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The big guy took a long pull of his Bud and set the glass bottle on the table. “Let’s just say I broke things.” His hand clenched around the longneck. “I’m not proud of it, but it’s a skill you never forget. I’d do it again in a heartbeat to protect one of my own.”
Even with the hard buzz clanging around in his head, Matt understood Brick didn’t breakthingsso much aspeople. The knowledge should’ve scared him, but instinctively, he knew Brick’s threat would extend to anyone who threatened Robby. “Good,” he murmured. “I’m glad Robby has people like you and Kane looking out for him.” When he wasn’t being a shallow, jealous twat. “Rob always sees the good in people.”
Nodding sagely, Brick released his tight hold on the beer and took a shallow sip. “Yeah, well, I always look for the worst. Keeps me from getting disappointed. It’s also kept me from getting dead.”
Matt absently lined up the crushed, empty paper cups on the table in front of him. “I don’t really think about all that too much, I guess. I kind of live in a bubble. It’s all about doing what’s necessary for my kid. Being the kind of dad I wish I would’ve had.”
Brick leaned back in his chair. “I think all of us have the same thing in common. No dad. Deadbeat dad. Asshole dad.” He circled the air with his finger to include Robby and Kane in his assessment. “We’ve all got different stories, but we’re all gonna have to figure out how to be decent parents without any firsthand exposure.”
“Yeah. My dad bailed when I was a kid, but I’ve got a good mom.”
“Then you’re better off than a lot of people.” Draining the rest of his beer, Brick set the bottle on the now-empty shot tray. “I’d better get back to my girl but let me know if you need a ride home, man. I think the booze is going to your head.” He grinned. “You’d never reveal actual facts about yourself sober.”
Was he drunk?
He chewed on his lower lip. For sure, he’d had more shots than he’d had at Nitro Monday night. How many exactly was anybody’s guess. How many had he ordered? Did Brick’s wife put more on the tray? This week, he’d probably swallowed more shots than in the rest of his life put together.
He stood, and all the blood rushed to his head. Or from his head. Or whatever the hell made it feel like gravity was playing a special kind of joke on him tonight.
Stumbling back, he might have landed on his rear end, but a warm, lean body blocked his fall.
“Whoa, there,” Robby breathed, just behind his ear.
He lingered an extra moment before staggering fully upright. “Sorry. I guess I may have gone a little overboard with the Jell-O shots.” He twisted his mouth to the side. “Guess I qualify as a lightweight.”
Robby wrapped his arm around his waist. “Trust me. It beats the alternative.”
Matt scowled. “What happened to your friend?” He made air quotes around the word. Petty? Probably.
If it fazed Robby, he didn’t let it show. “C’mon. I left my car at Brick’s. Give me your keys, and I’ll get you home.”
Leaning heavily against Robby’s side, he fished the keys out of his pocket, and he must have rattled off the address, because somehow, in no time at all, Robby was tugging him out of the passenger seat of the car and leading him into the apartment.
Robby closed the front door with the back of his foot as he supported Matt’s weight. “Sofa or bed?”
Turning his body deeper into Robby’s hold, he caught a whiff of cologne, the same one the man was wearing when he’d stumbled into Closing Time. Then, he had fought the urge to lean into the scent. This time, though, he felt no such compunction to hold back.
He buried his face into Robby’s neck and breathed deeply. “God, you smell so good.”
Robby stiffened beneath him, and Matt lifted his head.
“Was I not supposed to say so?” He knew he ought to be fighting this, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why.
The line of Robby’s rigid shoulders relaxed. “It’s okay. I’m just not used to seeing you this way. So, uh, bold.”
Robby’s arm still curved around his side. It felt both foreign and familiar.
He rested his left hand on Robby’s bicep. “I’m not used to being seen.” He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “This way or any way. At least, not until I met you.”
“Maybe you just didn’t know where to look.” Robby smiled. “You’re not alone, you know. You’ve got people who care about you. Kane, Brick—”
“You?” He tilted his face a little closer to Robby’s, the intoxicating scent tickling his nose again.
Robby’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Yeah. Of course.”
Matt edged closer still, and from his new vantage point, could make out each of Robby’s individual eyelashes. The man’s brown eyes were deep pools of melted chocolate being swallowed by his pupils. “The guy at the bar tonight. I wanted to kick his ass.” The admission came out before he could stop it.
Robby grinned. “Really?”
