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“How are you doing?” Perry asked.
I quirked an eyebrow at him. I lived in the same house as him. He knew damn well how I was. “Is that a trick question?”
“You didn’t come home the past two nights.”
“I’m surprised you noticed.” I didn’t say it bitterly, more factually. Perry, Peyton, and Dominic spent their time holed up in my brother’s room getting off. Sometimes loudly. I’d stayed at Perry’s penthouse where I had a room, knowing the three of them would be at the fortress.
“It’s Dom’s birthday,” Peyton said from where he leaned against the doorway, half of his attention in here, half in the hallway. Always looking. Always protecting. There was no danger here. The need to guard Perry was so ingrained in him, he couldn’t easily stop unless they were at home or the penthouse.
“Is he turning twenty-one?” I asked. “Are we taking him out for his first legal night of drinking?” I knew damn well how old Dominic was, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get a rise out of my brother. Dominic was thirteen years younger than him.
Perry rolled his eyes. “Dex is throwing a party for him tonight at the club. We want you to come.” I wasn’t surprised. Dexen took care of his dancers. I’d been there on numerous occasions when they celebrated one of the dancer’s birthdays.
“I’ll wish him a happy birthday when you get home.” I didn’t want to go to Untouchable. I didn’t want to feel the sting of rejection that hit me when I showed up there. I was already strung too tight. One wrong move and I’d snap.
JJ stopped just outside my door. We had a meeting in a few minutes I wasn’t prepared for. My mind wasn’t on work today. I gave him a quick once-over. He looked good in a suit, but I liked him better in his grease-streaked jeans, Doc Martens, and leather jacket. This suited up version of JJ didn’t do as much for me. Except where the sleeves of his white button-down were rolled up and his corded, tattooed arms were visible.
I shook the thought away. I couldn’t lust after Perry’s cousin. I was a train wreck lately. Besides, JJ never showed interest in me.
Perry followed my line of sight. “JJ, what are you doing tonight?”
“Sitting on my couch and drinking a beer, why?”
“Come out with us. It’s Dom’s birthday and we’re celebrating.”
“Where?”
“Untouchable.”
It was so small, I wondered if anyone else noticed. JJ’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly. “Hard pass.” We were all aware of a history between him and Dexen. Peyton and Dominic had discussed it one night at the dinner table.
We’d heard JJ and Dexen talk that night at JJ’s shop when Dominic was held against his will, and we’d neutralized the situation. What JJ and Dexen’s past was, we didn’t know all the details of, though Peyton and Dominic liked to speculate.
“You don’t have to talk to Dex,” Perry supplied.
“I haven’t stepped foot in that club in years. I’m not about to do so now, even for Dom. You going?” he asked me.
“If I am, it’s not by choice. I have about as much desire to see Dex as you do.” Though for very different reasons. I didn’t think JJ still harbored love for Dexen, but there was something between them.
“You can come drink with me on my couch. Val is making spaghetti for dinner.”
“He cooks?” Perry asked.
“He’s not a hidden talent or anything but he does it better than me, so I don’t complain.”
The urge to hang out with JJ outside of work was strong. I was a glutton for punishment. I knew I’d end up at Untouchable tonight. Peyton and Perry would drag me there. I wouldn’t be able to keep my eyes off Dexen. If I was a more aggressive man, I’d pin his ass to a wall and make him tell me what his issue was. I was desperate for him. If all he could give me was sex, I’d take it. Pathetic, that was what I was.
I rolled the tennis ball in my hand, wanting to bounce it again. With JJ here I’d refrain. Perry and Peyton were used to my annoying habit. JJ wasn’t.
Perry stood and looked pointedly at me. “We’re going tonight and you’re coming with us.”
I threw the tennis ball at him with no real force. He dodged to the side and my brother caught it. He didn’t send it back, so I opened one of my desk drawers and took another one out, throwing it into the air and catching it.
“Pain in the ass,” Peyton muttered.
JJ stepped inside after they left, closing the door behind him, and took a seat in the chair Perry had vacated. “You don’t have to go.”
I sighed. JJ didn’t understand the dynamic between Peyton, Perry, and me. We’d experienced a lot of our lives together. They knew if they asked me to go somewhere, I’d go. I wouldn’t always be happy about it, but I’d be there. “I know, but I will.”
