The prickles disappeared before Baer’s eyes, and Grey’s look was actually gentle. “Yes, I would, Baer. And Wiley isn’t like that. I swear, his feelings for you are genuine. It’s about who you are, not what you can do.”
His breath left him in a rush, and Baer covered his face with both of his hands. It had been his darkest fear with regard to Wiley as his own feelings grew for the man. He didn’t think Wiley was just being nice because he was attracted to the magic, but he was afraid his hopes were blocking out his common sense.
“Thanks, Grey,” Baer murmured when he dropped his hands again and felt a little steadier.
“Well, just be grateful that you can’t be an idiot like Clay and keep this secret from Wiley.”
Baer chuckled. “Yeah, that cat is definitely out of the bag.”
The comfortable silence stretched for several minutes, and they watched Clay showing off his powers to Lucien.
“Are you going to start charging for these little therapy sessions?” Baer teased.
“I should.”
“It’s a shame I won’t be able to return the favor when you find your soul mate.”
Grey’s brow furrowed. “Why not? Tapping out now because you think I’m gonna be a hard case?”
“No, of course not. I just thought…well, you’re going to know when you see them that they’re your soul mate.”
Grey’s laugh came out hard and more than a little bitter. “You think that’s going to make it any easier? Not only will I know this person is my soul mate, but I’ll also instantly know if they are attracted to me or if they instantly hate me. And all that’s assuming we beat the odds and find this mythical person in the first place.”
Baer’s heart painfully squeezed for his friend. Yeah, knowing couldn’t be any better than his operating in the dark.
“You know I’ve got your back, brother.”
Grey smirked at him. “Yeah, I know.” He lifted a hand to his eyes and rubbed, giving a soft groan.
“You okay?”
“Headache.”
“Go lie down. You’ve had to deal with two new people in the house. I’ll keep an eye on Clay and Lucien.”
Grey flashed him a weak smile. “See, you can read me already.”
“Go. I won’t let anyone catch fire.”
Grey nodded his head and pushed to his feet before slowly shuffling to the house. Baer stared at his retreating back at that moment, frowning. They were still missing two Weavers and then add in soul mates, this house was going to get very crowded quickly. It would be fun for a normal person, but Grey was hammered on all sides by their emotions and thoughts. His headaches and exhaustion were only going to get worse.
The Soul Weaver’s mate needed to show up soon, and Baer could only hope that the person acted as a buffer, gave him some relief. Otherwise, Baer wasn’t sure how long the man was going to last.Chapter 14That night, Wiley shook with anticipation as he closed the door to Baer’s room behind him. Well, their room now. They’d talked about having sex, and he was more than ready.
Of course, this wasn’t his first time having sex. There hadn’t been a lot of sex in his life up to this point. A couple of hookups. A few guys he’d dated that hadn’t gone great. The relationships had been largely horrible, but the sex had been nice.
He had hopes that sex with Baer would be a lot more than just nice. The frotting they’d enjoyed the other morning already ranked above half of his previous sexual experiences, and they’d been fully dressed. What would it be like to get Baer completely naked and stretched out against him?
The mental image alone shorted out his brain.
He found Baer sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing only a pair of loose basketball shorts. His hair was wet from a recent shower, and the air in the bedroom was a little damp as if he’d just recently released the steam from the bathroom. He’d been frowning at the book in his hands, as if he couldn’t decide whether to read it, but his expression immediately brightened the moment Wiley walked into the room.
Reaching over, Baer placed the book on the dresser. “Queenie set up for the night?”
Wiley nodded. He’d showered and then gone downstairs to make sure his princess had fresh water and food. With Ruby stretched out and asleep in the hall, this was her time to prowl the house without the dog following her every step. “Our babies are all set for the night. I double-checked Ruby’s water bowl, too.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, wracking his brain for what he should say or do next. Should he have just crawled onto Baer’s lap and kissed him? Yeah, that would have been easiest. Now he had to think of something to say. Crap.