“What?” Jayne asked. “I’m starting to think I’m taking crazy pills. My friends just gave me the same treatment online that you’re giving me right now. What’s going on?”
Exasperated, Shep tugged his hood over his head and yanked the drawstrings tight.
“Um?” Jayne arched a brow, but it seemed Shep wasn’t interested in answering his question. Behind him, Everett and Caleb had locked down their expressions as well. None of them were talking, but it was clear that something was going on. Jayne wasn’t going to let that shit slide. “Okay, you’re not getting out of this so easily. Spill.”
“It’s nothing big,” Shep said from inside his hoodie, putting on a tough-guy act that was belied by the way he was hiding. “I popped a knot this morning, okay? That’s it.”
Jayne’s eyes widened.
“In the shower,” Shep rushed to add. “Not when I was in the bed with you. I’m not a pervert, Jayne. It just sort of happened, so whatever. I guess I’m an alpha now, and not a beta like everyone thought I was going to be. So, cool, I guess.”
“Caleb and I noticed the change on our fishing trip,” Everett explained. “It’s not such a big deal.”
“It’snot,” Shep agreed emphatically.
Caleb shrugged. “It’s part of growing up.”
Shocked, Jayne looked between the three of them. Over the last month, Shep had warmed to Caleb and Everett, but the thaw had been so subtle that Jayne had barely noticed. It was, Jayne assumed, largely due to the fact that now that Shep was done with school for the summer, he had ample time to spend vetting Caleb and Everett to his satisfaction. When Caleb had mentioned while they were on the way out the door earlier that day that he and Everett were taking Shep on an impromptu fishing trip, Jayne had found it odd, but had chalked it up to Shep finally coming to terms that Caleb and Everett were good people.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
Jayne didn’t buy that his cynical brother had agreed on a whim to go out fishing with two men he distrusted. The details didn’t add up. If Shep had popped his first knot in the shower earlier that morning, then he’d either gone immediately to Caleb and Everett to fretfully ask them for guidance, or Caleb and Everett had noticed the change before the fishing trip and taken it upon themselves to drag Shep onto the open water where they could talk to him without fear of being overheard. Whatever the truth, the outcome was the same—Shep’s bond with Caleb and Everett was stronger than it’d been before, and the three of them now stood in unspoken solidarity with each other.
The thought twined through Jayne’s heart like netting, ensnaring him from the inside.
Caleb and Everett had helped Jayne’s prickly, irritable, abrasive little brother through one of life’s unexpected surprises, and they hadn’t done it out of obligation or debt. They owed Shep nothing, yet they’d taken him under their wing and helped him feel more comfortable and confident in himself. Not only that, but neither of them had said a word about it to Jayne. If Shep hadn’t stepped forward to volunteer the information, Jayne never would have suspected that anything had changed.
Even after the hard time Shep had given Caleb and Everett, they hadn’t let Shep’s attitude stand in the way of doing what was right. Caleb and Everett cared, and they showed it in everything they did.
“So we’ve been talking about stuff, okay?” Shep peeked out from inside his hoodie, fixing Jayne with a hard glare. “Stuff like what it means to be an alpha.”
Jayne raised an eyebrow, playing his unaffected, sarcastic self even as his heart brimmed with joy. “So to be an alpha, you have to learn how to scale, gut, and clean a fish?”
“No.” Shep’s eyes narrowed into razor-sharp slits. It was the kind of look that only teenagers could muster—the kind that told Jayne without words that he was an ignorant asshole for not being able to read Shep’s mind. “It means stepping out of your comfort zone and stepping up to the plate to do what you need to do, even if you don’t want to. So I’m going to get back to scaling the fish so we can eat tonight, okay? It’s not a big deal.”
A man of his word, Shep returned to preparing the fish.
For a moment, Jayne said nothing—he simply observed. Try as Shep might to underplay what had happened, popping a knotwasa big deal. The little brother that Jayne had cared for like he was his own was growing up. Shep’s childhood was ending, and the next stage of his life was about to begin.
“I can feel you staring, by the way,” Shep grumbled. More scales flew. “I’m not some sideshow act, okay? You don’t need to stare. I’m the same as I was before. It’s not like popping a knot changed me into a different person or anything. I’m the same as I was yesterday.”
Everett raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Jayne hid a smirk by looking down at Parker, who was determined to latch onto Jayne’s shirt and never come off. Jayne spent a while stroking his small but sturdy hands with a single finger, enjoying how little he was. One day he’d grow up, but until then, Jayne made a promise to himself to enjoy the time he had.
“Hey,” Caleb said. He nudged Shep with his elbow. “You missed a spot.”
The same look that had almost sliced Jayne open took a stab at Caleb. “Don’t argue with the man with the knife, okay?”
Heavy silence fell. Jayne glanced at Caleb to see how he was taking the threat, fully expecting Caleb to fire back with snark that would get him stabbed, but to his surprise, Caleb’s mouth twisted, and he choked back a laugh. It was like he didn’t think he was in mortal danger.
Then Shep laughed, too.
The sound filled the kitchen until it choked out the tension in the room, and everything returned to normal. Everett came up behind Caleb, squeezed his ass, and put his chin on Caleb’s shoulder. Beside them, surprisingly unperturbed by their affectionate display, Shep continued to prepare the fish. Conversation resumed, laughter continued, and from beneath Shep’s hood, Jayne thought he saw Shep smile.
Parker, who was starting to grow restless, grabbed a handful of Jayne’s shirt and tugged. While Jayne struggled to redirect his focus, Caleb left Everett with Shep and came to stand by Jayne’s side. “Can I?”
Not sure what to say, Jayne nodded, and no sooner had he than Caleb took Parker from his arms and expertly tucked him against his chest. Parker looked up at him with wide eyes, then cooed and laughed.
“Fussy little man,” Caleb said with great affection. “You giving your dad a hard time?”
