The Single Dad and his Soul Mate

by Rebecca James

  Matteo met my gaze, the jealousy in his eyes tempered by curiosity. “Why didn’t you? He wasn’t afraid to show the world how he felt about you.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t love him.” Placing my hands on each side of his face, feeling the stubble already growing again, I said, “I love you, Matteo Angelo Costa.” I gave his name my best Italian accent, which was undoubtedly pretty bad.

  Matteo kissed me, hard and needy at first but then gradually more softly, sweetly. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he kept kissing me. Finally, when we were both breathless, he looked at the text and grinned. He showed it to me.

  If you are in there proposing to Flynn, I’m gonna kill you. Get back in here or you’ll miss it.

  I looked at him questioningly, and Matteo said he’d explain later. He wiped at his face again, and together we walked to the ballroom to find the crowd silent and Blaze on one knee in front of an open-mouthed Lake.

  “Oh, my God. He’s proposing!” I whispered to Matteo, who nodded and smiled.

  “Lake Adams, will you do me the great honor of becoming my husband?”

  “Yes!” Lake dragged Blaze off his knee and threw himself at him, the two men devouring one another’s mouths in a passionate display that had everyone cheering.

  “Well, I’m sure after that some of you want to slink into the shadows,” Nick’s voice came from the microphone. “But Gloria says it’s time to eat. Find your places, which are marked with your names.”

  I grabbed Matteo’s hand, and we started looking at the tables. Evidently Gloria and Jessica had had faith we’d reconcile, because we’d been placed side by side. Cooper came running over to us and jumped into Matteo’s arms.

  “Mad, where you been?”

  “I had to get some things taken care of. I’ve missed you, kid.”

  Servers began bringing in trays, and it wasn’t until halfway through the meal when Gloria came over to check on us that I got a word with her.

  “So this wasn’t a re-do on your proposal?”

  “Nope. Our proposal was perfect the way it was.”

  I made a face. “At Checkers?”

  “No, silly! I made that up. I proposed to Jessica in Tahiti with miles of sunset over tropical waters as our witnesses. I just had to get you here, and in your recent shitty mood, I knew it was gonna be tough.” She shot a quick look Cooper’s way, but he was busy eating.

  I looked at Matteo. “You guys did this together?”

  Matteo nodded. “I asked, and they were nice enough to help. I’m footing the bill for this shindig.”

  I stared. “Oh, my God.” I looked around. “It must have cost a fortune.”

  “Nonna paid for it. It was the least she could do,” Matteo said, his smile sad.

  Again, I looked around the room, realizing for the first time that not just some but almost all of the people in the room were friends of either Matteo or me. Only a few, like Rikki and Perry, were exclusively Gloria and Jess’s friends, and the more I looked at the crowd, the more I thought maybe they had used their Rolodex. All the guys from the daddys’ group in Henry were there, as were a few people I hadn’t seen in years, and all of Matteo’s club. The ballroom was full.

  “You dogs,” I said.

  Gloria laughed. “I have to say, I wasn’t too keen on helping this one when he came to see us.” She tapped Matteo’s hand where it rested on the table. “But he really loves you, Flynn. He convinced me and Jess of that, or I promise you we wouldn’t be here right now.”

  I could feel myself blushing. Matteo took my hand and kissed it, eyes locking with mine.

  “Any chance you could take Coop tonight?” I asked Gloria in a hoarse voice.

  Gloria laughed again. “Already planned on it.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Matteo

  “Chocolate-covered strawberries?” Flynn asked, looking delighted. “You’re spoiling me.”

  “I can never spoil you enough to make up for what an ass I’ve been,” I said, meaning it.

  He pursed his lips at me before taking a bite of one of the plump fruits covered in a shell of dark chocolate. Strawberry juice dribbled down his chin, and I leaned in to lick it up.

  He kissed me.

  “Have you ever wondered why we eat chocolate-covered strawberries on Valentine’s Day and chocolate-covered cherries at Christmas?” he asked, picking up another strawberry.

  “No. I can honestly say I’ve never thought about that.”

  Flynn smiled. “Weird, huh?”

  “Definitely weird.”

  “I mean, there seems no rhyme or reason to it. What do cherries have to do with Christmas?”

  I shrugged and grinned, so thankful to be there with him. It still felt kind of shitty to be happy basically due to the death of someone I’d loved, but I couldn’t help it. At the moment, I didn’t even care. I was naked with the man I loved, watching strawberry juice trickle out of the corner of his mouth.

  When we’d reached the apartment after leaving the party, we’d practically torn each other’s clothes off. I had bruises where Flynn’s fingers had dug into me, and he had a few of his own, particularly on his hips. My cock stirred just thinking about how hard I’d ridden him.

  “What’s going through your mind?” Flynn asked, looking pointedly at my hardening cock.

  “Just thinking about a half hour ago,” I said and grinned when Flynn’s cock lengthened and swung up to kiss the line of hair below his navel.

  “Wanna know what I’m thinking about?” Flynn asked, holding up a strawberry. “I’m thinking about what it would be like to put this inside you and eat it out.”

  I leaned back against the pillows, hands behind my head. “You’re a kinky boy, Flynn Bishop.”

  Flynn smiled and offered me the strawberry, which I ate. He tossed the stem onto the plate and moved it off the bed before stretching out beside me. “I’m fortified and ready for more sex,” he announced.

  I raised a brow. “Are you, now?” I picked up his hand and kissed each finger.

  His face softened. “I’ve missed you. Missed this.” He gestured to our naked bodies side by side.

  “Me too.” I sighed. You may not believe me, but I’ve wanted this for a long time.”

  “I believe you.”

  I leaned in and kissed him, licking the juice from his lips and then delving deeper, the brush of his tongue against mine lighting me up inside like a flame. I ran my hand down his smooth back and the slope of his ass.

