Page 50 of Merrick

“Yes,” he answered. “Merrick is…there’s no other way he could be, I don’t think.”

“When do we get to meet him?” Micah asked.

“That’s the same thing Justin said.”

Keith cleared his throat from the hallway and both of them turned. Wilder took in Keith’s flushed cheeks and swollen mouth, the dark clumps of his eyelashes and his bedraggled hair.

“Is lunch ready?” he asked.

“It is.”

“I’ll help,” Keith said. “Wilder, go sit. Please.”

Wilder would never not be in awe of the dynamic between his three friends, with Micah submissive to Justin and Keith, and Keith submissive to Justin but dominant to Micah.

“As you command,” he said with a smile, offering Keith a mock bow which only caused the red on his cheeks to darken.

“Please,” Keith murmured.

Wilder kissed him on the forehead on his way out, the same greeting he’d given Micah. In the dining room again, he found Justin still in his seat, the only difference was his laptop was now closed and pushed toward the center of the table.

“Everything okay?” he asked, taking the same seat he’d occupied earlier.

“Perfect. Were they both polite?”

“Always.”

Micah and Keith were not far behind, bringing the plates Micah had prepared and following up with drinks, and then the four of them were seated at the table and three sets of eyes were on him.

“What?”

“They just want to know about Merrick,” Justin said. “We’ve known you for years, and I don’t think you’ve ever dated anyone.”

“That can’t be right.”

“It is,” Keith said, smiling before sinking his teeth into a potato chip.

“He’s a tattooer,” Wilder said. “An amazing artist. He paints, has a younger brother. He’s from back east.”

“How old is he?”

“Mid-twenties.”

Micah huffed out a breath.

“I’m not that old,” Wilder countered without preface. “Just because all of you are dinosaurs.”

“Oh, please.”

“I met him at Rapture,” he went on. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” Keith parroted.

“Do you need to go back under the table?” Justin asked, one brow raised toward his hairline.

Keith worked his jaw before swallowing hard and shaking his head.

“You two would get along,” Wilder said, knocking his elbow into the outside of Keith’s arm. “You’re very similar.”