“We’ll be okay.” Hopefully.
“Ok. Well, I'm gonna head out then. Enzo and Emery seem to be on talking terms now.”
Closing the door after Scarlett, I turned the deadbolt and then straightened up the already clean house. Afterwards, I found notebooks and wrote out another schedule along with a chore list.
I felt more like a parent than an equal. The feeling didn’t sit right with me, and I had no clue what to do to change it.
With Emery, I had no issues taking charge and laying out a list to keep him on track. It was different with Enzo. It didn’t feel right.
Unsure of what to do, I sat the finished lists on the counter, right beside the note from Scarlett.
I jerked awake as a warm body crawled into my lap. I hadn’t meant to doze on the couch in front of the TV showing some documentary. Automatically, my arms wrapped around Emery, who melted into me. His nose pressed against my neck, breathing me in.
I swallowed around the butterflies that grew wild in my stomach. It didn’t help that Emery hummed, content, against me.
“Have a good nap?” The words were low, filled with something I tried to push out of my mind.
He nodded with another hum.
“Enzo still asleep?” I shifted his legs slightly farther down my lap to avoid a certain part of my body.
Yeah, so not gonna happen.
“He’s awake.” Emery’s voice was rough from sleep, which wasn’t helping matters either.
I wasn’t one to curse, but I was damn about to.
Closing my eyes, praying to something to keep my body’s wants and desires under wraps, I took a deep breath.
If things were different, then I maybe wouldn’t hold myself back.
He wasn’t mine, though.
“Ryker?” At Enzo’s timid voice, I opened my eyes. He stood in front of the TV, hands shoved in the pockets of his shorts. His hair was tousled, making my gut clench with desire. When he had my attention, his eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before he forced them back to mine. “I’d like to apologize for how I behaved earlier. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You’re only trying to help.”
I went to open my mouth, but he held up a hand. “I know I don’t need to, but you deserve more from me. You’ve been kind to me, and to Emery.”
I waited to make sure he was finished this time before patting Emery’s thigh. He took the hint and moved off my lap so I could stand.
“I forgive you.” At my words, his shoulders relaxed, as did his entire posture. Although he’d done nothing to me, I guessed in his mind he must have. Stepping in front of him, I grabbed one of his hands, pulling it from his pocket.
Right at that very moment, I saw everything he tried so hard to hide.
His pain, sorrow and sadness. He was as lost as Emery, but he didn’t know what to do to fix it. To overcome it.
“Can I give you a hug?” I asked softly. It took a moment for him to think it through, but after a full minute, he nodded. It was the smallest of nods, but I saw it anyway.
Slowly, I wrapped both my arms around him. Keeping them loose enough for him to pull away whenever he wanted, Enzo laid his head on my shoulder. He didn’t sink into me like his life depended on it, but he stood there, letting me give him something so few people had.
Emery
Sitting in the back yard, I kept my face from the sun as much as I could. The warmth of the late spring weather soaked into me. A nice, cool breeze kept it from being too warm.
I stared off towards the fence, watching the birds land and take off, chirping away.
I didn’t want to think any more today. I had officially maxed out my brain. Could I keep pretending it was just the three of us here, with no worries or cares in the world?
I pulled my eyes to Enzo, watching him stretch out on the grass, shirtless, hands behind his head as he watched for clouds. Not there were any in the sky at the moment.
