Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

brAN

Six weeks Later

“This morning’s video already has fifty thousand views,” Cody says with a lot of satisfaction. He’s staring at his phone as I drive us to the beach house for dinner and what he’s declared is going to be a “mega strategy session.”

“That’s good, right?” Even after more than a month, I have to check. Some of the places do better than others, so depending on where he posted this video, it could be awesome or it could be terrible. And when I get it mixed up, he goes all hormonal teen and yells at me. I can’t wait for that phase to end.

“It’s great,” he confirms. “Lots of comments and saves, too, which helps. Finally, we’re getting some traction.”

“You’re doing a good job.” I tell him that a lot, and I’ve noticed the guys do too. This project has made a big difference for him—even his teachers have noticed. I got an email last week congratulating me on getting him involved in this. He’s more focused at school, and because I’ve told him his continued participation depends on his grades and homework being done on time, he’s paying more attention to that too.

All around, this is a huge win for us. I knew I wasn’t giving him the attention he needs, but I didn’t realize how bad the situation was until I saw how much he’s settled with more adult supervision. The responsibility he’s been given and the oversight he now gets, especially when he goes to the beach house from school when I’m working. He’s asked—and I’ve agreed—if we can talk to the guys about him staying nights at their place when I’m on shift. He’s never liked staying over with our neighbor because her spare room is crammed with junk, but I haven’t quite been able to let him stay overnight alone. Not when social services made such a big to-do about my job not giving him appropriate supervision. He’s older now, but the terror I felt after that conversation is hard to shake.

“We’re all doing a good job,” he corrects absently, making me smile.

“We’re trying,” I agree. There hasn’t been a lot I can do outside of my actual job, but last week, when the captain asked for volunteers for the community outreach program, I put my hand up. Talks on personal fire safety and the difference between controlled burns and wildfires can be tedious, especially when your audience is a group of teenagers who don’t want to be there and think they know better, but I can do my part to build awareness. I also admitted sheepishly to the captain and the rest of my division that I’d met Flame in person and he’s actually a former fire investigator and current forestry conservationist, which explains his presence at multiple wildfires. When I told them Cody is now working with him and his friends to raise awareness, I got heckled thoroughly, and then they all got online to follow the new accounts my brother set up. I love my teammates—they’ve all been so supportive of me raising Cody. Though some of them think the brand name he came up with, Conservation Kings, is hokey.

It is, but I still like it. It goes with their hokey “screen” names.

“Yeah, about that whole trying thing,” Cody says, putting his phone down. I give him as much attention as I can spare from the road. It has to be important if he’s taking his eyes off the screen. “When are you going to?”

Ouch. “Excuse me? I thought I was doing pretty good.” I try not to sound as hurt as I feel, but he makes an impatient noise.

“No, not like that. I mean, when are you going to make a move on Flame?”

The car swerves slightly before I get it under control. Luckily, it stays in our lane.

“Um, when am I what now?” I swallow, fully aware of how unconvincing I sound. The tiny little crush my “is he an arsonist” obsession turned into has developed into full-blown unrequited… something. I’m not ready to say love, but I have the strongest suspicion I’m just fooling myself.

It’s too soon to be love. That would be ridiculous. So what if I think about him all the time and count down to when I’ll see him next? So what if I go out of my way to talk to him when I’m at the beach house? So what if I pounce on my phone every time it rings, because it might be him? And when it is, I get a rush of joy? None of that means I’m in love.

Right?

Cody sighs. “Seriously, Bran? Come on. You’d think that meeting the guys would have brought home to you how short our time on this planet is. If you want something, including happiness, you have to go after it.”

I shoot him a sideways glance as I turn onto the beach road. “Thanks, Mr. Miyagi.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, come on. I made you watch that movie with me!” When Cobra Kai first started streaming, I went back to where it all began. I was too young when the movies first came out and never actually saw them before.

“I can’t believe you’re talking about movies right now. This is important, Bran. Why haven’t you hooked up with Flame yet?”

God, I wish I wasn’t driving so I could get out of this car and walk away. This is even more uncomfortable than when I had to talk to him about safe sex. “Cody?—”

“That was a rhetorical question. There’s no answer you can give that isn’t a cop-out.”

“What if I’m not interested that way?” I challenge. I am, but that’s not the point. There are some arguments with my sixteen-year-old brother that I’m determined to win.

He scoffs. “Please. You get jittery if we go too long without seeing him, and the second we get to the house and you lay eyes on him, your whole body relaxes. If it weren’t for the unique situation, I’d be worried that you were being drugged or something. Instead, you’re just fated to be with him.”

I sputter. Actually sputter. In fact, I sputter so long and hard that I’ve parked the car in the driveway of the beach house before I can get another word out. Cody watches me patiently.

“That’s not true! Fated? What even is that? You’re too old for fairy tales.” The second the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. Nobody should ever be too old to dream, and that’s not the message I want to give my kid brother.

Based on the withering look he’s giving me, it’s not the message he got and he thinks I’m an idiot. “It all makes sense, Bran. Until recently, they’ve never told anyone but Perry the truth about themselves, not in all their lifetimes, but they told us. Because we’re meant to join them—that’s what Aether said. This is supposed to happen. You’ve been obsessing over Flame for years, and then suddenly we get this perfect opportunity to track him down and meet them all right at the best possible time for me to start helping them.”

