“Will you stop the goddamn fussin’, you’re drivin’ me nuts!” Trey grabbed the cloth out of Kendrick’s meaty fist and shoved him towards the end of the bar. “Go home. It’s where you should be, and it’ll get you out from under my damn feet.”
“Don’t even know if they’ve finished up at the ranch. They only got in a few hours ago.” Kendrick was like a cat on a hot tin roof, and he knew it. If he wasn’t thinking about how fast he offered to have both men stay in his space, something he’d never have considered he’d do, he was busy fussing over making his home look appealing so the men would feel relaxed and at home in his space.
Then there was the waiting for Rue and Monty to have a definitive date. It had changed twice, and because Rue and Monty were working extra hours to make it possible to remain in Bayfield, they’d only had one video call in the past couple of weeks. He acknowledged, late one night last week when Rue had moved the date of their arrival once more, that he missedthem. It was as simple and complex as that. They’d messaged frequently, mostly late at night, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them.
In six weeks, a lot had changed and Kendrick was too old to pretend to himself what was happening, at least for him, wasn’t real. He wanted a relationship, a permanent one with both men. He could foresee a future with these men, which he’d not been able to do in any relationship for a very long time. It was expressed in the ease with which he offered them his home. It spoke to what his heart wanted to try, even when his head hadn’t quite caught up. That was fine, he had used the wait these last few weeks to allow it to catch up.
Due to the setbacks, Kendrick was currently working on a ‘see it to believe it’ type situation. The desire to drive to the ranch to check they’d arrived, after the last two disappointments, had him decide, despite starting his vacation that morning, to go to the bar. That way, he could drive someone else nuts instead of himself.
“I don’t care.” It was clear, when Kendrick had told Trey he’d invited both men to move in with him, that he already thought he’d lost his mind. Kendrick wasn’t sure Trey had recovered from the shock with how he kept looking at him weirdly, just like he was now.
“This weird shit you've got going on is freaking me out.”
“What weird shit?” he asked, peeved at the implication he was acting differently because he wasn’t. Was he?
“This mooning expression, man. It’s like you’ve got possessed by a sappy looking alien. ‘Cause you know you’re wearing a sappy smile right now even when you sound pissed? It’s fucking weirding me out!” accused Trey.
Kendrick didn’t glance towards the mirror on the back wall of the bar; he did not need to clarify Trey’s accusation whenhe could feel the tug of his smile at the corner of his lips. But mooning, that wasn’t him.
“Give the fuck over,” he said instead, snatching back the cloth to carry on what he was doing.
What had he been doing?
Trey belly laughed, pointing at him. “See? You don’t even know what to do with yourself. Go, start your vacation for fucksake. I ain’t giving you an extra day ‘cause you chose to come in.”
Kendrick felt a buzz at the prospect of the next two weeks’ vacation time. He hadn’t told Rue or Monty about his plan. He decided to surprise them with the news when they arrived.
Rue had mentioned the house sharing four times in messages, reiterating that they could stay at the ranch if Kendrick had a change of heart. He did not want to change his mind, and Rue didn’t know him well enough to figure that out, so he didn’t take offense.
Instead, he took vacation time to demonstrate how much he wanted to spend time with them. It was the plan of attack on Rue’s doubt. Monty had no such qualms about sharing a house with Kendrick and gushed excitedly about the prospect. Once more, it reminded Kendrick of their differences.
With the new staff working out, and Trey’s insistence he’d be fine even with Cassidy heavily pregnant and house renovations, Kendrick went with two weeks’ vacation. He had assured Trey that if he needed him, then he’d be there to step in and help. Still, he sent out a wish that everything would pan out.
“What, are we playing statues now?”
Trey’s laughing comment had Kendrick aim a narrowed eyed stare at his friend. “Remember, payback’s a bitch,” he smirked, throwing the cloth at Trey, who caught it, giving him a shit-eating grin.
“Are you two always like this?” asked Padrick, or Paddy to his friends. He was one of their new barmen, and he looked between them as he came around the bar counter, carrying his jacket. He was ten minutes early for his shift, something Kendrick gladly noted.
“Pretty much,” Trey answered, nudging Kendrick, bringing his attention back to him. “Leave, or folks will think you don’t trust me to be left unsupervised.”
“I don’t.” He waited a beat then added, “All I’m gonna say is sex in the restroom when the bar is open.”
Paddy made a choking noise.
Trey scowled at him, and Kendrick played along. “I feel like you can’t get rid of me fast enough?” He threw up his arms in mock protest, walking in the direction of the office. “I’ll take the damn hint then.”
Trey grunted behind him. “Hint? I threw a fucking boulder at you.”
Giving him the middle finger, Kendrick didn’t look back, chuckling only when out of earshot.
In the office, he grabbed his truck keys and slipped on his jacket. Out the door, he hadn’t even made it to the truck before he heard a shout behind him.
He spun around to see Monty, casually dressed, looking gorgeous as he sprinted towards him from the back entrance of the bar. Kendrick barely had time to open his arms to catch Monty when he launched himself at him. Monty’s lips latched onto Kendrick’s the second he was in his arms. His heart stuttered at the emotional depth of the kiss.
If there was ever a kiss that said, ‘I missed you’, it was the one. Monty didn’t hold back as he wrapped himself around Kendrick. Legs wrapping around his middle, Kendrick dropped his truck keys without thought and boosted Monty up by his ass, evenas one hand slid up the back of his head, fingers digging in possessively, holding him closer.
Kendrick groaned, lips parting as a large body pressed into his side. Rue’s scent surrounded them as another set of lips touched the corner of his and Monty’s mouths. Tongues and teeth clashed as they worked to connect all three mouths together in what felt like the hungriest kiss Kendrick had experienced in some time—if ever.
