on Key’s face.
“How did you...” Key began, only to stop. He shook his head and barked out a laugh instead. “Never mind.”
Nick laughed along with his brother, breaking the tension. He then went on to tell him the details of Sinclair’s impending arrival.
* * *
After listening to Key cuss a blue streak, telling Nick what he thought of his lack of brains, to put it mildly, for not letting the family know “what the hell was going on,” the two men sat at the kitchen table.
Although he really wasn’t up for a “Dr Phil” moment, Nick had haltingly opened up, slightly, to his brother. He was glad when his brother finally reacted.
He’d spared Key the more embarrassing details. Hell, there was no sense in telling his brother what was going on with him. He wasn’t sure what was going on in his own psyche, anyway. And to go into confusing feelings for a woman he hardly knew...? No. That wasn’t going to happen.
He laughed even thinking about it. He could only imagine how Key would look at him. Nick had never really been the type of guy to share his thoughts that easily. Even with his brother, the closest person in the world to him, Nick was still, at times, the clam.
But there had been times in his life, like now, where he’d felt a real need to break the mold. So he opened up a little, at least enough to tell Key that he wasn’t sure how to handle the situation with Sinclair. He’d known he’d have to come clean, if nothing else, to get a feel for his brother’s take on the situation.
As he spoke, Key listened, not saying a word. When Nick finished his succinct tale, Key stood from the table and slapped his brother on the back...hard.
“I’m sure you can handle it, bro. In fact, I know you will,” he stated, his voice emphatic, a tinge of humor laced in.
Nick sat back, puzzled.
His brother continued. “I’m so confident in your abilities that on behalf of the family I’m giving this to you.” The evil gleam in his brother’s eyes, blue eyes that matched his own, should have given Nick fair warning. “Consider this...‘situation’ solely your deal. Dad and I are out of it. I’m sure you’ll figure it all out.”
Again, his brother smacked him on the back.
“What the fu—” Nick bit off the curse, jumping up after his brother’s hearty smack on the back, toppling his chair as he rose. Swiftly he righted the chair and turned to face his brother.
“What the hell, man...that’s it?” he asked, staring at his twin as he calmly walked to the sink, coffee mug in hand.
“Yep. That’s it, Pika,” Key replied, snorting.
Whenever his brother used his nickname, it always set Nick’s teeth on edge. Not because he didn’t like his nickname... He’d been called Pika, which meant “strong” in the Polynesian language, since he was a boy.
Nicknames were nothing new. Key’s legal name was Keanu, but he’d been called Key for most of his life. It irritated Nick because he knew there were times when Key used the nickname simply to screw with him. Something both men considered their God-given right to do: give his twin a hard time.
Nick had always thought of it as good old-fashioned fun. Until he was on the receiving end.
Just as Key placed the coffee mug in the sink to rinse—no one wanted to deal with their housekeeper, Mahi, the longest resident of the ranch outside of the family, and his rants if the kitchen was left a mess—Sonia, his wife, entered.
She quickly spied her husband. A wide grin split her pretty face as she made a beeline for her new husband and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Hmm, last night was amazing, baby,” Sonia purred, her voice low, throaty and intimate, once Key released the death grip he had on his wife’s lips.
“It’s been way too long, baby,” she murmured as Key reached down and captured her lips again. Finally he released her, enough to glance down at her, keeping her within the circle of his arms.
“Yeah, it felt like forever,” Key agreed, his voice barely recognizable it was so low.
Key had been away on an overnight trip, so really it hadn’t been that long, Nick thought, shaking his head.
“Little Alek isn’t going to magically appear, you know. It’s going to take dedication and hard...” He paused and unashamedly pressed his wife close to his body, allowing her to feel which part of hard he was referring to. “Work,” Key murmured, stopping to give Sonia kisses down the line of her throat. “And work...” He paused again to capture an earlobe.
Nick wanted to throw something at the pair...maybe cold water. They were like two dogs in heat.
“And work,” his brother finally finished. His voice was so low Nick suddenly felt uncomfortable.
He felt like a damn voyeur and desperately wanted to get the hell away from the pair. Yet... Against his will, he was fascinated with their play. He watched as his brother bent to kiss away the frown that appeared on his wife’s brow before slanting his mouth over her lips.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked huskily when he released her mouth. Although she was obviously trying hard to keep the smile from her mouth, the dimple in her cheek flashed against her will.
“And who says she is going to be a he?” she asked with a shrug. “We could have a little A’kela in the cards for us,” she said. But the look in her eyes told the real story. Just like his brother, Nick knew his sister-in-law didn’t care either way, boy or girl.
Nick had to glance away; the intense look of love in his brother’s eyes was too much for him to see and not react. And right now he wanted to be pissed at his twin. Not want to hug him.
It was no secret that the couple was trying to have a baby. Neither was it a secret that if the baby was a girl, it would be named after their mother, and if it was a boy, it would be named after their father.
He turned back to the couple and caught the soft look in Key’s eyes and the small smile that graced the corners of his mouth as he steadily regarded his wife of six months.
Had he not loved his brother so much, and truly loved Sonia like a sister, he would feel real envy for the couple. Their love was so tangible; it wasn’t unheard of for one or usually both of them to be totally oblivious of anyone else in the room when they were around each other.
Deep and real.
He turned to leave and would have made it away had he not bumped into the chair he’d just righted, sending it crashing to the floor. He bit off a curse and picked it up.
“Hey, Nick, I didn’t see you there!” Sonia said, a deep stain of color washing over her sienna-colored skin as she realized he’d caught them in an intimate moment.
He grinned widely.
“Not like I haven’t seen you two like this before...disgustingly lost in the moment,” he grumbled playfully, not sparing her. She was family. The Family That Teased Together Stayed Together was his motto.
“In fact,
