2 MONTHS LATER
I SWUNG THE door to my condo open before Kelly could knock, fisted my hand in his shirt, and hauled him in for a welcome-back kiss. He’d been gone four long days, doing an ad shoot in the Caribbean, but it was like no time had passed at all. His skin was warmer, and I could almost smell the salt from the beach in his hair, and none of that made me at all jealous that I’d had to stay here for a jam-packed week at Astor. Really.
“Now that’s a greeting,” Kelly murmured against my lips, walking me inside and kicking the door shut behind him. “Miss me?”
“Not at all.” I’d never be able to hide my grin even if I wanted to, and why would I? He was all mine.
His skin was a shade darker than it had been when he’d left, and as I ran my hands down his arms, I found myself biting down on my lip. “I can’t wait to trace whatever tan lines you’ve got goin’ on with my tongue.”
“Why wait?” He lowered his head back down to mine, just as an unwanted voice filled the air.
“Oh, for God’s sake, can you not?”
I didn’t take my lips off Kelly’s as I waved Gavin off. “Go to your room, Gav.”
“How about you two get a room,” he grumbled, walking past us to the kitchen. “Somewhere I can’t hear you through the walls would be great.”
“Your room isn’t even near mine.”
Gavin grabbed a container out of the fridge and tossed it on the counter with a loud smack. “No. It’s not. That’s what makes it worse.”
Someone was in a mood today.
Kelly lifted a brow, glancing at Gavin, and I rolled my eyes, knowing what it was he wanted. What I wanted was apparently something that would only send my brother over the edge, though, so I sighed, untangling myself from Kelly, but keeping our hands linked as I led him to the kitchen island.
With fork in hand, Gavin speared a grilled chicken breast a little harder than necessary, and I was tempted to take the utensil from him in case he decided to get a little stabby. Not that he would. My brother wasn’t usually prone to violence—he left that for my friends.
“Anything you want to talk about?” I asked, watching him plate the chicken, put it in the microwave, then slam the door shut.
“Nope.” Gavin leaned back against the counter, drumming his fingers along the edge as he looked at Kelly. “How was your trip?”
“Really good,” Kelly said, giving him an easy smile. “Sure beats the hell out of winters here.”
Ugh, he didn’t need to remind me. We’d gotten an early blast of several inches of snow while he was gone, which wasn’t a good sign of what was in store for the next few months.
“What was the ad for?” Gavin asked.
“Tiny-ass swimsuits.” When Gavin snorted, Kelly shook his head. “I’m serious. They barely covered my dick. We had to get creative with the shots, so expect to see a lot of my ass.”
“Already do,” my brother muttered as he popped the door on the microwave and took the plate out.
Ignoring Mr. Grump, I hooked my finger in the waist of Kelly’s pants and tugged him toward me, not wanting any space between us after missing him for so long. “Well, I can’t wait to see it. Have I mentioned I’m so proud of you?”
A beaming grin lit Kelly’s face. “You might’ve mentioned it once or twice.”
More like a hundred, but who was counting? I couldn’t help it, though. In the couple of months since Atticus had done us the favor of being an asshole who spilled our secrets, it’d turned out sex was in. Brands weren’t shying away from using models and celebrities who were comfortable with their bodies and open about what they liked behind closed doors. It was giving them a sort of edginess, and though I’d seen a boost in jobs, it was nothing like the kind of attention Kelly was getting right now.
And I couldn’t be happier for him. He’d more than paid his dues, and he deserved every good thing coming his way—including the money, which he’d been squirreling away like it would disappear.
“I can’t help it. You’re doing so good. I told you that once people got a look at you, they wouldn’t be able to look away.”
“As long as you don’t look away, I’m good.”
“Oh, for the love of God…” Gavin groaned. “You were only gone four days. Not four weeks.”
I cut a glare in his direction, wondering what in the hell was the matter with him. He was never this mouthy, or this moody, for that matter. Clearly something was bothering him.
Just my luck it was the day Kelly came home.
