“You have a way of talking to my sons, that makes them listen. I’ve never seen a single one of them question your orders, not in any real way. And getting six psychopaths to listen without question is damn near…well, like I said, miraculous.”
Noah couldn’t stop the sob that escaped, but jammed his palm into his mouth to quiet himself.
Thomas was kind enough not to acknowledge Noah’s hundredth breakdown of the day, continuing to list off Noah’s perceived attributes. “You helped August woo Lucas and because of that, I have two perfect grandbabies and a daughter-in-law of sorts. You helped Atticus get over himself enough to let Jericho in and now my fussy son who had a wall around his heart, has a cat and a husband who adores him.” Noah laughed through his tears. “And I don’t know for sure, but I’m willing to bet, you had a hand in Asa and Avi’s love lives too.”
“Maybe,” Noah mumbled.
Thomas laughed. “There’s something so incredibly special about you, Noah and we’re all very much lucky to have you in our lives. So even if your mother has decided she no longer wants to be your parent, please know that I very much do.”
Noah lost every bit of composure then, throwing himself into Thomas’s arms and sobbing into his perfect snowy white sweater, which was most definitely cashmere that Noah was most definitely ruining with his snot and tears. But he couldn’t stop crying and Thomas kept hugging him which only made him cry more.
Finally, Noah pulled away, wiping at his face until Thomas pulled an actual fucking handkerchief out of his pocket andhanded it to him, laughing when Noah loudly blew his nose into it.
“This is so embarrassing,” he managed.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Thomas said. “But there is one more thing I think we need to talk about.”
Noah’s face fell. “Oh, God. What now?”
“It never occurred to me that you might worry about the public’s perception of you. But it should have. So, I think Monday, you should come into the office with me and we will find you a position that will allow you to do your real job for the family, while also giving you a day job to the rest of the world. I know it's not the same as getting a job outside of the family but it’s the best I?—”
Noah threw himself into his arms once again and hugged him, before pulling back and dragging his knees to his chest, to maintain some sense of composure. “No. That’s more than enough. It’s too much even. But I’ll take it.”
The door opened and Felix peeked his head through the door. “Is everything better now?” he asked sheepishly, looking behind him. “This balcony is more of a decorative situation rather than a sitting one and people are starting to stare at us.”
Thomas chuckled, looking at Noah. “Are we good?”
Noah nodded. His eyes were stinging and his nose was raw and his face felt swollen and puffy, but, in his soul, he felt better. Much better. “Yes.”
Thomas stood. “I’ll leave you to your little party, for now. But tonight, we’re doing family dinner at the house. All of us. Got it?”
He looked at each of them in turn, waiting for their nod. When he was satisfied, he said, “Good. I’ll see you boys tonight.”
Once the door shut behind him, Noah collapsed onto the couch, grabbing a pillow and holding it to his face. “I’m going to kill Adam,” he screamed, voice muffled.
“In his defense—” Felix halted. “Oh, God. Did I just say that? Ew. Anyway, he was just trying to make you feel better. He gets all panicky when you’re upset. It’s kind of sweet really.”
“Adam really only cares about you and that smelly dog,” Zane agreed.
Noah pulled the pillow from his face and sighed. “I could sleep for a year.”
“We could take a nap with you? Puppy pile style,” Felix offered, looking down at his outfit and grimacing. “God knows I’m dressed for it.”
“Is that weird?” Noah asked.
Felix scoffed. “The four of us do it at the house all the time. Sometimes you just need to be squished by people who love you, right, Zane?”
Zane nodded. “Yup.”
Noah chewed on his bottom lip. The thought of being squished did sound nice, if not a little hot. Still, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Puppy pile, it is.”
Noah had never been sandwiched between two people before. At first it was kind of uncomfortable, too many limbs to organize. But once everybody was situated, the steady sound of two people’s breathing seemed to like…reset him inside somehow. It became easy to match the rise and fall of his chest to theirs and before he knew it, he was out.
He didn’t hear either of them leave, but when the bed dipped and a heavy weight descended onto his back, he knew Adam was home. He gave a happy sigh when Adam buried his face into his neck. “Did they fix you?”
Noah burrowed deeper into his pillow. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Good,” he said, then bit the back of Noah’s neck, rubbing his dick against his ass.
