Rogue - Jericho's Boys #2 - ch. 16 (Patreon)

Unbeta'd/Unedited. I will probably regret putting this chapter up tonight because I'm so tired I might have written a total disaster of a chapter, but I'm doing it anyway because I make poor life choices sometimes just for funsies. ShilohShiloh jumped as a high pitched shriek echoed through Jericho’s garage. Nico had Ever held hostage, holding his arms over his head, forcing him to dance in time with the song blasting through the speaker overhead. Shiloh didn’t know the song. It had a heavy bass beat and really smooth melodies but most of the lyrics were in another language. Ever and Arsen were really into K-pop.Shiloh blushed as Nico started trying to coax Ever into twerking for Arsen. Ever ran to hide behind his boyfriend while Nico gave a very…aggressive…demonstration. Lake and Cree wolf whistled which only seemed to encourage Nico further.The music abruptly died. Nico paused in confusion looking to Seven who shook his phone. “I feel like this song suits you better.”When the music started, they all burst out laughing. Shiloh didn’t get the joke, but laughed at Nico’s antics, shaking his ass and rolling his hips, moving from person to person as the song sang about ‘shaking what your mama gave you’.“His mother used to be an exotic dancer,” Levi said, wrapping his arms around Shiloh’s waist from behind.“Oh,” Shiloh said. “That-Yeah, that makes sense actually.”As the song changed to another song with a throbbing bass beat, this one much slower, Nico coaxed Cree into dirty dancing with him. The taller boy rarely spoke, rarely smiled and often seemed stoic. But he kept up with Nico, who had his back to Cree’s front, his arms looped around Cree’s neck, grinding his hips in a way that made Shiloh think he shouldn’t be watching them. Cree’s hands looked massive on Nico’s tiny waist as he seemed to control the other boy’s movements.“Okay, enough,” Jericho called from his office door. “I pay you to work, remember.”Nico stuck out his tongue. “This is work. I’m out of breath. I don’t know how mom did this in six-inch heels.”“Your mom has great quads,” Lake said.They all nodded. Nico beamed as if it was him who had been complimented.“Where is his mom?” Shiloh asked.Levi shrugged. “Who knows. Miami? Cancun? Paris?” He stared at his friend. “Nico and his mom are…complicated. She got pregnant at fifteen, had Nico, worked clubs illegally at night to make money, but ended up leaving him alone all night. Then she traded stripping for escorting, but by then Nico was practically living on Jericho’s couch. She drops in every six to eight months, tries to drag him to parties, gives him gifts he doesn’t want or need, then takes off with the next rich guy she meets.”“He seems…cool with it,” Shiloh said, more confused than anything.“Nico lives in a fantasy world of his own making. He tells himself his mom loves him, sacrificed for him, thinks she’s cool for taking control of her own body and doing well for herself. He pretends he doesn’t feel abandoned, pretends that the money she gives him is her way of saying she loves him and not just guilt money for making him raise himself. Nico is really good at lying to himself.”Shiloh’s chest tightened. “I’m kind of jealous,” he admitted. “I wish I could lie to myself and really believe it.”Levi kissed Shiloh’s neck. “That’s the thing, though. He always crumbles under the weight of his fantasies. Anytime something comes along that challenges his fairytale version of his own reality, he falls apart. He doesn’t do well at night. When it’s too quiet, he starts to unravel. That’s why we still live together.”“What do you mean?”Levi shrugged. “Nico can afford to live alone. His mom dumps a lot of guilt money in his account. He could probably live somewhere way nicer if he wanted. But he doesn’t want to live alone. That Nico over there—” He gestured with a nod to the boy currently reenacting something super dramatic. “Is not the Nico who exists at three am. That other Nico is depressed a lot. He has crazy anxiety. He crawls into his head and doesn’t come out for days.”Shiloh remembered the night he snuck out of their apartment. Nico sitting on the couch, staring at the television, glassy eyed and vacant. It was hard to believe they were the same person. “I guess nobody is ever as happy as they seem.”Shiloh’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He yanked it free with trembling hands, a ragged breath escaping as he saw Micah’s name and photo on the screen. Just seeing his brother’s face scent a shock of panic through him. What if Micah knew about Enzo? Could he have found out so quickly?Levi snapped at Lake, pointing at Shiloh’s phone, then Jericho’s office. He nodded, jogging to the door. Shiloh didn’t hear what he said to him, but when Lake turned back, he caught Shiloh’s gaze and nodded.