Theo collapsed on his chest, Harbor still buried inside him, and pressed his face into the curve of Harbor’s neck and shoulder. Turning his head, Harbor kissed his forehead, running his hands over every part of Theo he could reach.
“That,” Theo said after his breathing had settled, and he’d moved enough for Harbor’s softening length to slip out of him. “Was amazing.”
Laughing softly, Harbor pulled off the condom and tossed it in the trash before he rolled them to their sides so he could see Theo’s face. Theo met him halfway for a kiss. “Yeah it was. Shower?”
“Definitely. After that ice cream you promised me.”
Harbor smiled and went to hunt for the pint of rocky road in his freezer and two spoons.
Chapter Fourteen
“All done,” Ollie said looking over the second part of the samurai tattoo he’d just inked into Theo’s back. “Wanna check it out before I bandage it?”
“Yeah,” Theo said, sitting up. “Mind if I hit the head while I do?”
“Sure, it’s back through that door at the end of the hall.”
Ducking out of Ollie’s tattoo room, Theo turned toward the back, wincing a little at the soreness he’d woken up with that morning and the fresh sting of a new tattoo. Totally worth it on both counts.
He’d always been an early riser and had enjoyed watching the warm glow of the sun creep across Harbor’s face as he slept. Theo shook his head at himself. He’d never in his life felt like this. He wondered if this is what people meant when they said they were “love-struck.” They’d spent the morning lounging around Harbor’s apartment, and his thoughts had jumped wildly back and forth from being perfectly content in the moment to wondering how to share things beyond the physical with this man. He thought he wanted to; share more of himself, share the things he had gone through, that he was still going through, but he didn’t know how.
He'd left Harbor in the gym with Rory several hours ago, and beyond Harbor poking his head in once to see how the tattoo was coming, he hadn’t seen him since. They’d made plans for an early dinner, and Harbor had spoken about different things they could do in the week Theo was staying. Except an email from his lawyer requesting a meeting had Theo’s belly in knots and dreading telling Harbor he’d need to head back to Indy earlier than he’d planned.
Stepping through the door into the back room, Theo was met with a set of stairs directly in front of him, a door labeled “bathroom” on the left, and two doors on the right. One of the doors was open a crack letting raised voices filter through into the walkway.
“I’m not having this discussion, Niko.” Theo recognized Vidar’s voice immediately, although, he’d never heard it in that unforgiving tone.
“Vi, please...” Niko sounded nothing less than heartbroken. Theo knew he shouldn’t be listening, but his feet were glued to the floor.
“You need to get back to the front desk, and I have a plane to catch.” The door swept open a moment later, one of Vidar’s muscled arms holding it for Niko to walk through. There was a dark look on his face as the younger man cast Vidar one more glance, then hurried past. Theo swore he saw tear tracks on Niko’s cheeks. After Niko was gone, Vidar turned his eyes on Theo. The cold blue of them was probably enough to silence most people, but Theo wasn’t one of them.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, his eyes never leaving Vidar’s. It struck him how much Vidar and Harbor looked alike. Same blond hair and blue eyes. Strong jaw and sharp features. For all the similarities though, the difference was unmistakable. Where Harbor was fire, a wild, barely contained energy ready to break free at any moment. Vidar was cold, an iceberg, steady and unrelenting, waiting for you to tear yourself apart against him.
Vidar stepped out into the hallway, and Theo braced himself. A thought at how pissed Harbor would be that he’d gotten into a fight with his brother flitting through his mind a moment before Vidar stopped in front of him.
“That was a private discussion,” Vidar took a breath, eyes assessing. “But now that you’ve heard it you might as well come with me. I need to tell your boyfriend something that he’s probably not going to like.”
Theo’s brow furrowed. “What did that,” he gestured towards the door Vidar had just come out of, “have to do with Harbor?”
“Nothing directly,” Vidar’s eyes narrowed. “and I’ll ask you to keep your mouth shut about what you heard. Now, come on.”
