Chapter 15
Gregor
I wasn’t sure what I was in for when I spotted Olly waiting for me at the docks when the ship came in. His face was unreadable, too, which was never a good look on Olly’s usually grinning mug. I checked my phone as I waited for us to finish docking, but there weren’t any missed messages from him.
It was only ten, though, not even time for him to be at the shop yet, so maybe he wanted to prepare me for something that had happened there. I kept waiting for him to look up and make eye contact with me while we were waiting to offload, but he never did. He barely glanced at me when I reached his side, just turned and jerked his head down the dock, so I followed him.
“I need to move out of my mother’s house before she ruins my life worse than she already has,”
he said once we were out of earshot of the rest of the crew. “I was wondering if I could stay with you and August for a few days. I swear I’ll be out of your hair just as soon as I can find an apartment. I just can’t take anymore of her shit.”
“What happened now?”
“The brand-new washer somehow sprung a leak that sent water all over the kitchen floor, and of course it happened when I was doing my laundry which made it my fault and my responsibility. So I cancelled the date I had with Everett so I could stay home and clean up the mess and dry everything to her specifications. Then, since it was late and she couldn’t use the kitchen because I’d flooded it, she sent me out to get supper, and of course I run into Ever in the process. He took one look at me with takeout from Zesty Pandas, shook his head, and walked away before I could explain what the hell was going on.”
“Don’t know what to tell ya,”
I replied, because I really didn’t.
I’d told Olly months ago to get out of there and move back into his old room at Mom and Pops’ place. It was the guest bedroom now, but I knew they’d prefer having him back there than him continuing to stay with her. I just didn’t get why my usually reasonable brother was being so stubborn about it.
“Did you try texting him?”
I finally asked when he didn’t say anything.
His response to that was to snarl at me and start stalking down the dock again.
Guess I’d have to go back and grab my bag later.
“Why should I be the one to have to text him when he’s the one who walked away?”
Olly snapped. “If he’d just given me a moment, I’d have told him exactly what had taken place and who the food was for, though I doubt knowing would have made things much better. Not after Mom threatened to ruin Everett’s business if he didn’t stay away from me. I swear to you, Gregor, if I find out that she had anything to do with what happened three hours later, I will never speak to her again.”
“I wish you’d stop speaking to her now and save yourself the headache of waiting for the next bit of dumbassery before you cut her out of your life.”
I knew my words had poked at a sore spot, but I wasn’t sorry. How could I be when I saw the way her words and actions had cut my brother apart over the years? Some parents just weren’t worthy of the love and loyalty their children showed them, and she happened to be one of them. I was just glad to see Olly waking up to what we’d been telling him for years. That she was toxic and only interested in Oliver when she thought there was something he could do for her. I know he kept hoping to feel genuine love and affection from her, but she wasn’t capable of it. That might be a shitty thing to think, and I’d refrained, so far, from saying it to his face, but I’d come close a couple of times and would never be able to keep the words in check if he was running the risk of losing his mate.
“Olly, what happened three hours later?”
I asked as we reached the far end of the dock, and the stairs down to the beach that ran along the front of our shop.
It looked like Olly was in the mood to walk the mile this morning, instead of wade through the crowded fish market to reach the parking lot where he’d no doubt left his car. Guess we’d both have things to come back for later.
“A lady came storming into the chocolate shop with a box of candy she’d purchased earlier in the day. She claimed there were ants in the orange nougat. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what else went on. I wouldn’t even have known about that if Old Margo hadn’t dropped in to buy another of your seagulls and told me all about what she’d overheard when she was in the bakery. She brought me a blueberry cheesecake Danish this time, it was amazing. You’ve gotta cut down on carving new seagulls, she brings me a new treat each time you put one in the window. I’m gonna be fat as hell by the time she buys them all.”
“How is it that I’m doing all the carving and you’re getting all the treats?”
I asked, raising an eyebrow at him when he met my gaze, shrugged, and giggled.
“Maybe it’s ‘cause you never smile at her when she comes in?”
he suggested.