“Answer it before you get in trouble,” Nico said, nodding encouragingly.Levi’s hands flexed on his waist, grounding him. He brushed his thumb across the screen to answer.“H-Hello?” Shiloh managed, then audibly swallowed.Levi pressed his ear to the back of Shiloh’s phone so he could listen without Shiloh having to have it on speaker phone.“It took you long enough,” Micah said, voice that low dangerous purr that made Shiloh’s belly feel slippery.“I-I had to find somewhere quiet. You don’t want them to know I’m talking to you, do you?” Shiloh said.The others nodded encouragingly like Shiloh’s impromptu answer was smart. It strengthened his resolve a little, made his knees a little less weak. They had no idea what was happening on the other side of the phone but it didn’t even matter. They were on Shiloh’s side. Even if it was only for Levi’s sake, Shiloh would take it.“Where have you been?” Micah asked. “I told you to check in more often.”Shiloh closed his eyes. “What do you mean? I’m where you told me to be? I talked to you yesterday?”Levi’s hands squeezed his hips reassuringly. Shiloh tried to stay calm, but his fight, flight or freeze had his mind going blank, his hands already shaking.“You checked in yesterday morning. It's been more than twenty-four hours. I need an update,” Micah said.Shiloh didn’t know what to tell him. So he told him some version of the truth. “I didn’t have anything to report yet. I- There’s nothing going on with Jeric-”“Forget Jericho,” Micah snapped, cutting him off. “Nobody cares about him. What have you learned about the Mulvaneys?”Shiloh’s free hand dropped to cover Levi’s, just needing the warmth of his skin to ground him. He’d learned too much about the Mulvaneys in the last day and a half and he wished the Men in Black mind eraser thing was real. Knowing such a huge secret of a powerful family felt like an easy way to get a bullet to the back of the head.He licked over his lower lip, trying to steady his voice. “The…Mulvaneys? Like Atticus?” Shiloh asked, hoping he sounded confused even if he was just choking on his heart, currently lodged in his throat.“No, not that one. The others. Have you met any of the others?” he snapped, his temper bleeding through his calm persona.What the fuck was going on? Micah was so erratic lately. First he wanted Jericho so he could take over gang territory, something he’d never cared about before and now he was switching gears to learn about the Mulvaneys? He couldn’t keep up with Micah’s scheming.“Why would I? I mean, I’ve met Felix,” he hedged. “He’s married to one of them…but none of the actual Mulvaneys are going to talk to…someone like me.”“You’re less than useless,” Micah growled. “I need you to work faster. If Malachi was out, he would have already infiltrated the Mulvaney’s and gotten me the information I need. I’m on a time constraint. There are very powerful people who need this information. You better find a way to start making in-roads with them soon or I’m bringing you home and you won’t like what happens when you get here.”Shiloh froze. Powerful people? What powerful people? Was Micah unraveling? Was Shiloh? Were the Mulvaneys his target all along? Was Micah smart enough to have started a chess game with Shiloh as his first pawn? There was no way he could have known that Shiloh wouldn’t be able to kill Levi…or that Levi would care enough about Shiloh not to just kill him…right? Micah had known Jericho was a bleeding heart who took in orphans and strays. Was Shiloh always meant to be a mole?That would be insane. No sane person would ever think a plan like that would work. But was Micah sane, really?“I can hear you trying to think. Don’t. Just do what I tell you. I need you to find me something—anything—that can help me prove my theory about the Mulvaney’s.”His theory about the Mulvaney’s. What theory?The answer is seven remorseless, psychopathic killers.