I walked out of the room I'd started referring to as the storage room/office even though it was actually my bedroom and into a war zone. Seriously, it looked as if there'd been an explosion in the kitchen. There was sauce splattered all over the tile back splash, cheese had rained down all over the floor, and in the middle of it all, sweat dripped from Tony's brow as he muttered curses at the tortilla that had wronged him.

"Need some help?" I asked, biting back my laughter because making enchiladas wasn't as hard as he made it out to be.

"No," Tony bit out, still glaring at the broken tortilla he was determined to roll.

I shoved him out of the way, deftly taking over filling and rolling. "Why don't you get started on clean-up while I finish this?"

"I was trying to do something nice," Tony muttered as he filled the sink with hot, soapy water.

"And I appreciate it," I assured him. "But maybe you should've gone for something a bit more your pace. You know, like grilled cheese."

"Fuck off." Tony flicked soapy water at me. I spun around, tossing a pinch of cheese at him. He splashed me again, and then it was on.

I lunged at Tony, pinning an arm behind his back as I tickled his sides. Feeling bold, I shoved him forward over counter, grinding my hips against his ass. I bit his shoulder, smiling when Tony groaned, pressing back against me. "Say you're sorry. Thank me for saving your ass with dinner."

"I'd have gotten it," he argued, reaching back to dig his fingers into my ass.

"You're so cute," I teased, kissing my way across the back of his shoulders. "You need me, and you know it."

"I do... I so fucking do," he sighed. "How long does dinner have to cook?"

"Just long enough to melt the cheese. Maybe fifteen minutes." I spun Tony around so he faced me and immediately dropped to my knees. "We'd better make the most of the time we have."

I'd been planning on trying to find the courage to beg Tony to fuck me, but I'd been thinking after dinner would be better. In my mind, I imagined him pounding into me when Max walked through the door, and he'd be unable to resist. Although we were pros at foreplay, I was getting frustrated with their desire to take things slow when it came to intimacy between all three of us. And for some reason, I'd become obsessed with crossing this final barrier with Tony, alone. I needed to know for myself my attraction to him didn't hinge on having a buffer between us.

"Enzo, what are you—" I shut him up by yanking down his basketball shorts and underwear in one swift motion and sucking him to the back of my throat. He reached down, twisting his fingers through my hair, tugging and guiding me as he fucked my mouth.

I moaned as he used me for his pleasure. I dug my fingers into his thighs, drawing him closer to me, urging him on. My mouth watered as the first bitter, salty drops of precum hit my tongue. When my gaze drifted up Tony's body, I couldn't resist running a hand over his tight stomach, pressing harder with every muscle contraction as I sucked him fast and hard. The way he stared down at me, there was no mistaking his half-smile and hooded lids for anything other than love.

We'd loved one another for a lifetime, but I knew with certainty both of us were falling in love now.

"Fuck Enzo, don't stop baby... Please... Oh yeah... Fuck," he rambled. The endearments kept rolling off his tongue before he grunted, tossed his head back, and spilled down my throat.

I sucked down as much as I could, dragging a finger across my stubbled chin to gather the cum that had escaped. Tony watched me as I stood, pulling my hand to his mouth, cleaning his spend from my fingers. Fuck, that was hot.

"I take it you approve of my plan to keep you from obsessively watching the oven?" I quipped, watching as Tony hiked up his shorts and tucked himself away. He gaped at me, shaking his head. I'd done the impossible; I'd rendered Tony speechless.

Over dinner, we chatted about the latest happenings at Marino's. Sometimes, I resented being the behind-the-scenes guy, but I knew I wasn't cut out for being one of the faces of our family business. When I'd admitted to Frankie I wasn't interested in staying on after college, wasting my degree waiting tables for the sake of carrying on tradition, he didn't argue with me. He'd suggested I use what I'd learned in school to help grow and revitalize the business after decades of “if it ain't broke, don't fix it.” It was a lot of pressure, but I felt a sense of pride every time I walked in to check on things and saw the tables full of smiling customers.

The one topic we very carefully avoided was what we'd done while dinner cooked, or rather, what I'd done to Tony. To me, it felt like we'd broken down another barrier in our relationship, and although it was a huge moment, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Until a little while ago, I'd relied on Max's guidance. Fooling around with Tony without him there was amazing, but I was having a hard time figuring out what Tony thought of it all. He was quiet and contemplative, which was out of character for him. Every time I opened my mouth to ask if he was okay with me spontaneously going down on him in the middle of the day, he quickly changed the subject. By the time our plates were cleaned, I was almost convinced I'd made a huge mistake.

"Sit, I'll take care of loading the dishwasher since you saved dinner," Tony offered, pulling me back down to the couch.

"You had a long day at the restaurant. I can handle it," I argued. Both of the guys had very physical jobs which often left me feeling like the lazy one in the apartment. Every day, they had to get up and run around at work while I sat on my ass at home, but I knew better than to say that to either of them. The few times I'd put off work to take care of cleaning up, they'd both pointed out my job was just as important as theirs, and I shouldn't make light of it because I didn't have to battle traffic or deal with customers on a daily basis.

"Enzo, seriously, I've got it." Tony pursed his lips and glared at me, but I doubted he was actually upset. In fact, he looked ridiculous once he propped his hands on his hips, waiting for me to argue further. "Find something for us to watch or load up a game. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Playing a game was the safer option. It was obvious Tony didn't want to talk about what had happened, and I wasn't sure I was ready to hear what he'd say if I pushed him. The longer he avoided the topic, the more convinced I became he'd gotten more than he bargained for, and he only wanted to be with me when Max was there with us.

Yeah, getting lost on the next great quest in our game sounded like the way to go.

