Page 14 of Risky Taste
Blowing out a deep breath, I shove the phone back into my pocket and turn to start setting up the table. “Noah, are you okay?” Logan whispers in my ear as he grabs one of the plates from me.
“Never better,” I mutter and then I suck in a breath, realizing that I’ve just built up the very walls I said I’d let Logan through. “I… not now?”
Logan hums his response as if my answer was the right one. Kurt and his other buddies are joking around, some of the other guys filtering into the house like they belong here. Declan is in the mix, his gaze firmly fixed on me, following me like a beacon but I just stay true to my task.
The problem is that the growing noise in this small space and Kurt’s voice is starting to grate on my nerves. Still, I bunker down, grabbing plates of pancakes and bacon to set in the middle. Logan’s fingers brush mine, a subtle graze across my hip from Declan, and Sebastian’s fierce green eyes follow me across the kitchen while the others are practically immune to my presence.
By the time I set the last plate of food on the table, my body is strung tight. Three pairs of heated eyes track me as I take my seat, the others swiping plates and disappearing outside so it’s just the men I’ve had in my bed and my brother, none the wiser.
He’s still absorbed in his world, throwing out retorts and bringing up memories that the other three engage in, each time one of them glancing over to catch my gaze. It’s overwhelming. I take a few bites of bacon, staring at the fluffy carbs and wondering if I’d be able to stomach that or if it’d end up in the toilet later. One stern look from Sebastian has me breaking off a small bite and stuffing it in my mouth.
Kurt breaks the silence after slamming his glass down on the table and reaching over to squeeze my shoulder. The force jolts me, a flare of pain sparking down my spine. “Hey. You still tutor?”
I frown, a second bite of pancake halfway to my lips. “Uh. Yeah?” I’ve offered remedial lessons before—soldiers returning to college. Something to kill the boredom when my own life felttoo quiet. I haven’t done it in years, though, the skills rusted over, buried under the weight of my relapse. “Why? Who’s going back to school?”
Kurt jerks his head toward his buddies, a grin splitting his face. “Seems these fuckers are laying down their uniforms for a bit. You up for that?”
I stare at him, then at Sebastian, my stomach plummeting. He’s serious. Sebastian sits there, hair mussed, skin still flushed from last night, a mirror to the mess I must be. My brother’s oblivious, chattering on about eggs and plans, blind to the truth staining the air between us. Logan knows and Declan seems like he does.
Logan was upstairs, saw the wreckage of me, the way Sebastian’s hands held me together when I couldn’t stand. My cheeks heat and I drop my eyes to my plate. The food swims in my vision, a greasy smear I can’t stomach to take another bite of.
“All three of you?” There’s no way my luck is this twisted. Or maybe it is. I can’t tell anymore, can’t untangle the dread from the flicker of want curling in my gut. Not one of them mentioned it but that could have been because there wasn’t time to while I was spiraling.
“Yeah, Noah.” Declan’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “Our Staff Sergeant mentioned that we were home for good for a while and none of us finished our degrees. Little rusty on the math.”
The few years we spent at college ended when they decided to enlist. I finished my degree, going further to complete my medical education as well. It never dawned on me that they’d want to continue when they got the chance because Kurt never brought it up. And he’s not bringing it up now. He didn’t finish either and there seems to be no desire to.
I drag my bottom lip between my teeth, glancing up to meet Declan’s gaze and realize it’s a mistake. Those feelings from years ago, fleeting as they were, are still there, swirling throughhis dark eyes.All three of them want me.It’s an odd thought and one I’m not entirely ready for, even if my fantasies are running wild. So, I clear my throat and plaster on a smile. “I suppose?”
Kurt grins, his teeth flashing as he starts gathering the others’ plates. “Great. They’ve got classes next week. Saw the posted schedule at work and you’re off which is perfect. See where they’re at. I’m going to go check out the training and help out with some of the new recruits.”
I took off those days to spend with my brother, to welcome him home but that was never going to happen. We aren’t those kind of brothers. Am I happy that he’s back? Absolutely. But any more than that, I’m not sure why I thought the free time would bring back the connection we had when we were kids.
Kurt heads to the kitchen with a stack of dishes and I sag back against my chair, looking between the three of them, wondering how I ended up in this situation. Logan’s hand cracks against the back of Declan’s head. “Fix your fucking face. You look like you’re going to eat him.”
Sebastian shifts closer on my other side, his chair scraping the floor as his hand finds mine under the table. I frown, wondering what’s going on when he glances toward the kitchen and then leans forward to press a kiss to my temple. That’s when it dawns on me that that email had several addresses, one of which would have been Sebastian’s. They weren’t as close but he still knew Ronny and his family.
“Right.” My voice squeaks, a pitiful sound I try to cover by clearing my throat. “Math?”
No one pushes me to explain, each of them staring back at me with sloppy grins stretching across their faces. I know they’re serious about college, about dusting off their degrees, but I also know the line I’ve scratched into the sand will crumble completely.
Declan throws his hands behind his head, that sloppy grin turning into something deviant. “Yes,math, Bunny.”
My breath catches in my throat at the name they used to call me, a name Kurt’s never heard. It was a joke, something I used to hate, and then slowly looked forward to hearing. And then when Declan called me that as he fucked me within an inch of my life, I felt owned in the best of ways. It felt different then, that name whispered like a promise in my ear as he filled me.
Hearing it again has my cock pressing against the seam of my sweatpants, my nostrils flaring as I sit forward. My throat closes around a moan, the sound fighting to break free as my body betrays me. God, I forgot how easily they break me. “Right. I’ll set up some times with you guys and then we’ll go from there.”
“How’s 8:30 am tomorrow,Bunny?” Declan purrs. “I’m more of a morning person than these two fuckers and I found a café a few streets over I really wanna try. Something about a pistachio latte.”
I tilt my head to the side, trying to understand his angle. “You want to go to a coffee shop to study math? We can just do it here.”
He shakes his head, Sebastian’s fingers tightening around me. I suspect he’d drag my hand to his lips if Kurt wasn’t in the house. “Babe, we want to get you out of the house, not keep you cooped up here.”
I know I’m not going to win here so I just agree. Besides, what could possibly be so bad about meeting a guy I obviously still have feelings for at a coffee shop to study math?
Chapter nine
NOAH
