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“Again, manners,” Matthias reminded him. “You just don’t like her because she doesn’t take any of your shit.” He smiled at me. “Sully likes me. We’re besties.”
“I’m your bestie, babe, and don’t you forget it.” Killian leaned closer to whisper something in Matthias’s ear, and I couldn’t help but feel lonely when he blushed before burying his head into Killian’s neck. I turned away to find Watson watching me, and when he started in my direction, I cringed. Shit. He did not look happy.
“Want to introduce me to your friend... Holy mother fucking shit!” he exclaimed. “You’re Killian Hampton.” He was totally fanboying right now. It was hard not to.
“And you’re Watson Brooks.” Killian fanboyed right back.
“You weren’t going to introduce me, H? The hell kind of brother are you?” Watson gave me a playful shove. “Watts, please. Holt and my mother are the only ones who get away with calling me by my full name.”
It kind of felt like a slap in the face the way he called me his brother, but I tried to keep in mind that Watson didn’t remember we were together. Even though he’d been dry humping me on the front lawn just a few minutes ago.
“Come on, Holt.” Matthias rolled his eyes. “Can you show me where the bathroom is?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say something about if he and Brooklyn were besties, he would know where the bathroom was, but I needed to get away from Watson. All I could smell was his aftershave, and it was driving me crazy. Once we were in the house, Matthias turned to me and gave me a knowing smile.
“How long have you been in love with your stepbrother?” he asked.
“What? No, I’m not—”
Matthias placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Killian kissed me for the first time when I was eighteen.” His eyes glittered with happiness. “It was the scariest and best time of my life. He found me in his treehouse one night after my dad beat the crap out of me. He helped clean me up and then, well, he kissed me. I had always loved that man but lived in constant fear of what he would ever do if he found out. He used to act like I didn’t exist. Killian swore he was straight, but turned out he was just—”
“Matthias-sexual,” I finished for him.
“What?” He ducked his head as he chuckled and shook his head.
I grinned. “Sorry, that’s what Killian told me earlier. That he was Matthias-sexual when I blurted out I was gay. I was a little starstruck when I bumped into him.”
“Kill has that effect on people. He’s larger than life.”
“Sure, we’ll go with larger than life, but I was going to say scary as hell, which is saying a lot, because Rand Shepard is kind of intimidating, too.
Matthias grinned. “Right? If I didn’t know that Rand and Brooklyn were married, I would never picture them together. I mean, he’s clearly my type, since I have a thing for the whole bad-boy-tattooed-grumpy guy, but he’s more than I could handle.”
“Ha! Agreed.” I nodded before I leaned back against the wall. “You know, I feel like we could actually be friends, and I’m not just saying that. Everyone I know is in the NASCAR business, which is great and all, but it would be nice to hang out with someone who doesn’t always talk about cars.”
“I know nothing about NASCAR. Or cars,” Matthias assured me.
“Bonus points for you.”
“Did we just become best friends?”
I threw my head back with laughter only to feel jealous eyes digging into me. I half expected it to be Killian but was more than surprised to find Watson standing in the doorway, arms folded over his chest, his dark eyes narrowed as he watched us.
“Having fun?” he asked. “We thought you two might have gotten lost.” His gaze was unnerving as he glared at me.
Killian squeezed past him. “Aw, this is cute. They’re bonding.” He winked before hooking an arm around his fiancé.
“Miss me?” Matthias beamed happily.
Killian nodded. “Always.”
“I’m going to head out.” I avoided eye contact with Watson. “It was great to meet you both,” I told Matthias and Killian. “I’m sure I’ll see you around now that you’ve moved to town.”
“Uh, wait a second, new best friend. We need to exchange numbers.” Matthias untangled himself so he could get his phone from his pocket. “In case you need to talk or whatever.” He gave me a look I hoped no one else caught.
Once we had exchanged numbers, promising to get together soon, and said goodbye, I made my way toward the front of the house. I knew Rand and Brooklyn wouldn’t care that I snuck out without saying goodbye. I would see them both again soon enough. I pulled up the Uber app on my phone just as I heard the door open behind me. I knew who it was without turning around.
Watson moved to stand next to me. The scent of his aftershave, mixed with the booze he had been drinking earlier, swirled around us. He didn’t say anything, only stood next to me in silence. I wanted to confess everything. It might fix or destroy us, but it would get all this damn stress off my chest. Only, when his pinky brushed lightly against mine, my heart fluttered in my chest, and then when he did it again, I grabbed his hand to lace our fingers together.
