lean on. Not without things getting weird. “Well… Jamiehasbeen sick.” Wilder lifted a hand before he saw the cringe deepen any further on Rohan’s face. “Consider it forgotten.”
Rohan nodded, a wry smile on his lips. “Hopefully, things will get back to normal one day soon.”
Jamie’s chemo had ended. Soon, they would hopefully receive good news.
“Is that my Wilder, I hear?” came a call from the top of the stairs.
Wilder swung his head and focused on his older brother. He grinned as Jamie slowly descended the stairs. Jamie had a quiet grace that reminded him of their papa. His brother was a darker-haired version of Wynter Jaymes. Fortunately, that appearance was where their similarities ended.
Though the cancer hadn’t been kind to his brother’s appearance. Jamie was gaunt after weeks upon weeks of chemotherapy.
There was still a fire within Jamie that refused to be quelled. Once he reached the bottom tread, he stopped. A smile sparkled in his eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t forget my pineapple and sausage pizza?”
He urged Rohan to flip open the top box. Once done, he showed it off to Jamie. “As promised, I have brought youthe abomination.”
Jamie smacked the lid closed before turning his attention to Rohan. “Can you take those to the kitchen, dear? I need to hug my little brother.”
“Of course, my love,” Rohan murmured before offering a bow and striding toward the kitchen.
“Come here,” Jamie demanded with a sly grin.
Wilder didn’t hesitate. He scooped his tiny omega brother in his arms and squeezed tight. Not as tight as he used to, but he gave it a decent enough effort.
“I’m not gonna break, ya know,” Jamie announced, leaning back.
Wilder wasn’t sure about that. After the battle, his brother was thinner and much more delicate looking. But then, Jamie was also battle hardened, he supposed.
Jamie threaded an arm through Wilder’s. “How’s work?”
Wilder led Jamie through the enormous house toward the kitchen. Their footfalls echoed through the mostly darkened house. It was only Rohan and Jamie living there. The pair had planned to fill it with children, but sadly, Jamie hadn’t been able to conceive. Years later, they’d learned of his uterine cancer and the slim chances Jamie had clutched were lost.
If anyone in the world would’ve made a good papa, it had been his brother. Jamie had practically raised him. Their own self-absorbed parents couldn’t have been bothered. Papa was more interested in shopping, status, and money. Father devoted himself to his career in order to give Papa all of those things.
“Work… is work,” Wilder answered.
“Deflecting?” Jamie asked.
Wilder and their father had gotten into a shouting match before he’d left the office the day before. He’d spent his Saturday playing catch up on several projects, but he’d brooded over that argument. “Father’s being father. He gave me a promotion, saying I was more than ready for it. Yet everything I try to accomplish, he either second-guesses, dooms to fail, or undermines me in some other way. There’s no winning.”
