“Shawn’s still at work. Something about missing equipment at a job site. I wanted to wait for him to get back and it’s taking longer than planned,” Sam told him.
“I was visiting my friends Luci, Cary, and Gage and just got back,” Noah added. “I’ll go with Sam and Shawn when they leave.”
“Leo and Aaron were supposed to go but something came up at the office,” Sam finished.
“Is that where Bastian is?” Hudson asked.
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Sam said. “I believe he left there earlier.”
Bas gave a big yawn before he flipped back over onto his stomach. He leapt off Hudson’s lap and took off running toward the forest before Hudson could think of catching him.
“Is that okay?” Hudson moved to the edge of his chair, planning to go after the little nuisance if necessary.
“He does that,” Noah assured him. “Now, before Bastian gets here, we need all the gossip.”
“Gossip?” he repeated.
“About you and Bastian,” Noah said. He kicked his feet from side to side. “Tell us everything!”
“Noah!” Sam shook his head. “Bas…Bastian is going to strangle you.”
“Not if he doesn’t know!” Noah argued with a grin. “Spill it, Hudson.”
Hudson laughed. “I don’t know what you want me to say. He’s genuinely nice and I’m looking forward to our date.”
“Boring!” Noah sing-songed.
He could feel his face turning red. “I…I don’t think it’s proper to talk about more intimate things.”
Noah made a face. “No! I don’t want to hear that. What is it with this family? Yuck!”
Now he was confused. Wasn’t that what Noah had been asking? EJ would demand every little detail if Hudson was a sharer.
“Noah is asexual,” Sam told him. “He loves cuddles and touching but any sex talk makes him extremely uncomfortable.”
“It’s just so freely talked about,” Noah complained. “Save some things for behind the closed door.”
“I apologize, Noah. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Hudson said sincerely.
“You didn’t,” Noah assured him. “It’s just hard living with so many happy couples and throuples. I mean I love that they’re in love, you know, but I might have walked in on Lawson and Drake getting it on in the kitchen earlier. The kitchen. That’s why I had to pop over to see my friends. I just wanted a snack!”
Hudson was trying so hard not to smile. Noah was adorable as he pouted about walking in on a couple.
“I want to know how you feel about our resident grump,” Noah clarified. “Feelings! Why can’t we talk about our feelings?”
“He’s not really that grumpy. Bastian is sweet.” He’d brought Hudson and his crew pizza and donuts during a rough shift. Bastian had been protective and nice to Aspen when the young man had been scared.
“Sure, when you don’t accidentally wake him from a nap,” Noah said. “Then he’s all claws and teeth.”
“We’re talking about the human Bastian, not the cat Bas, aren’t we?” Hudson questioned with a laugh. Because he could totally see Bas being pissed off about being woken up. The yowls had been loud.
“Sometimes it’s the same,” Noah replied.
He was about to ask more about it when Bastian stepped out of the same back door that Sam and Noah had come from.
“And there goes my chance,” Noah said with a long sigh.
“He’s going to get his revenge,” Sam warned as he rose.
