Blesk and I both squat down beside him.
"Konnor. What's going on?" I ask. As the moonlight hits his face, I'm able to take him all in. The hair on his jawline is long and unkempt and his usually bright and endearing emerald-green eyes are dull and bloodshot.
"He's given up drinking. It's been making him dizzy for a few days now," Blesk says, her concern so deep it's etched into every aspect of her expression.
I turn to watch Max approaching us, a tall silhouette that covers the moon, momentarily casting a shadow overKonnor. Leaning down, he grips Konnor's forearm and hauls him to his feet. Hooking his arm around Konnor's waist, he helps him walk towards the house. I take in a big, slow breath. How do guys go from hostile to helpful in the space of a few seconds?
Once inside, Max guides Konnor over to the couch and Konnor drops down with a grumble. His elbows meet his knees and his hands cover his face. After breathing into them for a few moments, he thrusts his hands through his sandy-brown hair and drags them back down, rubbing his tension away.
"You’re my hero, Butcher," Konnor mocks, but I think there is something other than sarcasm in his voice. "Still don't like you."
Max turns from him. "Good."
As soon as he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door, my heart begins to ache. He's leaving. Stopping by the door, he takes one last look at me.
I stare up at my menace and touch the little cut on his mouth. "Your lip."
He grins wide enough for the dimple on his left cheek to show. "I get hit worse sparring at the gym."
"Either way," I say, glancing at the ground. "I hate what just happened."
He lifts my chin up until my eyes meet his dark, grey ones. "I didn't want to fight with your brother, Little One. But I have zero tolerance towards anyone who gets involved in this thing between us... If he'd been anyone else, he'd be choki?—"
"You could tone down the vulgar things you say."
"I could." He cups my neck with both hands and studies my face. "I will."
I lift a blonde brow at him. "And you've kissed Blesk?"
He softens. "Cassidy.I was just a kid then."
I stroke my nails through the hair on his tattooed forearm. "I didn't like hearing it though. When you said that, it probably hurt me more than it hurt Konnor."
As his hands caress my face, his eyes follow them. Follow them along my warm cheeks. To the swell of my lower lip. To the tip of my nose. He taps my nose softly and I smile that goofy smile. "And I don't want to hurt any part of you," he says.
I sigh, missing him immensely already. "I have to make sure my brother is okay."
He bites back words. "I know," he manages to say with a deep and sexy voice that makes my thighs quiver. He plants a long kiss on my lips. His arms pull my body in to meet his for a moment, tightening on a deep sigh. Then he releases me, leaving me dizzy, and walks out the front door.
Staring at the open door, I feel the physical absence of him all around me. We have become so close and yet, I don't even know where he lives or how to get hold of him. I literally have to wait for him to find me and that makes me feel sick to my stomach—helpless. Insecure.
"Pipsqueak, I'm sorry," Konnor says from the lounge room.
When I make my way back to where he is slumped over the couch, Blesk is now sitting beside him. They both look exhausted.
After everything he went through, Konnor has always needed a kind of inebriation to function normally. He was on prescription medication for a while, but he'd told us that it had made him feel numb. I close the gap between us and slide onto his lap, cuddling his neck. "Forget about what happened out there. I'msoproud of you for giving up drinking." I lean back and measure him up with my eyes. "Howlong has it been?" I glance at Blesk. "How did you get him to stop?"
Blesk gazes at Konnor, her eyes lapping up the sight of him, full of pride and love. "It's been three weeks. The day after we left here... after that horrible conversation about Dustin Nerrock. He poured all his alcohol down the sink. Just like that. And it has nothing to do with me. He wanted to do it. He's my hero."
"Minetoo," I say.
Konnor returns my embrace, his body trembling due to the withdrawal. "It's been fucking hard," he says, his voice weak.
I shuffle off his lap and onto the adjoining seat. "Why didn’t you tell any of us you were going through this?"
He looks to Blesk and shrugs. "I had Duch."
"Thank you so much for being there for my brother, Blesk. You have been so wonderful. I don't know where he found you, but I wanna keep you." I feel myself getting emotional. "We'd all just accepted he'd always be a drinker. Don't say it has nothing to do with you because it does. Thank you."
