by Lynn Hagen
He pulled his brother into a hug. “You’ve always been there for me, Kenny. I love you for that. If it wasn’t for you, I’m not sure how my life would have turned out.” He let Kenny go. “Probably crappy.”
Kenny chuckled as he wiped at a few stray tears. “Enough sappy stuff. We have an apartment to finish packing and a dinner date with our guys.”
Steven wanted to hurry because he missed Derek already. He taped up the box he’d been filling, the one he was donating to the local homeless shelter, when he heard a knock at the door.
Kenny narrowed his eyes as he walked over to it and swung it open. Standing on the other side was Emilio. His gaze landed on the boxes.
“You’re moving?” He looked wide-eyed at Steven.
“What the hell do you want?” Kenny snarled.
“Gee, what’s with the attitude?” Emilio asked. “I just wanted to borrow some sugar…and some Kool-Aid if you have it.”
“You want to borrow the water to mix it, too?” Kenny snapped.
Steven joined Kenny at the door. “It’s fine,” he said to his brother. Steven waved at the kitchen. “Help yourself to whatever food or drink you want. I’m not taking it with me.”
Kenny shot daggers at Steven. “What the hell?”
Steven shrugged. “Have you ever stopped to wonder why Emilio borrows things?”
“Because he’s a leech,” Kenny said.
Steven had a feeling it went deeper than that. He’d never seen anyone visit Emilio and suspected the guy was just lonely. Well, except for borrowing Steven’s iPod and never returning it.
“You need to be nicer,” Steven said. “You don’t know his story.”
“And I don’t want to.”
He knew Kenny’s unease was because he’d slept with Emilio. His brother would just have to get over that. Now that Steven wasn’t trying to dodge Emilio, he paid closer attention and noticed the sadness in the guy’s eyes.
“Thanks.” Emilio had the bag of sugar in his hands, but nothing else. “And I’m gonna pay you back for your iPod. I swear. I was just down on my luck and in a tight place at the time. I never meant to take advantage of you, Steven.”
Before he knew what he was doing, Steven gave Emilio a hug. “You call me anytime you need something, or if you just wanna hang out.”
“Never gonna happen,” Kenny said under his breath as he looked away from them.
Emilio had been stiff in his arms but finally loosened up and hugged Steven back. “Thank you.”
Steven hurried into the kitchen and wrote his number down. When he returned to the living room, Kenny tried to snatch the paper away from him, but Steven kept it out of his reach and gave it to Emilio.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Emilio tucked the scrap of paper into his back pocket.
“Because everyone needs to have at least one friend in his corner.” He threw his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “This is my best friend, and he’s always been there for me.”
“You’re getting sappy again,” Kenny said, but he beamed at Steven’s praise.
Emilio hesitated and then stuck his hand out. “Truce?”
Kenny looked at the guy’s hand as if he really didn’t want to shake it, but then he sighed and gave it a shake before quickly pulling his hand away. “Truce.”
“Do…uh…do you need help packing?” Emilio asked.
“We got it covered.” Kenny shoved Emilio toward the door. “Enjoy the sugar.”
Steven glared at Kenny when his brother shut the door on Emilio. “You’re just mean.”
“No, I’m realistic. You might think Emilio is a good friend to have, but I prefer not to have my stuff borrowed and then sold.”
Steven rolled his eyes. He didn’t care what Kenny said. He would visit Emilio and check on him. Steven had been blessed with a wonderful brother, a loving and amazing mate, and really good friends.
Why not pay that forward?
“I think I’m done packing,” Steven said. He wanted to get back to Derek. His mate had acted as though he took the news of Katie quitting in stride, but he’d seen how upset Derek had been.
But Steven didn’t blame her. Once the threat against them was over, Katie had announced to Derek that not only was Seth her mate but she was pregnant.
Steven had jumped for joy when Katie had asked him and Derek to be the cub’s godfathers. And Derek had been happy, too, but Steven had heard his mate grumble about never being able to find someone who could replace his best friend.
Thank goodness Matilda wasn’t going anywhere. Steven just might croak if Derek went back to cooking for him.
But Steven was amazingly happy. He had a big family who cared about him and whom he loved.
And life couldn’t get any better than that.
THE END
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Table of Contents
LOST & FOUND
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten