“Why?”
Feigned innocence. That was what he saw on Brantley’s face.
“I owe him,” Brantley said by way of explanation. “Consider it payback.”
“For what?”
“Growing up, he was the very annoying older brother.” Brantley’s grin was wicked. “I’ve got a long, long list.”
Reese felt more of the tension ease from his chest. He wouldn’t go so far as to say things were back to the way they had been between him and Brantley, but they were certainly better than he’d expected them to be.
Not that he was getting his hopes up. He knew better when it came to Brantley. Just because Brantley had initiated their tryst earlier didn’t mean a damn thing. Brantley had been up-front with Reese from the beginning. The man had never seen sex as anything more than a means to an end. As far as he knew, Brantley could still be planning to kick his ass to the curb once this was done.
Of course, Reese intended to fight him tooth and nail. Yes, he’d fucked up, but he was a very determined man, and the last thing he wanted was to let Brantley go. Not without a fight.
Chapter Twelve
BABYSITTING.
Brantley wanted him to fucking babysit Magnus.
Why him?
Trey could not believe his brother was forcing him to do this. If he had to guess, the asshole was paying him back for something. Or a lot of things.
Trey rolled his eyes. In his defense, he’d been the oldest boy and the middle child. With three older sisters and three younger brothers, he’d had a specific role. Giving them all shit had come with the territory.
Not that being with Magnus was a hardship by any means. Oh, no. Trey couldn’t get that lucky. His problem was that hewantedto spend time with Magnus, and after having been so adamant about that whole no-strings thing he’d been harping on since they met, it made him … well, it made him needy.
He didn’t want to be fucking needy.
“You okay?”
Jerking himself out of his thoughts, Trey forced a smile, offered a nod in Magnus’s direction. “Good.”
“Your brother wants you to babysit me, huh?”
Trey blew out a breath.
“You should turn down the volume on your phone,” Magnus said with a mirthless laugh. “I heard every word.”
What was he supposed to say to that?
“It’s fine,” Magnus continued. “I’ve got a bunk room in the office. I’ll sleep out there. You can take my bed in the house.”
Fucking hell. They were already talking about sleeping, and it was just now dinnertime. More importantly, Magnus was inviting him to sleep in his bed.
Shit.
“Why don’t we swing through so you can check on the dogs,” Trey told Magnus so he could forget about beds and Magnus, which was only snowballing to include Magnus naked in that bed.
Fuck.
“After,” Trey continued, “we’ll go by some of the places Ava frequents.”
“We can skip the camp,” Magnus said, not looking at him. “Gia’s got it covered.”
“But you said—”
