“You didn’t tell your therapist the story, did you?”
Braeden bites the corner of his bottom lip and looks away. “I might’ve.”
“Jesus…”
Seth barks out a laugh. “Serves you right, Joker.”
“Hey, whose side are you on here?”
“Yours, of course.”
“It was lit!” Braeden exclaimed.
If it got him that excited and happy, I’ll take a Seth lecture any day.
It’s poker night, a couple of weeks after the hearing, and I feel the proverbial noose around my neck loosen finally since Braeden came into my life. He’s in therapy, his bullies were dealt with and haven’t bothered him since, and he now belongs to me. Not to mention I’ve started therapy as well. I’m hoping it’s all uphill from here and that I’m doing my friends proud by their son.
All the kids are with Slade’s daughter Fern. He’ll head over there when we’re done with poker, letting the kids stay the night at his house, so Seth and I can have alone time without interruption or worry about waking the kids up. I realize this is a luxury, so I’m not about to squander it.
Seth wants me to meet his parents soon, too. Not only for me, but he wants Braeden to be able to stay with them periodically as well.
As we get our drinks and chit chat, Travis pulls Seth aside to talk to him privately. I narrow my eyes when the rest of the men start surrounding me. It dawns on me that they drew Seth away intentionally to talk to me. Here we go. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the ‘you better be good to our boy or else’ chat.
I set my beer bottle down, lean against the counter, and raise my hands. “Settle down, guys. I’m not here to hurt him.”
Reuben mirrors me and says, “We just want to make sure he’s in good hands. Seth doesn’t need another asshole trying to manipulate him.”
“God, I still hate myself for what happened,” Edmundo groans.
I look each man in the eye to convey my seriousness and shut down any snarky comments that pop into my mind. “Can I be honest?” They nod, and Edmundo waves for me to continue. “You should know that at first, I was against relationships, not that I’ve got anything against them per se, but I was hurt like Seth was. My ex cheated on me not once, not twice, but several times. When I found out, I was crushed. But knowing Seth, even for such a short time, I threw my rules right out the proverbial window. He’s easy to like and be around. I won’t make promises that we’ll be together forever. No one can foresee the future. All that Icanpromise is that I will do my best not to hurt him. We’re still new. Give us a chance to settle in and get more familiar with each other, yeah? Satisfied?”
Reuben grips my shoulder with his meaty hand. “Good enough for me.”
Edmundo, Paul, and Slade all nodded their agreement.
“Gentlemen? Let’s play,” Travis says when he walks into the kitchen with Seth behind him. The look on Seth’s face shows he knew exactly what went down. He mouths, ‘sorry’ to me, but I shrug and wink. He’s got great friends.
As soon as my front door closes, I pin Seth against it, brushing my nose along his throat and inhaling his magnificent scent before kissing the hell out of him. My hand travels down his front and between his legs, where I cup his cock and balls. “I won at poker tonight. I think I deserve some sort of reward.”
His hands are splayed across my chest, and his breath hitches. “So you reminded me the entire drive home.”
“Can’t have you forgetting now.”
“And what would you like for a reward?”
I hover my face over his, our lips about an inch apart. “Your gorgeous cock.”
He smirks, and his eyes meet mine, but they’re crossed since we’re so close together. Damn cute. “You can already have it, weirdo.”
“Yeah, but I want you to offer it. Talk dirty to me.”
“Ugh, I’m so bad at it.”
“You arenotbad at it. Tell me what you’d like me to do to your cock.”
He closes his eyes and takes a breath. I wait him out to see if he gives in.
And then he does.
