“He takes care of himself pretty well,” I said. “I'm just backup.”
“Good backup, though,” Soren said, and there was enough warmth in his voice that Luca's grin went absolutely feral.
“Oh shit,” Luca said, looking between us. “Ohshit. You guys are together.”
Soren's face went slightly pink, but he didn't deny it. “Yeah. We are.”
“Finally!” Luca threw his hands up like he'd won a bet. “June, they're finally together. You owe me fifty bucks.”
“I don't owe you shit,” June said. “I said they'd figure it out by the end of the month. We're only halfway through.”
“You bet on us?” Soren asked, sounding somewhere between amused and exasperated.
“Of course we did. The sexual tension was killing us.” Luca turned to me with an expression that was pure mischief. “Sodoes this mean I get free tickets to Wolves games now? Because I'm very supportive of this relationship and would love courtside seats.”
“They're not called courtside seats in hockey, you absolute dipshit,” Soren said.
“Whatever. Rinkside. Glassside. The good seats where I can watch giant men beat the shit out of each other.”
“You can buy tickets like everyone else,” I said, but I was smiling.
“That's cold, Cap. I thought we were bonding.”
“We're not bonding. You're being annoying.”
“I can be both.” Luca slung an arm around Soren's shoulders. “But seriously, I'm glad you two figured your shit out.”
“I'm going to kill you,” Soren said flatly.
“You love me too much.”
“That's debatable.”
June rolled her eyes and picked up her bass case. “I'm going to finish setting up. You two can keep embarrassing Soren without me.”
She headed toward the stage, and Luca finally let go of Soren to follow her. But before he went, he looked at me with an expression that had lost most of its humor.
They bickered their way toward the stage, and I found myself grinning as I watched them go. This was Soren's family—chaotic and loud and exactly what he needed. And the fact that they were letting me into it, even just at the edges, felt like a gift I hadn't earned yet.
The show started at eight, and by the time the band kicked into their first song the bar was packed. I claimed a spot near the back where I could see the stage clearly, and spent the next hour watching Soren come alive in a way that made my chest feel too full for my ribs.
He played like he was exorcising demons, sticks moving so fast they blurred, and the crowd fed off his energy like they could feel what he was putting into it. Between songs he grinned at the audience and made stupid jokes that got laughs, and when Luca dedicated a song to “our boy Soren who scared the shit out of us this week but came back anyway,” the whole bar cheered.
After the set, Soren found me near the bar, sweaty and flushed and looking more himself than he had in days.
“You were fucking incredible,” I said, and pulled him in for a kiss before I could think better of it.
He kissed me back, hard and sure, and when we broke apart there were a few whistles from the crowd. Soren flipped them off without looking and grinned at me.
“Let's go home,” he said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Let's go home.”
The house feltdifferent when we got back. Less like a refuge and more like the start of a thing we were building on purpose. We ordered takeout and ate it on the couch while the sun set over the ocean, and when Soren asked if he could stay another few days I told him he could stay as long as he wanted.
Later, after we'd cleaned up and moved to the bedroom, he curled against my chest and traced patterns on my skin with his fingertips.
“I'm scared,” he admitted quietly.
