Page 30 of Saving Wyatt

“Huh?” Ari asked back.

“Since when do you love cooking?” Warren said a little louder.

Ari shrugged. “Since always.”

“Then why the hell are we eating takeout all the time?”

Ari’s cheeks went red, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before any sound came out of it. “Because…I’m always tired from work. You can cook too, you know.”

“But I don’t love cooking,” Warren said, making sure to drag the word love to make his point.

I pulled the plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage closer to me, and I started eating while watching my brother and his roommate argue about Ari’s statement.

What an odd pair.

“Does that mean if I help out at the van you can make me all the Greek food to fill my tummy twice over?”

“Tummy? Really? What are you? Five?” Ari grimaced. “And when you become a doctor and can do all the stuff I do, sure. Until then, eat your damn pizza and shut up.”

I chuckled, but when Ari turned to look at me, I started coughing to cover it up.

“You’re so cold and cruel,” Warren whined, and I rolled my eyes internally. Or so I hoped.

He was acting like a child. Then again, he’d always been a child in my eyes. He was so much younger than me. I didn’t know if there would ever be a time I wouldn’t see him as a child, even if I lived long enough to see him turn gray.

“Oh, you want to talk about cold, do you? How about your feet being so cold last night that I needed a separate blanket to put between you and me!” Ari sat back and pursed his lips.

I couldn’t quite tell if he was being playful or downright annoyed.

Warren huffed. “You’re gonna talk about my feet when your ass cheeks were the temperature of the fucking ice age?”

Ari gasped. “How dare you!” He slapped Warren.

His ass cheeks?

Had they…had they been sleeping naked in the same bed? What on earth…

The sharp sound of skin on skin echoed across the kitchen, and Warren hissed.

“Ooh, slap me harder, Daddy,” Warren cooed, making eyes at Ari, and I sat back.

Were they…were these two an item? I had no idea if they were being bros or boyfriends. It was hard to tell the difference sometimes. Especially when stuck in the middle of a desert with adrenaline and testosterone going through the roof and no proper way to let off some steam.

But this seemed more than banter. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because Ari wasn’t in the Forces, or maybe they simply reminded me of Dare and me. Of how we were in the privacy of our homes. A little playful. A little irreverent. A little hot.

Ari slapped Warren again, and he moaned before Ari ruffled Warren’s hair and returned to his meal, mumbling something I didn’t catch.

Maybe it was an “I love you.” Maybe it wasn’t. I had no idea. What I did know though, was how ironic it would be if Warren was gay too.

I’d been trying to hide this secret of mine all my life. Wouldn’t it be just the best joke if Warren was gay and so comfortable in his own skin that he didn’t even feel the need to come out?

I shook my head and looked down at my plate.

If these two were an item, that was an even bigger reason to stop my errant thoughts. I couldn’t be lusting after my brother’s boyfriend.

Figured I’d have the same taste in men as my brother, of course. Life loved to play cruel jokes like that. As if I hadn’t had enough cruelty these past few months to last me a lifetime.

No. I couldn’t let myself get carried away by Ari and his sweet smile, his manly features, and the eyes that felt like they could see inside my soul. No. I was homeless, jobless, clothes-less. Those were things to concern myself with. Not silly crushes as if I were a fifteen-year-old.