Rue’s rhino lowered his head and Monty’s otter moved to cling on to his horn, seeing it was a game when Rue’s rhino ducked his massive head under the water and came up fast enough to splash the bear.
Water dripped off the gleaming brown and honey colored fur. The bear’s eyes narrowed and an enormous paw hit the water, causing a tidal wave to swamp Monty’s otter and hit Rue’s rhino directly in the face.
Monty howled with laughter while his otter squealed its delight. His otter let go of the horn and scampered down the back of the rhino’s head, along his back and swung off his tail, flying into the water barely splashing anything, but he didn’t notice.
The rhino trumpeted, and the bear roared. They were music to the otter, who surfaced and climbed up the back of the rhino’s tail, running back the way he’d come, to cling to the horn, encouraging his rhino to splash their bear.
This is the best surprise.
Monty couldn’t disagree; it was.
Chapter Thirty- Eight
Rue
They’d had such a fun morning. Monty’s otter was utterly adorable. His attempts at splashing them failed epically, but it didn’t stop the little guy bringing much hilarity. They’d spent two hours playing before Kendrick had shifted and lay on his back, floating with Monty’s otter resting on his chest, gesticulating with his paws as if they could understand him.
Rue’s rhino had just enjoyed watching them as they chilled in the water. It had been longer than Rue could recall since they’d spent so much time in his rhino form. It made him all the more reluctant to let him shift back when Kendrick pointed out that he had a shift at the bar, and they needed to leave. It had grumbled and complained, blaming Rue for not asking for what he wanted after he’d discussed with Dad the potential of staying permanently in Bayfield and getting his blessing.
The reasons for being home no longer held for Rue, and Dad had rightly pointed out Rue could use their private jet to take him to and from places he needed to visit for work. If Rue had notions of Kendrick traveling with him and Monty so theyweren’t apart, he’d kept them to himself for now. Planning was what Rue was good at, he just needed to figure out all the logistics. It wasn’t very romantic to place all the facts down. It would, however, prove he was serious about staying—with both men.
The smile he had worn since they’d gotten into the pool to play, dimmed watching Kendrick slip on his jacket to leave as he followed him into the hallway.
“Why the droopy lips?”
He didn’t answer, just kissed Kendrick hard until they were both breathless. “Thanks for this morning, it was wonderful.”
Since they’d gotten home, the part of him that had played let’s pretend that Kendrick wasn’t going anywhere, had to give up.
“It was fun.” Kendrick kissed Rue once more and glanced towards the kitchen, where Monty was banging around. “Monty, I gotta go.”
There was the sound of Monty’s bare feet slapping on the floor before he appeared, flushed, breathless, with smudges of flour on one cheek and his hands. He puckered up, putting his hands behind his back, but Rue didn’t miss the look of disappointment.
Rue watched the care that Kendrick took stroking his thumbs over the sides of Monty’s jaw before he kissed him with the same depth of passion they’d shared.
“I’ll be back by eight.” He nuzzled the size of Monty’s mouth, looking at Rue. “Maybe have a nap, you pair, so we can have some naked playtime later?”
Monty fake yawned. “After someone had me up most of the night and then wouldn’t let me sleep in, I might still be too tired.” He lied badly.
A smile that should be outlawed graced Kendrick’s gorgeous face. “Then I’ll need to workextra hardto keep you awake.”
Monty and Rue groaned in unison. Rue’s sweatpants formed a tent at what that meant.
“See ya later.” Kendrick was gone, the door shutting softly behind him, and Rue's shoulders sagged dejectedly.
“It sucks he has to work,” Monty muttered huffily and then stomped off back to the kitchen.
He wasn’t wrong. It fucking sucked big time. Had Kendrick felt like this when they left him to go to work? He hardly worked early in the morning unless there was a delivery.
Rue strolled into the living room and plonked himself down, analyzing Kendrick’s behavior. The harder Rue thought on that, the more he would suggest Kendrick got a real kick at doing stuff in his home when they left for work. His gaze swept the cosy living room. The place was dust free and tidy considering there were three of them living in the house and one being messy Monty, duly nicknamed by Kendrick. He’d go as far as to suggest their man got a lot of pleasure out of taking care ofthem, not just the house.
The meals he prepared, even when he couldn’t eat with them, were there in tubs in the refrigerator waiting to be heated. Little sticky notes with messages on. Most with little hearts for a signature. Had Rue tucked a couple in his sock drawer? Why yes, he had.
Was Kendrick hiding his feelings about what he wanted from them long term while living day to day like this wasn’t going to end? Rue wasn’t a fool not to notice that once he’d faced his fears, what they had going was serious. They were in a poly relationship. He’d looked into how that worked for marriage. Legally, Rue could have paperwork created to protect both Monty and Kendrick’s rights regarding him and vice versa. They could have a ceremony just for them and their families.
Was he jumping the gun? Diving in but potentially finding himself disqualified from the love race.
He didn’t think so when he’d clocked more than one sour expression when Kendrick mentioned he had to leave them.Kendrick liked his job, so it wasn’t a work thing. Rue thought it was a ‘leaving them’ thing.