“You’ve got quite the rosy glow about you today,” Rory joked the moment Theo had disappeared through the door to Open Wounds leaving Harbor and Rory gearing up for a sparring match in the cage.
Harbor smirked and kept wrapping his hands, knowing his silence would drive the Scot crazier than any come back he could muster.
“Is that how it’s going to be, then?” Rory asked, flipping the end of a towel at him. “I mean, maybe we could trade stories,” Rory went on, “I could probably dig one or two out of memory that you’d particularly enjoy—”
“Okay, okay, I give!” Harbor laughed, half-shocked that Rory would even go there, but at the same time not willing to risk any story Rory might whip out that included Magnus. It was bad enough that Harbor had to pick and choose his porn around the studios Magnus had worked for before he retired. He didn’t need first-hand accounts of his brother’s past sex life to add to his nightmares. “I... had a very good night.”
It was Rory’s turn to smirk. “Not too sore for sparring, are you?”
Harbor rolled his eyes. “Guess you’ll find out when you stop your yapping, and we actually get in the cage.”
Rory just smiled at him and finished putting on his gloves before clapping Harbor on the back. “I’m just happy for you, you know?”
“Thanks, man.” Harbor smiled back at his friend, watching Rory’s face morph from a happy smile to something wistful.
“Theo’s a good one. Keep hold of him.”
“I will. Look, Rory.” Harbor had never asked. All these years, and the only things he knew about what had actually happened between Rory and Magnus were bits and pieces he’d strung together himself. Neither of them ever seemed inclined to talk about it, and he figured it wasn’t really his business anyway. He cleared his throat. “Things seem... better? Between you and Ma—”
“Well,” Rory cut him off, his eyes focusing on adjusting his gloves. “I wouldn’t say better, but... we came to a bit of an understanding when Dagen was in the hospital.” Rory blew out a hard breath. “Since neither of us is inclined to leave, we decided we better learn to co-exist.” The smile on Rory’s face was more of a grimace, but it was an improvement over the pained expression he usually wore when Magnus came up.
Harbor nodded. “That’s something, I guess.”
“Aye. I suppose. Now come on, time’s wasting.”
The day went quickly after that. Sparring, weights, more sparring. He popped over to check on Theo at one point, enjoying the sight of his boyfriend’s naked back while Ollie laid the ink that was shaping up to be a truly spectacular and huge tattoo. The samurai in profile would take up half of Theo’s back when it was done, and if Harbor was honest with himself, he couldn’t wait to explore it with more than his eyes.
It was early afternoon when he and Rory were finishing a takedown drill on the jiu jitsu mats. Dagen had joined them earlier, taking a place off to the side and talking about plans for their big Labor Day weekend getaway in a couple weeks. Harbor was glad to see his baby brother all healed and walked over and plopped down beside him on the mat where Dagen was sitting with his back against the wall.
“Is Theo coming with us?” Dagen asked, handing Harbor one of the water bottles sitting beside him.
Huh. Harbor hadn’t even thought to ask him, but as soon as the idea settled in his mind, he wanted to. It would be amazing to have Theo there for one of his favorite weekends of the year. “I, uh, haven’t asked him, but I will.”
“Good.” Dagen nodded. “He seems like a really good guy. I’m happy for you, bro.”
&n
bsp; “Thanks,” Harbor said, settling in. “How are you and Ollie?”
Dagen’s smile was immediate. “We’re good. Really good.”
“Oy, that’s enough of that,” Rory piped up, lowering himself on Dagen’s other side. “There’s been entirely too much mush floating around in here today.”
Harbor laughed, then belched, making Dagen and Rory groan in unison. “Is that better? Is the space manly enough again for you?”
Vidar stepped around the corner a moment later, and the smile faded from Harbor’s face at his brother’s expression. When Theo stopped behind Vidar, shirtless and scowling, Harbor jumped to his feet.
“What’s going on?” he asked, looking from his brother to his boyfriend. Dagen and Rory stood up beside him.
