Page 35

Zane startled, choking on a gasp as gentle fingertips grazed the back of his neck. Every muscle in his shoulders seized.

He jerked around to see Asa standing there, an amused smirk on his face.

Zane slapped at him, his heart beating an erratic rhythm behind his ribs. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Asa grabbed Zane’s hand, tugging him to his feet, then pulled his earbuds from his ears and set them on the table beside his phone.

“Aw, I’m sorry, Lois,” he murmured, his mouth ghosting over Zane’s in a there-and-gone tease of a kiss. “I didn’t mean to scare you, baby.”

Okay. No. Something was definitely fucking wrong.

Zane’s pulse took flight once more at Asa’s softness, that splinter of weirdness burrowing deeper.

“What’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”

Asa wound his arms around Zane, his hands sliding down to squeeze his ass through his sweatpants. Warm palms settled heavily over him, pulling their hips together.

“Why?” he asked, nuzzling gently behind Zane’s ear in a way that made his dick take notice.

Zane waited for the teeth that usually followed, but all he got was a soft kiss and a groan as Asa inhaled him like he was his favorite drug.

Warm breath ghosted over the damp skin behind his ear. Still no bite. No sting. Just softness.

Zane shivered, unease simmering low in his belly. “I’m serious. What’s wrong with you?”

Asa pulled back and frowned down at Zane, hands still on his ass. “Can I not come home early to kiss my husband?”

Zane poked him hard in the chest, narrowing his eyes. “There, that. What is that? Why are you being like this? Did I do something? Are you mad at me? Did someone write another article about me being abused again? Because nobody believes that.”

Asa pressed their foreheads together as he huffed out a laugh against Zane’s cheek. “Shit, maybe they’re right if me giving you this level of affection is triggering you this much. Am I too mean to you, Lois?”

Zane scoffed even as his stomach plummeted. “What? No. Why would you even say that?”

The question lodged somewhere beneath his ribs.

Zane didn’t like this. He couldn’t handle the level of panic creeping in on him. His skin felt too tight, his thoughts suddenly moving too fast.

Was this why Avi and Felix were staying away? Had something happened? Had they had some kind of meeting about Zane behind his back? Had Zane done something to make Asa think that he was unhappy with how things were? Was this some kind of fucked up intervention?

“What did I do?” he asked, unable to hide his misery as he mentally spiraled.

Asa frowned, for once looking genuinely concerned, letting his knuckles caress Zane’s cheek. “Christ, Lois. Do you not own a calendar?”

Zane’s head swam at the sudden change in topic, his gaze dropping to the smartwatch on his wrist.

“It’s Wednesday? So?” he said, irritated at his question going unanswered.

Asa groaned, knocking his forehead against Zane’s once more. “It’s your birthday, Lois.”

Oh.

Zane’s stomach curdled, his relief lasting all of half a second before something colder replaced it. He couldn’t stop his lip from curling as his gaze landed on the date on his watch, not just the day of the week.

“Oh, yeah. That. You promised you wouldn’t bring it up.”

Asa gave a humorless laugh. “No, you demanded that we don’t bring it up. None of us agreed to that. Just you.”

Zane didn’t want to talk about this. The topic made him feel queasy, like there were eels swimming in his belly.