“I said I’m fine,” he snapped, closing his eyes and inwardly scolding himself in the middle of the hallway as soon as he did.
Nuri was quiet.
“Sorry,” Nate mumbled.
“Interrupting is a bad habit of yours,” his brother began after another few seconds of silence, “but the temper is new.”
Was it?
“Sorry,” he repeated blandly.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Nuri said. “Just tell me what’s going on. It’s okay to confide in me sometimes, you know?”
“When do I not?” He started walking for the kitchen once more, glad that he hadn’t upset his brother. “I’m always upfront and honest with you.”
“Yes, when it comes to my own life or Neve’s. You very rarely ever talk about yourself, Nate.”
At the mention of their sister, the call suddenly made sense, and Nate sighed. “She told you, didn’t she?”
“That you’re seeing someone?” He made a sound in the affirmative. “I wish you’d told me yourself, but I understand wanting to keep that a secret from your older brother.”
“It’s not like you were forthcoming when you started dating Silver,” Nate pointed out, pulling open the refrigerator door. His mind went blank the second his eyes settled on the contents, and he gulped without meaning to.
When Neve had been living here with him, he’d always been sure to keep their kitchen fully stocked. He’d been worried she’d skip meals otherwise and had even gone out of his way to bulk order the snacks she liked from their home planet. She’d thought it’d been Nuri, and he’d let her keep believing it because it hadn’t mattered.
Apparently, the second she’d moved out, keeping up with basic necessities like a semi-filled fridge hadn’t mattered either.
Until Kaz saw it and fixed the problem Nate hadn’t been aware was there.
“Nate?” Nuri called him, and the note of apprehension clued Nate into the fact he’d probably missed something.
“Spaced out,” he said. “What was that?”
“Is it the new boyfriend?” Nuri asked. “Has he done something to upset you?”
“He…” He pursed his lips and shook his head even though his brother couldn’t see. How did he go about telling him what had transpired between him and Kaz? Nuri would freak out. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not,” he disagreed.
Realizing he was going to keep pushing until Nate said something, he slammed the fridge shut and turned to lean back against the counter. “Has Silver ever done anything to you that you didn’t want?”
“Well,” Nuri sounded flustered, even going so far as to clear his throat, “our situation is a bit…complex. I wouldn’t recommend it to most people.”
“So, the answer is yes then.” Nate had already known that, if he was being fair. Last year, he’d made a surprise visit to his brother and had walked in on Silver, pinning him down to the mattress. He’d freaked out and reacted without thinking, almost getting himself thrown in prison for assaulting the Emperor of Ignite. Nuri had saved his hide by talking Silver out of it.
Nate had secretly carried that for months afterward. The guilt had kept him up at night for weeks until Neve had subtly brought home a bottle of sleeping pills and left it on his night table.
“Have you two talked about it?” Nate had been the one to bring it up, so he may as well follow through. When he stepped back and really viewed the scene, there were similarities that he’d missed before.
Silver was possessive of Nuri and prone to jealousy in the same way Kaz had been. He also took control of Nuri’s time, often using work as an excuse to keep him from making visits to his siblings or taking leave. At least, that’d been the case before the two of them had gotten married. Since they’d become official, the Emperor had actually let up a lot. Nuri had seemed…happier.
“We’ve discussed boundaries,” Nuri said. “Again, I’m not trying to make claims that our relationship is in any way perfect or at all times healthy, for that matter. But it works for us. Is this about your boyfriend, or did Silver—”
“No,” he interjected. “No, Silver hasn’t done anything.” Not since he’d called and threatened him over his mental health, of course. But Nate wasn’t going to share that part. Possibly ever.
“There you go again,” Nuri sighed. “Interrupting. It’s rude not to allow people the time to finish their own sentences, you are aware of that, correct?”
“Yeah,” he rolled his eyes. “Of course—” Last night, how many times had he cut Kazimir off? He hadn’t noticed, but now that it was being brought to his attention, he was replaying the conversation back and…
