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“Whose fault is that?” I countered, and then…then I played around with him the same way I would with Corbin, Parker, and Declan. We stayed out there for a while before making our way to the towels again. The afternoon was starting to cool off—well, at least for us. The 60s was basically sweater-weather, so we ended up at my firepit, red and yellow flames dancing in front of us.
Kai said, “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Those are my least favorite kind of questions,” I replied, which made him chuckle.
“That’s not a no, so I’m going to ask anyway. You and Corbin…has there ever been anything there?”
I wasn’t surprised that’s what he wanted to know because a lot of people did and were typically disappointed in my answer. “Nope. Never. I know that’s hard for people to understand. All three of them are my brothers. Is it a little different with Corb? Yes. Maybe it’s because we met first. We were kids, no one knowing all the parts of us when we started talking online. He opened up to me, and…fuck…it felt good to be there for him.” But more than that… “He was the first person I ever felt like they needed me, like I was important to them. He made me feel less alone when I still gave a shit about things like that.”
Kai sucked in a breath, and I realized what I’d said. It was like he had some kind of magic, and I fell under his spell every time. It lured out my secrets, comforted me, and if I let my guard down, I feared there was nothing he couldn’t get me to say. “Do you think he’s in love with you?” Kai asked. “I don’t listen to The Vers often, but I’ve heard stories and seen the way you two are with each other.”
“No. He’s not in love with me either, but he needs me. I don’t know why, but I’m not sure the why of it matters. All three of them will always be a part of my life, but Corbin is my heart, in the most platonic way possible.”
“Damn…I can’t imagine having someone say something like that about me. Hopefully your future boyfriend isn’t the jealous type.”
I almost asked if he was the jealous type, but I bit back the question because it didn’t matter. Kai was temporarily my roommate, and we’d sucked each other off once. That was the extent of it. “I have no plans to have one of those, but if I did, he would have to understand.” Because I could never turn my back on my friends. They were ridiculous and more times than not annoyed the shit out of me, but they were mine.
“I like you, Marcus,” Kai said, making my head whip around so fast, it nearly gave me whiplash. “Don’t lose your shit. Not like that. I’m just saying you’re special, and believe me, I know special because I am too.”
I chuckled, but the thing was, I agreed with Kai—about him, not me. “You hungry?” I asked instead of responding to what he’d said.
“Yep, but you’re not cooking for me. I’m making dinner. We can check on Blue, and I’ll find something to throw together for us. I’m taking care of you for a change.”
There was no stopping Kai when he got something in his head, but still I told him, “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. Or we can cook together.” He jumped up, grabbed my wrist, and tugged me to my feet. “Let’s go.”
“Give me a second. I have to put the fire out.”
“Hurry. I’ll see what we have.”
He left, and damned if he wasn’t shaking his ass on purpose. I smiled because it was such a Kai thing to do.
I extinguished the fire, then used the outdoor shower to rinse off, tugging my trunks off too and hanging them before wrapping a towel around my waist.
Kai was in the kitchen, wearing a T-shirt and a pair of underwear. Heat rushed to my groin because damn, he had a fine ass. I wanted inside it.
“Are you naked under there?”
I didn’t consider telling him no, or that it didn’t matter. There were no jokes on my tongue or the urge to tell him to be good while I went and got dressed. The truth was, I didn’t want to be good…or under control. Maybe it was just how much I enjoyed today, but I was tired of being so measured, of denying myself what I wanted—him. “Come over and find out.”
His pupils flared, and a smile tugged at his lips. Kai closed the fridge and came over, stopping when our toes were touching. The scent of soap tickled my nose, so he must have taken a quick shower before I came in. “I’m not so hungry for food anymore.”
