Leaf liked to tease them about having an office where blowjobs were not only safe but encouraged, now. He’d even said that to Angel who had come over with his new fiancée, Rachel, and Dev had never before seen his brother move quite so fast as he did out of that office.
Angel and Rachel still lived in the old house, and while they weren’t planning on getting married anytime soon, Dev had a feeling his parents would give them the house for a wedding present whenever the day came.
There were no hard feelings between Dev and Angel, or anyone, really, anymore. Enough time had passed, and they were all happy. Even Rain, who had found herself dating a much-younger woman seemed to be in a good place with her life.
Life was awesome, but they’d hit a few rough spots right after Leaf had come home from his last work trip.
They’d all been excited about Leaf starting his own training facility. The problems had started when Leaf had done some math and realized he’d need a huge loan to afford a place somewhere even remotely close to Colorado Springs.
When Seth and Dev had suggested they’d become partners, Leaf hadn’t been very receptive. Then, eventually, after days of being at an impasse, Dev had suggested they just buy something bigger with that money. He’d done his research during that time and knew there were reasonably priced old ranches for sale around Colorado.
Seth had liked the idea, and so Leaf had confessed he’d talked about that with his friend Chay. Once they got that sorted, Seth and Leaf put the house on the market and looked for a place to buy together.
The last curveball was one Dev totally didn’t see coming, maybe stupidly.
When it became obvious that they had found their dream location but that some more money would be needed to put into the pot, Seth and Leaf had become almost despondent. Until Dev had told them he had that money, even on top of his third of their agreed sum, and then some. He’d been investing money with the help of his parents’ financial advisor ever since he earned some at sixteen. By now, with and without the trust fund his parents had set up for him and Angel, he could’ve afforded the whole property by himself.
His lovers… didn’t take it very well.
It had been rough on them. For a day or so, Dev had thought this might be what would crush them and drive them apart.
In the end he’d justified it by saying this was him investing on their future. That if Leaf and Seth could sell the house they’d owned together and put that money and their savings into buying the ranch, then he could put in as much money as they did, and since hehadthe extra, why not use it?
Leaf had made him promise to take a salary out of the job he did for the center, just because of his investment in the property. So he had two salaries coming in now, and life was… good.
“What did you think just now?” Leaf asked, gazing at him from under the puppies that had chosen to use him as a climbing exercise.
“How we got here,” Dev said, smiling.
“Oh….”
“Yeah. But hey, we’re here.”
“That we are.”
“There’s going to be coffee soon. I’ll go make a mug and take it to Seth. He’s cleaning the windows.”
Leaf chuckled. “Oh man…. Well, I hope he gets over his writer’s block soon, because the house is going to sparkle, and if he starts here next, the dogs will freak out.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him that.” Dev grinned as he got up carefully and made his way back to the old barn they’d converted into an office, small room for some classes Leaf taught occasionally, and a break room for them and all their volunteers.
They weren’t officially open that day, so it was just the three of them on the property.
Alex, their vet, had taken on the job of their part-time veterinarian and would probably come check on some of the dogs they had right now later that day.
Dev poured some coffee into a travel mug, doctored it for Seth, and petted Weasley and Grace on his way out again. He got halfway up the hill before Missy bounced to him, excited as ever to see him.
“Hey there, Missy lady,” he cooed, and grinned when Husky marched to the edge of the fenced-in yard around their house. They didn’t close the gate on days when it was the three of them, yet Husky still chose to stay right between the gateposts, watching Dev and Missy’s approach. “What a good boy you are, Husky, my man,” Dev told him, scratching him by the ears in passing.
Seth had taken off his long-sleeved shirt and was washing the windows in a sleeveless tank.
“Could you be any hotter?” Dev groaned as he got close enough to see the sweat rolling down the back of Seth’s neck.
“I literally don’t think so,” Seth snarked, then perked right up at the travel mug. “You brought me caffeine?”
“Uh-huh,” Dev said, but held the mug away. “Kiss first.”
He got his kiss and then some, and Seth almost forgot about the coffee. Almost.
