He didn’t think Laddin would get the Black Widow reference. He wouldn’t know it except that Marvel comics were one of the few things he and Josh had shared. At least they had, before sports, girls, and their father had gotten between them. But Laddin was smart, and he obviously followed the pop culture reference just fine.
“Don’t give me that movie shit. If you wanted to save the world, you’d become a doctor or a—”
“A fire medic?”
Laddin grimaced. “You really based your life on a Black Widow comic?”
He shrugged. This was the most introspection he’d done in years. It wasn’t his strong suit. But maybe that was a side effect of becoming a werewolf. He started thinking in ways he’d never done before. He started thinking about himself in ways that made him question his entire life up until now. Was everything he was, everything he’d done, all about making up for being an asshole older brother?
He thought for a moment. He remembered all the things he’d done to his brother when they were kids. Things that would get a parent arrested. Verbal and physical abuse were only the beginning. He’d been mean because his father had taught him to be mean, and the older man had praised him the more vicious he got.
The memories made him feel sick, and he flopped back onto the bedroll with a grunt. “I want to make up for being a shit older brother. That’s all.”
“Have you tried saying ‘I’m sorry’?”
Those two words seemed so lame. And when he’d actually used them, he’d been too late. Josh had blown him off with surprising strength. “This apology thing,” he said in the darkness. “It’s a new thought for me.”
Laddin didn’t respond except to grunt. Bruce knew what the sound meant. It was the universal noise of “whatever.” It meant that Laddin was done talking. He’d given his opinion and wasn’t going to belabor the point. That was both comforting and thoroughly frustrating, because Bruce needed to sort this out. He needed to find a way to connect with Josh. And he needed that damned fairy apple to leave his thoughts. Because the more he thought about it, the more it hung in the air right behind his closed eyelids. If he focused on it even a little, he could smell it and feel the tingle of its magic against his tongue.
“Let it go for tonight,” Laddin said as he tucked his arm around Bruce’s chest. Then he dropped his head against Bruce’s arm and inhaled a long, deep breath. “You don’t smell like cheese anymore.”
“Thank God for small favors.” But then he remembered that in the midst of mulling over his own problems, he’d forgotten all about Laddin’s. “You have to talk to the pixies tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Have you set an alarm?”
“Yeah. But I don’t know what I’m going to say to them. I spent half the day searching for answers and found nothing helpful.”
“I’ll go with you. No matter what, we’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” He didn’t know if it was the sex or the fact that they’d nearly died together this afternoon, but at some point Laddin had changed from being Bruce’s trainer to his comrade in arms. Bruce wasn’t about to leave him hanging without backup against killer cheese fairies. That thought was so ridiculously silly, it made him snort. “I’m there for you, man. We’ll confront the limburger together.”
“Grand Master Cheesy, Great Fetid Feta.”
Bruce felt himself relax, the tension from thinking about things that made him uncomfortable easing because he was focused on Laddin. “I can’t believe you can say that with a straight face.”
“Hey, I’m not just a pretty face. I can tell my Fetid Feta from Smoked Gouda any day.”
“And here I thought you were just a great lay.”
He felt Laddin smile against his back. “I’m a man of many talents.”
They bantered back and forth for a bit, settling into a rhythm of chuckles and quiet breaths. Eventually Laddin drifted off, his soft snores making Bruce think of the atmosphere in the firehouse late at night. He wondered if this was what being in a werewolf pack was like. Did firefighters and werewolves share that sense of family? The idea comforted him and allowed his mind to quiet into sleep.
Rest was beautiful and so welcome.
So the last thing he expected when he woke hours later was to find a fairy army practicing maneuvers on his chest. It wasn’t a dream, and holy fuck, what the hell were they about to do to his dick?
Chapter 13
FAIRY FIRECRACKERS ARE NOT AS FUN AS THEY SEEM
LADDIN WOKE with a start when he heard a strangled cry from Bruce. Their bodies were intertwined, and though he lifted his head, he couldn’t seem to move away from him.
WTF?
Holy shit, he was tied down!
The memory of being suffocated by fairy cheese had him straining in real panic. His head started pounding, his breath heaved, and he fought, fought, fought like a demon possessed.
“Ow! Laddin! Shit!” The words were punctuated with grunts, and somewhere from the edge of his vision, he saw bright yellow lights tumbling and spiraling away. He didn’t care. He needed to get free, and it was working. First a shoulder, then a foot. And then he was grabbing and ripping at whatever the hell was on top of him. Which—now that he was mostly free—turned out to be his bedroll.
He blinked while Bruce took a breath with him. His eyes were dark, his worry clear.
“Can you turn on the light?” Bruce asked, his voice low and quiet.
The light. Right! He’d left a camp light right by the bed. He banged down with his fist to turn
