Luscious (Topped #1)(34)

Adam was still wearing pajama pants at ten in the morning. His brother was barefoot, his dark hair wet as though he’d gotten out of the shower, dressed, and walked over. “I’m glad to hear it. I take it things went well with Ally after last night?”

Something was up, but Macon couldn’t quite bring himself to get worried. His body was still humming from sex the night before…and then again this morning…and in the shower a few minutes before. Ally had finally shooed him away claiming she wouldn’t be able to walk if he didn’t stop.

He felt like an unruly teenager. His cock wouldn’t stop. She was everything he wanted. Affectionate, giving, submissive in bed. He didn’t want her submissive out of it. He liked the fact that she had her own opinions and didn’t mind giving them to him. He even liked her a little bossy. He was man enough to admit that he needed it from time to time. Like her yelling at him for getting insecure about his damn leg. She liked his leg the way it was and she’d proved it by riding the damn thing to orgasm while he sucked and played with her nipples—two of the many things he found endlessly fascinating about her.

His leg was practically a sex toy. How could he hate that?

“Things are going great.” Finally. It had only taken him thirty years, but his life finally felt right. He loved his job, loved living close to his brother, and now he had Ally. Whatever had brought his brother across the lawn, he was going to handle. “What’s going on? You didn’t walk over here to ask about my love life.”

Adam leaned on the bar. “No, although Serena was planning on it. You’re lucky I caught her. She was trying to sneak over before nine this morning with a plate full of muffins.”

“Did she make them herself?” He loved his sister-in-law, but she wasn’t the world’s greatest cook. She tended to burn things or leave out key ingredients like sugar or flour. She got distracted by what she called “plot bunnies.”

“Yep. That’s how curious she was. And that’s another reason you should thank me. You didn’t have to pretend to like them.” Adam threw a glance back toward the bedrooms. “So, we didn’t manage to terrify her? Serena said Ally had a talk with Kai after the party was over.”

“Yes, Kai is a sneaky f*cker, but he means well.”

“He told me you’re going up to the VA with him a couple of times a month.”

Macon hadn’t mentioned it to Adam. He wasn’t sure how good he’d be at it. He’d gone three times and it seemed to be working all right. He knew he got something out of it. “I’m just there to talk to what I like to call the ‘recently relieved of limb.’”

He talked to them, gave them advice on what he’d found worked. From skin issues to keeping the muscle he had remaining on his impaired leg, he could talk about the problems they faced all day. But sometimes, they simply needed to talk, and talking to someone who understood helped.

And he’d found it helped him in immeasurable ways.

“Do you have any idea how proud I am of you, Macon? How proud she would be?” Adam’s hand patted the cookbook their mother had left behind. Adam had looked through it a few times, but he’d left it with Macon.

If he didn’t watch it, his brother was going to make him look like a crazy person, crying over his waffles. “I don’t know. I think I gave up the right when I treated you the way I did. I think she would have been extremely disappointed in me then.”

“I think if she’d lived we wouldn’t have ended up the way we did. I wonder about it a lot. I think the old man loved her. There’s not really another explanation. He had all the money. He had the connections. I think he loved her and the only good part of him died when she did. He got cold after that. He turned away from everything, including us. He married, but someone who had nothing in common with Mom. If Mom had lived, we would have been a family, not three males being raised to honor a name that really means nothing without some love behind it. You’re going to hate me for saying this, but sometimes I’m glad you had to come here.”

Macon understood. Adam wasn’t saying he was happy he’d gotten injured, but it had led to a good thing. “I cursed it for so long, but I know what you mean. If it hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be brothers again. I wouldn’t have a family. Sometimes it’s too easy to curse the place we’re at in life because we can’t see where the road is going to lead us. I wouldn’t have found Ally.”

Adam’s smile put him at ease again. “I’m glad she’s making you happy. She seems like a great woman. She’s good with Tristan and she’s become Serena’s white board buddy lately. I’ve heard them plotting sex and murder three times this week. By the way, if you see either woman playing around with a chainsaw, hide. They’re really creative.”

He hadn’t realized how the simple act of connecting with his brother could change his life, his perspective, his everything. Having Adam as a brother fundamentally made his life better. “I promise. And have I said thank you lately?”

“There’s no need. Not ever. You’re my brother and you always have a place here.” Adam sobered. “I came over here to talk to you about family actually. Our very f*cked up one. I got a call from Dad about twenty minutes ago.”

Macon set down the whisk and felt his shoulders tighten. “What’s wrong? Did he take a turn?”