Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“You’re an idiot.”
“I’m your favorite idiot,” he countered. That, I couldn’t deny. “Does he happen to have anything to do with your sudden desire to go out to dinner with me?”
“No. I’ve been going out to dinner with you for a hundred years. I think I’m getting the chicken-kebab platter. You should get the same. You always like that.”
“I’m getting a salad. A hundred years, huh?”
“Most of the time it feels that way, yes.” When Corbin chuckled, I added, “Get the chicken kebab.” I’d chosen it because I knew it was his favorite and what he really wanted. Sometimes Corbin needed a little push to do certain things, like if the choice was taken away from him, he couldn’t feel guilty about it.
“Have you hooked up with him yet?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say no. I wasn’t the guy who shared stories about people I slept with. That wasn’t how I rolled, but when I opened my mouth, what came out was, “Yes.” It was maybe the worst decision I’d ever made in my life, and if I had a time machine, I’d have definitely gone back and changed it.
Corbin’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Holy shit. You told me the truth.” The waitress dropped our waters off, and when she asked if we were ready to order, Corbin said, “Two chicken-kebab platters.”
I told myself that was why I’d admitted to hooking up with Kai, but I was also suddenly a huge fucking liar, even if only to myself. “We blew each other after the dishes one night. That’s all you’re getting out of me. It’s not a thing. He hasn’t even mentioned it since.” Corbin didn’t respond, so I looked at him to see his mouth hanging open dramatically. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t. You love me…and you like him.”
I waved that off. “What the fuck did I just say that told you I like him?”
“Mentioning him at all? And bringing up the fact that he hasn’t said anything about the sex afterward? Oh my God, you’re legit offended! The great sexual prowess of Marcus Alston, and Kai has the audacity not to talk about it afterward.”
He nearly fell out of his chair laughing. If I had a pillow close, I would have smothered him with it. “I’m done talking about this. How’s work?”
“It’s okay to like someone, Marcus. Jesus, this feels like déjà vu. One of us said the same shit to Dec.”
My stomach twisted up in knots. “This is nothing like Sebastian and Declan. I don’t even know the kid.”
“Oh, now he’s a kid because you want to make it sound like you can’t possibly like him. I’m not saying you’re in love with him or that you know all his deep dark secrets, but he’s gotten under your skin, and it’s glorious because no one had gotten there before. This is fun.” Corbin waggled his brows.
“I’ll never ask you to dinner again.” But the truth was, I’d known this would happen. There was no doubt in my mind that he would ask because this was Corbin and that’s just how we worked. All the Beach Bums did, but especially Corb.
“Marcus,” he said softly, with entirely too much emotion in his voice.
“Kid…don’t do this. I’m weird about him, but it’s not what you think. Maybe it’s because he’s younger, or because he works with Dec and I know he’s important to Dec.” I’d never hooked up with someone who was close to my family before. It made perfect sense that it would be the reason I was weird about it. “Also, he’s moving, which is a good thing. If he wasn’t, I wouldn’t have hooked up with him in the first place.”
“What?”
I explained the situation with the guy in Atlanta. I was still unsure about it, but Kai wanted me to stay out of it. He’d made his decision.
Corbin sighed. While he liked to push the envelope, he also knew when not to, so instead of asking me more, he said, “I love you, Marcus.”
“I love you too, kid.” And I did. I loved him, Parker, and Declan. They had never let me down. I never doubted what I meant to them. And on top of that, they made me feel needed. Like I was important to them, like their lives wouldn’t be the same without me, and though I’d never told them, I needed that.
“Do we get to talk about the blowjob now?”
“No.” I smiled.
“You have to admit it’s kinda great that he has you thinking about him like this. I mean, someone who doesn’t fall completely under Marcus Alston’s control. He’s basically a unicorn.”
“Oh, I have to admit that, do I?” Jesus, my friends.
“You know this is different.”
Thankfully, the waitress brought our food and Corbin got distracted by that. I refused to let myself think about Kai anymore.