“What theory?” Does Micah know? How could he? Maybe he just suspected? Shiloh’s gaze darted around the room, knowing nobody could hear Micah but Jericho who listened in his office. “What do you want me to do, Micah? How am I supposed to infiltrate the Mulvaney family? And for what? They’re just a bunch of rich celebrities.”Shiloh’s blood rushed in his ears, his heart beating way too fast like he’d had far too much caffeine. Micah’s voice dripped with agitation. “That’s my business, little brother. Just find me something, something good, something I can use to get my foot in the door.”“Okay, I’ll-I’ll try,” Shiloh said faintly.“Do or do not, there is no try,” Micah told him menacingly. Only Micah could make a Yoda reference terrifying.“Is that it?” Shiloh asked.“No, I called to give you an update on Mal. But I need you to not fall apart.”Micah’s words were an icy shock, causing Shiloh’s already rabbiting heart to shoot into hyper-speed, a metallic taste flooded his mouth. “What does that mean?” he asked, hysteria creeping into his voice. “Is he okay?”“He got cornered in the showers early yesterday morning. It took a while for the guards to intervene. He’s alive. But he’s in pretty bad shape. They stabilized him and transported him to a facility with a hospital about three hours away. He’ll be safer there, but you won’t be able to visit him.” Shiloh’s head reeled. But before he could ask any of the questions swirling in his head, Micah said, “And I know you’ve visited him against my wishes. I told you I have eyes everywhere.”“Did you do this?” Shiloh whispered, tears welling in his eyes. “Did you do this to punish me?”Micah chuckled. “You wound me,” Micah mocked. “You need to get over yourself. You’re not that important to me.  Besides, I need Malachi in one piece. How else can I keep you in line? Hmm?”“He’s going to be okay though? Right?” Shiloh asked. “How did this even happen? Where were the guards? ”Rage bubbled within Shiloh at Micah’s snort. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. Someone as weird as Mal will always be a target. You can’t walk around talking in riddles and changing your personality like its underwear and not expect an attack. Prison is like the jungle. They immediately cull the weak and the vulnerable. It’s a miracle he lasted as long as he did.”Malachi wasn’t weak or vulnerable. Micah didn’t know or understand Malachi at all.“Don’t you care that he got hurt? He’s your brother.” Shiloh asked, swiping angrily at the tears on his cheeks. Levi’s breath huffed against his neck, arms wrapping around him to hold him tighter, like he worried Shiloh might fly into a million pieces if he didn’t keep him together.“It’s your fault he’s in there in the first place,” Micah said. “If you could just behave, I wouldn’t have to go to such extremes to make a point.”Shiloh was getting whiplash. This was what Micah did, verbally spun Shiloh in circles until he was dizzy. Was it his fault? He couldn’t even remember what it was that had set Micah off enough to decide to throw Malachi in prison in the first place.Shiloh swallowed the lump of sand in his throat. “Can’t you just get him out now? Make the call? Hasn’t he suffered enough?”Micah tsked. “I’m not the one keeping Mal locked away. That’s you. Find me something I can use, I’ll happily let Mal come home. But you’re proving to be as useless as always. Have you asked your boyfriend for help?”Panic shocked through him. “What?”“With the Mulvaneys?” Micah clarified. “Have you gotten anything useful from him?”“I-” Shiloh’s mind reeled. “You want me to ask Levi to help you get to the Mulvaneys?”Shiloh flinched as Micah exploded. “No, you fucking idiot. I want you to trick him into giving you anything useful.”“I’m-I-I’m doing the best I can…” Shiloh whined, face flushed, embarrassed that Levi’s friends were witnessing his behavior.Jericho’s office door opened and he walked to Shiloh, slipping him a piece of paper. Shiloh’s eyes widened. He looked at Jericho who nodded. Could he pull it off?“There-There was one thing but I don’t know if it means anything…” Shiloh trailed off.“Well, what is it,” Micah snapped.