“The smiling at your phone like an idiot more often than not. Also…” He taps his nape. “You usually have a hickey here. You can’t see it, but whenever you pull your hair up, it’s visible.”
I touch the back of my neck. That sly fucking bastard. He’s been leaving hickeys all this time? And here I thought he just loved kissing me there.
“Jer.”
“What?”
“I can’t take this, he’s so fucking adorable.”
“For leaving a hickey?”
“For staking a claim and being sneaky about it while complaining that I leave too many.”
“Okay,” he says slowly. “It’s a guy?”
Ah, fuck. I didn’t plan to disclose the gender, but hey, as long as he doesn’t know the name, all is good. No one would suspect it’s Bran. He’s such an uptight dickhead and anyone with two brain cells would think I’m nowhere near his type.
I nod with a grin. “The most beautiful guy ever.”
“You like him?”
“Sure as fuck.”
“How much do you like him?”
“Enough to be exclusive.”
“Wow. A first.”
“I know, right? I’m all for monogamy now.”
“And you still haven’t introduced him to me?” He raises an eyebrow. “And here I thought I was your bro.”
“Well…thing is. He’s still all chained in the closet and shit, so that’s a no for now.”
“I won’t tell. I didn’t when you wanted to keep your sexuality a secret.”
“This is different.”
I was never ashamed of my sexuality. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t an experimentation phase before telling my family. Bran seems to struggle with how much he loves sucking dick and being fucked in the ass. Like he really, really gets all panicky whenever we’re close in public or when I go to watch his games and try to see him after. So I stopped that altogether so as not to stress him out.
I’m not sure why he’s so scared about admitting it out loud.
I wonder if it has to do with his long showers and the damn locked bathroom door.
Sometimes, I catch him looking at his feet, completely zoned out until it turns a bit freaky. Other times, he’ll have these random nicks of the razor against his neck and even his thighs and balls. He shaves down there—of course. He’s so groomed and loves being spotless. He also started shaving my face for me because, apparently, I don’t do it well enough. It feels so fucking hot whenever he sits on the counter and traps me between his muscular thighs to shave my face.
He’s never cut me, not once, but he seems clumsy with himself.
I bought him a new electric shaver that doesn’t cause cuts, but he says he prefers the razor.
It’s starting to give me the creeps for real whenever he has those, as small as they are.
Jeremy watches me for a beat, arms crossed and brow furrowed. “You’re okay with that?”
“With what?”
“Being in the closet with him. You already came out, so you’re under no obligation to be shoved in the dark with him.”
“He’ll come out one day.”
“And you’re happy to wait? As long as it takes?”
“If it’s him, yeah. I guess.”
“Okay.” He clutches my shoulders. “I just want you to know that you deserve to be loved in the light, Niko. Just like everyone else.”
“Pfft. He doesn’t love me.”
“I don’t like this guy.” Jeremy narrows his eyes. “You’re being exclusive for the first time in your life and keeping it a secret for his sake and he doesn’t love you? What is he? An idiot?”
“Hey, don’t call him that.”
“You’re defending him? Wow. Where’s my brutish friend Niko and what have you done to him?”
“I’m a changed man, Jer.” I grin. “Gotta go. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Do you have to go? I thought we were discussing how to bring Landon down after everything he’s done.”
I wince. So I might have been the one who delayed the Heathens' plans to take vengeance against Landon King. I have to do it, and I will, because he’s a motherfucker, but I can’t help thinking about Bran’s reaction.
All this time, I’d hoped they were enemies, and while they don’t hang out much, they text each other all the fucking time.
Or more like Landon checks on Bran in a neurotic fashion, and my lotus flower gets this little smile on his lips whenever he reads his asshole brother’s texts.