“That doesn’t mean?—”

“Right after Aqua met River and it turned out they were destined to be together. And now you, who are the most sensible, down-to-earth person ever born, so much that you’re boring?—”

“Gee, thanks.”

“—you’re suddenly getting butterflies when you think of a certain redhead.” He shakes his head. “It’s so obvious. You and him are meant to be together. He never looks away from you when you’re in the room.”

“I do not get butterf— Wait, really? He doesn’t look away from me?” My stomach does excited somersaults at the thought, and that more than anything else tells me Cody’s right. I have to make a move.

“He really doesn’t. It’s sickening.” He folds his arms and raises his eyebrows pointedly. “So… what are you going to do about it?”

For a second, I sit there in frozen indecision. Then I undo my seat belt and scramble out of the car. The only reason I know Cody’s following me is because he cusses me out as he races to catch up.

Inside the house, I head for the kitchen. It’s where Flame’s most likely to be at this time of day, if he’s home—the kitchen or the firepit out back. He’s the best cook of the lot of them, probably because they have a gas stovetop and he’s the master of fire.

He and George look up from the island as I burst inside, and because I’m looking for it, I see the way his face lights up. How did I miss it before?

“You.” I point at him as I cross the room. “We need to deal with this. Are we gonna fuck, or what?”

The delighted laugh that erupts from George would distract me—George, laughing?—if I wasn’t so focused on Flame. Hot color stains his cheekbones, and I can see his answer on his face even before he grabs my hand and hustles me back into the hallway. “Order takeout!” he calls over his shoulder to George, who’s still laughing.

We’re followed up the stairs by a wolf whistle that I have a strong suspicion came from my brother, but I don’t look because that would creep me way the hell out. He knows nothing about this, and George is going to tell him that Flame and I left through the back door to go to the grocery store.

Yep. That’s my delusion, and I’m sticking to it.

The bedroom Flame leads me to is spacious and south-facing. At this time of day, it’s fucking hot in here, but I’ve already noticed that he tends to prefer warmer temperatures. I’m planning to get naked, so the heat in here isn’t a problem.

In fact, why don’t I work on that? I tug my hand free from Flame’s.

“Please don’t say you changed your— Oh,” he finishes as I yank my T-shirt off. “Good idea.”

“Got any preferences?” I ask, working on my pants as he joins in the “who can get naked fastest” game.

“Sex with you.” He pauses to consider. “Actually, today I want to be topped.”

I grin. “Perfect. Lube?”

The look on his face would be funny if it didn’t mean bad things for my plans. “It’s… somewhere.” He looks around wildly as if it might magically appear. Shit. “Rim me instead.”

My cock, already half-hard, perks up the rest of the way. “Will that be enough?”

Flame nods. “Not human, remember? And I have really good muscle control.” He gets onto the bed on his knees and elbows, legs apart enough to give me excellent access, then casts an enquiring glance over his shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”

I don’t need an engraved invitation. I scramble onto the mattress behind him, take a second to ogle his naked body. I take pride in keeping my body strong, and Flame obviously feels the same way, because he’s jacked. From the breadth of his shoulders to the perfect peach of his ass, he’s all rippling muscle, and I like it.

A lot.

Bending my head, I get to work on his ass, not bothering to start slow. I’m sure we’ll be doing that at some stage, but it’s not what today’s about. This is the time for us to take the edge off so we can both think and decide how we want our relationship to proceed. For that to happen, we both need to come. Fast.

So I make it sloppy and thorough, promising myself I’ll savor him next time, and it’s not long before I feel his muscles loosening.

“Fingers,” he demands, his voice a little breathy. “ Fuck , you’re good at this.”

Smirking, I give him one last lick before pulling back and replacing my tongue with a finger. He’s relaxed enough that it slides in easily.

“More. Bran, c’mon. They’ll interrupt us soon.”

Shit. I forgot that Cody and the others are waiting on us to have the strategy meeting. That makes this weird, so I push the thought away and focus on adding a second finger to Flame’s ass, and then, when he whines, a third.

“Okay, that’s enough,” he says shortly after. “Now your dick. Make it hard and fast.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” I retort, bending down to bite his tight right ass cheek. His body jerks.

“Hey!”

“I wanted another taste.” I withdraw my fingers and survey the stunning gape of his hole. “Man, you’re pretty down here.”

“Less admiring, more fucking,” he orders, and if I weren’t hard and leaking for him, I might be tempted to make him wait longer.

Instead, I jack myself once, then press my cock to his opening. He pushes back eagerly, and we both moan as the head pops past the ring of muscle.

“Hard and fast,” he repeats, and I mindlessly obey.

I don’t know how many thrusts later, we’re both panting, groaning, sweaty messes, and I’m so, so close. “Want me to finish you?” I gasp, then give a choked-off shout when he rears up onto his knees in response, changing the angle of my penetration.

“I’ll do it.” The deep throatiness of his voice is almost unrecognizable. I did that to him, and my chest puffs with pride. His arm begins to move, and even though I can’t see what he’s doing, I can imagine it: his big hand wrapped around the equally impressive dick I glimpsed earlier, stroking, stroking, maybe catching on the head?—

His shout is the only warning I get before his whole body tightens, his ass clamping around me, hot and tight, and I follow him into blissful orgasm.

We’re definitely doing that again.