“A cabin in the woods.”Silence stretched for a long moment before Micah repeated, “A cabin in the woods?”Shiloh scanned Jericho’s notes. “Yeah, I overheard Jericho and Atticus whispering about it. But it’s probably nothing.”“If it’s nothing, why would you think it was something?” Micah asked. “Why would that stand out to you?” For once, he didn’t sound angry, but curious. Somehow that was worse.“I…Atticus isn’t the cabin in the woods type. He’s too…neat. Tidy. We’re not even allowed to wear shoes in the house. He just doesn’t seem the type.”“See, was that so hard?” Micah asked. “Get me more information on that cabin by tomorrow night and maybe you’ll have Malachi back before he gets jumped again.”Micah hung up before Shiloh could respond. His hand holding the phone dropped to his side. Absently, he let Levi guide him to the sofa. To his horror, the moment he released him, Shiloh burst into tears, those huge wracking ugly sobs that nobody wanted anyone to witness.“Mal’s been hurt, really badly.”Ever was at his side in an instant, squeezing himself between Levi and Shiloh, curling one arm around him and pressing his cheek to Shiloh’s shoulder. The smaller boy’s presence was comforting, but did nothing to stop the whirlwind of thoughts whipping around in his brain.Shiloh had been so close to getting Mal out. How would this affect Enzo’s plan? Could someone make bail if they were hospitalized? Would it make a judge more likely to grant his bail request?“What?” Lake said.Cree frowned. “When?How?” Seven asked. “Does Enzo know?”Shiloh shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything more than that. Micah said he got jumped in the showers and was badly hurt. They’ve transported him to a different facility three hours away.”Shiloh was met with silence, but he didn’t care. He just continued to cry, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes. Why did nothing ever work for him? “How is Enzo supposed to get him out now?”Nobody spoke. They didn’t have any answers. They didn’t know if Malachi was alright. They didn’t know if all chances of getting him home were ruined. Nobody knew anything. Would Shiloh be able to talk to him? Visit him? Would Levi drive him three hours away to see him?His eyes burned, but he couldn’t stop his tears. He was such a crybaby. The spot beside him dipped. Shiloh assumed the hand on his back was Levi’s until a familiar voice said, “Oh, don’t cry, doodlebug.”Shiloh’s head snapped up, staring in disbelief. “Mal?”Mal gave him a placid smile, patting his head. “Hi, bug.”Shiloh launched himself into Mal’s arms knocking him backwards on the sofa, hugging him so tight his muscles burned. Mal’s embrace was softer, his back pats perfunctory, like he knew this was how someone was supposed to comfort a human even if he didn’t quite know why.The others stared in shock, as if Malachi had just appeared before them like a magic trick. Shiloh suspected he’d arrived with Enzo, who lounged against the metal support pillar beneath the loft, looking like a Brooks Brothers model in his navy pants and white dress shirt. He wasn’t paying any attention to Shiloh or Mal, but to Seven who now lurked in the corner, tucked deeper into his hoodie, making a point to not look at the older attorney.When Shiloh had assured himself Malachi was real and not a vivid hallucination, he sat up, pulling Mal with him. He ran his hands over his arms and his face. There wasn’t a mark on him. If anything, he looked prettier than the last time Shiloh had seen him. His skin was bright, his long hair clean and shiny. He still wore his gray prison sweats, but it didn’t do anything to detract from how healthy he looked. How many people thrived in prison?“I don’t understand…” Shiloh said, looking at Enzo.Enzo pushed himself away from his post. “I thought about what you said yesterday. About what might happen if Micah realized Mal had made bail. Since I suspect Micah has somehow struck a deal with a federal prosecutor, I thought it was best we do this the…not entirely legal way.”“You’re an attorney, right?” Lake asked, confused.Seven snorted. “That doesn’t seem to get in the way of his criminal activities.”Enzo chuckled. “Talk about the pot and the kettle. Don’t you kill people, bright eyes?”“I didn’t swear an oath to act ethically,” Seven muttered.“I told you yesterday,” Enzo said. “I have my own code of ethics.”Seven rolled his eyes.