Seb glanced over his shoulder. He must have seen Martin’s thoughts on his face because his easy grin turned serious. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Martin pulled himself to his feet, faking a stretch. He was an intruder in all of this, and it was time to go. “It was a long day. I think I’m going to head to bed.”
“Already?” The rest of Seb’s smile faded. “It’s kind of early.”
Martin took a step back. Anxiety thrummed under his skin as the edge of adrenaline from the most dysfunctional dinner he’d ever been to wore off.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He needed some space to think, and despite the sprawling backyard, he wasn’t getting it here. He turned, leaving the Stevenson brothers to themselves.
* * *
The bed was comfortable, but it still wasn’t his. Martin stared at the dark shape of the dresser. He’d been trying to sleep for an hour.
The dinner replayed over and over in his mind. The yelling, the insults, the way Oliver and Seb laughed it all off when it was over. Nervousness spiraled in a loop from his brain to his chest and back again. He shouldn’t have been there, at dinner. He shouldn’t have come at all.
Once again,shouldwas such a useless word.
There was a scraping sound.
“Martin.”
Martin’s breath caught.
“Hey, are you awake?”
He lay still where he was.
The patio door slid in its track, and Martin silently cursed that he hadn’t thought to lock it. He held his breath, then squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of Seb’s footsteps on the carpet.
He was asleep. Seb needed to think he was asleep.
“We’re pretty fucked up,” Seb said quietly. “I can’t even imagine what that must have looked like to you. Zoo animals have better manners than we do.”
“No shit,” Martin said.
“Youareawake!” Seb’s voice rose in the dark.
Martin growled, pulling himself upright against the headboard. He fumbled until he found the lamp by the bed and turned it on. Seb sat across from him in the floral arm chair. Mud streaked the sleeve of his leather jacket, and his feet were bare, but he grinned at Martin. Normally, that grin was charming, but tonight it flared an emotion close to anger in Martin’s chest. He didn’t deserve to feel like this, and it was Seb’s fault for bringing him into such a volatile situation.
“What am I doing here?” Martin let his irritation show. “Huh? Why did you invite me?”
Seb’s smile fell. “I’m sorry.” Shadows played over his face.
“Do you want me here at all? Or was I part of some bigscrew youto your parents?”
“No!”
“What happened to being civil? What happened to leaving at the first sign of someone looking at you funny?”
“Oliver needed me.” Seb twisted his hands in his lap. His earlier frenetic energy vanished.
“To do what? Start a yelling match at dinner? Imply you were sleeping with your brother-in-law? What was it you thought he needed you to do?”
“To be me, okay?” Seb’s features hardened.
“What does that mean?” Martin’s fists clenched against the comforter.
“That’s who I am to them.” He beat at his chest. “The fuck up. Screwed up Sebastian, who can’t be normal, who can’t be like everyone.”
