“Touch me anywhere, dude, and I’m punching you in the junk,” Brad said, deadpan. “Riley, do we need to get this kid to the clinic?”
“No,” Devon said.
“Maybe,” Hunter said at the same time.
Devon batted away Hunter’s hand and forced himself to sit up without wincing too much. His side was stabbing him, his knuckles aching, and his head was booming. “I’ll be fine. He probably just bruised my ribs. The last thing I feel like doing is sitting in the ER for hours. I’ll take something for the pain and call it a night.”
“You sure, hon?” Alice asked, sitting forward, brows knit.
Devon stood, bracing a hand on Hunter’s shoulder when pain kicked him in the side at the movement. “I’m good.”
Mark frowned. “Man, maybe you should go. I mean, you turned down head from me. You may have a concussion or something. You’re clearly out of your mind.”
The words were meant to be funny, but the genuine concern on the guy’s face surprised Devon and warmed him. God, how had he managed to find friends like these in a place like this? Without thinking too long about it, he reached out and grabbed Mark’s shirt.
“Oh, come here, stud.” Devon drew him close for a sound, smacking kiss on the lips. It was a chaste peck, but Devon made a dramatic mmm sound and it earned appropriate gasps from the audience.
When he pushed Mark away, Mark’s eyes were wide but then they crinkled with laughter. “Holy shit, dude.”
“That. Was. So. Hot,” Alice said, giving a slow clap. “I might’ve just gotten a semi.”
Mark’s attention swung to her. “We’re so getting married. You’re like the perfect woman.”
Alice rocked to her feet. “How about I let you to buy me coffee first?”
Mark pumped a fist in the air in victory and then patted Devon on the ass as he went over to Alice. “Thanks for taking one for the team, man.”
“You kids have fun. Make sure to use lube when you peg him, Al,” Devon called out.
Alice rolled her eyes, but the sparkle in her expression was hard to hide. She came over and kissed him on the cheek. “Call me if you need anything.”
Devon watched them go, shooing Brad away, too. He just wanted to get up to his room and get to bed. But, of course, he wasn’t alone yet. Hunter had stood by like a sentry for the last few minutes and now he was wearing a scowl.
“What crawled up your ass, big man?” Devon asked, moving slowly toward the staircase.
“You’re hurt.”
He trudged up the steps. “I’m fine.”
Hunter followed close behind, not saying anything until they were nearly to their room. “You kissed Mark.”
The hard tone had Devon looking back over his shoulder. “It was a joke.”
“So you’ll just kiss any of us for the sake of helping out, huh? Mark to impress a girl. Me ’cause I got curious.”
Devon didn’t know where the bitter tone was coming from—Hunter or the alcohol. But he didn’t have time for this shit tonight. He hobbled into their room and shut the door when Hunter followed. “I kissed Mark because it’d help your case, asshole. Throw any remaining suspicion out the window after your big drunken cocksucking pronouncement. And let’s not pretend a peck on the lips is the same as what happened with us.”
Color blazed high on Hunter’s cheeks.
Devon pressed his hand to his side, trying to ease some of the throbbing pain as he sat on the edge of his bed. “And what do you care who I kiss anyway? You had your tongue down Sparkles’s throat for ten minutes before you even noticed there were other people in the room.”
Hunter’s eyebrow lifted. “Sparkles?”
“That stupid top she was wearing. Is she trying to blind a guy so you’ll be distracted from her annoying-ass accent? God, I might’ve kissed her just to shut her up.”
Hunter crossed his arms across his chest. “Sounds like you were paying pretty close attention.”
“Hard to look away when you sat right across from me.” Devon grabbed the edge of his T-shirt. He just wanted to get undressed, get under the covers,