“Sounds like a great excuse to bend the law.”Enzo grinned. “You and my mother would get along great.”That seemed to shut Seven up for good.To Shiloh, Enzo said, “I went over a lot of people’s heads, called in a lot of favors, and pretty much sold my soul for this favor. So until you come up with a plan to…neutralize Micah once and for all, Malachi needs to stay out of sight. He shouldn’t even be here but he insisted on seeing you, said you’d be freaking out thinking he was dead.”Malachi was right about that. “Can’t we take him to Levi and Nico’s?” Shiloh asked. “He’ll be safe there, right?”Enzo frowned. “What if your brother is watching the place? I would be.”“We can sneak him in,” Nico said, studying Mal like he was a complex math equation. “There’s a tunnel system that runs directly into our building’s sub-basement. There’s an entrance two blocks away.”“How did you find that?” Enzo asked, amused to learn this bit of trivia.“Oh, we used to get hi-” Lake grunted in pain when Cree elbowed him, giving him wide eyes. Lake rubbed his side. “We used to play laser tag down there in the tunnels.”Enzo and Jericho both snorted in disbelief.“We can take him with us then?”Enzo and Jericho exchanged glances, then Jericho nodded. “Yeah, but you need to keep the blinds closed and your routine the same. If Micah takes the bait about the cabin this will all be over sooner rather than later. But I am going to need you to keep feeding him little bits of information while we get our pieces in place. Okay?”It seemed impossible that this could all be over in a few days., but Shiloh nodded. “Yeah, of course.”“Then get going. But be careful,” Jericho said, waving a hand towards them.Shiloh stood, expecting Mal to do the same, but now Nico and Mal were having a smolder off or a staring contest. “Do you think Nico will like Mal?”Levi looked between the two and shook his head. “The way they’re looking at each other, you should just be hoping Nico doesn’t fuck Mal.”Shiloh jerked his gaze to his. “What?!”“We should go,” Levi said.###Shiloh stared warily at Nico’s closed bedroom door. “You don’t really think they’re having sex in there, do you?” Shiloh asked.They stood in Levi and Nico’s tiny kitchen, Shiloh’s head pressed to Levi’s chest, listening to the reassuring thud of his heartbeat. Shiloh didn’t understand how this could happen. The two were strangers. They had barely spoken a word to each other right up until Shiloh and Levi had dropped them at the tunnel entrance to make the trek to the basement.Levi and Shiloh had been home for about thirty minutes when Nico and Mal had arrived at the apartment, letting themselves in. Nico had taken Malachi by the hand and taken him straight to his bedroom. Where they remained.Even now.“It’s awfully quiet. I sincerely doubt they’re fucking. I can usually hear everything,” Levi said, making a pained face. “Everything.” Under his breath Shiloh heard him mutter, “Kinky little weirdo.”“Kinky how?” Shiloh asked. “Because Mal is also a kinky weirdo but possibly a far more unhinged one. And not to be mean, but Nico seems a little…impulsive? And Mal is a lot persuasive. That is a terrible combination. What if one of them is in there asphyxiating even as we speak?”How did this happen? Five hours ago, Shiloh thought his brother was rotting in a jail cell, now he was standing in the kitchen spinning truly terrifying scenarios about Malachi and Nico and their potentially life-threatening kinks.Levi chuckled. “If they are in there having sex, do you really want to know?” Levi asked.Shiloh gently banged his forehead on Levi’s chest again and again. “No. I don’t want to think about my brother banging your best friend. But we have to think about the future…what’s the word?” Shiloh wracked his brain. Oh, right. “Ramifications. That’s it. Ramifications. Like if they hook up or whatever, it could get weird and if your best friend and roommate starts to hate my brother, then its gonna be weird and people might take sides and maybe you’ll dump me.”The last part was said directly against Levi’s chest, a barely there muffled whisper that he’d needed to say out loud but didn’t necessarily want Levi to hear. It was bad enough he was crazy, he didn’t need Levi to know he was neurotic too.“What was that last part?” Levi asked.