“Pff, I never smile at anyone.”
“You smiled at August, well, you tried to anyway. It was more like a half a smile, and kinda awkward, but you tried,”
he offered before nudging me with his shoulder.
I chased him a few steps, until some of the somberness bled from his face and he looked more like my brother again.
“It was easy to smile at August,”
I told him as we resumed regular walking speed again. “My soul and my wolverine knew he was mine before the rest of me smartened up and took notice.”
“When you talk about him, you look as happy as I used to feel,”
Olly said wistfully.
“That should tell you something right there,”
I replied. “Take the spare key and take the day off. You know where the spare bedroom is. I’ll text August and let him know you’ll be staying there for the foreseeable future. Don’t feel like you have to rush to find a place. Take your time to find the right one, or better still, take the time to work things out with your mate so that when you do move out it will be to move in with him.”
His shoulders straightened and he cast a look over his shoulder and smiled a real Olly smile at me.
“Thanks, bro,”
he replied. “Have I told you that you are the best big brother of the batch?”
“Have I reminded you lately just how much I hate it when you call me bro?”
I asked in response, acknowledging the sentiment he’d intended without us having to make a big deal of it.
He giggled and I chased him a little more just to make my point, then checked my phone, because I hadn’t received so much as a text from August regarding the incident and he hadn’t spoken to me about it through our new mental link, though it had been dimmer in the morning after we’d established it, when there was no longer so much adrenaline coursing through us after my accident.
“Hey, Olly, when did all of this happen, with the threat and the chocolate and all of that?”
I asked, a bit curious about why August wouldn’t have mentioned it to me.
Now that I thought about it, he hadn’t really been talkative last night, either. He’d said goodnight, and warned me not to forget to be careful, but that had been the extent of the conversation. I’d chalked it up to the strain of trying to maintain a conversation over such a long distance when we were so new to communicating that way, and hadn’t bothered trying my cell phone, since there had only been sporadic bars where we were.
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yup.”
“Morning? Afternoon?”
I asked, fishing for specifics.
“Hmm, umm, Margo came in right after we opened, so it must have happened right before that, the Danish was still warm and gooey.”
“We will come back to how you get all the treats when I’m the one in the back risking digits doing all the carving,”
I reminded him.
Of course, he just scoffed and waved a hand at me. “I already told you. Besides, the ladies at the bakery love you. I bet you could get whatever treat you wanted if you just knocked on the back door and grinned at one of them.”
“Did you not just point out how awkward any attempt at a smile looks when I try it?”
I reminded him.
“No, I said that the first time you tried it with August it was awkward,”
he said. “None of your smiles are awkward now. They’re all just genuine and you know, happy. You don’t go around snarling at everyone all the time the way you used to. It’s actually fun coming to work with you.”
Now that gave me a moment’s pause and I caught up to him and turned him so he was facing me again. “You mean it wasn’t before? I thought you enjoyed working there. Olly, if it’s not your thing…”
“Let me stop you right there,”
he said as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. The sky overhead was a brilliant blue streaked with wispy white clouds that lazily drifted along warm air currents. No sign of the storms that had battered our coast remained in the sky this morning. As fate would have it, we’d also come in ahead of the rest of the fleet, which had allowed us to be the first to offload. We’d showered as we’d steamed in to port, having come in three-quarters of a day early, with a full hold and a great payout for every hand onboard.
My share was going to go toward expanding the showroom at the shop. Along with the ideas for figurine and centerpiece collections, my mind had been filled with ideas for chessboards and uniquely themed pieces over the last two days of the trip.
And yes, there was going to be a seagull versus a sandwich board, specifically designed as a wedding gift for my new client’s soon-to-be son-in-law, who was as avid of a chess player as my client. He’d been so enthusiastic in his design ideas for the board that he’d gotten me excited and together, we’d dove into researching types of sandwiches and designing which chess pieces they’d represent.