“Is something going on, Gav? Did Joey blow you off again last night?”
My brother looked up at me from the bite of food he’d just heaped onto his fork. “Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know, you just seem a bit…pissed off at the world.”
Kelly snorted and shook his head. “So subtle, Donovan.”
“What? He does. I mean, Jesus, is it a crime I’m happy to see my boyfriend?”
“No, but it should be a crime that I’m going to have to hear you welcome him home for the next twelve hours,” Gavin retorted.
I was just about done with his surly attitude. “You know, if you hate living here so much, why don’t you move out?”
“Oh, okay, and where would I go? Back home with Mom and Dad? You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” I fumed. “I’ve been begging Kelly to move in for the last couple of months, and you know what? I think he’d say yes if you weren’t here giving him such a hard time every time he stayed the night.”
“Okay, boys.” Kelly put his hands up. “There’s no need to bring me into this.”
“Tell me it’s not true, then,” I said. “Because I can’t think of any other reason.”
“Donovan, I told you—”
“That you weren’t going to move in with me right away, I know. But that’s because it was too soon and you wanted to make sure I didn’t get sick of you.” I reached for his hand and brushed his palm over my erection. “Does it feel like I’m sick of you?”
“See?” Gavin pointed his fork at us. “This is what I mean. You can’t have one conversation without making it…sexual. It makes me—”
“Jealous?”
“Want to gag.”
“That’s not my problem.” I smirked. “But you might want to work on that for Joey.”
Gavin’s expression turned stormy then. His grey eyes resembled thunderclouds.
He was good and pissed. I couldn’t remember the last time he and I had gone head to head, but we seemed about due.
“You know what, you’re right. I do think it’s time we had a bit of space.”
Really? I mean, if he wanted to move back in with Mom and—
“Daire has a spare room. I’ll move in with him.”
My eyes widened, and then I burst out laughing. “Daire? Good luck with that.”
“I’m serious. He’s got a room. So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
I’d known Gavin was over Kelly and I being all heart eyes and handsy, but really? Daire?
“Gavin,” Kelly said. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to leave because of me. I don’t want to kick you out of your place.”
That Kelly was now apologizing for showing me affection made me want to drag Gavin out of there and kick his ass. How long had I been putting up with him and Joey? Granted, they weren’t the showy types, but that wasn’t my fault. If he wanted to engage in a little PDA, I wouldn’t stop him.
“You’re not kicking me out.” Gavin looked back at me. “You and Kelly are great together, but if you want to move in together, then I need to go.”
“But—”
“I need to go.” He picked up his plate and made his way around the counter. “I’ll talk to Daire later today.”
As he disappeared up the hall, I turned back to Kelly, whose mouth was hanging open.
“Wow.”
“Right?”
“Your brother hates me so much he’s willing to live with Daire.”
A burst of laughter escaped me as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I don’t think it’s you he has a problem with. He’s always been shyer and more reserved than me, so it wasn’t a problem for me that he had Joey. But I’m not like that. I like to show affection and touch you wherever and whenever I want.”
“No…” Kelly chuckled, winding his arms around my waist. “I hadn’t noticed that about you.”
“So was I right?”
“Hmm?”
“The reason you haven’t said yes to moving in is because of Gavin.” He grimaced, and I let out a groan. “Seriously?”
“Can you blame me? I could tell he wasn’t thrilled whenever I stayed over, so I knew he’d freak out at the idea of my moving in.”
“And you didn’t think to maybe mention that? I thought you didn’t want to live with me.”
Kelly smoothed his hands down to my ass and gave it a firm squeeze. “Now what would give you that idea?”
“Um, maybe the fact you kept saying no every time I asked?”
“Well, now I’m saying yes.” Kelly hiked me up his body, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he crossed the living room. All thoughts of Gavin and Daire were far, far from my mind as he headed up the hall to my—soon to be our—bedroom and kicked the door shut. “And in a few minutes, you’re going to be screaming it.”
