Faster than Kelevra knew he was capable of moving, Rin’s hand shot out, grabbing onto his brother’s elbow to yank him back. “No.”
“You’ve been saying that word a lot, brother,” Sila replied, but he didn’t try to pull away. His eyes wandered over Rin’s shoulder to Kelevra for a brief moment before returning to Rin, a slight glimmer there that had been absent before. “All right. You do it or I do it.”
“This isn’t the place—”
“This is exactly the place,” he disagreed.
“Which of you is the older twin again?” Baikal asked, even though they all must have known he was well aware.
“Sila Varun was born one minute and two seconds before Rin Varun on the day of the Summer Solstice,” Sila answered without skipping a beat.
“Don’t be robotic,” Rin scolded. “No one is going to fall for that.”
“I’m being factual,” he corrected.
“The younger twin should listen to the older twin,” Baikal pointed between them. “Looks like you’re up, Rin.”
Kelevra sent Baikal a glare, even though he knew his friend was only trying to help him out. He’d brought Rin here specifically so the other guy could get into the ring and blow off some steam.
He’d prefer him hitting someone else before they hooked up again, get it out of his system.
“Seriously? Is someone coming or am I going to have to go burn something down to get my kicks tonight?” Flix called, losing his patience.
“Keep your firebug in line,” Kelevra said before straightening from the bar. He rested a hand on Rin’s narrow back, easing him toward the ring, and though his flower stiffened at the contact, he was smart enough not to pull away in the presence of their current audience. Once they’d moved far enough he was certain Baikal wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop, he pressed his mouth to the curve of Rin’s ear and whispered, “I’ll reward you for this later.”
Rin didn’t ask what this was, but his tight expression never loosened. “You can do so by leaving me the fuck alone.”
Punishment it would be.
He shoved Rin toward the ring when they got there, crossing his arms and shrugging when that earned him a scowl.
“What’s up?” Flix peered over the edge of the ring, his arms propped on the velvet ropes surrounding it. “Don’t think I know you.”
“Rin,” he drawled, tugging his t-shirt out from where it’d been tucked into his pants. In one swift movement, he had it over his head and discarded onto the ground, then he reached for the ropes and hauled himself up.
Kelevra was aware of Sila’s presence coming up to his side, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off Rin’s toned body. Flix’s gaze swept over him and he had a flash, an image of him taking the Brumal member by the skull and bashing his face into the concrete at his feet.
Maybe this hadn’t been a good plan after all.
“Are there rules?” Rin asked when Flix picked up a pair of extra black fingerless gloves from the floor and handed them over. He slipped them on, nonplused about all of this despite his earlier resistance to his brother’s suggestion.
They were drawing a crowd, several other people heading over to circle the ring, sensing blood in the water before the match had even begun.
Kelevra watched Rin closely, trying to gauge his reaction to having an audience since that seemed to be his biggest turn-off, but if it bothered him this time, he didn’t show it. In fact, he was a completely blank slate. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling, whether he was excited or nervous. It was the exact opposite of how he’d been in the shower stall after they’d fucked. Then, he’d been so clearly overrun by emotion his body had shut down in order to protect itself from overstimulation. But now?
He’d made a comment to Sila about playing a robot.
He should look in a mirror.
Kel wasn’t sure how he felt about it. On the one hand, logically he understood Rin’s reaction wasn’t specifically meant for him, but on the other, the idea that Rin was locking him out made him seethe inside. What gave his flower the right to build up walls against him?
“You can tap out if you’ve had enough,” Flix was explaining. “Otherwise, whoever passes out first loses. Who’d you say you were again?”
“I go to the Academy,” Rin replied. “I’m a sophomore.”
“Younger than me.”
He smiled wryly. “That seems to get pointed out a lot.”
