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Closing his eyes, Colt tried to force away thoughts of his dead cousin as he felt a presence next to him. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know who it was. Atlas’s scent floated toward him.
The guy patted Colt’s leg. “Your mate, huh?”
Colt smirked as he opened his eyes and sat back. “So much for hooking up with some random twink at the reception. I guess that plan is blown to hell.”
So was Colt’s plan to seduce Atlas’s ex-best friend to get revenge for what the guy had done. Braylon had betrayed Atlas, sleeping with Atlas’s boyfriend behind his back.
The plan was seduce Braylon, get the guy to fall for him, then dump him, leaving Braylon brokenhearted. Although Colt had made contact with Braylon in Fearless Fox and had the human eating out of his hand, it hadn’t gone any further than that.
And now, it never would.
“Technically, Milo is a twink,” Atlas said with a grin. “He’s slim, very pretty, and his ass is nicer than mine.”
Colt chuckled. “Do you have ass envy?”
When Atlas had walked into the kitchen the morning they’d met, the first thing Colt had noticed was how effeminate Atlas appeared. The human had delicate features, just like his mom, with pretty gray eyes and soft-looking black hair.
Kellen had only ever had hookups, and Colt had assumed that Atlas was one of them, though he was shocked his brother had brought one home since he’d never done that before.
For a brief moment, before he’d found out that Atlas was Kellen’s mate, Colt had considered hooking up with the twink, as well. He’d never bedded any of Kellen’s skanks, but Atlas’s beauty had taken Colt by surprise.
Then he’d seen the bruising around Atlas’s neck and had lost his shit. Painful memories of Kellen beating Colt with that leather belt seized him, and Colt wanted to kill his brother for abusing someone so small.
But it hadn’t been Kellen who’d hurt Atlas. It had been a vampire.
Rationally, Colt knew that his brother hadn’t had a choice in abusing him. It had been their mother’s sadistic heart that had forced Kellen to either beat Colt or get twice the punishment.
Colt, Kellen, and Jared had been at her mercy. She’d manipulated them, tried to turn the three against each other, and used their love for one another against them.
Still, a part of Colt resented Kellen for what he’d done. And when the two had fought that morning, it wasn’t just about the bruising around Atlas’s neck. It was also about unleashing nearly one hundred and fifty years of rage and pain. What scared Colt was the fact that he’d wanted to kill his brother that day.
“I don’t have any kind of envy since Kellen makes me feel like the sexiest man alive,” Atlas replied. “He reminds me all the time how much he loves and desires me.”
“If you start giving me details about your sex life with him, you’re the one going in time-out,” Colt teased with a grin. “No goddamn way I want to know how he is in bed, or I just might throw up and ruin this suit.”
Atlas rolled his eyes. “I’m surprised you haven’t tugged at your suit all night. You whined like a baby about wearing it.”
Colt lifted his feet. “And my shoes, too.”
It wasn’t that Colt didn’t like dressing up. He hadn’t wanted to go to the wedding. Although Atlas’s parents were nice to him, Colt wasn’t a part of this family. He also didn’t want to see how a loving family interacted, reminding him of what he’d never had.
“The reception is almost over, so I guess you can kick them off.” Atlas looked around. “What are you going to do about Milo?”
That was a damn good question. “He handed me my ass, and I didn’t handle it well.”
Atlas turned in his chair to look at him. “What did you do, Colt?”
With a sigh, because he knew the guy was about to lay into him, Colt told him.
Atlas smacked his own forehead. “Between you and Kellen, I have my work cut out for me. Milo’s feelings were justified, Colt. Everyone around him is dressed to the nines, and my sister and Craig went into debt to make this their dream wedding. Of course your mate thinks you’re some rich, spoiled guy just trying to pass the time.”
“People shouldn’t assume things from appearance alone,” Colt argued. “Look how fucked up things were when I assumed that Kellen put those bruises on your neck.”
“You still assumed, Colt. Now that Milo has done it, you’re pissed? There’s a word for that,” Atlas replied.
“I’m not a hypocrite.” Colt clenched his jaw. When he’d taken off after his mom had killed Jared, Colt had been in a very bad place. He’d spent a good twenty years taking out his rage on people, starting fights just so he could release some of his rage.
But at the same time, there had been people who’d assumed he was just some asshole out to prove something. They had no idea just how badly he was hurting on the inside, how he’d cried most nights wondering why his own mother had hated him so much.
