“I know.” Oz kissed the back of Seth’s neck. “If I didn’t tease you, you wouldn’t want me.”
“True.” Seth said. Very few people treated him as an equal. They treated him as a means to an end.
Oz was different, and Seth was grateful for that. Oz had never looked at him and seen a way to get something he wanted. He’d looked at Seth and seen a person.
Seth was really looking forward to just being himself, with Oz, and without anyone else.
So much so that he could even have been persuaded to get out of bed.
In a minute.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“How, uh... how many more boxes are there?” Oz asked, scratching the back of his neck as he watched the delivery guy carry yet another box inside.
“Four more,” the guy said, setting the latest, identical box down. There were already ten in the living room, counting that one. They weren’t small boxes, by any means.
Oz looked to Seth, who had the good grace to look sheepish, at least. He shrugged, gesturing at the boxes. “I guess when Dad said he was sending all my stuff, he meant all of it. I’ll get a storage unit or something.”
“No, you won’t. We’ll find somewhere for it. This is your home, too.”
They were still at the delicate beginning of living together, and Oz knew Seth felt guilty about moving into Oz’s apartment rent-free. He wasn’t about to make him feel unwelcome by insisting that his stuff went elsewhere.
He wanted Seth to stay. That meant giving up some of his own space to make room. If that was the only thing he had to give up, he’d gotten off lightly in comparison.
“Half of it is probably junk. I’m just glad he didn’t send the furniture, too,” Seth said.
Oz crossed the living room to wrap his arms around him. Seth had good days and bad days, but he’d only been doing this for a couple of weeks. He was still adjusting to a seismic change in his life.
Seth snuggled into him, burying his face in Oz’s chest. “You have to go soon, huh?”
“If I’m gonna continue to keep you in the manner to which you’re accustomed, yeah. But not yet.”
Oz was already starting to consider a home office, but he’d need a bigger apartment for that, and Seth’s permission to parade people in and out of it. Although, he already went to most of his clients’ homes, so it wouldn’t be the world’s biggest deal.
Plus, he had someone he wanted to be home with now. Leaving for the sake of answering emails and working on documents seemed unnecessary.
“Oh, uh,” Seth looked up at Oz. “I forgot to tell you. You’re gonna be an uncle.”
Oz took a moment to understand what Seth was saying, but then burst into a broad grin as it dawned on him. Emma was pregnant.
“Seriously?” he asked, excitement welling up in his chest. He’d secretly been waiting for the day he’d hear that, but he hadn’t expected it to be so soon.
“Seriously,” Seth said. “Which I guess means she was pregnant before the wedding, since it hasn’t been three months yet and she’d never tell anyone before then. It’s bad luck, apparently.”
Oz tsked, smiling wryly. “My own little brother, having premarital sex.”
Seth snorted. “Which you would obviously never do.”
“Never. Not once in my entire life. I’m so glad you’re on board with celibacy.” Oz beamed at Seth, enjoying the look on his face.
“Not that I want anything to change, but if it did… I’d stay. I’m not just here for the sex. I’m here for you.”
Oz made a soft sound deep in his chest, involuntarily, and then ducked his head to kiss Seth, just brushing their lips together at first. Seth grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened, Seth forcing Oz’s lips to part so he could swipe along the inside of them with his tongue.
Behind them, the delivery guy cleared his throat. “I need you to sign for this.”
