“You’re one of the few to think so.” Connor wiped his hands on a napkin. “So you and Quinn, then?”
“It’s been talking and coffee, Con. Wasn’t like I took him on a gondola ride or shared a meatball in a back alley. Coffee.”
“He take you to that funky steampunk shop he likes? The one near your apartment?”
“Yeah…,” Rafe drawled. “Why?”
“A little more than coffee, then. Maybe he doesn’t know it yet, but it was. Remember high school? Remember he had a thing for you back then, before you left? Took a bit out of him when you left. Sionn too.” Connor tore open another mayo packet and spit the edge out from between his teeth. “Quinn, I mean. Had the thing for you. Not Sionn.”
“Didn’t think you were talking about anyone else. If it were Sionn, that’d be…. God, no.” His heart oddly skipped a beat, and Rafe leaned back from the table, taking a breath to cool himself down. “If I recall, you told me you’d break my head open if I ever came near any of your brothers. Or sisters for that matter, either. So if he had a thing, I didn’t know.”
“He was a kid—our magpie.” More mayo filled the bowl; then Connor layered in more pepper sauce. “There was a lot of shit going on in his head. Things were pretty bad there for a bit.”
“I remember,” Rafe replied softly. “He says he’s doing okay. What do you think?”
“Think so.” Connor cocked his head as if assessing his brother’s life. “I’d say yeah. Brighter. Happier. I think coming out to the family helped. Not like we didn’t already know, but I think it needed saying for him. ’Course Ian went and fucked the whole thing up, but that’s Ian for you. Reminds me of you. A lot.”
“Thanks. Good to know I’ve got someone to step into my shoes once I’m gone.” He sneered. “Any reason you’re giving me shit about Quinn? Or are we going someplace with it?”
“I’m getting there. See, before—when we were in school—Quinn was too young, and well, Andrade, you were a piece of shit looking for a place to smear yourself against.”
Connor fixed a hard look on Rafe, pointed enough to stab him to the seat he sat on.
“Good to know you think so highly of me.” If anything, Connor’s face was harder to read than ever before, and Rafe hated not knowing what was going on behind his friend’s frosted blue gaze. “Warning me off your little brother? ’Cause we just talked—”
He wasn’t going to mention the laughter or the soft caress of Quinn’s long fingers against his palm. Rafe wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to say a damned thing about what he and Quinn shared while Connor held his cards close to his chest. Rafe didn’t have to wait long.
A second later, Connor cleared his throat and said, “It’s not about Quinn, Rafe. Here you are, back and a little damaged—”
“I’ve always been a little damaged, Connie,” he snorted as he reached for another fry. “If you’re trying to get around to threatening to break my legs ’cause I’m spending time with your baby brother—”
“See, I’m not… threatening.” Connor shook Rafe’s impending protest off by looping his hand around the back of Rafe’s neck and squeezing. “I’m not promising anything either.”
“No! Intimidation never crosses your mind. The Morgans are so easygoing. Always the peacekeepers.” Rafe gave a halfhearted attempt to break away, but Connor held him firmly in place.
“Gonna say it one more time in case you weren’t listening… this isn’t about Quinn, Rafe. It’s about you.” Connor’s expression softened. “I don’t want you to feel like you’ve only got Q and Sionn because you feel like you’re drowning. I don’t know why you thought you couldn’t come to me or Kane. The two of us gave you some room because we thought that’s what you wanted. Then K said something the other night….”
“Said what?”
Another tug back but this time Connor let go a little bit, enough to let the itch ease away from Rafe’s skin.
“That you made shitty life choices and giving you space was probably the last thing in the world you needed.” Con shrugged. “I figured Sionn, yeah, because you guys are tight, but Quinn and not me or K? Maybe you thought Quinn was safe. Because he is easygoing—”
“Dude, your brother’s only easygoing for as long as you don’t piss him off.” Rafe laughed, pushing Connor gently away. “Yeah, he’s the one you can push the most but definitely not the one I’d want to take to the edge. I’ve seen him lose it.”
“Fair enough,” Connor conceded. “I just wanted to give you fair warning Kane and I aren’t going to sit back anymore. We’re going to be in your face so much you’re going to think you’re a Siamese twin.”
“And all of this because I left the coffee shop with Quinn?” Rafe made a face. “Want the truth?”
“Most of the time,” Connor agreed. “Truth’s sometimes a hard thing to come by with you, but that’s just how you are.”