He pursed his lips. He should tell her. Their father was a violent homophobe who had kept Linc looking over his shoulder for seven years. He didn’t deserve any of their charity. Why would Lacey want to help him? Could Linc even trust her if she hadn’t kicked their father’s ass to the curb the second he’d showed up? Something wasn’t adding up.
“Can I call you later?”
“Whatever.” She hung up without another word.
He needed a few minutes to calm down and join the happy group inside, but Avery’s laughter was turning self-conscious in the face—no pun intended—of Wanda and Vasquez’s ribbing. His fingers swept over the bruises on his cheeks, and Linc strode down the hall, ready to do battle. However, Wanda and Vasquez had already noticed Avery’s discomfort and stopped with the jokes. The whole experience left Linc feeling even more powerless.
Vasquez pulled out a board game. Linc wasn’t much for these, but Avery’s face lit up as they arranged complicated decks of cards and small cardboard circles printed to look like coins.
“I loveThe Midnight Tower. Can I be the merchant?” Avery started stacking the coins into precise piles.
“Vasquez, this is a whole geeky side of you I didn’t know existed,” Linc said.
She winked at him. “I am an ocean.”
“Dragging men to their death?”
“Deep and mysterious.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
She threw a plastic game piece at him. “You can be the peasant.”
As it turned out, the peasant sucked. No money, no special skills. He was only as powerful as the fantasy community the rest of the players built around him.
Fortunately, this particular peasant was sleeping with the merchant, so he had some perks. At first, he thought the coins by his right hand were pieces he’d forgotten to count, but as Wanda and Vasquez got into a particularly vocal argument about whether a knight’s spear was more powerful than an apprentice wizard’s charm, cool fingers brushed against Linc’s hand. As he glanced down, Avery’s hand bumped against his again. Linc went to squeeze it, but instead, Avery quickly slipped something under his palm and then went back to staring straight ahead like nothing had happened. When Linc checked, he found a gold piece with a big “50” printed on it.
He leaned over to whisper in Avery’s ear. “What’s that for?”
Avery grinned. No amount of bruising could hide his shy pleasure as he softly replied, “Buy yourself something nice.”
Linc left the piece on the table so he could brush Avery’s thigh. “Is this a bribe?”
“What would it get me?” Avery shivered against his cheek.
“How’s your pain?” He worked a little farther up Avery’s leg. The muscles there shifted and clenched under his progress.
“On a scale of one to ten, above my neck it’s about a four. Below though...” He took in a shaky breath.
“Yeah?” Linc leaned in closer.
“There’s this...It’s like it’s throbbing and—”
“Stop getting your boy cooties all over my table!” Vasquez shouted.
Linc growled, even while his heart surged at the feeling of Avery curling into him like he could shield them from Vasquez’s laughter and teasing eyes.
“I think they’re really adorable,” Wanda said.
“They’re so cute it’s disgusting,” Vasquez agreed.
“They’re also cheating.” Wanda pointed at the fifty disc on the table.
Avery sat up, eyes wide. “No, I—”
“Scott, the kept man is a good look for you, I’m not gonna lie.”
“It’s not like that,” Avery said.
