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Copyright © Rae Marks 2022. All Rights Reserved, Totally Entwined Group Limited, T/A Pride Publishing.
Nick’s molars were getting sore. Yet he couldn’t relax as he watched his brother, Bray, flirt with Ax. He never thought he’d lose respect for his twin, but there he was, clenching his jaw to keep the words in his throat.
“How does Sam do it?” Nick grumbled.
“Do what?”
Nick jumped. He’d been too caught up in what was in front of him and hadn’t heard Sam walk into the gym of Hart Consulting, or, as the guys called it, HC. After leaving active duty, Nick had taken a few months off to spend time with his dad. Then, two months ago, he’d given in to his morbid curiosity and joined his older brother Mason’s consulting firm.
“How do you stand back and watch them flirt like that?”
“It bothered me at first, but then I realized they’ve built a different kind of relationship. They are more like you and Bray than me and Bray.”
Nick snorted. Sam was deluding himself. Bray and Ax had some sort of chemistry going on. Something had happened in Kiev—well, something besides Bray getting shot. Nick still didn’t have authorization to read the reports on that op, since it was ongoing, and he was still in his six-month probation period.
At first Nick had thought Bray was stupid or crazy to join up with a bunch of assholes that hadn’t watched his back and had let him get shot. Bray had just smiled and said he’d put himself in that situation, and that he’d do it all over again. What is that supposed to mean?
“I trust Bray.” Sam squeezed Nick’s shoulder.
All the guys were ex-military and most of them were queer, so Nick felt like one of the guys, sort of. He didn’t have to watch his back or hide who he was. It was a relief. He felt comfortable with everyone…everyone except Ax.
“Hey, Magnum,” Ax called out to Sam.
“Fucking call sign,” Sam grumbled.
Nick nodded. His call sign was okay until he got the inevitable questions—‘what does Dash mean?’ or ‘how’d you get your handle?’. Nick sighed. “Fucking call sign” was right.
Now that he was out of the military, the guys mostly used the monikers they’d been saddled with in boot camp—or soon after—as just a nickname. It was banter now, not about making sure Nick never forgot the stupidest thing he’d done back then.
“Why don’t you show your boyfriend how it’s done?” Ax taunted.
Nick turned in time to see a wicked grin spread across Sam’s face. Sam gave Nick’s shoulder a final pat, kicked off his shoes and sauntered onto the mat where Ax and Bray had been sparring.
When Bray noticed Sam, there was no look of guilt, just awe—and a ‘come hither’ look that made Nick throw up in his mouth a little. Bray had found his place, his tribe. He has also found the man of his dreams, apparently.
Nick rolled his eyes at himself. There was no ‘apparently’ about it. The truth was that Nick was jealous. He probably turned green when he watched them. Yet there was still something with Ax and Bray, something that had Nick’s gut tightening with anxiety.
Ax treated Bray differently than he treated everyone else and it had been that way since he and Bray had ‘bonded’ in Kiev. Sure, he teased Bray, but he was also viciously protective of him.
Maybe the feelings were all on Ax’s side. Nick was so curious about the Kiev op that he stopped what he was doing to listen whenever anyone discussed it. He was like the office busybody, yet he couldn’t help himself.
He was careful to keep his eyes on his brother and not trail Ax across the room like he was tempted to do. Ax saw right through him, and he hated it.
“You wanna spar, Nickel? I can show you how it’s really done.”
Ax’s voice was low and teasing. Nick huffed out a frustrated breath, even as the cadence of the other man’s voice had the hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention.
He worked hard to keep another part of his anatomy from standing at attention, too. Every time Ax used his nickname, Nick wanted to punch him in the face. It had been like that since they’d first met, though Nick wasn’t completely sure why.
“I already know how it’s done,” Nick said.
He turned then and had to swallow down a groan. It was like a flashback to the first time he’d ever seen Ax. The man’s entire body was glistening with the sweat of his workout. His white muscle shirt was practically see-through and glued to every dip and curve of the musculature from his chest to his waist.
His longish black hair was slicked back with sweat, though a few strands were hanging over his low-set brows. A drip of perspiration rolled down his temple and got caught in his beard scruff. Nick wondered what that scruff would feel like, what it would taste like against his tongue.
Ax’s eyes were so light that the contrast against his caramel skin and black hair was almost startling. Definitely striking.
Ax was gorgeous…and the asshole knew it. He stood with a towel wrapped around his neck, one hand grasping each end. His feet were set wide apart in a confident stance.
It was exactly the way he’d looked the first time Nick had laid eyes on him. Only then, Ax had been giving Bray the same teasing look he was giving Nick. Ax hadn’t even noticed Nick that first day, as he’d zeroed in on Bray. Nick had been jealous then as well. Was that why Ax calling him ‘Nickel’ from the start had pissed him off?
