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Perhaps if Kellen had been there with JJ, or Sean’s brother Micah had joined, they would have given Sean shit for a daddy-dom type finally taking him in hand. But Kellen and his man were snowed in up at the camp in Maine, happy as pigs in shit according to Sean, and Micah’s wife was pregnant, still suffering from morning sickness and miserable. Wild horses wouldn’t have been able to drag him away from her side.
I was fine with Kellen missing the get-together that month. I wasn’t sure how I would handle seeing the man who’d pretended to be me while railing Preston’s ass—that lush, sweet-tasting hole that belonged to me and none other.
Fuck, did I miss him.
Jaw clenching, I shifted from equal amounts of annoyance and arousal, my focus flitting off my kneeling best friend for the TV in front of me.
Zack elbowed me gently. “You okay?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet enough I would answer truthfully if needed amidst the noise of the game on screen and everyone else talking around us.
I shrugged, not really wanting to chat about where my body sat compared to where my heart longed to be.
“Sean still hasn’t replaced you, and while I’m loving the money rolling into my account from the extra bookings,” Zack continued when I didn’t answer right away, “I’m kinda hoping he gets another tall, dark, and handsome on the menu. Know what I mean?”
I huffed a laugh. “Knees starting to hurt, old man?”
“Fuck you.” He snorted and swigged his beer. “I only have a couple of years on you.” Zack straightened and angled to face me fully. “That’s why you quit, isn’t it? Dick couldn’t handle the workouts? Fucking finally became a chore? Blue pills weren’t cutting it for you anymore?”
“Shut the fuck up,” I muttered without a lick of heat in my voice.
All the guys bullshitted and teased more often than not. And while Zack wasn’t usually one to poke fun at people, I was glad to see him opening up. He’d always been on the silent side, away from the group and in his own head.
Zack fucking chuckled, a rare sound. “Spill, man.”
“I’ve actually fallen in love with a guy, and even though I haven’t gotten him into my bed for good, I just can’t imagine touching anyone else.” I shrugged, smiling when Zack’s jaw dropped.
“The fuck?” He stared at me like I’d laid down proof the earth was flat. “You’re the most dedicated single-for-life guy I’ve ever met. Seriously. No one is more dead set against relationships than you.”
“Love works in mysterious ways,” I said, no longer wishing to curse that fuckface Cupid.
I’d spoken to Preston the night before, and he’d told me Jacqueline had apologized for some of the trauma she’d caused him. Talk about having my mind blown. I’d never expected to hear those words, and they’d only doubled my hope that the two of them would find healing enough that Preston would be able to someday tell her his truth too.
But the waiting fucking sucked.
I missed his warmth, the scent of his skin and hair, the sound of his voice. His smile and laughter. The way he melted against my chest and sighed over snuggling into his favorite place on earth. At least, that was what it seemed like, anyway.
Even more, I longed for the rightness of having that other piece of my life’s puzzle in its place.
“So what’s holding him back?” Zack asked, and I toyed over sharing personal shit.
He’d been nothing but loyal to Elite and the Fox brothers. He also didn’t gossip like some of the others in the room—specifically Jimmy on my right, who probably listened in on every word we spoke.
I glanced over at EEMM’s youngest employee to find him slouched down, head tipped back against the couch, mouth hanging open in sleep. “The fuck is wrong with him?” I asked Zack.
“His client kept him up, or rather ass-up, all night long, taking full advantage of having him until eight this morning. According to Jimmy, who isn’t a size queen like Sean, the guy packed soda can girth. Poor kid had to pop a couple ibuprofen after soaking in a hot tub for a few hours after getting home.”
I snickered, thankful as fuck I’d never been booked with a hung dude who wanted to wreck my ass. Sean had always known my preferences and wouldn’t ever do me wrong like that.
Zack pulled his cell from his back pocket, frowning when he looked at the screen. A second later, his face turned a mottled red. “How the fuck did he…” His mutter trailed off, his fingers swiping over the screen as though replying to a text, lips pressed into a tight line.
“Everything okay?” I asked since I’d never seen Zack pissed before.
“Yeah.” He shut down his phone and shoved it in his pocket. “Just some asshole from the past. It’s nothing.”
Didn’t sound like or appear to be nothing. Zack shifted, glancing around the room, clearly uncomfortable.
“So, that question you asked,” I said, getting back on topic, since he obviously had no wish to talk about whoever that asshole was. I checked to make sure no one else paid attention to us since I wanted to prove my suspicions no one would judge us. “He’s my stepbrother.”
Zack didn’t bat an eyelash at my admission. “Didn’t know you had a stepbrother.”
