But Ever had become his best friends’ new favorite pet. Especially Levi’s. Levi, who’d acted like Ever’s very existence was a personal slight, now arrived everyday with treats for him. Only, he didn’t care about Ever’s firsts. Instead, he brought Ever’s favorites. Peanut butter ice cream. Coke slushies. A cupcake from the shop on the corner. Flaming Hot Cheetos. Even this one special Japanese soda that could only be found at the Asian market on the edge of town.
Some small part of Arsen worried Levi was trying to steal Ever away from him. It could happen. Arsen was hot, but Levi was thirst trap hot, girls following his stream just to stare at him hot, had been offered money for sex hot.AndLevi and Ever had started out hating each other. Plus, Ever loved romance novels, especially those with the enemies-to-lovers trope. What if Ever decided that was his next first?
When Arsen had said as much, Nico had laughed himself sick but wouldn’t say why the idea was so funny. He’d assured Arsen that Levi just felt guilty because of how mean he’d been about Ever when he’d first arrived. He was trying to make amends. Arsen should be grateful. These guys were more than his friends, they were brothers-in-arms. They literally knew where every body was buried. For them to keep the neighborhood safe, they needed to function as a unit. They couldn’t do that with infighting and jealousy.
Once Arsen knew Ever was safe, he returned to the bedroom, brushing his teeth and splashing water on his face before throwing on a zip-front hoodie and shoving his feet into shoes. He took the stairs, two at a time, down to the garage. Ever turned to look at him as soon as he was on the first floor, eyes shining and a huge smile on his face.
Arsen’s heart tripped over itself. Ever wore a full face of makeup. He was so fucking…pretty. Black liner accentuated his huge brown eyes, and a dusty mauve color made his already lush mouth look even more so. He had pink cheeks and inky lashes and tiny crystals glued beneath each eye.
It took Arsen a full minute to realize Ever was looking at him expectantly. “You look very”—he struggled to think of a word suitable enough—“beautiful,besenok.”
Ever beamed at his words. “Felix did it.”
“Oh, I know,” Arsen said ruefully, arching a brow at the culprit.
Felix smirked. “He looks hot, right?”
“He always looks hot,” Arsen said, walking to the couch and leaning down to plop a kiss on Ever’s glossy, slightly sticky mouth. That was when he noticed the markers on the table and the one in Felix’s hand. “What are you doing?”
“Baby wanted to match you,” Felix said.
Baby? That was new. There were many terms of endearment when it came to Ever. Gizmo. Ewok.Fragolina—Nico said it meant “little strawberry” in Italian. Gumdrop. Little one. Ever’s nicknames were as plentiful as the gifts he received every day. Arsen moved around Nico, who had yet to say a word. When he saw Felix’s art project, his chest tightened. There, on Ever’s arm, was a scorpion drawn in black sharpie.
Felix smirked at him, well aware of the effect the drawing was having on him. “He wanted the real thing, but I thought, if you woke up and found him missing, you’d call the National Guard.”
Felix was right. Crazy or not, Arsen didn’t want Ever out of his sight. Not until they figured out how deep this trafficking ring went. There hadn’t been any new cryptic messages from their mysterious watcher, but that might have been because Arsen had been keeping Ever offline. If he wanted to play games, they came down to the garage so he could play on the PlayStation, something else that had made an appearance with the old sofa.
“You’re not usually one for sleeping late,” Nico mused. “Even on your days off, you’re usually up before the sun, like some kind of psycho.”
“He didn’t get much sleep last night. We were up really late,” Ever supplied cheerily. “Arsen was teaching me some stuff.”
“I bet he was,” Felix murmured, patting Ever’s head like he was a dog. “Like what, babydoll?”
“Yeah, what is it Arsen’s been teaching you into the wee hours of the morning?” Nico asked, tone salacious. “Tell us everything. Every scandalous detail.”
“He taught me to playResident Evil 7,” Ever said. “Oh! AndUntil Dawn.”
Arsen’s lips twitched as Felix and Nico exchanged disappointed looks. Served them right.
“Oh,” Felix said, clearly disappointed.
That wasn’t all Arsen had been teaching Ever, but neither Nico nor Felix needed to know the intimate details of their sex life. Their very active sex life. A sex life Arsen had been hoping to resume when he woke up ten minutes ago. Hell, the more he looked at Ever’s glossy lips, the more he wondered what they’d look like wrapped around his cock.
“Why are you guys even here? Don’t you have school?” he asked Nico before looking at Felix. “And don’t you have a whole company to run?”
“Wow, rude much?” Felix asked. “I brought Ever some presents. And Nico brought him breakfast.”
Arsen narrowed his eyes on Nico. “You broughtmyboyfriend breakfast?” he asked, tone measured.
Nico gave Arsen a sly look, sliding his hands into Ever’s silky dark hair, massaging his scalp. “Mm,” he said. “I brought him some new toys to play with.”
He moved his hands down to Ever’s shoulders, working the muscles there until Ever moaned, sending a gut-punch of lust through Arsen.
Nico’s knowing smile widened, his hands sliding down Ever’s arms. “I didn’t want him to be bored waiting around for his workaholic boyfriend.”
Arsen dropped to sit beside Nico on the couch, facing away from Ever, his voice low enough for only Nico to hear. “You can stop touching him.”
Ever stared at the television, unaware of the tension between Arsen and his friends. Felix was not. His lips twitched. Arsen knew they were doing this on purpose—pushing his buttons. But it didn’t stop the jealousy swimming in his belly.
