Page 10 of In Daddy's Care

They quickly placed their orders and were left staring at each other again. Thankfully, Bronx didn’t seem to be nervous at all. He kept the conversation going.

“So, you have some dude on your couch?”

Soren pulled a face. “Yeah. That’s definitely a long story.” One he couldn’t tell without exposing some very personal details about himself. He tried to keep it simple. “His boyfriend dumped him. It was an extremely financially abusive relationship, leaving him with literally nothing but a suitcase of clothes.”

Bronx winced. “Let me guess. His boyfriend was significantly older.”

Soren smiled. “Yep.”

Bronx shook his head. “A tale as old as time. Get a trophy boy toy, use them up, and spit them out. This town is notorious for that.”

“Lucky me. I’m not trophy material.” Soren laughed.

Bronx didn’t. “Don’t do that.”

Soren blinked. “What?”

“Use yourself as the joke.”

It was like getting punched in the chest. “Sorry. It’s a habit.” Fuck. He suddenly wasn’t that comfortable. Soren didn’t know what to talk about. Somehow, he kept smiling.

Bronx set his hand on Soren’s arm. He stroked, moving toward Soren’s hand. “You’re adorable. I don’t think you realize how many people watched you walk across the room. I did. You should’ve seen the disappointment when they realized you were headed straight for me.”

Oh, fuck. He was smooth. Soren practically felt himself inching toward the trap that would snare him.

“Kyson has been trying to call you.”

Soren’s head whipped around at the sound of Shane’s voice. He hovered over the table. His gaze didn’t falter from Soren. It was like Bronx wasn’t even there.

“Hey, Shane. What a small world.”

Shane’s eyes flickered in Bronx’s direction for half a second at the comment before focusing on Soren again. “Yeah. Small world.”

Soren almost floundered before he recalled the way Shane had treated him the last time they spoke. He steeled his spine. “It’s been a crazy week for me. I’ll call him back.”

Shane gave him a sharp nod and then walked away without as much as a goodbye. Soren’s heart sank. The urge to chase after him was massive. Goddamn it. Bronx was sexy, and he said all the right things, but he wasn’t Shane. Soren didn’t know how to let go.

Bronx let out a low whistle. “That dude is seriously in love with you. I’m pretty sure he would’ve killed me if there weren’t so many witnesses.”

A bark of laughter escaped Soren before he could stop it. “Shane is definitely not in love with me.”

For a moment, Bronx simply stared at him in silence. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re kind of blind.” Before Soren could get insulted, he continued. “You’re adorably oblivious to your appeal.”

The overwhelming urge to cry struck from nowhere. His life wasn’t like that at all. No one saw him. He tried his ass off to be nice and good all the goddamn time and no one noticed or cared. It didn’t matter what Bronx thought; Shane didn’t love him, and it was murdering Soren’s soul. He didn’t know how to stopwanting him. Soren was scared shitless he never would. Now he had to finish this date, and he didn’t know if he could.

There was this strange sensation sitting in Shane’s gut. He couldn’t define it. All he knew was it didn’t feel good. He was jealous. That, he recognized, but there was something else too. Kyson had asked Shane to check on Soren and pick up some pastries while he was here. He had decided to grab the donuts before heading upstairs, just in case he stayed a while and everything sold out before he made it home. When he saw Bronx coax Soren into holding his hand, something roared to life inside him. Shane had never wanted anyone dead as badly as he did in that moment, and that was saying a lot. He had so much to say. Words sat on his tongue, but he didn’t know how to express them. Shane wanted to watch the door of the coffeehouse and see where this date went. But Shane had never been this terrified of himself. If he killed Bronx, his sister would never forgive him. So Shane drove home on autopilot and did his best to keep his mind from snapping.

At the club, he carried the box of donuts to the living space in the back he shared with Banks and Kyson. He felt like a zombie—like his lifeless body kept moving all on its own, but the breath had gone from him. Shane blindly handed the box to Kyson as he came through the door.

As always, Kyson was all smiles. “Did you see Soren?”

Shane’s gaze locked on to Kyson, but he didn’t see a thing. “Yes.”

“What did he say? What was he doing? Why hasn’t he returned my calls? Is he mad at me?”

“He was on a date.” He heard the words fall from his lips. They sounded hollow—like spoken in a tunnel. He blinked, and he was sitting.

Kyson feverishly fanned his face with a magazine. “Banks has gone to get you a drink. Just keep taking deep breaths.”

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