Vidar looked at Harbor before settling his eyes on Rory. “I’m going to need you.”
In an instant, Rory’s face morphed from confused to a tight understanding and he nodded. “I’ll need to run home, but I’ll be back within the hour.”
“Good,” Vidar said, eyes moving to Harbor. “I’m sorry, brother. I know this isn’t the best time, but Rory and I have to go handle something. I’m hoping we won’t be gone more than a week.”
“Again, what the hell is going on?” Harbor couldn’t keep the rising tide of anger from coloring his voice. “Is this about whatever secret you’ve been keeping?”
Vidar stepped closer, voice as level as it always was. “Yes.”
Harbor exploded. “That’s it? What? Suddenly you don’t trust us anymore?”
“Harbor,” Dagen started, reaching for him. Harbor shook him off.
“No. We’ve always stood beside you. We’re brothers, it’s what we do. We stick together, and you’ve been stonewalling all of us for weeks.”
Vidar’s jaw ticked. “This has nothing to do with our family.”
“Would you even tell us if it did? Or would you and Mags just sweep it under the rug—”
In a heartbeat, Vidar had Harbor pinned against the wall, hands fisted in his shirt. Vidar spoke with only a breath of space between them, hard blue eyes so much like Harbor’s own boring into him. “Everything I do, I do for this family. Blood or otherwise.” Vidar lowered his voice even further to the point Harbor was sure only he could hear him. “This isn’t my secret to tell. But I need to take care of it all the same.”
Harbor could see Dagen and Theo in his peripheral. Dagen looked worried. Theo looked ready to spring. Taking a deep breath, Harbor relaxed his stance. “It’s dangerous, isn’t it? You wouldn’t be taking Rory if it wasn’t.”
Vidar’s eyes dropped for a split second and he unclenched his fists. “We’ll be back in a week. Maybe two.” His eyes moved to Dagen. “You’ll run the gym?”
“Of course, but Vi,” Dagen started, only for Vidar to hold up his hand.
“If I could tell you, I would. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
Chapter Fifteen
“He’s done dumbass, mysterious shit before, but not like this! Running off to who knows where and taking Rory with him.”
Theo trailed behind Harbor into the apartment, letting him vent and half wishing they could return to the peace of that morning before they’d let the outside world in. Harbor was still ranting, standing in the hallway looking like a sexy, wrathful god as he stripped out of his training clothes. After Vidar’s announcement, they’d only stayed long enough for Ollie to bandage the fresh tattoo on his back. Harbor had been eager for some distance from his brother, and Theo was happy to go with him. Honestly, he’d been a little afraid that Harbor would push him away in his anger, but that hadn’t been the case.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, undoubtedly his lawyer wanting to confirm a meeting, and Theo’s gut clenched. He was such a hypocrite, but he really didn’t want to dump all his baggage on Harbor now. He must have been lost in thought because Harbor’s naked body stepped into his line of sight, and the quiet of the apartment was heavy, like Harbor had spoken to him only to be met with silence.
“I’m sorry,” Harbor said before Theo found his voice. He leaned his forehead against Theo’s and closed his eyes.
“What are you apologizing for? Being upset?” He let his hands slide onto Harbor’s waist, pulling him closer.
Harbor sighed. “Upset? I completely lost my shit, and I’m sorry you had to see it. I love my brother, but he makes me fucking crazy.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for, okay?” Theo licked his lips. “Being here even when shit is hard is what being in a relationship is all about, isn’t it?”
Harbor pulled back enough to meet his eyes. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
Theo didn’t know what to say, so he pressed a kiss to Harbor’s lips before wrapping his arms completely around him and pulling their bodies flush together. Feeling some of the tension leak out of Harbor’s body, he felt like he could voice something that had been bugging him. “At the gym, you said something...”
Harbor frowned. “I said a lot of things.”
A wave of uncertainty crashed over Theo, but he sucked in a breath and pressed on. “You accused Vidar and Magnus of hiding something. Of sweeping it under the rug?”