I’d gotten a good chunk of the sketches started on that one and couldn’t wait to dive back in when I got back home. My morning drawing sessions were much like the time I spent on the beach. Peaceful and easy. I was a mellow wolverine when people left me alone to pursue my silences and passions in peace. August got that, which made him the perfect mate for me. I saw it every time I sat in the corner of his kitchen sketching. That was rapidly becoming my second favorite place to draw.
Thinking about him left me a bit worried about why he hadn’t reached out about what had happened yesterday. Was it because he hadn’t wanted me to get pissed off when I was too far away to do anything about it? I’d have been fuming, too, and pacing the deck, and fussing about the boat not going fast enough, which just would have irritated everyone and pissed my uncle off.
Yeah, now that I thought about it, maybe it was better that August hadn’t said anything. I could see him waiting to tell me when we were face to face, or better still, when he was on my lap with my nose pressed to his neck, where I could listen and breathe in his scent, so I didn’t fly into a frenzy. If that proved to be why he hadn’t said anything then I was going to have to figure out a very special way of thanking my little hedgehog for looking out for me.
“Hey, Gregor!”
“Hmmm?”
“You haven’t heard anything I’ve said for the last two minutes, have you?”
Olly asked.
My brow furrowed as I filtered through the sounds in my head. Gulls, waves, the echo of August’s giggles, the sound his heels made, thumping against the mattress when I tickled him. His soft sighs when he was just on the cusp of sleep were the greatest, though.
Content.
That was the only way to describe the sounds he made when he wiggled down on the bed until just the top of his head poked out over the edge of the comforter. Each sigh was accompanied by a little squirm that ensured that adorable little tushy was pressed right up against my cock. Some nights, I tormented myself by slowly rolling my hips and rubbing my erection against him until he squirmed, hooked his ankle over the back of my thigh, and moaned for me to take him.
The memory forced me to bite back a growl or embarrass myself in front of Olly, who’d already stopped walking and was looking at me funny.
“What?”
I grumbled, brushing at my beard in case I had sand or crumbs in it or something.
“Just lost you again, almost as soon as you started to think about whether you’d heard me or not,”
Olly said. “At this point, I’m going to assume no, but that’s okay, because you were in such a daze, you didn’t even notice me taking pictures of the big goofy look on your face. I know you were thinking about August and totally ignoring our conversation. Before you ask, it totally doesn’t matter if you make me erase them, I’ve already sent them to August with a caption that said, #Siblingfail My brother thinking about his mate when he’s supposed to be talking to me.”
I snorted so hard a seagull screamed at me before it flew away. The next thing I knew, Olly whipped his camera out and practically shoved it in my face to show me the picture he’d taken of me.
I looked high.
My eyes looked glazed, my mouth half hung open even with the faintest bit of a smile trying to tug the corners up, but the thing that shocked me the most was how completely not there I looked when I thought about August.
What could I say, I was already addicted to my mate. I’d follow thoughts of him down a rabbit hole any day, even if it meant having to stay up later to finish my actual work.
“And I’ve lost you again,”
Olly said. “I give up. Don’t even bother coming to the shop and trying to work until you’ve seen your mate. At this point, I’m afraid you’d get so lost thinking of him that you’d cut off a finger. I am good at managing a lot of things, big brother, but I promise you, that will be the one situation where you will have to bandage the finger, dial 9-1-1, and check to make sure hitting the ground didn’t give me a concussion.”
This snort was louder than the previous one, but holy shit, I could just picture the calamity of cutting off a digit with only Olly around to rely on until the EMTs came. A dumpster fire on top of a shit storm, that’s what it would be, especially if I wound up having to calm him down and keep a seagull from gobbling up the tip of my finger before we had the chance to find out if they could reattach it.
“Why is that funny to you?”
“Because I can see it, and the look on Pops’ face if he got there before the EMTs did.”
“He’d laugh, you know he’d laugh, for like, two seconds, then jump straight to lecturing us,”
Olly said.
We laughed the rest of the walk down the beach, then parted ways as he went to put a note on the door of the shop, saying that the showroom was closed today, while I headed to the candy shop to see my prickly mate.