“That’sbecause you’ve never been in one,”Ireminded him. “Luckyfor you,I’mhere to help you get through your missteps.Becauseas much as it pains you to hear, you can’t be in control of everything all the time.Now, let’s get home and forget about the fact your brothers are all thinking about us going home and having hot, sweaty sex.”
Ansongroaned. “Wouldyou hate me ifIsaid there’s a good chanceI’mtoo tired to prove them right tonight?”
“Nota bit.”Hestill struggled to believeIenjoyed my nights with him, whether orgasms were involved or not.Thatjust meantIhad to keep working to prove he was worth more than his spectacular dick. “Ithink tonight’s a perfect night to hit the sack and cuddle while we fall asleep watchingTV.”
“God, that makes us sound like a couple of old men.”
“Speakfor yourself,Grandpa,”Iteased.Ansonbacked away.Ashe closed my door,Iheard him muttering something about showing me just what the old man could do.
Sexwas good, butI’dmuch rather have a man who could make me laugh any day of the week.Plus, it was fun to get his hackles up.Ihad to do something to keep him from really turning into a grumpy old man.
18
ANSON
“IsKevingoing to be joining us forChristmas?”Igroaned, pulling the phone away to see what time it was.Shit, the one morningI’dmanaged to get back to sleep after puttingBartout just had to be the day afterI’dadmitted to my brothers thatKevinandIwere seeing one another.Itfucking figured one of them had run and tattled.Atleast she’d had the good grace to not pepper me with questions about whyIhadn’t told them sooner thatIwas gay.Demisexual.Whateverthe fuckIwas.Andthat was precisely whyIhadn’t said anything.
“Mom,Ilove you, but can we have this conversation at a more civil hour?”
Bigmistake.Consideringmy scratchy voice and surly mood, there was no denyingIwas still in bed.Andno one in my family had an ounce of tact. “Oh,I’msorry.Areyou boys still sleeping?IfiguredBartwould have gotten you out of bed at the crack of dawn.”
“Believeit or not, it is possible for me to try and get a couple of extra hours of sleep just because.”Iswung my feet over the edge of the bed, hoping to sneak out without disturbingKevin.I’dstayed up late with him because he’d picked up a shift tonight.Hehadn’t wanted to go to bed too early because he’d have to get another nap before going to work.Helooked so peaceful, softly snoring asIgrabbed a pair of sweatpants from the laundry basket.Fuck,Iwas getting way too used to the sight of him whenIwoke up. “AsforChristmas,I’mnot sure what plans he has.Weweretrying to take things slow.”
“I’mnot trying to push you into anything, butIknow he doesn’t have much family in the area.Ithought it would be nice to invite him and his mom over to the house.”Iwasn’t sure whether to be irritated or touched that she wanted to include both of them.Honestly, it could go either way, depending on her motives.Therewas a chance she andAprilhad been chatting last night, andMomjust wanted to do something nice for them.Ialready knew they didn’t go out of town or anything, butIwouldn’t want to take time away from his mom.
Bartwas highly offended thatI’ddared to close the door on my way out.Beforehe could start scratching,Icracked the door open again.Thedamn dog jumped right onto the bed, settling into the spaceI’djust vacated, andKevinrolled over, draping his arm overBart’sbody.LookedlikeIwas up for the day unlessIwanted to sleep in the recliner.
“I’lltalk to him when he gets up.”Therewas no point pretending we weren’t together.Imight not have planned on coming out so soon, butIneeded to proveIhad nothing to hide ifIwanted my family to take this relationship seriously instead of thinking it was some sort of midlife crisis. “LikeIsaid,I’mnot sure what they’ve got going on, and he might feel like it’s too much, too soon.”
“Iunderstand.”Thewords were right, butIknew she’d be upset ifIcouldn’t make this happen.Hell, for allIknew, his mom might be planning to spend at least part of the holiday withKeithand his kids.Istarted the coffee as she rambled about the menu and who would be there.Apparently,Kevinwouldn’t be the only new boyfriend at the table if he accepted the invitation.Carsonwas bringingEzra, and they hadn’t been dating as long asKevinandIhad—if what we were doing was considered dating.