“Yeah,” Harbor sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that.” Pulling out of Theo’s arms, he turned and walked the short distance to the laundry closet in the hall. Opening the doors, he fished out a pair of sweats from the basket on top of the dryer and slid them up his muscular legs. “You want a beer?” Harbor asked, walking to the kitchen.
“Sure,” Theo said, disappointed that Harbor hadn’t answered his question, but understanding at the same time. He didn’t like people poking into his business either. “Look, Harbor, I’m sor—”
“Hush, Theodore.” Harbor shot him a small smile as he came back around the corner of the kitchen, two beers in hand. He settled on the couch, one leg pulled up under him and toned torso on display, placing the bottles on the coffee table before arching a questioning brow at Theo still standing in the entry way.
Theo kicked off his shoes and sat down beside Harbor, turning his body so he could see Harbor’s face and taking a pull of his beer. From the tick in Harbor’s jaw, he thought maybe they should have gotten into something stronger.
“I shouldn’t have said that because Vi didn’t deserve it. Even if I am pissed at him. Not because I mind you asking.” He took a long drink of his own beer. “I was referring to whatever happened the night that our mom left our dad.”
That was the last thing Theo had expected. “Oh.” He frowned. In all his interactions with the Rourke’s, he’d never even wondered where Harbor’s father was. Maybe because he didn’t have one either, but he suspected that it was more that they seemed so whole. Like there was no reason to question what should have been an obvious hole in their ranks because it didn’t actually exist.
“Yeah,” Harbor agreed with his apparent bafflement. “I was ten at the time, and mom had picked me up from school, and Dagen from pre-school. Our dad was supposed to be home with Vi and Mags.”
“He wasn’t?”
Harbor looked up from where he was picking at the label of his bottle. “No, he was. When we walked in, he had Vidar by the collar of his shirt and was just... beating the shit out of him.”
“What the fuck?”
Harbor shook his head. “Everything else about that night is so fuzzy in my mind, but Vi’s face? Covered in blood, and him still fucking snarling and trying to fight back is crystal clear. Magnus was in the room, on the floor against the wall, but I couldn’t tell you if he was hurt or even conscious. I just...” Harbor shrugged, and Theo reached for him, settling his hand over Harbor’s where it lay on his thigh. Harbor spread his knuckles letting Theo’s fingers weave in-between his and squeezed them tight.
“What happened?”
“Mom freaked. Shoved me and Dagen behind her and back out the door. He’d started to cry so I took his hand, and we sat down on the porch steps. There was a lot of yelling, and then Mom came back out
, one arm around Vidar, the other around Magnus, and a bag thrown over her shoulder. She put us all in the car, drove us to Rory’s mom’s house, and I never saw my dad again.”
“Never?”
Harbor shook his head.
“And you don’t know why your dad did that? Had he ever hit one of you before?”
Harbor shifted, slouching further down until his head rested against the back. “No. They won’t talk about it. I’m sure Mom knows, but she’s always said that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter the reason. No one was going to treat her kids like that.”
“And Vidar was okay?”
“It took a bit, but yeah. Most of the damage was superficial.” Harbor huffed. “Anyway, Mom took on an extra job, and as soon as he could, Vi got a job cleaning at the gym down the road from the apartment we moved into. We all pitched in... Magnus learned how to cook. I learned how to clean and do laundry. Our building had a washer and dryer in the basement, and Dagen was already the size of a horse so I’d make him help me carry it all downstairs.” A wistful chuckle escaped him. “Of all of us, though, Vi really stepped up. Going to school and working almost every night, just to help pay rent. But he always made time for us, was always there if we needed him.”
“Sounds like he thought it was his job to look after you all. Protect you.” Theo squeezed the fingers between his. “Seems like he still does.”
Like a popped balloon, Harbor deflated. “Fuck. I know he does. How the hell am I just supposed to sit around here while him and Rory are off doing god knows what.”
Open Wounds: The Boxed Set Page 20
