“Brax?” It couldn’t be the same one? Could it? It wasn’t a particularly popular name where I’d come from, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t here.
“Yeah, Brax. He’s little, too, and I think he’d like these a lot because of the magnets. Do they stick on walls?”
“Walls aren’t magnetic.” Monroe shoulder-bumped him.
“No, like the walls at home, the kind like at school, the white ones.”
Monroe rolled his eyes. “Whiteboards?”
Chris nodded.
“I don’t think so.” I hadn’t considered it.
“Let’s check.” Monroe grabbed one and ran to the other side of the room, where there was a small dry-erase board where people put up things they wanted to share that were very “little” specific. Usually, it was if they were going to invite people to the playroom or if they wanted to watch a particular movie on the big TV downstairs. That kind of thing.
“Nah, doesn’t stick,” he said, coming back with his head hanging.
“I played with a Brax at Chained one time,” I said, instantly wishing I could suck the words back in. They looked straight at me, both of them waiting for more.
“Oh, really? And was he alone?” Monroe finally said and leaned closer.
“No, he was with his daddy, Daddy Cliff.”
“Huh. Well, if that’s the Brax you played with, you’ll probably see him here. Sometimes we all like to play together.” Monroe sat back up.
So much for ignoring my feelings and hoping they went away, since I wasn’t going to see them again.
“That’s good,” I said, because what else could I say to that? “His daddy was nice to me.”
“Yeah, Cliff’s a solid guy. He’s not weirdly jealous, like some daddies get. Actually, Brax isn’t either. I think that’s why I don’t mind playing with them, even though they’re a couple.” Monroe sounded more like he was talking to himself than to us at that point.
“Huh. Well, that’s pretty cool. What do you guys want to do next?” I was ready to move on from them.
“We could race cars.”
“That sounds great.”
I set my bucket of cubes by the door as Monroe grabbed the bucket of cars. If I raced them fast enough, maybe I could avoid spending the rest of the day wondering if and when Brax was going to walk through the door and how I should or shouldn’t respond. Pretty sure wrapping my arms around him and asking him to kiss me while his daddy watched was the wrong way. Only problem was, right now, that was all I wanted to do.
Chapter Eight
Brax
The best venting was done over caffeine and carbs, preferably. Otherwise, it didn’t quite hit the same.
“Here you go.” Chris put our drinks on the tiny round table between us. I stared at the whipped-cream-heavy drink and sighed. I bet Edwin would love this drink. Carmel crunchies on top and all. If not, I would get him whatever he wanted.
Maybe Cliff would treat him. We could both be his.
We had two chocolate-stuffed croissants between us, along with some red velvet cookies and one huge cinnamon roll. I tore off a corner of a croissant and put the warm, pure heaven in my mouth, savoring the buttery dough.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Chris said.
I leaned back. “What? I can’t just call a friend out for coffee?”
“People, yes. You? On a Sunday? Not so much.”
I sighed. I hadn’t been the best of friends. I’d been busy at work, and all my off time was spent with Cliff. Then we moved in together and I basically went from work to home to work and sometimes Chained in between.
