in a forge.
“Yeah. You’ve got a real talent for secrets.” His voice came out snappish with his temper already getting the best of him and he still hadn’t reached his real complaints.
“What did you want me to say?” Dropping his arms to his sides, Linc paced away.
“How about the truth? That you’d rather I not hook up with him? Hell, you didn’t even have to confess everything, just admit for freaking once that you care. But you can’t do that. Can’t risk a single person knowing how you really feel. Even me.”
“I never said I don’t care.” Linc swiveled, scowl still firmly in place. “But I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”
“Maybe everything? If you care and I care, what the hell does it matter who knows? Especially someone like Garrick who already knew your sexuality.” A bitter, caustic thought barreled into his brain. “Oh, hell. Tell me you and him never...”
Linc shrugged in a way that did nothing to ease Jacob’s mind. “Way back when we first were friendly, we sorta felt out that possibility. But we just aren’t compatible like that. So, not that it’s any of your business, but no.”
Making an exasperated noise, Jacob moved to stand directly in front of him. “Of course it’s my business. Come on. You can’t keep pretending that we don’t have any hold on each other.”
“You were the one who said this was simply fucking.” Linc met him hard stare for hard stare. “An itch we scratch until it’s out of our systems.”
“You know perfectly well it’s more than that by now.”
Linc’s silence was damning.
“Hell, it’s always been more than casual between us. You’ve just been too stubborn to admit it.”
“What do you want from me?” Linc threw up his hands before lacing them behind his neck, like he needed restraint to avoid touching him. Jacob understood the impulse—his own damn body couldn’t seem to make up its mind whether he wanted to shove Linc or kiss him until he saw sense.
Fuck. Ignoring those competing impulses, Jacob sagged against the porch pillar, letting it dig into his shoulder, not that the pain provided any comfort or courage. “Everything.”
“Don’t be flip.” Linc’s tone was biting, and he resumed pacing after making a disgusted noise.
“I’m serious. I want everything. I’ll settle for what the fuck ever you want to give me, but I’m done pretending.” And he was. He’d buried this truth all spring and summer, shoved down real demands in favor of getting his dick’s needs met, all to have a stolen sliver of Linc’s time. And it wasn’t enough. “I want everything. I want a real relationship. The one we’re actually already having—date nights and staying in and doing stuff for the family and memories we make together. Say what you want, this isn’t just sex. It’s not. We’ve got something good going, and I want it real. Not secret. Not temporary. I want the future we deserve.”
“We can’t have that.” Scrubbing at his buzzed hair, Linc closed his eyes.
“Says who?” Screw Linc’s obvious discomfort. Jacob was done taking his fast denials. “Your conscience? Your fears? Some ancient promises?”
“I don’t expect you to understand.” Linc’s long-suffering tone torched Jacob’s last shred of patience.
“Oh, I understand. A little too well. Like I said yesterday, everyone else comes first for you.” And probably always would, a realization that left Jacob breathless and more than a little dizzy, world shifting on him despite his best efforts at denial the last few months.
“That’s not fair.” Stopping his pacing, Linc actually had the gall to sound offended.
“Oh? How about you try making me some promises then? Or yourself? Why did Wyatt get the best of you? He’s gone. Not coming back. Not here to spew his hateful positions and theories.”
“You don’t get to talk like that.” Angry Linc was back, the mad, hard man who had banished Jacob after the funeral. Guess that answered where his loyalties lay.
“No? He was my goddamn brother.” Jacob could meet anger with anger if that was what Linc wanted. “And he’s been between us for years now. I