“The crux of the problem, I believe. Are you ready to leave?”
“Whenever you are.” I won’t leave him alone tonight. Like most nights.
Xavier comes to me instead of towards the door. When he presses his thumb to my cheek, I flinch and close my eyes, fighting hard not to pull away. He sighs, and the pressure is gone, allowing me to breathe.
“What would you give me, Miles, if I asked for it?” he asks quietly.
“Anything.” If anyone else tried to touch me like that, I’d break their fingers. Perhaps not Hunter, but like everything else that involves these two men, it’s complicated.
“If I wanted a kiss?”
My eyes fly open, instantly finding his. It’s a line we’ve never crossed, for good reason. It’s just not a good idea. Hunter is so entangled between us, he’ll never leave, whether he’s here or not. I can’t decipher what Xavier’s thinking, no matter how much I stare.
“Is that what you want?”
Xavier doesn’t answer straightaway. He traces my face with his eyes, lingering on my lips and then across my shoulders and down. He inhales deeply and lets it out slowly. “One day I’ll ask for everything, Miles.”
“I’ll be here.”
Hunter
Oliviapressesherhandsagainst the car window and smushes her nose against it. “Do you think Uncle Spence and Uncle Ken would let us live here?”
“We have a home.”
“Some people have two homes.”
“And some people don’t. Grab your bag.”
She’s already waiting, doing little jumps and practically vibrating as she waits for me to close the driver’s side door and lock the car. “You don’t think they’d want us to live with them?”
I don’t thinkIwould want to live with them. And that’s not a conversation I’m going to ever start. “You don’t like our home?” I ask as I press the buzzer at the gate. Kendrick won’t be long; they’ll have known the moment I pulled up.
Olivia rushes ahead of me and slaps her palm against the front door, dropping her bag at her feet. “Uncle Spence?” she calls out. “Uncle Ken?”
Kendrick opens the door and is already braced for the hug she lays at his legs. “Hey, kiddo.”
“Thank you for taking her at such short notice,” I tell him. “She’s a handful.”
“I am not!” She sticks her tongue out at me and then shoots behind Kendrick’s legs as if he’ll protect her from her father’s wrath.
“I’ll buy you a beer,” I tell Kendrick.
“Better make that five. Oh, here, since you’re here it saves me from sending this out.” He reaches over to the table by the door and grabs two deep-red envelopes. “Wedding invites.”
“Ah.” The envelope has my name printed onto the front and is closed with a golden wax seal. Cracking it open, I slide out the fancy card, with the usualYou are cordially invited to the wedding of Spencer Torres and Kendrick Fischer.And a date.
“A whole month away? Spencer said two weeks when I spoke to him last.”
“I persuaded Spence we needed more time to organise the house before we can host that kind of event.”
I can just imagine how he “persuaded” him. Spencer is incredibly stubborn when he wants something, and Kendrick spoils him, which doesn’t help the situation.
“And one for you,” Kendrick says, handing Olivia an identical envelope.
“I get my own invite!?” Her mouth opens, eyes wide. She rips it open with less finesse than me, and her mouth widens further. “That issocool. It’s beautiful. Can we put it on the fridge?”
“When we go home.” If I agree without context, she might demand we go home right now and do it.
