Justin thins his lips, even as his eyes sparkle with mischief. “When do younotpull the husband card?”
“You like it when I pull the husband card.”
“Guys,” Levy says, comically gripping his side.
“Excuse me. You willnotbe putting Ignacio in danger like you did last night,” Bram says, his voice meant to broach no argument.
That sets off another round of bickering, this time between Justin, Bram, and Charlie.
Having not been asked my opinion, I finally lean in close to Bram’s ear and whisper, “You do know the bossy thing only works when we’re playing, right? That doesn’t actually work out here in the real world.”
His jaw drops as I kiss his cheek.
“No, Nacho. Absolutely not,” he says, even though he has to know he’s already lost the fight.
“Won’t you be going on some of these operations?” I ask, thinking I’ve made a very solid point.
“Sure. But…I have multiple black belts. I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a black belt in keeping my brown ass out of trouble. Also, you can’t tell me what to do.”
Everyone else is looking back and forth between us, like it’s a verbal tennis match, waiting to see what the other has to say. Bram, noticing the attention, takes a deep breath. “We will discuss this later.”
“Can we be naked when we do?”
Something about that must tickle Erik because he begins to laugh. Hard. In fact, he’s laughing so hard that when his laugh cuts off abruptly, we all follow his line of sight.
“Ant, holy shit, dude,” I say. “You just did that in the bathroom? Right now?”
“Yeah,” he says self-consciously, running his fingers through his hair. “I’d already watched a bunch of TikToks on how to do it, and I was mad, so…yeah.”
“Dude. Maybe you should be a hairstylist.”
“Shut the fuck up,” he says, shooting me the double bird. Shaking out his hair, he raises his chin at me. “You really like it?”
“You look amazing,” I say, hopping off Bram’s lap to get a closer look.
It’s on the longer side of a shorter haircut—like a modern shag that could probably use a bit of a cleanup—but it’s perfect for him. Better yet, he actually looks closer to his age now.
He shrugs. “It didn’t take long.”
I give him a double thumbs-up. “I approve. Hedy will love it.”
He grumbles under his breath, saying, “I already promised I would go.”
Grinning broadly, I fire back, “I know. I’m just making sure you follow through on your promise.”
He scrunches his nose. “I hate you.”
I drag him into a hug. “I love you too, bro.”
Just as I’m declaring my eternal affection for Ant, I catch Bram’s eyes. They flick away briefly, then come back to mine with all the weight of a sledgehammer.
Oh fuck. I felt that in my chest. We’ll definitely be talking about my role at Wild Heart later tonight.
Ant looks between the two of us and shakes his head. “Ah shit. It’s on now.”
Ignoring Ant’s commentary, Bram gets up and prowls toward me. “Levy, I assume you’re okay for the evening?”
