No one knew the guy well—no one except James, who occasionally ate dinner with him and played cards—but he seemed nice enough, and he never complained if guys’ night got a little rowdy and loud.
The guys were set up in the living room, so Derek took Niko right to the kitchen to unload before they went in to make introductions.
“Is your brother here?” Niko asked as he unloaded the boxes of brisket and chicken.
Derek shook his head. “He’s out with a couple of the girls from the shop. Did you want me to call and invite him?”
Niko bit his lip, hiding a smile. “Is it bad if I say no? I just,” he went on in a hurry, like Derek might be offended, “I like getting to know you without him there. Siblings make each other weird.”
Derek couldn’t help his laugh, mostly because it was true. He tended to be a little more withdrawn whenever Sage was around, and it was worse after Ted tried because Derek was always soafraid something would remind his brother of the man he lost and would send him into a spiral.
“I don’t think it’s bad. You’ll like these guys just as much as my brother. They swear a little more, but once they trust you, they’ll always have your back.” Derek grabbed a beer out of the fridge, and Niko grabbed water before following Derek through the sliding door and into the main living area.
Before Derek could begin to make introductions, he felt Niko freeze at his back, and then take a stumbling step away, gasping, “Holy shit!”
Derek frowned, confused for as long as it took to see Mat carving into the fleshy colored foam of James’ prosthetic covering. Niko had all-but crashed into the wall, and his face was turned away and slightly green.
Suppressing a laugh, Derek reached out and touched his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s a fake leg, dude. It’s just foam.”
Niko’s breath hitched, then he opened his eyes and his face blushed so red, Derek worried he might pass out. “Seriously?”
With barely repressed laughter, James lifted his stump into the air. “Seriously. One of the ladies at our shop actually does scarification, but believe me, she only does that shit at the shop in a very sterile room. I wouldn’t let any of these fucks carve me up on this nasty-ass sofa.”
Mat rolled his eyes, his scalpel digging into a curve of sharpie-marked foam. “Dude, this is your sofa.”
“Yeah, and you fucks know I found it outside the dorms last year. It probably has all kinds of pubic lice,” James said with a shit-eating grin.
By then, Niko had calmed, his face fading to a faint pink. He leaned his head in toward Derek and murmured, “I am so mortified.”
Derek shook his head, still grinning. “Don’t worry about it. If I didn’t know better, it would have freaked me out too. His leg looks real as hell.”
Niko looked unsure, but he stepped back up to Derek’s side andlooked around. His eyes immediately found Sam’s chair, though Derek doubted it was obvious who it belonged to. Sam was on the love-seat with his legs stretched in front of him, and James was half-lying on the sofa with both of his in Mat’s lap.
Derek studied him for a moment, but he supposed any sense of immediate discomfort had been dispelled by thinking one of the guys was getting carved up with a scalpel on a dirty old sofa. “Guys, this is Niko.”
“We’ve met,” Mat said with a grin.
Derek rolled his eyes. “He’s Cale and Mat’s gym buddy, and I guess Sage fucks off there too sometimes. Niko, that’s Sam and James.”
Sam stuck out his hand toward Niko, though he didn’t lean forward since by this late at night, his balance was usually shit. “Sorry, my chair’s over there so I’m gonna be rude and not come to you.”
Niko didn’t hesitate as he crossed the room and grabbed Sam’s hand to shake. “No worries. It’s really good to meet you, Derek talked about you guys a lot.”
Watching Niko carefully, it was impossible to miss the way his eyes lingered on Sam, the way they traveled over his features, down his thick arms, over his chest. There was a spark there that was definitely missing from their first date, and where it maybe should have stung, instead it just inspired him.
“You can pop a squat there next to Sam,” Derek told him, grabbing one of the folding chairs and setting it up between the sofa and the love seat. “And the rest of you can get food because I’m not your damn servant.”
James grinned, leaning over to slap his thigh. “Nah. Just delivery boy.”
“Pretty enough to be a rent boy,” Mat added.
Derek flipped them both off. “Fuck you, and go eat before your shit gets cold because I’m not in the mood to listen to you bitch.”
“Yes dad, sorry dad,” James said with a laugh as he hopped up.He shook some of the foam from his leg, then slipped it on and led the way with Mat close behind. Niko rose to his feet, then hesitated as he looked back and forth between Sam and the kitchen.
“Would I be an asshole if I offered to grab you a plate?” he asked.
Derek could see Sam was holding back a chuckle. “Nah, that would be cool. I just want like a huge-ass pile of slaw right on top of the okra, and some of the mac and cheese. Maybe a beer, too. I’m almost out.”
