August snorted. “Incident? Like Chernobyl?”
“You know what I mean,” he mumbled.
“We’re kid-free, not Cricket-free,” August said. “We had to unpack, finish the nursery, finish wrapping the family gifts, make an appearance at that abysmal faculty Christmas party, attend that St. Aggie fundraiser, and we had dinner with Adam and Noah and then walked around the neighborhood to get the rundown on our bizarre new neighbors.”
“This place is super weird, right?” Lucas said. “Like a…David Lynch movie.”
“Our very ownTwin Peaks,” August mused. “I do appreciate the shrine to Prince though. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit.”
“Are we going to waste our precious alone time talking about our neighbors?” Lucas asked, then looked around attheir large but cozy living room. “We haven’t christened the living room yet.”
He’d fallen in love with the warmth of the space, the built-in bookshelves, the fireplace with its old-fashioned mantle, the crown moulding, the soft lighting. Whoever had owned this house before had painstakingly built it so that it had nostalgic charm with modern, elegant upgrades. The glow from the fireplace danced across the hardwood floors, throwing amber light over the spines of books and the garland draped along the mantle.
Outside, the storm clawed at the windows, but inside everything was honeyed and soft and safe. They could have built their own place, but Cricket’s due date had been approaching rapidly.
Serenity Grove was a highly sought-after community. It was half well-established luxury homes and half new-builds. They’d destroyed a forest to build more homes but Lucas figured that was the builders karma, not the buyers. Noah called them McMansions and he wasn’t wrong. Lucas still wasn’t sure whether buying here made them sensible or hypocritical, but the house felt right — cozy and lived-in, a place that softened as soon as his family filled it.
“What are you thinking about?”
Lucas smiled. “Cricket.”
Lucas was grateful to have all of them under one roof finally. No running back and forth across the hall. Cricket had her own suite in the walkout basement. It was essentially her own luxury apartment. That way she was always close. The kids liked having their mother with them.The house felt fuller with her living within arms reach—settled, steadier, lived-in.
“Wow, here I am trying to seduce you and you’re thinking about—gasp—a woman?”
“I’m thinking about the heavily pregnant mother of our children. Should we call and make sure she’s okay?”
“She’s with Lola and Calliope. She’s far safer with them than us. Probably a lot less bored, too.”
“Are you implying we’re boring?” Lucas said in mock offense. He nudged his nose against August’s cheek, amusement warming the moment. August’s answering hum vibrated softly against his skin.
He sucked in a breath as he found himself dumped onto his back on the sofa, August crawling over him to settle between his thighs. “I would never call you boring.”
Lucas stared up into August’s perfect face. He only seemed to get more attractive with age. His emerald-green eyes studied Lucas’s features as if he hadn’t committed them to memory long ago. His hand landed behind Lucas’s head. Before he could ask what he was doing, August lifted him to slip a throw pillow behind his head.
“What’s that for?” Lucas asked with a confused smile.
“I thought we might be here awhile, and I know your neck gets wonky when you don’t have some kind of support.”
Lucas’s heart did a complicated little dance behind his ribs. Still, he pretended to swoon. “My hero.”
“I should have gotten you one of those fancy orthopedic pillows,” August said with a sigh.
“Those pillows make me feel like I’m one bad fall awayfrom the nursing home. Besides, you already got me more than enough. ”
“You asked for a weighted blanket and an espresso machine. That’s nothing. I could have bought you an island.”
“An island is impractical. The weighted blanket and espresso machine I’ll actually use.”
August turned sulky. “Still, I want to spoil you.”
Lucas shook his head. “Look around. You spoil me so much throughout the year it’s hard to find something I don’t have. You know I hate clutter.”
“I do still have one present for you,” August said.
“Nowthatsounds like a euphemism. Is that gift currently pressing against my dick?” Lucas asked, squirming until they both groaned.
“No, that you can have whenever you want. You’ll get your surprise gift tomorrow like everyone else.”
