“You’re mine. I like you.”
That didn’t seem to be enough of a reason. “Well, I like you, too, but it’s so weird that you like me.”
“Come here, little brother.” I rolled over, and he kissed across my cheek and searched out my mouth. For a long time he sucked at my bottom lip and pressed us together with a barely-there pressure that chased away all my bad feelings. “Gotta take care of this toy. If you’re ever using one of the plugs alone and need to take it out, there’s soap under the sink in the bathroom for them. It won’t trash the silicone.” He dropped another kiss onto my lips.
“ ’Kay. Don’t think that will happen.”
He chuckled and left the bed in a rush, like he was in a hurry to get back to me. “Never say never.”
I flopped onto my back and hugged Spidey. When Casey had said he liked me, it had really sounded to me like he meant helovedme. I gave Spidey an extra-hard squeeze. That was okay, because maybe I was starting to feel like I loved him, too. I glanced toward the light in the bathroom and the sound of running water. He took such good care of me, how could I not?
16
Casey
I’d almost managed to forget about Peter Gaffin. It had been over a month since he was initially arrested. My life had been upended and rearranged in that amount of time—for the better. The brakes had been pulled on my Big Brother fun last night when Angel had leaned against my back while I was washing the last of the dishes from dinner. He’d held on to me with his good arm—the lump of his cast pressed against my spine as a cold reminder of how he’d gotten hurt. He’d told me his lawyer, Mr. Weston, had called and said Peter was considered well enough to be released fully into police custody. Apparently that meant they were now proceeding with his arraignment.
“Dad will need me in court,” he’d said, serious as anything, while he’d huddled against me, as if that bastard Peter deserved to have someone as sweet as Angel sitting on his side of the room.
Fuck that shit.
I’d safeworded, which he never liked, and then argued with Angel and tried to get him to stay home and relax today—not even go to work—rather than get involved in this clusterfuck. He’d absolutely refused. Our disagreement had escalated toward fight territory, and then I’d given in. I never wanted to repeat what had happened last time we’d gotten into it. After all, this was about Angel’s family, not mine. And the fucking horrible fact was that no matter how much I wished it wasn’t the case, Peter Gaffin was Angel’s father.
I’d have to deal with the truth that Angel was related to that fuck at some point, no matter how much I wanted to ignore it.
After taking us to the brink of a screaming fight with my pushing, I’d tried to move to a supportive role for Angel, and I’d bitten my tongue about how terrible an idea Angel’s involvement at court was. I’d kissed him and told him over and over I was sorry for getting worked up about it.
“I know you want to protect me, Casey bear. Thank you,” he’d whispered against my mouth. Then, he’d kissed me back. It was all his idea to lean his body against mine and lick my lips and love on me. I could still taste the vanilla on his tongue from the ice cream he’d had after dinner. The moment where he’d taken over a kiss between us had burned itself in my brain, and I suspected no matter what happened it would live there forever as the most amazing piece of my life to date.
But now, here I was with Angel, waiting to fucking see Peter Gaffin.
Angel tugged at the tie I’d let him borrow and it both warmed me to know he was decked out partially in my clothes, and irked me that he was fidgeting so much. He obviously wasn’t okay. I slung our winter coats over my left arm and then smoothed his hair off his forehead.
“You’re okay, little brother. I’m right here,” I leaned down to murmur, only for him. He flashed me a tight smile.
“Mr. Weston said they might not give Dad bail. Can they do that? I guess they can do whatever Mr. Weston says.”—he glanced at me and bounced on the tips of his toes—“They’re charging him with public intoxication and assault on a peace officer, and Mr. Weston said that’s a felony, which is a real crime. A bad crime. Like, jail-time crime.” His breath picked up, and I didn’t give a fuck that we were standing in a crowded hallway of the courthouse outside of a courtroom. I circled my arm around his slim waist and dragged him close until his hip bumped mine. At the last minute, we’d had to roll the sleeves on one of Creed’s button-ups to find a shirt that went over Angel’s cast, and he looked impossibly young in the baggy green shirt, even though it was clear he’d tried to dress appropriately for court.
Angel fiddled with his tie again, and I worried he was going to choke himself with it. I chased his fingers away from the fabric and almost dropped our coats on the floor in the process. “Don’t.”
“Sorry, Casey bear.” He lifted his head and attempted to smile.
“You don’t have to be here for this. I can ask someone to pick you up and take you back to the office. Or home. Anywhere you want to go. I’ll sit in for you.” Stress had my stomach churning. “Nev would be here five minutes ago if I asked. She adores you. Plus, she would stuff you with treats.”
He pouted at me. Maybe I should’ve taken this whole bribery tack yesterday, rather than winding him up by telling him he shouldn’t come.Fuck, the real issue was that I should’ve told Angel about what had gone down between me and Peter the second I found out what would be happening today. I’d known all along that I wouldn’t be able to leave my cutie to come to this bullshit on his own. I still hated to think that the monster who’d ruined so much of my younger years was Angel’s father. I kissed the top of his head and my heart hurt for him.
“No, I need to be here,” he said, like he was trying to convince himself it was true.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want, little brother,” I whispered in his ear. “How’s our distraction working?” I’d really considered not doing it, but then again, I’d thought he might need something to remind him there was a world outside the courtroom.
The gloom left him for a brief, shining moment, and he glanced up, all shy. The change that came over him assured me I’d chosen correctly this morning. He actually laughed, and I relaxed a bit.
“It’s a big distraction, actually. Nice. Feels good. You’re right that it’s something else to think about instead of just worry.” He shifted around, and I figured he was testing the fit of the plug in his ass again. My gut ran warm as I thought about him, stretched and waiting. I glanced down at his curvy ass. Knowing he hid such a tantalizing secret from everyone else in the room, except me, was a powerful feeling.
“You did say you like the fullness.” I slid my hand down to the rise of his ass, not venturing into inappropriate territory, and he buried his rosy face against my chest.
“I do, Casey bear.”
I snugged my arm more tightly around him. He’d told me that the plug had distracted him while my sister and Raven visited, and that it had let him focus on something other than his anxiety around strangers. My hope was the toy would do the same today. Part of me worried I’d give him a bad association with sex by dragging it into something like the court case he was already so stressed over, but he’d had such a hard time falling asleep last night. He’d been so worried. I was willing to do anything to make this better for him.
