Unspoken Vow (Steele Brothers 2)

“Why are you doing this?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. It’s not to get into your pants. We agreed to be friends, right? This is me being friendly. Friends help each other out in a time of need.”

Where can I find such friends? Mine all deserted me when I deleted my social media and stopped going out.

When he sees I still don’t buy his reasoning, he sighs.

“Okay, how about this. You know what I do for a living, yeah?”

“Lawyer.”

“I work at one of the most expensive firms in Brisbane. You know what that means?”

Out of everyone in this fucking world, I know what that means. Kyle had the best lawyers money could buy thanks to his parents.

“It means you get rich people off for doing shitty things.”

“Right. My sister is always telling me I need to offset that by doing something good. So think of this as my karmic penance. A good deed for a friend in exchange for my professional sins.”

A lawyer with a heart? Didn’t realise that was a thing.

Maybe I should take it.

The pressure of finding a new place is getting on top of me, my options are limited, and here’s this guy offering me an almost perfect solution.

If it weren’t for that part of me that gets all twisted over being near Brody, I wouldn’t be hesitating.

“Think about it and get back to me.” When Brody walks away, I take another deep breath.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Maybe deep down, I know I’m gonna end up in Law and Reed’s spare room, no matter how much I don’t want that to happen, but I can’t keep relying on Law.

God, how many times have I said that over the last five years?

“Brody,” I call out.

He turns back just before he can disappear back into the yard. “Yeah?”

“I’m in. Only until I can find somewhere else I like.”

With a smile, he keeps walking, and I can’t help staring after his ass as he does.

I’m so going to regret this, but I’m looking at the bigger picture.

Place to stay.

Independence.

Giving Law a break from being my rock—the person to keep it together when I can’t.

* * *

It’s official. I’m applying for that reality show Hoarders.

When did I buy so much crap?

Insomnia and impulse control issues should never mix. I think I own every product they have on the shopping channel.

Moving day is going about as well as I expected. Half the time I’m telling myself I’m an idiot for agreeing to move in with Brody, and the rest of my time is spent warding off panic attacks.

I want to go back and slap past me upside the head. There’s no way I can do this.

“Still can’t believe you agreed to live with that douche-nozzle,” Law says.

And then I remember why I’m doing this.

For Law. Even if he hates Brody.

Brody and Reed’s friendship turns Law into a green-eyed monster that he only shows to me. It’s not that he’s insecure about his relationship with Reed. He just thinks Brody’s watching him, waiting for him to fuck up so he can strike.

“He’s not a douche-nozzle.”

At least, I don’t think he is. Even though he might have feelings for Reed, I get the impression he has absolutely no intention of ever acting on them. And he couldn’t be a douche if a guy like Reed vouches for him.

“We have a spare room,” Law says.

I scoff. “You and Reed got the place to get away from me, remember?”

Law drops a box of my kitchen utensils, slicers, blitzers, and NutriBullets, making a huge clatter as they fall to the floor. “Dude, not even. We wanted a house so we can, you know, be grown-ups and—”

I shudder at the notion. “Eww.”

He smirks, and the nakedness of his skin along his jaw still throws me sometimes. For so long, we both had beards, but when I decided to move on, I needed him to shave so I was never tempted to ask him to pretend to be me to get me out of a sticky situation.

He would break up with guys for me so I wouldn’t have to, but now there’s a noticeable difference in our appearances, and I can’t use him as a crutch anymore.

“Right, your allergy to adulthood,” he says dryly.

“I don’t want you to start the rest of your life by having me in your way. You’ve looked after me for too long, man.”

Way too long.

“So you’re gonna let Brody look after you?”

His words grate on me, because while I know how he came to that conclusion, it reiterates my insecurities.

I hate being that guy.

“I don’t need anyone to look after me.”

If we really did have some sort of twin connection, I could totally hear Law saying “Bullshit” in my head.

“And it’s not like that with Brody,” I say. “He’s giving me a place to crash until I find an apartment in my budget. I’m looking after myself.”