Taivon: Book Three of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Kn-Kn-Knock it off,” Taivon all but growled.

Thrane laughed. “Oh, c'mon, bro. I'm curious.”

Taivon set his fork down, whispering harshly, “I don't give a fuh-fuh-fuck if you're c-c-c-curious. Yuh-You always mess everyth-th-thing up. So st-stop.”

“Seriously? It was just a joke.” Thrane's voice got a little louder, until the rest of the table was looking at them. “I haven't said anything about your little stuttering over here, so you kinda owe me.”

“Thrane,” Titus barked. “Don't.”

“What? I wanna know.”

Beside her, Taivon quietly ate the rest of his stew, keeping his head down. She could see as a dark flush began at the base of his neck and spread upwards. It wasn't one of those cute blushes that she saw so often but rather, one that made him look angry.

Underneath the table, she grabbed his hand again and ran slow circles around it, but he untangled his fingers from hers.

“Actually,” she interrupted, quietly, “they both kinda fade in ribbons on my shoulder blades. The effect took for-freakin' ever, but it was so worth it. And what about you?” Alix made a point of looking at Thrane's tatted arms. “What made you get all those?”

“Alcohol,” Titus muttered, looking at her. “Poor life decisions. Not knowing when to-”

“Shut up, Titus.”

“No. She asked, and I was giving her an answer.”

“Well...” Thrane was silent for a few moments. “She didn't ask you now, did she?”

“Boys,” Titan warned, from where he sat at the head of the table. “No fighting this year.”

“Oh, c'mon! We're not gonna fight!”

“Yeah,” Titus said. “Not gonna fight. We never fight.”

Conversation soon started up again at the table, and that was when Thrane began to tell her all about his tattoos. It was actually funny, watching as a face so much like Taivon's lit up just like Taiv's did. And Taiv hadn't been lying when he'd said that Thrane was a little different. A little different but hilarious.

After dinner, they cleared the table and then set up the sleeping arrangements for the night. In the big ranch house, it wasn't hard to find a place for everybody, even if Taivon was the one who had to sleep on the couch.

“You okay with that, bro?” Titus asked.

Taivon didn't say anything, only nodding his head and looking down at the floor. She was right by his side, but even now, he made a point of not touching her. He didn't even look at her as they all sat down to watch the rest of the football game.

She did, however, feel another person's gaze on her. It wasn't Taivon or Thrane, surprisingly, but Titus. He kept looking between her and Taivon, shifting in his seat on the couch. After about an hour of watching the rest of the Cowboys game, everyone around her was dozing off. As soon as the game was over, they stood up to say their good nights. Taivon went up to tuck his goddaughter in, and Alix made an excuse of getting a drink of water in order to wait for him.

He came down the creaking stairs a few moments later but stopped at the middle of the stairs, hand tightly gripping the railing. “Guh-Go t-t-t-to bed, Alix.”

Her room was all the way down the hall on the first floor, but she didn't want to go to bed yet. Sure, she was tired and sure, she should definitely get some rest for the official Thanksgiving thing tomorrow, but this was more important.