Cain nodded, glancing around the church again. He stopped when familiar eyes met his, and his mouth fell open. No. It couldn’t be. Here? Archer? He swallowed hard, his stomach churning as his palms turned clammy.
Archer nodded at him with a pinched expression on his face, and they stood staring at each other as the music played. Archer licked his lips and ducked his head, but his eyes somehow remained on Cain.
Nudging Robert, he nodded over to Archer who had finally turned to the rear of the door as Lydia entered. “The guy in the dark blue suit. Who is he?”
“She looks amazing, doesn’t she?” Robert whispered, awed, his eyes on his soon to be wife.
“She does look great, Dad. You did well.”
Robert smiled and whispered, “Archer.”
“How do you know him?”
“I’m getting married, Cain. Why now?”
“Please, Dad. It’s important.”
“Archer’s Lydia’s son.”
“Shit.”
Robert glanced in his direction then back at Lydia, who was walking toward them. “Shit?” he mouthed.
“I’m so screwed.”
Robert turned and looked at him then Archer who, Cain noticed, was rubbing his face. Cain saw the moment Robert realized what was going on. “Him? But you’re not...him?”
“On vacation before I came back here.”
Smiling at Lydia, he whispered, “We’ll talk later. Much later.”
Cain stepped back and somehow managed to pay attention to the wedding. Robert and Lydia glowed with happiness, and Cain discreetly wiped a tear away when they read their vows. Both had suffered a devastating loss and now had found love. It was perfect.
Seeing the love and happiness on Robert’s face filled Cain with joy. He’d given up so much to raise his family single handed. And now he had a woman who clearly loved him, and one he loved in return.
As the service ended, Cain glanced over at Archer, who still looked shocked and was avoiding his eyes. Tough. They needed to talk. They were family now.
He had no idea where to look. There, in front of him, stood Cain, and he still wanted him. He still reacted to the mere sight of him. But now things were so complicated; the man was his stepbrother. Could his day get any worse?
Yes. Yes, it could.
Cain came over to him. “We need to talk.”
Archer watched him walk away, smiling and shaking hands with the people he passed, as he followed. He wasn’t sure if he could do this. How could he be family to someone he still wanted to kiss? Someone he still wanted to touch.
The sight of Cain had him hard in seconds, and he needed to get control over his body’s reaction to the man. They had a party to go to and no doubt speeches to give, but all he wanted to do was drag Cain away somewhere private and do things to his body.
Groaning, he rubbed his face again, and August nudged him when she caught up to him. “How are you feeling now?”
“He saw me. Told me we have to talk.”
“That’s good, yeah. You can clear the air and move on.” August looked at him and smiled. “It happened. You can’t change that, but how you handle the situation will affect not only your future together, but also Mom’s and Robert’s.” August grinned and bounced on her feet. “Just wait until Mom finds out!”
“No!” Archer hissed, glancing around the church to make sure no one could hear them. “She can’t find out about this. Talk about fucking awkward.”
“What if Cain says something?” August gave Archer a sad look, her face falling as she held his hand. “At some point, someone will find out, and what happens then? They’ll think you’ve been keeping secrets from them, and you know Mom hates secrets. Too many people know.”
“This isn’t something anyone needs to know about. We met, we had sex, and now we move on. It was a vacation fling, that’s all.” Archer grabbed August’s arm. “I was his first.”
“First?”
“Yes. He hadn’t been with a man before. It was a vacation fling, and we need to forget about it.”
“Except your vacation fling is now your stepbrother. Kinda changes everything.”
“Aug, I’ll handle it. I’ll speak to Cain and convince him to keep quiet about it.”
“What about parties and family get-togethers? Gonna avoid those? How do you think Mom will take it if you don’t show your face?”
“I’ll deal with it when the time comes.” Archer gritted his teeth and stared at August. “It’s in the past. We’ll figure shit out.”
“Archer.”
Both Archer and August turned to the voice, and Archer’s stomach tightened...as did his dick. Cain stood in front of them, glancing between them, a faint stain on his cheeks. His eyes bounced around, unable to settle on anything, and he rocked on his feet.
“Hi, Cain.”
“Surprise seeing you here.”
August squeezed his hand and smiled at Cain before she moved past him. Archer nodded at her then stared at Cain. His gorgeous, sexy Cain. Who wasn’t his at all.
They stood, staring at each, ignoring the echoing voices as those who had attended the wedding left. “So?” Cain fidgeted on the spot and glanced over his shoulder at the doors. “I have to go with my dad, but we really do need to talk.”
“Not awkward at all.” Archer sighed and ran a hand through his hair then automatically pulled Cain’s lip from between his teeth.
Cain stepped back, his eyes widening in surprise. “Archer.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
“We’re family now.” Cain dropped his face into his hands and mumbled something Archer didn’t catch.
“What?”
“What are we going to do?” Cain looked him up and down, and Archer watched the blush deepen on his cheeks.
“I feel the same way.”
Cain’s eyes locked with his, and he nodded once. “But, we can’t.”
“No.” Swallowing, Archer shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. “It was a vacation fling.”
“I know, but here we are...”
“Yeah. Here we are.”
Archer’s eyes scanned Cain’s body, taking in every single detail. The suit fit him like a dream, and he had to fight the urge not to take the man in his arms and kiss him like he wanted. He wanted to do more than that too. Kiss, bite, lick, touch. Fuck.
Groaning, he looked up to the ceiling and took several deep breaths. This was bad.
“Archer.”
He looked back at Cain, and he nodded to the doors. “I have to go.”
“We can’t tell anyone.” Archer winced and shook his head, closing his eyes. “Knox and August know, but I’ll make sure they keep quiet.” Then he remembered. “Walter knows too.”
“Yeah, I kinda fucked up.” Cain glanced away and bit his lip as he rubbed the back of his neck. Archer itched to reach over and pull Cain’s lip free, but he didn’t have that right. Not now. “My dad knows.”
“What?” Archer practically shouted the word and quietly glanced around the church, sighing with relief when he found it empty. “How does he know?”