Cade looked around, and I saw the moment he realized what it looked like from another perspective, and guilt crossed his face as he stepped back, looking as though he were trying to look smaller than he actually was. The sight made me hurt again because I knew how much he hated it when people were afraidof him. I never knew what had led him to join the service, but sometimes I wondered if it was really the place for him. For someone with such a bloody past, he was deep down a kind and gentle man, and the idea that he could strike fear into someone’s heart was sometimes too much for him.
“Mama Bear,” Isaac said with clear affection. “You two are too cute for words sometimes.”
“Gross,” I protested as Cade made a sound of disgust and then looked at me likeI’ddone something wrong.
“Am I...allowed to go now?” Reggie asked calmly.
“I don’t know,” Luka said with a grin. “I’m still waiting to see if Cade manhandles you.”
I blinked, looking between them and smirking. “Actually, I kind of want to see that too.”
“You want to see that in an entirely different way than Luka meant,” Isaac said fondly, stroking the side of my face. “Quit being a pervert.”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t want to see it?” I asked.
“I’m keeping my opinion to myself,” Isaac said, but the look in his eyes told me there was certainly something in his head worth sharing if I could convince him.
“His boyfriend would object to that,” Luka said, who then laughed when every head snapped toward him. Reggie’s hardest of all. “What?”
“You, me, talk, now,” Reggie ground out, pointing toward the door with a jab of his finger. “Move.”
Luka looked at Isaac. “And you?”
Isaac smiled. “Mama Bear isn’t going to rip me limb from limb, and Clay is as much a danger to me as he was the day we met.”
“I...” Luka began, staring at Isaac curiously before shaking his head. “Alright, I’m not even going to try to guess what thatmeans. If you all will excuse me, Reggie is going to try to yell at me.”
“Try?” Reggie grumbled. “You’ve yelled at me more than enough times; it’s my turn.”
“Oh, please do,” Luka said as he walked off. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
“Well,yourboyfriend has made you entirely too smug,” Reggie called as he followed Luka, and whatever he had to say next was cut off by the door sliding shut behind them.
“Are they fucking?” I wondered in bewilderment.
Isaac squinted at me. “I thought you had siblings.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, come on now, Clay. That is the most big brother versus little brother relationship I have ever seen in my life. It’s kind of funny that Luka can be so unsure about handling the Guide portion of his job, but has complete confidence and no fear when it comes to giving his boss hell,” Luka said with a laugh. “He’s going to be a lot more okay than he thinks.”
Cade turned, frowning at both of us. “He called you too?”
Isaac stared back at him, smiling. “Yes.”
“I, uh, kinda said his name and Reggie must have thought I wanted him,” I said, and when silence met my words, I panicked. “I mean, I did, I do want him, but I wasn’t trying to get him to call him because I...because, I’m going to stop talking now.”
Cade narrowed his eyes at us. “What’s goin’ on?”
“He’s using me for my body,” Isaac said in such a plain, inconsequential way that even I looked at him in alarm. He glanced back at me and sighed. “I know you’re not using me for my body; it was a joke.”
“I was about to say,” I said in annoyance, even as I sighed in relief, “it’s not like that at all.”
“It’s likesomethin’though,” Cade said, looking at us suspiciously. “What is goin’ on?”
Isaac eyed him. “Is there a reason you gave me a funny look when I used the Mama Bear name for you?”
Cade looked startled at the change in topic. “I-I guess, ’cause he’s the only one here who calls me that.”
