“He’s tired of Foster,” Kevin answered on my behalf, which earned him little more than a loud exhale of my breath.
“I’m tired of a lot of things,” I said.
“Sam.” Rich tipped his head toward Kevin. “Go take Kevin downstairs and show him your new toy. Tell him all about it.”
Sam flushed again and Kevin pursed his lips.
“I don’t like being dismissed,” Kevin muttered.
“No one is dismissing you,” I countered. “Rich wants Sam to show off his new toy. It’s unlike you to not indulge our friends.”
“Don’t talk about me when I’m gone.”
“Kevin,” I warned.
“Work, money,friends,” he reminded me, looping his arm around Sam’s shoulder and following him back toward the basement.
I groaned and followed Rich out to the back yard, taking a seat at his glass-topped patio table and reaching for the drinks Sam had arranged.
“Your man is running you into the ground,” Rich observed with a laugh.
“We’re renegotiating. It’s rough. Things with Foster are not helping.”
“Is Foster why we were invited on a last minute sex retreat?” Rich took a sip of his drink and settled himself into a chair across from me. He crossed his ankle over the top of his knee, waiting for me to answer.
“He asked us to get out of town.”
“That sounds….” Rich trailed off.
“Serious,” I finished for him. “He’s gotten us, or me at least, involved in something and he’s not being forthcoming about it beyond radiating a general aura of danger about whatever it is.”
“His job is problematic,” Rich agreed.
“His secrets are problematic.”
“And Kevin is resistant to your suggestions about how to handle this?”
“I don’t want to talk about him when he’s not here,” I said hoping to at least honor his request, even if it had been made with as much attitude as Kevin’s entire body could have mustered in the moment.
“You’re a good man, Ronan,” Rich said.
Behind me, the sliding door pulled open, indicating Kevin and Sam had returned.
“Talking about me?” Kevin asked, a hint of seriousness hidden behind the tease. He sat down in the chair beside me and took my hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Of course not,” Rich answered before I could. “You asked him not to, and as ever, Ronan remains your obedient servant.”
Kevin squeezed my hand again, then reached for his drink.
Chapter Twenty
Kevin
Settling back into work after the weekend in Big Bear had been harder than I’d expected, but it reminded me a lot of how things had been when I first met Ronan. Everything had been so new and fresh, even though we’d started slow, and I’d hated being away from him. Now, I felt the same pull, but found myself in the office while he worked a double at the hospital.
We had one day together before I left for Colorado, a trip I’d reluctantly agreed to book a one-way ticket for. Giving Ronan that concession had taken everything out of me. I didn’t want to be away from him while things were as they were, but I wanted so badly to be good to him, for him. It shouldn’t matter that Foster had apparently been missing for two days. It shouldn’t matter that we were pretty sure our lives might be in some kind of danger. All of these things should have been deal breakers, but I wanted to show Ronan that I respected him as a partner and as a dom. I needed him to know that I believed in him to do what was right.
On Monday, after the last time we’d heard from Foster…when we’d argued, Ronan said that maybe 24/7 wasn’t for me, and I’d agreed with him. The longer I thought about it, though, the more wrong it felt to not have that dynamic with him. But how could we talk about having a 24/7 relationship when I couldn’t—or wouldn’t—do this one simple thing he asked of me? Going on vacation to visit my best friend shouldn’t feel like a punishment, but it did. If I really wanted this future, I needed to let go and get over myself.
