Page 38 of His Boys to Protect

He snatched up a plate and bounced in place, squeaking with impatience and pointing at the table.

Dakota set the frame down where the plate had been. “How's that?”

Charlie considered it. He had to straighten the frame so it aligned parallel with the table's edge. Of course, now the table looked really uneven with eleven plates and one picture, but when Charlie considered taking the picture away, it made his stomach lurch.

He strode off to the butler's pantry and put the extra plate back on the shelf with the remainder of the matched set, then returned to the table.

Charlie found Dakota standing there, eyeing the table with obvious confusion on his face.

“Who's that place for?” Dakota asked, pointing at the eleventh plate.

Charlie felt his cheeks go hot. He curled his arms up and covered his eyes.

“Hey,” Dakota murmured. “Charlie? Talk to me. What's going on?”

Charlie shook his head. How could he explain when he didn't even understand it himself?

He lowered his hands and scowled at the extra plate. Having Ward there would make their number odd, even with Sabrina's picture to fill out the last space. Yet he still found himself wishing the man could join them.Why?Why did he want Ward to be there when the man threatened to take his Sky away?

“Hhhnnnnnn!” Why did he keep thinking about Ward?

“Hey,” Skylar said, coming into the room with a stack of cloth napkins. He quickly set them on the bar counter and strode over to join them. “What happened?”

“I have no idea,” Dakota said.

“Charlie?” Skylar murmured. He took another step closer, then held out his left arm. “Here. It's okay. Whatever it is, it's gonna be okay.”

Charlie eyed Skylar's arm, then snatched it by the wrist, holding it where he wanted it. As soon as Skylar tugged his sleeve up to his shoulder, Charlie reached up and touched the heart tattoo, tracing the line all the way down Skylar's arm and back up to the starting point. He had to do it a second time before he started to feel calmer. Then a third, for good measure.

He felt himself smiling. Skylar's tattoos were one of his favorite things in the world. He'd honestly been a little horrified when Skylar started the project, all those years ago. Charlie wouldneverbe able to get a tattoo himself, knowing how much it would hurt. The thought of Skylar subjecting himself to pain was enough to make his skin crawl. Then again, his Sky had to stab himself with a needle every two weeks as it was, injecting testosterone. Of course, that was only a single stab, and the pain only lasted a few seconds.

All the stabs from a tattoo needle were an entirely different story, even if they didn't go all the way through the skin.

But as the designs had slowly come together over the months and years—especially once Charlie saw how all the pieces were connected—his horror turned to fascination. Then obsession. He loved the end result.

Even if the empty space inside the heart left the whole thing feeling unfinished.

He traced the tattoo again, then leaned against his Sky, resting their foreheads together. They stood like that in silence for a long moment. Once Charlie was sure he felt better, he pulled away.

Skylar gestured at the table. “We expecting someone else?”

“I was just trying to ask him the same thing,” Dakota said.

Charlie ducked his head when they both looked at him.Damn it!Why had he put out those extra plates? The one for Sabrina, he could at least justify by old habits. But the one for Ward? How could he explain that he wanted the man to be there even while he worried about Ward taking his Sky away from him? Charlie covered his ears. The confusion was getting so loud!

“Hey, Charlie?” Dakota asked, his voice muffled and hard to hear even though he stood right at Charlie's side. “Talk to me,” his brother insisted.

Charlie whined, rocking as he stood there, eyeing the eleventh plate. He turned away and ran into the sitting room, stopping at Ward's chair, but of course it was empty. Charlie ran back to the tasting room. He tried to make himself grab that extra plate and put it away, but his body wouldn't cooperate. A moment later, he was back in the sitting room again, curled up on the floor in front of the chair, wishing Ward could be there to hold him and make all the loud feelings go away.

He felt movement nearby. Charlie tipped his head to one side, his hands still over his ears, and saw both Dakota and Skylar crouched beside him.

“Hey, squirmy worm,” Dakota murmured. “It's gonna be okay.”

Charlie whined. He lowered one hand and pointed at the chair, then quickly covered his ear again, avoiding looking at Skylar the whole time.

Dakota dipped his head and looked at him from under his eyelashes. “Charlie, we're not gonna call Ward over here again. It's Christmas Eve. He's probably with his family. You wouldn't want to be pulled away from your plans, would you?”

Charlie scowled and shook his head. Hehatedwhen people tried to interrupt his plans or routines.

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