Bythe time there was enough coffee in the carafe to pour a cup, she’d moved on to telling me what she’d gotten forJamesandHenry, asking ifIthought she’d gone overboard.Shedefinitely had, but this was only their secondChristmasas grandparents, so it was to be expected.Ofcourse it wouldn’t be nearly as amusing now thatBillyandMichaelhad issued a strict order that any living gifts would be left at the giver’s home.
Itwas obviousIwas in for a long call withMom, soItook my coffee into the living room.Thethree stockings hanging from the mantel gave me pause.I’dbeen touched whenIcame home from work last week andKevinwas finishing up his decorating.He’dsaid it was only right if we had stockings at his house since we were there so often.And, even now,Ifelt likeIshouldbe upset about them, butIwasn’t.Havingour stockings next to each other, with one forBarton the other side of the mantel, felt like a statement, one that came far too soon.Hell, we hadn’t even been together a month yet.AndyetIloved that he’d taken this subtle step to let me know he was serious, thatIwasn’t just here for him to fulfill some teenage fantasy.
Peacewashed over me asIchatted withMomfor a while longer.Itwas mostly her talking and me making noises so she’d realizeIwas still on the other end of the line.Iclosed my eyes, resting my head against the back of the couch, feeling more relaxed thanI’dbeen in a long time.
Thesound of the shower starting alerted me thatKevinwas awake, which meant it was time to get off the phone.IfIwas going to convince him to come over for even part ofChristmaswith my family,Ineeded to do some serious buttering up. “Mom, let me give you a call back a bit later.Kevinjust got up, and he’s working tonight, so we’re going to spend the day together.”
“Oh, that’s fine.Justlet me know what he says aboutChristmas.Andtell him he andAprildon’t need to worry about bringing anything.We’llhave more than enough food.”Thatwas an understatement.Havingfour boys,Momhad long ago gotten used to cooking enough food to feed an army.Ourappetites weren’t what they had been as teenagers, but she still cooked just as much.Andwhen you added her need to make sure each of our favorites was on the table, none of us had to worry about cooking for a week afterward.
“Iwill,Mom,”Ipromised.NowthatIwas fully awake,Iwasn’t as annoyed about her pushing me to bringKevinhome forChristmas.Evenmy concerns that he’d think it was too soon were fading asIlooked around the living room.We’dboth said we were all in and things were going well, and those facts made the number of days or weeks we’d been together feel insignificant.
Bartbounded into the living room and jumped on the couch next to me.Afterhanging up the phone,Itipped my head back again whileIscratched his head. “Whatdo you think, boy?AmIbeing stupid?Iknow my brothers would sayIam, but you’re the one who lives with me.”
Heflipped onto his back, allowing me the privilege of scratching his belly instead. “Yeah.YoulikeKevin, don’t you?Hespoils you.”
“Somepeople say you can tell if someone’s a good person by how animals react to them.”Iclenched my eyes shut, knowingKevinwas probably laughing at catching me using my dog as a therapist.WhenIopened them and lifted my head, he was leaning against the doorframe wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung sweatpants, cradling a mug of coffee in his hands. “Ifit makes you feel any better, my mom busted me yesterday for trying to talk out my problems withBartinstead of her.”
“Oh?Whatproblems were those?”Ipatted the couch cushion next to me, invitingKevinto sit and relax.Ashe approached,Itried to tamp down my nerves over the fact thatIhadn’t realized anything was bothering him.We’dpromised to talk about things bothering us, butIwas starting to think we were both holding back.
Kevinset his coffee on the end table.Hebent down, cupping my face before quickly pressing his lips to mine. “Mmm, good morning.”
Myhands slid up the backs of his legs, pulling him closer.Thecouch sat at just the right height thatIcould easily slip my hands into the waistband of his sweats, dragging them down soIcould get a taste of him.Thatsounded like a damn good idea.WhenIleaned forward, he pushed me back. “Ijust showered.”
“Iknow.”Ilicked my lips asIlooked up at him. “That’swhyIwant to get you dirty.”
“Andto think you were the one who said he didn’t like sex,”Kevinteased.Hesat on the couch next to me. “Don’tget me wrong,Ilove seeing you so needy, butI’mnot sure we have time.Itold my mom we’d go over to her place for lunch.Ihope that’s okay.”
