“I’ll talk to your brother. He needs to understand that not everything is about him and that worrying about you is just fine, but….” Mom sighed.
“He just hit a nerve. I get where he’s coming from, but he poked at something I wasn’t nearly ready to even think about, you know? It’s still new, and he’s already thinking it’ll all fall apart and someone will get hurt.”
“Yeah, sounds like our Angel. He’s always been the more reactive of you two when it comes to family. We’ll talk to him.”
“Thanks, Mom. So anyway, I’m at Seth and Leaf’s place this week, watching their dogs. They had to go to Texas today. Seth’s mom is having surgery, and there’s all sorts of problems in Seth’s relationship with his parents and… you know. Families.”
Dad chuckled. “Yeah, families. What kind of dogs do they have?”
His parents listened to his stories about the furry trio and laughed when he described Missy, and Mom cried when he told Missy’s story. They ended the call in good spirits, and Dev could feel his parents’ love for him—and for Angel—long after he’d put the phone away.
BEING ALONEin the house seemed a bit weird, but only because he missed Seth and Leaf so much. He wouldn’t have thought it would feel like this, not so soon into the relationship. They were still very much in the beginning, but he felt like he’d known both other men for ages. They were like old friends. With benefits. And, Jesus, were there benefits…. Just thinking about what had happened on Thursday night blew his mind.
He was also pretty sure there was something of a daddy kink forming in the back of his mind. Hearing Leaf call him “baby boy” had certainly done… things… to his libido in that moment. He knew Leaf had noticed it, too, but hadn’t pushed it. Dev hazarded a guess that it wasn’t a kink for Seth, or that Leaf wanted to talk about it first. Either way, Dev wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to explore it if one was given to him.
He still wanted to get Seth alone, though. Their proper, control-freak professor needed things Dev could give him. He wanted to manhandle Seth a little, be rough with him, see how it would affect the easily flustered yet tightly wound man.
The best thing was, this relationship wasn’t just about sexual things. Hell, sometimes he thought it wasn’t even half about that.
There was something between the three of them that seemed to calm them all in different ways. At least that’s how it felt for Dev. He was settled and happy on some level he hadn’t known happiness could exist. Like Seth and Leaf had burrowed themselves into his marrow and lived there, spreading comfort with every beat of Dev’s heart.
He was pretty sure it shouldn’t feel easy like it did, but somehow, he didn’t care. Couldn’t think of it too much either. He didn’t want to doubt any of this, no matter how much Angel seemed to.
BY WEDNESDAYDev was antsy. He’d gotten messages and a quick call from Seth, who had just wanted to hear his voice on Tuesday, while his mother was in surgery.
The fact that it even occurred to Seth to call Dev felt good. The fact that he just wanted to hear Dev talk about what he and the dogs had been doing that day made it awesome.
He was getting ready for bed on Wednesday and was just calling the dogs in from the backyard when his cell beeped in the kitchen.
“Come on, kiddos. Time for bed,” he told the dogs, who trotted inside. Well, Missy and Husky trotted. Grace followed in her funny little gait that spoke of her age. Once the dogs were on the right side of the door, Dev closed it and went to check on his phone.
A message from Leaf:Seth needs some TLC. They’re keeping his mom in the hospital one more night. I need to take him out of his head a little. Want to FaceTime with us while we’re in bed?
Dev swallowed hard. He knew Leaf was suggesting phone sex, sort of. Video call sex, with Leaf and Seth together and Dev alone at the other end. Leaf thought Seth would want the connection to him while they were making love.
Dev’s hands shook a bit—with nerves or arousal, he didn’t know which—when he replied.Just tell me when. Heading to bed now.
He made sure the dogs were in their beds downstairs, turned off all the lights, and went to brush his teeth while he waited for the call. He was half hard, his boxer briefs rubbing against his cock as he climbed into bed and made sure there was enough light for the call. He was pretty sure Leaf and Seth would like to see him too.
He’d had phone sex before. Even video call sex. There had been a guy in North Carolina he’d met online and tried to hold on to for a while last year. It hadn’t worked at all, but it had been something to take his mind off the fact that he was lonely.
What he was about to take part in was incredibly different. This was long-distance lovemaking with his lovers.
There was really no way to get a good angle for the video, and while Dev thought of that problem, something else occurred to him.
He quickly texted Leaf.You said he needs to get out of his head, right? Can you let me do something that I think will help with that?
It took few minutes for Leaf’s reply to come through.You know I can’t hurt him, right? You’re thinking about domming him, I assume?
Yeah, I know, but it’s not about hurting. I just want to be part of it a bit more.
Okay, I trust you. Five minutes. I’ll call you and prop the phone up but won’t tell him at first. Let it be a surprise.
Dev grinned. He liked the idea. Seth didn’t do well with surprises, but for the sake of making him stop thinking about his mother’s situation…. Yeah, this could be so good.
Dev arranged a little platform from the books on the nightstand on Seth’s side of the bed and made sure his phone would have a nice view of his body while he could still see the goings-on in the screen.
The call came through and he swiped the screen, grinning at Leaf, who smirked at him silently, then put the phone at what seemed pretty much the same angle as Dev’s.
