“He’s quiet every night,” Triston adds, pushing my shoulder. “You and Killian…it’s fucking impossible to get a word out of either of you.”
I glare at Triston. “Maybe we’d share more if anyone actually cared to hear it.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Triston scowls back, squaring off with me. Fine with me. I could use an outlet for the pent-up emotions that have been crowding my head.
“You know what it means,” I grit back, looking over at Sasha, who has gone quiet, her worried eyes meeting mine. Shit. I force myself to relax.
Gris gives me a side eye, his stare thoughtful even as Triston presses. “Seriously, what’s with you tonight?”
Killian materializes from the shadows. “This Sver sighting have you tweaked?”
“It’s more than that. You’ve been even more withdrawn than normal lately.” Gris presses, his level stare making me feel like he’s attempting to uncover my darkest secrets. He won’t.
“Marriage is changing him,” Killian answers, his gaze intent upon me.
That is not it. Not at all. “This has nothing to do with my wife.”
“Wife,” Rush, my youngest brother, lets out a huff of air. “Weird to hear you say it.”
“It’s weird to hear me call a woman wife?” I quirk a brow, forcing my tone to take on a joking air. I know I need to lighten the mood. For Sasha’s sake, but also, my brothers never ask about feelings. I must really be off. “Must run in the family. Before Chloe, Killian would have won a world competition for least-eligible bachelor.”
Triston snorts out a laugh, my other brothers joining in. “That’s funny because it’s true.”
I relax my shoulders, knowing that we’ve moved into safer territory with this conversation.
“If he was least eligible,” Gris scoffs at Triston, “you were least likely.”
Triston makes a noise of derision deep in his throat. “This coming from the man who blackmailed his bride.”
“That’s right, you did do that,” Killian harrumphs as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Tricky bastard.”
But my jaw goes granite hard as a muscle tics in my cheek. Gris’s story is ringing with a familiarity that has my stomach churning. “I’d forgotten too.”
“You forgot he slept with Arabella in Hawaii, but neglected to mention his identity or the fact that he was her brother’s enemy?” Triston lifts his brow. I have to admit that Tris is as ready to needle Gris as he is me. In that way, he’s completely fair. He’s an equal pain in the ass to everyone in the family.
“First, I did not sleep with her in Hawaii.” Gris shoves his twin hard in the shoulder. “And second, I’m still making up for some of that shit, so let’s leave it be, because if any of this conversation gets back to her, I’ll be sleeping on the fucking couch for a month.”
“How do you make it up to her?” I ask, not even sure why I’m asking except there is a weight in the pit of my stomach.
I roll my neck, cracking it as I try to get myself in check. I’m not going to get an attack of conscience. Not going to decide to make my marriage permanent. I don’t even date. But this entire conversation is pricking at my every wound.
From my family to the shifting sand that is my feelings for Sasha, my control is slipping away.
“By being an attentive husband,” Gris growls back, his black look letting me know he’s done with the conversation. “Which not only means lots of orgasms, it means lots of everything else.”
I hold up my hands to concede, my gaze drifting back to Sasha as she sips her wine, giggling into the glass.
Dimitri steps up next to me then. “I’ve got to hand it to you.”
“What’s that?” My eyes don’t leave the woman who has captivated my attention.
“She seems…happy.”
I jerk my chin in acceptance of the compliment, as I finally take my eyes off my bride. “She wasn’t happy this afternoon. In fact, she seemed completely freaked out.”
“Sver,” Dimitri’s deep frown says it all.
“Sasha said it meant Beast.”
