Barbarian (Jericho's Boys Book 3) by Onley James

Author:Onley James [James, Onley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-01-21T00:00:00+00:00

Mal came awake slowly, the reassuring puff of Nico’s breath and drool on his chest. He started to smile, wincing at the pull of a cut on his lip. He forced his anvil-heavy eyelids open, looking down at the top of Nico’s head. The room was drenched in soft light, a small lamp in the far corner helping to offset the darkness of the heavy drapes, while not keeping them from sleeping. They weren’t in their bed. They were in Freckles’ spare room.

Right. He’d gotten jumped. There was a dull thud of his heartbeat behind his eyes, but his skull no longer felt like a cracked egg. His body ached, like he’d gone too hard at the gym. His eyelid was swollen, partially obscuring his vision. It hurt when he poked at it. All in all, it could have been much worse.

He shifted slightly to reach the water bottle, trying—and failing—not to disturb Nico, who was sleeping hard, clinging to him like a koala. He managed to grab the plastic bottle, taking a swig and swishing the water in his mouth before downing half in one go. The movement had Nico coming awake with a sharp inhalation, his head jerking up to look at Mal even as he tried to surreptitiously wipe the drool from his chin.

Mal smiled at him, taking in his tangle of curls and his sleep-swollen face. He loved sleepy Nico, especially when his eyes were narrowed and his cute little mouth formed a pout. “Hey, pretty.”

Nico snorted, getting so close their noses almost touched. “Are you still high?” he asked, his tone accusatory, like Mal frequently engaged in such activities. Which, to be fair, he sometimes did, but Nico was always right there beside him, partaking as well.

“High?” Mal repeated, trying to imagine why Nico might think he was high.

Nico searched his face, amusement leaching into his voice. “Yeah, you were high as balls when I got here.”

He vaguely remembered Freckles giving him some medicine to dull the pain and help him sleep, then tucking him in and letting him know they’d called Nico. Then…nothing.

“What did I say?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. “Did I say something weird? Well, weirder than normal?”

Stoned Mal was a much chattier and far more philosophical Mal. But Mal on weed versus Mal on pain meds were two wildly different people. He wasn’t overly concerned about their friends’ opinions on whatever he may have said or done, but he would rather not embarrass himself in front of his pseudo in-laws.

Their friends had all seen each other shit-faced and messy before. Seven had gotten so drunk the first weekend after his internship started that he’d fallen asleep on the garage couch, clutching Ever’s sneakers like a treasured heirloom for no discernible reason.

Silas and the others had done Molly for Lake’s birthday and had headed to an underground rave. The police raided the place and, instead of running, Silas tried to steal the K-9 cop’s new puppy in training because he was ‘really soft.

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