was wrong. Ichi’s oldest brother existed to run other people’s lives—mostly Cole’s, but Ichiro was now a close second and a ready substitute in Mike’s eyes. Bobby glanced out the window, and Ichi could have sworn he winced painfully when he saw Mike ambling by.
“I was going to ask if he’d been the one to piss you off, but I’m guessing no,” Bobby said, jerking his thumb toward the back of the property. “Usually that’s how Cole is after he’s tangled with Mike a bit.”
“Good to know my brother and I have so much in common.” He experienced a small pang of regret for his phone’s shattered corpse. “My father drives me fucking crazy. Mike has a long way to go before I do something as childish as throw my phone against the wall. God, I’m stupid. I’m more together than this. I don’t lose my temper.”
“Fathers can do that to you. Mothers too.” Bobby’s wince rippled over his whole face. “Uh… sorry. About the mother crack. Shit. I just came in here to pee.”
“I just came in here for some breathing room. Can’t leave. My Jeep’s blocked in. Just—too many people, and I needed….” Ichi debated what he’d thought he wanted when he fled the laughter and conversations. “Guess I needed to sulk. Maybe pity myself for a bit.”
“Yeah, I throw that party all the time. Only send out one invite so everyone I want there shows up.” Another nudge, this time hard enough to dislodge Ichiro’s attention from the phone and back onto the man standing next to him. “Want to blow this Popsicle stand? Get some space from the hordes?”
“And do what?” Ichiro eyed him warily. Mischief quirked Bobby’s expressive mouth, and for all his mistrust, Ichi was tempted. Family was suddenly complicated, but Bobby Dawson—was a different sort of trouble all together.
“Dunno. Get drunk? Go dancing?” He shrugged. “Does it matter? You won’t be here, and I’ve got a bottle of whiskey we can break in. Call it a favor to the kid brother of my best friend. You look like you could really use it, and you nearly took out the television, Sunshine. Cole loves that TV. Think of the technology.”
He was beyond tempted. Drunk sounded good. Drunk and stupid sounded even better.
Because going with Bobby would be the height of stupidity. Even for him.
“Sure, why not,” Ichiro murmured, standing up from the couch. “What’s the worst that can happen? I puke all over your floor?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time it’s been horfed on.” Bobby grinned at him. “Just let me go pee first, and I’ll take you out of here. Then you can tell me what your dad said that ticked you off so much you had to go and kill your poor phone.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Ichiro admitted softly. “I never found out why he called. Well, except that I’m going to be an older brother. Guess he finally got around to knocking up my ex-girlfriend.”
Chapter 4
I CHIRO T OKUGAWA was gorgeous. Hands-down gorgeous. With liquid-chocolate brown eyes and a kissable mouth, his face was a blend of innocent and wicked topped off with a shag of red-streaked black hair soft enough to feel like mink through Bobby’s fingers. The body beneath the jeans and T-shirt was tight with lean muscle and soft, sleek skin. A man anyone would look twice or three times at, then declare him gorgeous when he walked by.
But a drunk-off-his-ass Ichiro was simply adorable.
Adorably cute even. If Bobby had any opinion on the matter.
Not that his opinion was being solicited, because at that moment, Ichi was busy ranting about the flaws in a classic television show, gesturing with his shot of tequila as he rambled on.
“See, I’ve been to Hawai‘i. That damned island they’re on… no fucking way is it three hours away from anything. Fuck, you can walk across a sandbar during low tide to get to the damned thing. And where the hell did the volcano come from? It’s like dorayaki ! But without the black beans. The island…
“I was going to ask if he’d been the one to piss you off, but I’m guessing no,” Bobby said, jerking his thumb toward the back of the property. “Usually that’s how Cole is after he’s tangled with Mike a bit.”
“Good to know my brother and I have so much in common.” He experienced a small pang of regret for his phone’s shattered corpse. “My father drives me fucking crazy. Mike has a long way to go before I do something as childish as throw my phone against the wall. God, I’m stupid. I’m more together than this. I don’t lose my temper.”
“Fathers can do that to you. Mothers too.” Bobby’s wince rippled over his whole face. “Uh… sorry. About the mother crack. Shit. I just came in here to pee.”
“I just came in here for some breathing room. Can’t leave. My Jeep’s blocked in. Just—too many people, and I needed….” Ichi debated what he’d thought he wanted when he fled the laughter and conversations. “Guess I needed to sulk. Maybe pity myself for a bit.”
“Yeah, I throw that party all the time. Only send out one invite so everyone I want there shows up.” Another nudge, this time hard enough to dislodge Ichiro’s attention from the phone and back onto the man standing next to him. “Want to blow this Popsicle stand? Get some space from the hordes?”
“And do what?” Ichiro eyed him warily. Mischief quirked Bobby’s expressive mouth, and for all his mistrust, Ichi was tempted. Family was suddenly complicated, but Bobby Dawson—was a different sort of trouble all together.
“Dunno. Get drunk? Go dancing?” He shrugged. “Does it matter? You won’t be here, and I’ve got a bottle of whiskey we can break in. Call it a favor to the kid brother of my best friend. You look like you could really use it, and you nearly took out the television, Sunshine. Cole loves that TV. Think of the technology.”
He was beyond tempted. Drunk sounded good. Drunk and stupid sounded even better.
Because going with Bobby would be the height of stupidity. Even for him.
“Sure, why not,” Ichiro murmured, standing up from the couch. “What’s the worst that can happen? I puke all over your floor?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time it’s been horfed on.” Bobby grinned at him. “Just let me go pee first, and I’ll take you out of here. Then you can tell me what your dad said that ticked you off so much you had to go and kill your poor phone.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Ichiro admitted softly. “I never found out why he called. Well, except that I’m going to be an older brother. Guess he finally got around to knocking up my ex-girlfriend.”
Chapter 4
I CHIRO T OKUGAWA was gorgeous. Hands-down gorgeous. With liquid-chocolate brown eyes and a kissable mouth, his face was a blend of innocent and wicked topped off with a shag of red-streaked black hair soft enough to feel like mink through Bobby’s fingers. The body beneath the jeans and T-shirt was tight with lean muscle and soft, sleek skin. A man anyone would look twice or three times at, then declare him gorgeous when he walked by.
But a drunk-off-his-ass Ichiro was simply adorable.
Adorably cute even. If Bobby had any opinion on the matter.
Not that his opinion was being solicited, because at that moment, Ichi was busy ranting about the flaws in a classic television show, gesturing with his shot of tequila as he rambled on.
“See, I’ve been to Hawai‘i. That damned island they’re on… no fucking way is it three hours away from anything. Fuck, you can walk across a sandbar during low tide to get to the damned thing. And where the hell did the volcano come from? It’s like dorayaki ! But without the black beans. The island…
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