“Nothing,” Shiloh muttered.Levi caught him under the chin, forcing him to look at him. “Try again.”“I don’t want you to leave me because they end up hating each other,” Shiloh confessed, heart twisting.“Slow down, dimples. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I promise you, even if somehow Mal and Nico end up hating each other, I’m not breaking up with you. Have you seen Ever and Arsen? They imprinted on each other like baby ducks. Felix and his husband too. Jericho and Atticus. We just know. I looked at you and I just knew.”Shiloh had never really understood what it meant when people used the word swoon, but he got it now. His knees went weak at Levi’s words, his heart literally fluttered in his chest. “Knew what?”Levi gave him a sly look. “Fishing for compliments, dimples.”Shiloh nodded without hesitation.Levi smirked, shaking his head. “I knew I wanted to look at your face for the rest of my life.”“What if I was a horrible person?”Levi’s smirk spread to a grin. “Sweetheart, when we met you were trying to kill me…I didn’t think it could get much worse than that.”Shiloh’s heart twisted. “But it did. I brought all this chaos into your life.”“Your brother brought chaos into my life. You were just the weapon he tried to use. The chaos would have happened with or without you. But I, for one, am much happier you’re here and not with your shitbag brother.”Shiloh gave Nico’s closed door another look. “Do you think he’s annoying Nico? He can be a little intense, inappropriate and…possessive.”Shiloh shrugged. “Honestly, Nico needs someone to obsess over him a little. Not that he knows that. He’s convinced himself he’s going to marry for money, skip over all the romance stuff. But I think he’s just scared.”“Well then I really hope they’re not fucking in there because Mal doesn’t do casual.”Whatever Levi was going to say died as Nico emerged from his bedroom. He wore threadbare navy blue pajama pants and a ratty t-shirt.“It’s four in the afternoon,” Levi said.Nico made a face at him. “Thanks for the update, Big Ben. What’s your point?”“Why are you in your pajamas?”“Didn’t know I needed your permission to be comfortable,” Nico said, walking to the cabinets and starting to pull stuff from his snack cabinet. Shiloh and Levi watched as Nico grabbed a grocery bag from a bunch of other grocery bags under the sink, then dumped the chips, candy, and a bag of popcorn into the bag.They had to shift out of his way when he went to the fridge and grabbed two Monsters and two bottled waters.“What’s happening right now?” Levi finally asked.Nico looked at him like he was stupid. “Dinner? Duh.”“You-You and Mal…didn’t…”Nico stopped, head cocked like a puppy. “Didn’t what?”“Nothing,” Shiloh said hurriedly. "Is he being…okay?”“Okay?” Nico asked, face scrunched in confusion. “Oh, you mean is he being weird?”Shiloh flushed, shrugging. “Well, yeah.”“Oh, yeah. Totally,” Nico said like it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. “He talks like a fortune cookie and a random fact generator had a baby. He knows the most obscure shit I’ve ever heard. And he just blurts it out without any prompting. I bet he’d be amazing at trivia.” Nico continued to shop his way through the kitchen as he rambled. “He told me that bone is dishwasher safe. He also said he sometimes thinks about those cake smashing wedding videos and how he low-key has intrusive thoughts about someone getting a dowel through their face. Which is just…insane.”“I’m sorry,” Shiloh said.Nico snorted. “Are you kidding? He’s amazing. He keeps telling me I’m pretty and touches my butt a lot but he keeps asking for permission first. He said I am supposed to tell you that so you don’t get mad at him.”“Oh my God,” Shiloh muttered.Nico shrugged. “It’s cool. Most guys don’t ask. I finally just gave him blanket permission because he seems pretty obsessed with it. Not that I blame him. I do have a really good ass. He’s also super cuddly, which is awesome. Levi never wants to cuddle anymore and now that you’re here it’s only going to get worse, so in exchange for stealing my best friend and having to listen to you two having the loudest sex ever, I’m taking your brother as my new best friend. Sorry, not sorry.”“Wow,” Levi said, pouting.Nico shrugged. “He likes video games and anime.”