I fired up the game and got it loading. I was even a good brother and gave him the better controller, despite the fact the buttons on the one I was using were jacked up because he somehow thought the harder you mashed on them, the faster you would attack.

For almost an hour, we raided in near silence, only talking when it was absolutely necessary for game strategy. When Tony finally spoke, it was so quietly I almost missed his question.

"You really used to think about this when we were kids?" He never glanced my direction, his attention focused entirely on the next leg of the quest.

"Is that weird?" My shoulders tensed, and I scooted deeper into the corner of the couch. If I tried hard enough, maybe I'd disappear into the cushions and wouldn't have to admit any of this to him.

"Maybe, but I suppose I get it."

"You do?" Tony shrugged, confusing me even more. "You don't get to say something like that then just clam up."

I tossed my controller on the floor, turning to face Tony. He'd opened this door, so I was sure as hell going to sneak my way through it. "If it makes sense to you that I used to wish we weren't brothers because I liked you in ways I shouldn't, maybe you could explain it to me because I've never been able to make sense of it."

Tony tried in vain to beat the next pack of monsters, quickly getting his ass handed to him without my help. Realizing I wasn't going to play until we talked, he set his controller next to mine and got comfortable on the opposite end of the couch. While I curled up in a ball at my end, he stretched out, pushing his feet under my legs, wiggling his toes until I looked up at him.

"Okay, so yeah, to most people it's probably fucked up, but I'm not most people," he pointed out. "We've always been together. When we were younger, Mama had to fight to get either of us to sleep in our own beds because we slept better when we were curled up next to one another. It's the whole natural progression thing."

"How do you figure?" I'm sure whatever he was saying made sense in his head, but in typical Tony fashion, the words coming out of his mouth were confusing as hell.

Tony reached out to me, dragging me to his side of the couch, spreading his legs for me to settle between. His arms wound around my torso, hands gliding under the hem of my T-shirt. I sucked in a sharp breath as he dipped the tip of one finger into my navel. I had no clue why that turned me on the way it did, but suddenly, I was hard and resisting the urge to beg him to touch me. But it wasn't what either of us needed right now. Sex, I was finding out, was the easy part. It was everything else that was a struggle.

"Take right now for example," he said, bending down to press his lips to my neck. "Maybe this is supposed to be strange or forbidden, but it doesn't feel like any of that. When we were kids, we'd cuddle up on the couch to watch movies. And it was okay. Well, so is this to me. And, if it helps, I wondered what it'd be like too."

I shifted as much as I could in his hold, needing to see his face, looking for any indication he was placating me. I saw nothing but sincerity. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." His voice was little more than a whisper. "You've always been my person. Part of why I've never settled down with anyone is they never compared to you, and I didn't want to fight with someone because they were jealous of the time I was spending with you. But mostly, it was because they weren't you."

Well hell. I sank back against Tony's chest and closed my eyes, absorbing the warmth from his body. Allowing myself to just feel. "Damn, now I feel bad for all the times we've teased you about being horrible with your words."

"Don't. I still suck most of the time."

I placed my hand over his. "I think I can speak for Max when I say that's one thing both of us like about you."

Tony pinched my nipple, drawing out another moan. "Brat. Now, quit stalling. I want to hear all the dirty fantasies you whipped up about me when we were younger."

Nothing specific came to mind right away. I recalled all these vague, fleeting thoughts about him crawling into my bed after he'd stripped out of his clothes, but I doubted that was what Tony was hoping to hear. I'd learned he was a huge fan of dirty talk; sometimes all Max had to do was make filthy comments, and he'd be ready to pop.

"Come on," Tony goaded me. His hand slid over my dick, gently stroking me until I was fully hard again. He nipped my ear before sucking the tender flesh into his mouth. "Tell me what you wanted me to do to you. Because that's what you thought about, isn't it? You wished I'd pull back the covers on your bed and climb in next to you, didn't you?"

"Yes," I admitted, feeling my cheeks burn bright.

"What did I do once I was there?"

"You..." When I struggled to find my words, Tony gave my dick a squeeze. It was uncomfortable, but also erotic as hell. "You'd start sucking my neck, biting me. And you'd put your hand inside my pajama pants, jerking me off."

"Like this?" Tony asked as his hand dipped inside my pants, fingers curled around my dick. He bit the side of my neck, licking before he released my flesh. "What else did I do?"

"You'd keep going, dragging your thumb over the head of my cock." He used my words as instructions, tugging on me, teasing me as I continued explaining how I used to wish he'd get me off when we were teens. "Yeah, just like... Oh fuck... Like that, Tony. God, I wanna come so bad."

"Do it, baby," he goaded me, the endearment flowing easily past his lips. "Come for me, and then I'm going to make you lick my hand clean. I think you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes... Please..." Oh god, I felt dirty and amazing, and oh shit, I wasn't going to last much longer.

"You're such a cum slut you'll love sucking every last drop off my hand, won't you? You need this." His grip tightened. He sped up as he sucked on my neck hard enough I knew he'd leave a mark, but I couldn't bring myself to care. This was perfect. It was everything. It was— "That's it. Come all over me. Let me see how good I make you feel."

I jerked in Tony's embrace, cum spurting over his hand. As promised, he brought his hand to my mouth as I came down from the high. I curled my fingers lazily around his wrist, guiding him as I sucked each digit into my mouth, humming as I sucked the bitter release from his skin.

"We should probably get you cleaned up before Max gets home," Tony suggested as I recovered in his arms. While it wasn't a bad idea, I was too comfortable lying against him. I kept waiting for guilt to invade my mind, but it never came. Not for what we'd done without Max between us, and definitely not over what other people would think if they knew. For once, I couldn't bring myself to care, not when Tony made me feel boneless and sated.