  He tweaked my nipples and I gasped, then crawled on top of him, kissing him harder, deeper, wishing I could climb inside him. Flynn matched me kiss for kiss, mouth hungry and demanding beneath mine until I couldn’t stand it anymore and, raising his leg to my shoulder, pressed the head of my cock against his entrance. He was still slicked up for me, partly with lube and partly with the cum I’d shot into him earlier. My thrusts made obscene squelching noises that filled the room. Flynn stretched his head back and keened, the sound reminding me of that lone wail he’d let out behind the door after begging me to leave. I’d hated causing him that pain. I’d known how bad it was because I’d felt it myself.

  “What’s wrong?” Flynn asked when I stopped moving and hung my head. “Matteo?”

  I felt his fingers brush through my hair.

  “I’m okay,” I said, pulling myself together. I rotated my hips, making Flynn moan.

  “Are you sure?”

  Lifting my eyes, I looked into his. “Yeah. I’m sure.” I twisted my hips again. Flynn lowered his leg from my shoulder and wrapped both around my waist, slowing my movements until our love making turned gentle. We kissed, nibbled, and licked at each other’s lips while our pulses climbed higher. Flynn’s breathing became erratic.

  “Oh, God, Matteo…”

  I buried my face in his neck, wallowing in the scent of his skin. Suddenly, he rolled us over, bringing him on top where he undulated against me, my cock deep inside him.

  “Christ, yeah,” I murmured, closing m
y eyes against the pleasure consuming me. I gripped his hips, letting him fuck himself on me. When I opened my eyes again, his cock was sticking straight out from his body, the tip red and dripping. I pushed forward and managed to lick the dribble off with the tip of my tongue.

  “Fuck!” Flynn gasped. “Fuck, Matteo.” He started to bounce, shaking the bed, and I pushed up onto my feet to meet him on every downstroke. Our climaxes took us simultaneously, and I clenched my teeth and groaned while Flynn made little hiccupping noises that brought more cum out of me than I thought I could possibly have left after the first go round.

  Drained, we fell into each other’s arms and eventually slept.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Flynn

  Matteo and I sat side by side, hands clasped, watching Cooper’s daycare class perform a gymnastic routine as part of the end of session parent presentation.

  “He’s very limber. Like his father,” Matteo whispered to me. I made a face at him.

  When the presentation ended, Cooper ran up to us. I hugged him hard.

  “You were great.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  Cooper climbed onto Matteo’s lap, and I watched them hug and Matteo whisper words of praise into my son’s ear.

  My son. Soon he would be our son. Matteo and I were getting married at the end of the month—just a quick ceremony before taking a trip to Jamaica to honeymoon—and when we got back, Matteo was officially adopting Cooper. I was so excited, I was coming apart at the seams.

  And Coop and I were taking Matteo’s surname. The Costa name would go on after all.

  Over the last few months, Matteo and Coop had really bonded. Watching them together made me happier than I’d ever been in my life. So much was changing, it was difficult to wrap my head around it all. We’d bought a house in Henry and were moving my shop there. We were going to listen to crickets and owls at night instead of traffic. Coop was going to start kindergarten at the small elementary school down the road from our house. Matteo said he didn’t mind the commute into work, and Gloria and Jess promised to visit all the time. In a matter of months, my life had done a complete one-eighty.

  Did I wish Matteo had defied his grandmother for me? Not really. At least, not knowing the way things turned out. What I’d wanted was Matteo, not for him to put their relationship on the line. I wanted to be with him. Sleep beside him. Go places with him as his boyfriend. Isabella’s acceptance or rejection of me hadn’t meant as much to me as all that had. And I never wanted to take her away from Matteo, as he had been certain her finding out he was gay would do. I’d just wanted to know that I mattered that much.

  So I was okay with how things had happened. Matteo was having a harder time, still feeling as though he’d wished his grandmother’s death into existence even though he rationally knew that wasn’t possible. But he was working through it, and I, perhaps selfishly, didn’t care how it had all happened, just that it had.

  Matteo was with me now—really with me—and we were going to be a family. I dreamed of perhaps adopting again some day. Maybe a little girl.

  “Can we go get ice cream?” Cooper asked.

  “I don’t know,” I teased, helping Coop into his light-weight jacket. “What do you think, Matteo? Was that an ice cream-worthy performance?”

  “Oh, it definitely was. I think it might even have been a two-scoop performance,” Matteo said, and Coop hugged him hard. Who’d known Matteo would make such a terrific father? I think I’d always been too afraid to speculate.

  As I walked out into the warm afternoon sun, my two favorite guys at my side, I allowed myself to look forward to the years stretching ahead of me like untried road to an unknown future. Because, with Matteo Angelo Costa by my side, it was sure to be an awesome ride.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading The Single Dad and his Soulmate.

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  About the Author

  Rebecca James is married, has three children, and is an avid reader and a prolific writer. She enjoys rainy days, animals, and chocolate.

  Check out Rebecca James on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, as well as on Amazon.

  Books by Rebecca James

  CONTEMPORARY

  The Hedonist MC series

  The Ballerino and the Biker

  The Pet Stylist and the Playboy

  The Brat and the Bossman

  The Survivor and his Safe Place

  The Hacker and his Heart’s Desire

  The Diva and his Daddy

  PARANORMAL

  The River Wolf Pack series

  First Omega

  Second Alpha

  Third Mate

  The Angel Hills series

  Omega Arrival

  Ripples of Threat

  The Cascade City Pack series

  A New Beginning

  Breaking the Bonds

  SCI-FANTASY

  The Wolves of Daos 5

  Teresias Bound

  OMEGAVERSE

  The Alpha’s Forbidden Omega