Ant shut the door—from this side. “What the fuck,” he said without any inflection. He looked like he’d been hit by a truck, as if his worldview was suddenly turned upside down.
His face very hot, Liam hurriedly pulled his pants up while Jon fixed his fly.
“What the fuck?” Ant said with building anger, glaring daggers at his best friend.
“Anthony,” Jon said, his expression pinched. “I know how it looks, but—”
Ant barked out a laugh. It wasn’t a nice laugh. “You know what it looks like, man? Unless I’m missing something, it looks like you’ve been fucking my little brother—while you pretended to be me.”
Liam winced.
Because Ant wasn’t wrong: put that way, it did look horrible. Both of their actions were. Liam couldn’t meet his brother’s eyes. Didn’t dare.
He looked at Jon.
His jaw was set, his expression resolute. “I know you’re angry, Ant. I would be too, in your shoes.”
“No shit. He’s a kid, Jon. I thought we were friends.”
“I’m not a kid,” Liam tried to cut in, but Ant ignored him, glaring at his friend.
“Remember the promise you gave me years ago?” Ant said, baring his teeth. “That if I died, you would take care of my siblings, be a brother to them.” Ant laughed. “Instead you go and fuck one of them—while pretending to be me.”
Jon averted his gaze, his scent souring with guilt.
Liam stepped forward, a wave of protectiveness making his chest tight. He might be still angry at Jon, but no one else was allowed to make him feel like shit. “The only person here who has the right to be angry is me, not you, Anthony,” he said sharply. “Someone who has completely ignored his siblings for the past fifteen years has no room to talk.”
Ant’s lips thinned. “That’s irrelevant now—”
“Is it?” Liam said, raising his eyebrows. “If you didn’t ignore your family for over a decade, this situation wouldn’t have happened, because we would have actually known what you looked like!”
Ant said nothing, looking like he’d swallowed something sour.
“Don’t be too hard on your brother, darling,” Jon said with a smile, putting a hand on Liam’s shoulder and kissing him on the temple. “He’s not good at accepting constructive criticism.”
Anthony glared at him—at both of them. “I’m this close to beating the living shit out of you, Jon,” he ground out. “Give me one reason not to. It’d better be a good one.”
Jon’s expression became serious. “You won’t beat up your brother-in-law, will you?”
Liam took a deep breath.
Then he lifted his foot and stomped on Jon’s foot, hard. “You’re supposed to propose to me first, you ass,” he hissed, flushing with a mix of indignation and delight.
The bastard was smiling, his eyes full of amusement. “I thought it would be a little awkward to propose immediately after being introduced,” he said with a roguish smile that had no right to be so damn attractive.
Liam glowered at him, but he couldn’t help it—his lips twitched and then he was laughing. “Your sense of humor is awful,” he said, leaning forward and kissing him. Just a short one.
“You’re laughing, so it’s clearly not,” Jon murmured against his lips, wrapping his arms around Liam and pulling him closer, so tightly Liam sighed in bliss from how good it felt. Jon kissed him on the nose, then on his lips, before pulling back and gazing at him seriously.
“I know you’re still angry at me,” he said in a low, intimate voice that enveloped Liam like the softest blanket. “I’m sorry for not being more honest with you. I never wanted to hurt you.” He brushed his thumb against Liam’s bottom lip, stopping him from talking. “I didn’t plan for this—for you. I fully intended to keep my promise to Ant and be a brother for his siblings.” He smiled ruefully. “Well, you know how that worked out. I couldn’t look at you as a brother. I could only look at you as a man.” His voice dropped even lower, only for Liam’s ears. “I want to be the only man who gets to touch you. I want to grow old with you, watch you get wrinkles and liver spots.”
His throat uncomfortably thick, Liam laughed. “Wrinkles and liver spots? Do you think that’s very romantic?”
Jon shrugged with a smile, kissing him on the nose again. “Frankly, I’m looking forward to them. I wish you weren’t so lovely. You make me feel like a green knothead with a one-track mind and I really don’t appreciate it.” His blue eyes were laughing. “If you weren’t such a terrible distraction, I would have wrapped up the mission ages ago—and likely without nearly dying, either.”
Liam tightened his arms around him. “Don’t joke about it,” he said harshly, burying his face in Jon’s neck and breathing. “I was so scared. I was so angry at you but—I was scared.” He knew he was clinging to Jon, but he couldn’t loosen his arms at all. Wasn’t willing to. “Why didn’t you come to see me sooner? It’s been months. Was your injury that bad?”