Last Summer
“Don’t shut it yet!” Rory obediently waited next to the open hatch of his SUV as I jogged across Ellis’ front lawn with the tequila and triple sec I’d rescued from his kitchen.
We were packing up his essentials to start his move to Houston to live with Shane and Rory.
I couldn’t believe he’d almost left his alcohol behind.
As I got closer to the driveway, my energy flagged, and I slowed. Shit. I kept forgetting I was still recovering.
Rory rushed over and met me. “Overdid it?” He took the bottles, and I grabbed his elbow to steady myself as we walked to the car.
I nodded, my head feeling slightly disconnected from my neck. “I felt fine. Up until I didn’t.”
Rory put the bottles into the rear cargo area of the SUV, then he helped me sit on the bumper.
“You’re still healing. After lunch you should lie down while the rest of us finish packing.
Other than that, we only need to throw out the perishables in the fridge, so I’m hoping we can be on the road in a couple of hours.
” He rubbed his hand through his hair. “Um, I wanted to ask, but not in front of Pia. How does your belly look? Is the scar any better?”
“It’s pretty gnarly.” I wasn’t feeling woozy anymore, so I glanced around to make sure no neighbors were in view, then I stood up.
I turned my back to the street and hiked up the hem of the outer t-shirt I was wearing.
I had a second one on underneath, tucked inside my shorts and underwear.
“The waistband rubs against the scar.” I pulled up the inner t-shirt as well and tucked them both under my chin before yanking down the waistband of my shorts with both thumbs.
The scar made an arc from my bottom left rib to my right pelvic bone. The skin had knitted back together unevenly, and the resulting ridge was as red and angry as it’d been when I woke up last night.
“Fuck, Manny, does it hurt?” Rory reached out as if he wanted to soothe the injury.
Before I could answer him, a giant black Lincoln Navigator turned into the driveway. I dropped my shirts and turned to watch as it came to a stop a few feet from where we stood. Rory nudged me out of the way and shut his SUV’s hatch.
The Lincoln’s door opened, and the driver stepped out.
He was enormous, easily six foot four and covered in muscle.
His bald head was supported by a strong neck, and his shoulders and biceps strained the seams on his tight black t-shirt.
His jeans were equally tight, not hiding the bulge along his left thigh.
When he yanked his mirrored aviators from his gorgeous face, his scowl barely registered.
I was too busy picturing him spread out on my bed while I rode his ginormous cock.
Rory took over the social niceties while my tongue was hanging out of my mouth. “You must be Arch. I’m Rory. Ellis is inside. He’ll be glad to see you.”
Arch gave Rory an up-nod. “You’re the Medium. Nice to meet you.” His tone was completely flat, making it clear he did not find it nice to meet Rory. My lust turned instantly to dislike.
Rory gestured. “This is Manny. Manny, Arch is Ellis’ brother.”
Well, since I wasn’t trying to get in this asshole’s pants, no need to rein myself in.
I cocked a hip and crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow as I gave Arch a slow but dismissive once-over.
Matching Arch’s tone, I said, “You’re the brother.
Nice to meet you.” Rory coughed to hide his laugh. We were friends for a reason.
Arch gave me a once-over back. He almost had the disdain down, but it could’ve used some work. “And what is your... role here?”
I could’ve done this all day, but Rory ran out of patience, snapping, “He’s my best friend.”
Arch raised an arrogant eyebrow. “Best friend must mean something different to you than it does to me, based on what I saw you two doing when I drove up.”
I stiffened, ready to go toe to toe with this fuckwit, when without warning Arch ducked and spun around. He had a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, though I couldn’t have said where they’d come from. “Who’s there?” He scanned Ellis’ yard and up and down the street.
I backed up against Rory’s SUV. “The fuck?”
Rory held up a calming hand. “It’s okay. Sorry about that. My grandfather’s ghost took exception to your comment. Um, usually you would only feel a cold spot, if anything.”
Grandpa gave Arch a smackdown? I grinned. Go, Grandpa!
Arch stared around suspiciously for a few more seconds before making his gun and knife vanish into his pants somewhere. “Your grandfather’s ghost packs a wallop.” He rubbed the back of his head.
Rory told his grandfather to get lost, then he turned back to Arch. “Come on. I’m sure you’re anxious to see Ellis.”
“Yeah. Is he okay?” They started walking across the lawn to the front door, so I followed.
Rory dodged giving him a real answer. “He’s doing a hell of a lot better than I think I would in his shoes.” He opened the front door. “Ellis, you have a visitor!”
“In the den!”
Rory waved Arch into the house.
“Hey, squirt!” I was immediately offended on Ellis’ behalf. Who the hell calls their adult sibling “squirt”?
When we reached the den, Ellis stood up from where he’d been sitting on the couch. “Arch? What are you doing here?” His expression said he was shocked to see his brother. Which was weird. After what he’d just been through, why wouldn’t Ellis expect his brother to come see him?
