I laughed and pushed her away from me gently as I rose to my feet. “That’s years away from happening. Want to meet me in the home theater and watch a movie in half an hour?”
“Sure, if I get to pick a rom-com.”
I flicked her a grin on my way to the door. “I’ll get Oscar, and we vote.”
“No fair. You always side with each other!”
True, but she also knew we’d just poke fun at her about the power of the vote, which was never in her favor. We always allowed her to get her way in the end.
I found Oscar sitting by the poolside, Lucky’s head in his lap. He glanced in my direction, then returned to stare out over the infinity pool, which reflected the lights that lit up the area in a soft glow.
Oscar’s turbulent emotions weighed heavily in my gut. He put on an okay facade for the rest of the world, but I felt things that were not about me. It was the reason I hadn’t come clean to him yet that I wasn’t returning to Columbus. We’d discussed the move before but not as much as we should.
With a deep sigh, I sat beside him. The emotions grew stronger. His anger came off him in waves.
“Oscar—”
“You’re not really serious about staying, are you, Auggie?”
Shit. Force of habit formed the word “no” on my lips, but I managed to keep from saying it. I took a deep breath and swallowed, then answered Oscar.
“Moving to Columbus was your idea.”
“But you agreed.”
“Yeah, to make you happy.”
“So, you were never happy with the move?”
I struggled to find the words to explain. “I liked it there, but it’s not the same. I miss home.”
“Is that all?”
I thought about the way being back made me feel and the fact that the BDSM dungeon I favored was here in Cincy. Cincinnati was home. I could go out and visit other places, but whenever I thought about returning home, it was this city that came to mind.
“Yes. Can you handle the move?”
He snorted. “What am I? A baby?”
“Oscar.” He didn’t have to be a baby. He was the person closest to me. My best friend and confidant. We kept each other’s secrets.
Well, except for the ones I’d been keeping of late, but then I hadn’t many secrets to tell. Not yet at least, but when I had, he would be the first to know.
“You can come back too.”
He shook his head. “No, I prefer Columbus. I like the freedom.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Dad comes back, he’s going to get too involved.”
“Not really. He’s a married man now. I’m pretty sure Declan can think of a million ways to keep his husband occupied.”
He elbowed me. “Fuck, dude, don’t even put that image in my head.”
As if we hadn’t seen enough of those two being all kissy and touchy in front of us. They weren’t prudes and didn’t care if the world knew how much they were in love.
“Well, you know what I mean, and I don’t think Dad would interfere much.”
He hadn’t intervened when I suffered through Dom drop at the dungeon. He’d allowed Declan to help me through the intense feeling that had crippled me that night. I’d felt like a robot that had its Off button pushed. I never wanted to experience those horrific emotions again. That despondency and displacement.
“Just do what you have to do.” Oscar scratched behind Lucky’s ear.
“Come on, Os. I’ll always be here, and you better pick up the damn phone when I call.”
“Yeah, yeah, I will.”
“You know that twin intuition is never wrong. You could be all the way in Columbus, and I’d still know if something isn’t right with you.”
“Damn annoying if you ask me,” he grumbled.
He didn’t mean it. He’d always relished our twin connection since we were kids and discovered we often could tell when something was wrong with each other. The feeling was just different than anything else. A panic that lodged into your gut or low-key worry that wouldn’t go away.
I used to find it annoying, but Oscar had always bragged about it. He could usually read me like a book too. I was more private than him and more likely to keep a secret, not wanting anyone to worry about me. He’d called me on my bullshit the first time we met up with our other dad, James, and I’d acted like everything was fine.
I hadn’t been fine. I’d been livid as hell that James had walked out