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“Oh, for the love of the Gods old and new Tor, give it arest.”
The thread of steel in Theo’s voice as he shouts down his brother is impressive. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Seff staring at me, and I look just enough to see him mouth a big “I’m sorry!” but I wave him off.
There is nothing to apologise for—we haven’t done anything wrong.
“Excuse me?” Tor’s attitude is now entirely directed at Theo, and I have to start my calming breath exercises to stop my rage from taking over. Good thing Theo doesn’t need me to stand up for him—he’s already leapt up to face his brother.
And by face, I am talking metaphorically because there is a foot and a half height difference between the two. Theo thrusts his finger aggressively into Tor’s chest, sending him stumbling back into Caelan’s leg.
“You are my brother, not my keeper, I don’t have to tell youshit. Like I keep telling you, I’m a grown-ass adult—I don’t need your permission if I want to schtup the tavern keeper.”
Hurt flickers over Tor’s flushed purple face, but in his anger, I don’t think Theo sees it before it’s quickly replaced with anger again.
“For fuck’s sake, Theo, I’m not mad you are sleeping with Roan, or whatever you two have going on. I’m not upset that you didn’t ask for mypermission,” he spits the word at Theo, who shrinks back almost imperceptibly at his brother's ire. Like he is just cluing in thatmaybehe has the wrong end of the stick here. His arms fold at his waist as he tries to rally himself in the face of his brother's emotions.
“I’m mad that youneveronce thought to tell me yourself. I knew, of course I did.Everyoneknows. He leaves your room every morning for fuck’s sake, Theo. And you two—”
He finally looks at me. I shift in my seat, straightening myself as if I don’t have a fierce blush heating my beard like a schoolboy and not a thirty-three year old man.
“—are theleastinconspicuous beings on the planet. Honest to the Gods, you make Caelan and I lookcasualabout our feelings.”
Edith has come back to join us, lured by the raised voices and the chance for gossip. Her hand is resting on Seff’s shoulder, as if it is just there casually, but I can see her fingers flexing into the meat of Seff’s shoulders.
Theo has sunk in on himself completely now, his face hidden by the curtain of copper curls as his head droops low. Setting my bottle to the side, I stand and walk around, positioning myself behind him, pulling him until his back is flush with my chest. With my arms on his biceps, my thumbs rubbing calming circles there, I can feel the shudder of his breath. I have no doubt that tears will be staining the perfect freckles across his cheeks.
“I’m sorry.”
The devastation in his whisper tears at my heart, and I weigh up the very real risks of thumping Tor for making his brother cry. I’m iffy on who Seff would side with in the fray. Only the matching heartbreak on Tor’s face keeps my anger in check, not a mild feat considering that primal thing inside me is rattling its cage over Theo being hurt.
“I just thought things had changed between us, little bro.” Tor smirks down just as Theo tilts his head back up to give him a half-hearted glare.
“It hurts that you felt like you had to keep it from me for some reason.”
A creak of a chair and the shuffling of feet on the gravel almost covers Theo’s sniffle as he nods. The brothers share a small smile, Tor punching Theo’s shoulder affectionately. I can still feel the tension in Theo’s body, so I keep rubbing circles on his arms with my thumbs and drop a kiss to his head. Tor recoils, scrunching his pretty face up to almost make himself not almost blindingly handsome.
“Yeah, that’s weird. Let’s keep it under wraps again, yeah?”
Theo’s snort matches mine, and he spins in my arms, my hands dropping to his hips, reaching his arms up around my neck to slowly pull me down for a proper kiss. Caelan and Edith cheer over the top of Tor’s groans, but before my lips manage to land on their target, there is a loud cough from the other side of the fire.
“Yeah, well, glad you lot could somehow manage to makemypain at being permanently single about yourselves, but do you think you can all manage to not rub salt in the wound likeabsolute dicks?” Theo ducks his head out from our embrace, tapping my arm when I grunt, pulling him back closer.
“Naw, Seffy, you jealous? You can come cuddle.” Theo cackles as a large marshmallow is lobbed atmyback.
“No, he absolutely cannot.”
Seff makes disappointed noises, and Edith boos noisily, like she would somehow have been invited to the cuddle party Theo is apparently planning. Tor is back on Caelan’s lap, rubbing himself all over him like an oversized house cat, so I sit in one of the now vacant chairs and pull Theo down on top of me.
The others return to their conversation over the fire, Seff telling Edith and Theo all about the latest non-starter date he’d been on. He seems pretty serious about this whole dating over hooking up thing. I don’t think I’ve seen him with anybody since… well, shit. SinceCaelan. Is that why he’s suddenly so gung-ho about it all?
Considering the man is sitting right next to me, it’s probably not the right time to dive deep into Seff’s love life, so I wriggle around to get comfortable before turning to Caelan.
“Did you make these?” He nods, his hand rubbing circles under Tor’s tee shirt.
“Yeah, comfy aren’t they?” I rub my hands along the sleek wood of the chairs. They recline slightly with notches along the high arched backs to lay them back further, and they have roomy seats, with thick armrests wide enough to safely rest a drink.
“Can you make me a couple? For the house?” His grin is genuine and wide, and he promises to get them to us,me, as soon as he can. Theo doesn’t even blink at me ordering furniture for his house without even asking him. Like I have some kind of claim to him.
“When are you going shopping for the house?” I hear Edith asking the first practical question she’s ever asked in her life, and I am shocked she hasn’t fallen down dead. She is perched on one of the camp chairs, the bottle having disappeared, now picking petals off a flower mumbling something under her breath. I feel the slightest ripple of her magic float around the circle of the fire and wonder what she’s up to. Not that she’d share.