“Are you kidding? My baby brother gets kidnapped by vampires, and you think I’m not gonna come check on you?” Exactly what I’d been thinking, but clearly it’d never crossed Ellis’ mind to expect Arch to visit.
“You’re usually so busy saving people. I already got saved.”
“Yeah? You wanna tell me about it? Shit, your neck!” He waved toward his own neck. The two brothers were still more than four feet apart. Neither one made a move to hug the other or even to shake hands.
Pia and Shane were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, staring at Ellis and Arch, game controllers dangling from their hands. Ms. Jackson was in their stuffed tiger form at the far end of the couch, but I still got the feeling they weren’t too impressed with Arch.
“Um, yeah. It’s healing. Oh! Um, this is Shane, and this is Pia. And that’s Ms. Jackson.”
Arch ignored the stuffed tiger, but he did say hello to Shane and Pia.
Okay, this was getting awkward. I cleared my throat.
“Arch, would you like something to drink? We’ve got lunch coming, and there should be enough for you to join us.
” My mother would’ve spanked me with her flipflop if she’d heard me imply he’d better not eat too much, but I didn’t regret it.
Ellis, Ms. Jackson, and I needed the calories more than Arch did.
Arch didn’t seem to know how to respond. “Um, thanks. Some water would be great. Got to stay hydrated.”
Rory put his hand on my shoulder. “You need to sit down. I’ll get waters for all of us.”
Well, good point. I didn’t want to get lightheaded again. “Fine.” I squeezed past Arch to sit in the recliner at the end of the couch next to Ms. Jackson. I crossed my arms and glared at him, silently daring him to keep pissing me off.
Rory made three trips to the kitchen, getting everyone water or iced tea.
Arch sat down in the center of the couch between Ms. Jackson and Ellis, manspreading like he needed to assert his ownership over the space.
I admit I did sneak several peeks at the outline of his dick. I mean, it was right there.
Rory finally sat down in the chair opposite me, next to Ellis’ end of the couch. Arch was back to interrogating Ellis about his health. I saw Shane exchanging grimaces with Rory. Arch was about to get a talking to if he didn’t back off.
He turned toward Ellis. “Glad to hear you’re okay. Tell me what happened? How did you get taken?” The words sounded innocuous, but his tone held a distinct note of victim blaming.
Rory must’ve heard it too, because he reached over and took Ellis’ hand in his. They smiled at each other, but Arch made a face.
“What the hell is this? You’re fucking this guy?”
I sat forward, ready to jump in, but Ellis said mildly, “You know I’m gay, Arch.”
Arch waved his hand dismissively. “Sure, sure. But him?” He pointed at Rory. “When I drove up, he was on the driveway, and that one had his pants pulled down showing your boyfriend his dick.” He pointed his thumb at me.
Okay, enough was enough. I slid to the edge of my chair, glaring at him. “What did you just say?”
Rory told Ellis, “That’s not what happened.”
He smiled. “I know.” He looked at Arch. “Did you not notice this?” He pointed at his belly, then at Rory’s, and then over at Shane. I couldn’t see their connections, but apparently Arch could.
His mouth fell open. “The fuck? You’re involved with two guys at once?”
“It’s called polyamory. Look it up.” I could tell Rory had wanted to add an insulting nickname, but he restrained himself.
Shane paused the game he was playing with Pia, mouthing, “Sorry” at her. He got to his feet and walked over so he was standing between Rory’s chair and the couch. He put his hands on Rory and Ellis’ shoulders. “Is this a problem, Arch? Because our magic is pretty damn happy about it.”
Arch was still recovering from his shock. “Sorry. I didn’t notice your connections earlier. But then why was this guy showing Rory his dick?”
“Arch!” Ellis pointed at Pia. “There’s a child present.”
Pia looked up from where she was flipping through Ellis’ game collection and rolled her eyes.
Arch ignored his brother and turned to me with a snarl. “You trying to break them up or some shit? Because that’s my brother’s boyfriend, and you can’t have him.”
I channeled every bitchy queen I’d ever met, curling my lip and eyeing Arch up and down.
“It’s none of your business, but I’m going to answer your question so Ellis, Shane, and Pia have no doubts about me.
” I addressed Ellis. “When I took the tequila out to the car, Rory asked me if I had a scar from yesterday, so I was showing it to him.” I sneered at Arch.
“For your information, Archi-bald, the vampires grabbed me too, but since I was a pathetic human, they just disemboweled me and tossed me aside.” I stood.
“Which reminds me. I owe Ms. Jackson a treat. Come on, Ms. Jackson. I saw some cookies in Ellis’ pantry. ”
I picked up my ice water, walked to the door, and didn’t look back. But I did laugh at the high-pitched shriek Arch made when Ms. Jackson changed into a live tiger and jumped off the couch.