“That was amazing,” he gasped with quivering breath.
“Best wakeup ever,” I answered and kissed him before rolling off the bed. “Be right back with coffee.”
I wandered to the kitchen in my boxers, sunlight streaming through the windows. It had been a couple of weeks since Izzy and I decided to call each other boyfriends, and we’d spent as many nights together as alone. I would come home from work and see his light shining in his studio, and as soon as we started texting, I’d slip over to his place, or he’d wander to mine.
Rubbing my eyes with a yawn, I switched on the coffee machine. Back at the wedding, I had realized how deeply I wanted a relationship like River had. The more time I spent with Izzy, the more I knew he really was that person for me.
The person I’d always needed, whether I knew it or not.
And to my huge relief, most of our sex life hadn’t revolved around him dressing up in a costume. We’d played that way a couple of times, and I could have sworn my nerves vibrated with pleasure the second he got dressed.
It was like I’d spent years before we reconnected, training my body to respond to the exact thing I finally had between my fingers.
Training my body to respond to Izzy. His voice, and sweet smiles, and the playful way he arched his back and writhed for me.
But like that morning, most of our sex was less of a production than the few times we dressed up and made a night of it. It was usually just fun and casual and easy, like it couldn’t be any other way.
So why should I care if we had a weird costume thing? It could stay our secret, saved for special occasions, and Izzy and I could enjoy a happy, stable, mature relationship.
I ran my hands along the herbs that grew on his windowsill and took whiffs of the different plants as I waited for the coffee to finish. When I turned back to the bed, Izzy was sitting there with his hair sticking up in the back and a drowsy look on his face. His lips were puffy from making out, and his lids drooped down over his eyes.
“You look cute,” we both said at the same time.
“Here,” Izzy laughed, patting the bed next to him as he grabbed his phone. “I want a picture.”
I looked down at my bare chest. My boxers hung loosely from my hips, and I hadn’t even glanced at myself in the mirror.
“You don’t have to put it on your Instagram,” he protested. “This one’s just for us. Come on. I want to remember my hot, nice boyfriend bringing me coffee in bed.”
“I can just keep bringing you coffee,” I offered as I joined him on the bed. “Then you won’t forget.”
Izzy pursed his lips. “Please?” he asked sweetly.
“Ugh, I should have never told you how much your whimper does me in.”
“I know,” he laughed, scooting next to me. “It’s so easy to get what I want now.”
I raised my mug as he raised his. “Coffee for my boyfriend,” I said, shooting a big smile at the phone, and Izzy surprised me with a kiss as the camera flashed.
* * *
“I sawsomeone looking very cute together on Instagram yesterday.”
I blinked at River, my mind racing back to the half-naked photo Izzy and I had taken in bed. We were down at his condo, and with Leo stuck at a press conference for Silver Lining, my brother and I were spending the evening sorting through wedding photos.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Cass and Shawn,” he answered, then turned the computer to me, showing a picture of the couple. “Hello, Kai, we were just talking about them.”
“Right. Cass and Shawn.”
River pushed his long hair behind his ears. He wore a silver necklace that ended in a smooth green rock, and it bounced against his chest as he moved. He’d been infusing his touches in with Leo’s minimalist style, and the condo had big, colorful art on the walls and a new vintage couch, upholstered in River’s new favorite color, teal.
“Not that they’re the only happy couple earning my likes,” River said, then set the laptop on the coffee table. “When are you going to give me the brother gossip? What’s up with Izzy?”
“What do you mean?” I laughed. I took a sip of my whisky drink, and the ice bobbed in the glass. “What kind of brother gossip are you asking for here?”
River was one of the rare people who could actually break my composure and sense when I was trying to hide something.
