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“I love you too.”
We sat there for a while, eventually ending up with Corbin’s head in my lap and my feet resting on the coffee table. I ran my fingers through his dark hair while we pretended to watch a show neither of us gave a shit about, and it wasn’t long before Corbin fell asleep.
It was late when I heard the door open. I turned my head and pressed a finger to my lips, then pointed down. Kai frowned but was quiet as he came closer, peeking over the couch to see Corbin.
It took a moment for everything to register and for me to wonder if this was something I shouldn’t do anymore. Corbin was my person, but Kai was…Kai was my person in a different way. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I couldn’t not be who Corbin needed from me either.
“It’s not,” I said softly. Fuck, I’d never explained myself to a man, but I needed to with Kai. “We’re not… He was having a hard night.”
I could see the wheels turning in his head, as if at first he wasn’t sure what I was saying, but then he smiled. He kissed my cheek, then knelt behind the couch, mouth close to my ear. “Baby…this right here, what you’re doing with Corbin, is one of my favorite things about you. I would never ask you to change. You’re not Marcus if you’re not the best friend in the world to those you love. It just makes me like you more.”
My heart thumped against my chest. Blood rushed through my ears to the point where everything in the background sounded muffled.
That was perfect. He was fucking everything I hadn’t known I wanted or needed.
Holy fuck, I was in love with Kai, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kai
I felt Marcus get out of bed the next morning. Usually, I ignored that shit, but something made me get up today. He was quiet when he went into the bathroom, trying not to disturb me. I pulled on a pair of pajama pants and made my way downstairs, wondering if Corbin was up. I figured he had to go to work too.
Marcus had gently sneaked out from beneath him last night and had brought him a blanket. When I asked why he didn’t wake him up to go to the spare room, he said he worried Corbin would make him give him his phone back and leave. If Marcus kept it, Corbin wouldn’t go without it. I didn’t know what that was about, but I trusted that if Marcus had it, he had a good reason.
When I got downstairs, Corbin was sitting on the couch. He looked up at me with sleep-ruffled hair. “I’m going to kick your boyfriend’s ass. He stole my cell.”
“I heard. He’s in the shower. You can try to beat him up when he gets out. Until then, want some breakfast?” I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to wake up. Getting up early sucked.
Corbin frowned. “You don’t have to cook breakfast for me.”
“I know, but I’m a nice guy who likes to show off his mad kitchen skills,” I teased. Corbin surprised me by following me over.
“Listen…” He sat on a barstool. “I, um…hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable last night. With Marcus. He’s my family. That’s all it is.”
Okay, well, that was maybe one of the sweetest things I ever heard. Corbin didn’t have to say anything like that to me, but I appreciated the thought. “Marcus isn’t mine. We’re just…” I let the sentence hang in the air because I wasn’t sure how to finish it.
He laughed to the point that I picked up an apple from the basket on the counter and threw it at him. Corbin caught it and took a bite.
“What’s so funny?”
“You…saying Marcus isn’t yours. If you believe that, you don’t know him.”
I ignored what he was saying—no way it was true—and got eggs out of the fridge. “I’ll make some eggs with veggies and oatmeal. It’s gross, but Marcus likes oatmeal a ton.”
“He’s never been like this with anyone before. I just… Don’t hurt him, Kai. He would never let you know if you did, but he’d feel it deeper than you can imagine.”
I paused, halfway to the counter, eggs in my hands and my feet suddenly rooted to the floor. How did he think I could hurt Marcus? Yeah, he’d said he liked me, but I couldn’t imagine it being that much.
“Are you drunk?” I tried to play it off like that was the excuse for what he’d said.
“Wow. Stealing a page out of my book now, are we?”
“Hey, I cover emotions with sarcasm and jokes too. You don’t own that.”
Corbin and I both chuckled, but then he sobered. “Don’t let him run away. Don’t let him pretend this doesn’t matter to him. There’s no one who deserves to be fought for more than Marcus because he would go to the ends of the earth for the people he loves.”
