“Because the internet is such a trusted source,” Samson says sarcastically. “You’ll end up in the hospital with a perforated bowel…”
“Fuck that. I’m young and healthy.” Harley shrugs. “And now you need to either play with the old iron or pick a new token. Or wait until I shit this one out.”
Matthias smirks. “You know, you kind of have to respect the levels Harley will sink to in order to fuck with you, Brother.”
Harley lifts his wineglass in a toast. “To never backing down.”
“Fuck it,” Dalton says abruptly, shoving back his chair, obviously not following along with the current discussion. “I’m going to track Jackson down and see what his deal is.”
Wyatt goes to stand and follow him out of the room, but Matthias’s hand on his nape stops him. “Leave it, Wy. Let them sort it out themselves.”
His lips thin. “Jackson’s just a kid.”
“He’s nineteen,” I point out. “In a few weeks, he’ll be twenty. He’s a legal adult.”
Don’t get me wrong, nineteen is still fucking young. But I think about what I was doing at that age and…
Yeah. I don’t think you can be classed as a kid.
Wyatt cracks his knuckles, glaring at the closed door. “I still don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it,” I say, my gaze sweeping over the table. “But trust me, sometimes you have to let your brothers make their own mistakes.”
Harley grins. “Like swallowing aluminum foil.”
I give him a long-suffering look. “You really need to be thinking about what you’re putting in your mouth.”
“Maybe you should put Jules’s cock in there as well as the food he makes.” Cade snorts.
Samson reaches for his phone. “Never thought I’d say this, Cade, but you’re a fucking genius.”
Harley eyes him with suspicion. “What are you doing?”
“Texting your chef boyfriend,” Samson replies, his thumbs flying over the screen. “Wonder what he’ll think of you daring to eat something so vulgar.”
“He won’t care.” Harley sniffs. “It’s not like that with us.”
That might be more believable if Harley’s phone didn’t immediately start to ring. If he didn’t stare down at it, biting his lip, his cheeks flushing pink.
Cade gestures at Neo and me. “Wylder says the same about these two, you know? But, Harley, you upped your bet in the pool to a hundred k last week, soooo…”
I give Cade a withering look. “I’m straight, remember?”
Beside me, Neo laughs and tries to cover it with a cough.
I ignore him and push on. “And I have a girlfriend.”
My mention of Candace has Cade shifting in his seat. “If you say that name again, I may have to do something drastic…”
Ansel leans over and whispers in his ear as the rest of the room erupts into comments on how they’d take Candace apart. I do nothing to defend her; I just sit here, watching it all.
Harley’s phone rings once more, and he stands up quickly, dipping out of the room with it pressed to his ear. So far, we’re down three players and haven’t even started a game.
I’d love to say this isn’t the norm, but that would be a lie.
It’s always chaos, but it’s not what I want right now. I want peace and quiet and order.
Suddenly, Neo’s lips are by my ear again, breaking my focus. “You know, if you’re straight and have a girlfriend, why have you been letting me grope your thigh all evening?”