“I like video games and anime,” Levi shouted, offended.Nico’s lips twitched, his eyes darting to Shiloh and bag again. He was definitely just trying to rile Levi up. “Yeah, but you’re into the dark, edgy shit like Demon Slayer and FullMetal Alchemist. Mal said we can watch Ponyo and Princess Mononoke and he didn’t even make fun of me.”Levi’s mouth fell open, affronted, like he was considering smacking him in the face with a glove for besmirching his character. “We never made fun of you.”Nico crossed his arms over his chest, clearly having the time of his life. “You made fun of my Spirited Away No-Face plushie,” Nico countered, pointing at Levi like this was a hill he was willing to die on.“We made fun of what you were doing to your Spirited Away No-Face plushie because having a full on conversation with a stuffed animal at twenty-two is fucking weird, man. That’s just facts.”“Mal doesn’t think I’m weird,” Nico said, giving a delicate sniff.Shiloh snickered. “I don’t think that’s the compliment you think it is.”“You’re just jealous,” Nico said.Levi gave him a flat stare. “You’re being so dramatic right now. I kind of wish you were just hooking up.”Nico stopped short. “Hooking up? I mean, he’s hot. Smoking hot. Like he’s sexy as fuck, but also really pretty which is like the definition of ‘I can do both’ but I’m not looking for a sex toy, I’m looking for a body pillow and Mal is really comfortable and he smells amazing.”Shiloh bit down on his lip to keep his laugh from escaping. Levi looked like he was about to rupture a blood vessel. Nico’s bedroom door creaked open. They all watched as Mal exited. He was wearing a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt like Nico.“Is that my t-shirt?” Levi gasped.“Maybe?” Nico said with a wave. “Now if you’ll excuse us we have dinner and a movie marathon to get to.”Mal took the bag from Nico then crouched down enough to circle an arm around his thighs, picking him up like he weighed nothing. Years of dance and boxing made him way stronger than he looked. As he walked back to Nico’s room, the boy leaned over Micah’s shoulder and stuck out his tongue, making a face like a toddler.“Real mature,” Levi muttered just as the door shut.“Are you okay?” Shiloh asked gently, patting his arm.“What the hell just happened?” Levi asked, dazed.“Malachi happened,” Shiloh said with a sigh. “I think my brother just stole your best friend.”Levi wrapped his arms around Shiloh and buried his face in his neck. “This is bullshit. I still cuddle him all the time. It’s not my fault he requires more cuddles than other humans. His mother made him touch-starved, not me. I do my best,” he complained.Shiloh patted his head. “I know, baby. Let’s go to your room and you can cuddle me.”“Just cuddle you?” Levi asked, his mouth moving against the column of his neck as he walked them in the direction of the bedroom.“I’m open to negotiation,” Shiloh said, stumbling.Levi picked him up beneath his thighs and tossed him on the bed, closing his bedroom door before crawling over him. Shiloh liked where this was going. But then Levi dropped, starfishing on top of him, dead weight. “Your brother stole my best friend…in an hour.”“I’m sure that’s not true,” Shiloh said. “Malachi is just a…novelty.”“He said he was hot…and pretty,” Levi said, sullen.“You’re hot and pretty, too, baby. I promise.”“You’re just saying that,” Levi mumbled.Shiloh tugged on Levi’s hair. “Stop pouting and I’ll prove it,”Levi popped his head up to look at Shiloh. “I’m listening.”“Are you going to stop sulking?” Shiloh asked. Levi nodded eagerly. “Fine, take off your pants.”Levi stopped short. “You know we’ve only had sex twice. You could try to romance me a little.”“If me putting my mouth on your dick isn’t romantic enough for you, we can skip that part and I’ll go write you a sonnet real quick?” Shiloh quipped.Levi barked out a laugh. “Who are you and what have you done with my sweet little crybaby?”“Blowjob or poem. You pick. But if you choose a poem I’m going to jerk off right here when I’m done.”“That is not the threat you think it is. Honestly, I would be down with the blowjob and watching you get yourself off. If the offer’s on the table?”“We can talk about it when you are wearing less clothes.”“Yes, sir,” Levi said with a smirk, hand going to his button.“That’s more like it.”