“You’re late,” Magnus says with a grin.
“We were busy fucking like animals,” Coop says, making my cheeks heat.
“Fuck no, we weren’t.”
Magnus’s gaze lands on my neck, and I press my hand over the hickey there.
“He knows,” Coop whispers loudly, and I nudge him with my elbow as he pulls my chair out and I take a seat next to Beau. Coop sits at the end of the table, to my left, his feet linking with mine under the table.
I’m too tired to fight it, to even think of pushing back, so I just let my legs rest against his as I pull the sticky menu off the table.
“What’s good?” I ask, and Magnus continues to stare at me.
“I can’t believe you harassed me for fucking a man and now you have a hickey the size of the moon on your neck from one.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Karma is a bitch, Matt. Just you wait.”
I ignore him, my cheeks burning, and glance at Max, who is grinning goofily at me. My eyes roll as I turn back to the menu and pick out the greasiest thing I can find. Need all of it to sop up the alcohol currently residing in my body. I’m pretty sure I threw up the last of it earlier. But I still feel like shit. This hangover is gonna last me all week.
“What are you getting, Sem?” I hear Magnus ask his husband.
“Banana pancakes with a side of sausage. I do love that.”
“You do,” Magnus replies, and I feel my cheeks burn. But I refuse to comment. I don’t want Sem coming after my nose again. I got it back to normal and I don’t want to fuck around with it again.
And I also don’t want to see that distraught, anguished look on Magnus’s face. That is seared into my brain. I hurt my brother that day and suffered the consequences. I’m just lucky he’s giving me another chance. There’s a long way to go still. I’ll need to grovel for a long-ass time. But for now, I’m gonna start by keeping my mouth shut.
I’m not uttering a word. I’m keeping my thoughts to myself. And honestly, I’m not one to talk. I’m technically married to Coop.
For fuck’s sake.
I have no room to judge, even if this marriage was done under the influence of alcohol. I’m still married to a man.
Does that make me gay?
I’m sure it doesn’t. Plenty of men get married to men and aren’t gay.
The pictures on my phone of us kissing say otherwise though. And the less said about the cum on Coop’s ass the better.
My stomach churns, and I shift in my seat. I’m not wondering how those lips felt on mine. No. Not at all.
“What are you getting, Maggie?” Sem asks, and my brother grins at his husband.
“Oh, strawberry Nutella crepes.”
“Fancy, just like you,” Sem replies, leaning over and kissing him. There’s quite a lot of tongue and a desperate moan from Sem. Don’t need to hear that. Ever. I glance away and stare at the menu just as the waitress comes over. She looks tired, like she’s worked every day of her life. I swear, this is what Coop must have meant. I’m a tired old man. Overworked and underpaid.
“What can I get you dears?”
We rattle off our orders, Coop’s obviously being the most complicated. Who eats egg whites and asks for salt on the side? The woman taking his order looks like her brain’s about to explode.
“Alright, love, sounds good,” she says with a roll of her eyes, and Coop nods, placing his arm on the back of my chair. She wanders off, and Magnus meets my gaze.
“So, Matt, Sem told me what he saw this morning. Care to share?”
I stare at Sem, who just grins at me, looking almost sinister. Karma sure is a bitch.