Page 59 of Lifeline

“I don’t care,” he told me. “You went and ruined the moment.”

“You love it,” I said as I lay on him, ignoring his proclamation that I had put on weight because we both knew that weight was all muscle.

He sighed in defeat, running his fingers through my hair. “So…everyone knows, huh?”

“Well, Reno wasn’t sure who knew. But I’m guessing whatever he heard made him think everyone else knew,” I told him. “Or at least suspected.”

“I guess for two people who had such a hard time being in the same room, to suddenly be around each other all the time had to be pretty noticeable,” he said with a sigh. “What else did he say?”

“Threatened to beat my ass if I broke your heart.”

“I…he better not have or I’ll beat his ass.”

I chuckled. “He didn’t. I thought he was going to, but he just told me we had better not let things get to the way they were before because he liked having me around and he wanted someone else to bitch about you with.”

Mika rolled his eyes. “Of course, that was his motivation.”

I chuckled. “Siblings.”

“So he was off to do paperwork?”

“I guess, and then samples.”

“At least Xander will be happy to have Jake out of his hair for a few hours.”

“Uh,” I said, and winced. “I mentioned that too, and he said Jake wasn’t going.”

“Which isn’t all that weird, but that look on your face tells me it’s probably not normal,” he said, sounding concerned.

Which was completely fair because I was a little concerned. “Well…it’s just that the way he said no was…weird. I think there’s something going on with them.”

“Great,” Mika said with a sigh, pushing upright and running a hand through his hair. “So our leader and co-leader are at odds, a mix between a lover’s spat and a professional one. And now my brother and his best friend are having some sort of issue.”

“Meanwhile, you’re here trying to reconnect with your ex-boyfriend and having sex,” I said dryly, sensing the direction he was going.

He shot me a look. “Excellent sex that I will have with you again soon, yes.”

“Good, because, you know, I think I’m warming up to this whole topping thing. Just need to practice some more,” I said with a shrug.

“Oh, I’m your latest practice partner, huh?” he asked with a wry snort.

“Well, I never really focused on trying to be better at topping. Felt like there was always something more important to focus on considering I was more comfortable bottoming,” I said, rubbing his back. “But that…was great. I can see why you like it so much. And for once, I didn’t have many nerves when fucking someone. So why not practice with you…plenty.”

“For the next partner?” he asked, then winced. “Sorry.”

“I hope not,” I said quietly before I could think what I was saying.

“You hope I’m not sorry,” he asked incredulously.

“No, I…really?” I snorted. “No, I meant…ugh, I hope there isn’t a next one.”

“Why do you have to make it sound like it was painful to say that?”

“Shut up.”

He smiled. “All that work you’ve put in to better yourself. I would have never known that you were doing this.”

“How pissed would you have been if you had known?” I wondered.