Page 23 of Midnight Rain

Austin pierced Cormac with those pale green eyes. “You don’t have to tell me. We can just sit here and enjoy each other’s company.”

Smiling, Cormac felt the burning lump in his throat ease. “I like sharing with you, even if some things aren’t easy to talk about.”

Because Cormac had never shared the innermost part of himself with anyone. He always kept things bottled up inside, telling himself that that was just the way things were.

He just hadn’t realized until Austin that he’d craved to have someone he could talk to, someone who wouldn’t judge him, someone who he could rest his weary head on.

“Being the oldest, I was strapped with a lot of responsibility. My father looked to me to help keep my brothers in line. While they were out doing what young people did, getting into trouble and having a good time, I was the one who got on their asses, who lectured them for hours, because that was expected of me.”

“That sounds like it sucked,” Austin said. “So you’ve never cut loose?”

“Not when I had to set an example, as my father drilled into me. The longer I had to be the adult toward them, the more I lost who I truly was inside. Instead of hanging out with friends and making my own mistakes, the more rigid I became.” He looked down at Austin. “I was dying inside, but I was too afraid of disappointing my dad to rebel. My brothers look at me and think I’m an uptight asshole, but they have no idea how envious I was of them.”

“Your childhood was as miserable as mine.”

Cormac smiled. “How so?”

“Aside from my mom and dad fighting, making it too embarrassing to bring friends home, my mom wasn’t the affectionate type. Whereas Paloma showers everyone with kisses, I can’t tell you the last time my mom hugged me. I think that’s why I always fell for the wrong man. I was desperate for affection, but as that song goes, I was looking for love in all the wrong places.”

Cormac used his fingertip to brush some hair off of Austin’s earlobe. “Parents really know how to screw a kid up.”

“Tell me about it,” Austin said. “Every relationship I’ve been in, I argued like crazy, because, to me, that was normal. I pushed everyone away, even though that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I’d give my left nut to stop being so toxic and sabotaging any chance I have at happiness.”

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right guy.”

“With the baggage my parents unloaded on me, the right guy could stand right in front of me and I’d still spew my toxicity all over him.”

Cormac tilted Austin’s chin up until his mate looked at him.

“What?” Austin asked.

“The right guy is here with you. Spew all you want. I can take it, and I’m not in the habit of arguing, so it’ll just be wasted energy.”

Austin sat up and turned to face Cormac. “We seemed to argue just fine earlier.”

“You call that toxic?” Cormac asked. “You better bring your A-game next time. I’ve had worse arguments with Lila.”

Austin threw his head back and laughed. Cormac loved seeing his mate so happy. His smile lit up Cormac’s heart. “You know how to cut a guy down. Besides, our spat doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re not dating, Cormac.” Austin scooted to sit beside him. “We were two strangers in bad moods this morning. When we saw each other again, we simply picked up where we left off.”

Cormac slid his arm around Austin. “I still say I can handle whatever you throw at me.”

God, he loved talking to Austin. Cormac felt as if some of the weight had lifted off of his shoulders in just one single conversation.

They both looked up when they felt raindrops. “I guess the heat brought some rain,” Austin said.

“We better head back inside.” Cormac pulled his arm away.

“Or…” Austin grinned at him. “We could have some fun.”

“Like?”

Austin crawled over the edge of the roof. “It doesn’t look that far down.”

Cormac’s eyes widened. “You want to jump off the roof?”

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