by Witt, L. A.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Gave me a few minutes to panic about how much I like this. I trailed my fingers up his back. “I was pretty comfortable myself, so . . .”
“Are we turning into old guys or something? Spending our weekend out . . . in?”
I laughed. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.”
“Fair enough.” His lips quirked. “But, I mean, wasn’t this supposed to be our weekend of wild and crazy sex?”
I grinned. “Weekend’s not over yet.”
He grinned back as he slid his hand over my cheek. “No, it definitely isn’t.”
“I thought you were tired.”
“I was.” His hand continued down to my chest. “But now I’m not.” His fingertips teased above my belt. “Are you?”
“Absolutely not,” I growled and kissed him.
I was still leaning against the headboard, and he shifted around to straddle me. We weren’t quite lying down, weren’t quite sitting up, but we could’ve been dangling upside down for all I cared. The only thing missing was being naked, but neither of us was in any hurry. Not to get naked, not to fuck—we were just kissing while hands glided over skin and clothes, and it was perfect.
It occurred to me that we’d come to Seattle for a wild weekend. Ideally, one involving some naked strangers. But this—lounging mostly clothed on the bed and touching each other while we lazily kissed—was easily the hottest thing we’d done since leaving Bluewater Bay. Maybe since we’d met. If there’d been a third person in the bed with us—
Hell, now that I thought about it, as I held Shane closer and explored his mouth like it was the very first time, I wondered if we would’ve even noticed a third guy. It was too easy to get caught up in what I was doing with Shane and forget everything else.
I haven’t wanted somebody like this in a long, long time.
I didn’t want to think about that right now, though, so I focused on pushing his shirt up and off. “Ah, that’s much better.” I rolled him on to his back, kissed his pec, and worked my way up to his collarbone. I bit his shoulder, and Shane released a satisfying throaty groan as he dug his nails into my back and pressed against me. As I started up his neck, he tilted his head, and I made sure to kiss every inch of exposed skin.
He grabbed my hair, tugged my head back, and found my mouth with his. God, yeah, this was exactly what I needed tonight. Who was I kidding—I could go for this every fucking night. Shane’s gorgeous body under mine? His very hard cock rubbing against me like he was dying to put it somewhere? His right fucking now kiss? Oh yeah. Anytime, anyplace.
Some laughter from the next room made us both freeze. Then came the faint sounds of a TV. Some movement.
Shane glared at the headboard. “Damn. Thin walls.”
“Uh-huh.” I dragged my nails down his side, grinning when he hissed and shivered. “Maybe we should stay quiet, then.”
Shane looked up at me, and the lust in his eyes made my whole body break out in goose bumps. “Stay quiet?” He pulled me down, bit the side of my neck, and growled in my ear, “Like hell we will.”
* * *
After a leisurely breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, we went back up to the room to pack for the trip home. Not that we had a lot to pack. Neither of us had brought anything more substantial than an overnight bag.
“Is that everything?” I looked around, double-checking we hadn’t left something out, even though we hadn’t brought much to begin with.
“Yep, I think so.” Shane gave the room a quick look too, then shouldered his bag. “I guess that’s it.” He laughed dryly. “So much for that wild weekend, right?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I had a good time.” Especially last night. Good God, I could still feel every thrust from giving and receiving.
“Yeah, me too.” He chewed his lip. “I mean, I still had fun. We just didn’t . . .”
“You’re not disappointed, are you?”
“Well . . .”
I put my hands on his waist and drew him closer. “Hey. There’s clubs on the Peninsula. You want to go try and score a threesome one night? You’re on.” I winked. “But if you think I have any complaints about this weekend?” I shook my head.
“You’re sure?”
“Definitely.” I wrapped my arms around him and lifted my chin for a light kiss. “Maybe this is what we both needed right now—a little less wild and a little more relaxing.”
“Maybe. But I would like some of that wild we were planning on.”
I laughed. “Oh, don’t you worry. There is plenty of wild in your future.”
That got a grin out of him, and he ran his hands up my back. “Gonna hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it.” I sighed. “Well, I guess we should go.”
“Yeah.”
We locked eyes.
“Hmm.” He ran his thumb along my lower lip. “Checkout isn’t until noon, is it?”
I nodded.
“And there’s ferries all day, right?”
“Yep.”
Shane let his bag slide off his shoulder and land with a thud at his feet. “Then why are we in such a hurry to get out of here?”
“Hmm.” I dropped mine too and hooked a finger in his belt loop. “I don’t think anybody said anything about being in a hurry.”
Chapter 19
Shane
Aaron and I made it back to Bluewater Bay late that afternoon, and it was . . . weird. It wasn’t like I was new to this town, but for some reason, it felt about as alien as it had when Leo and I had rolled in with that U-Haul a few years back. For a SoCal boy, all the enormous trees and moss-covered everything had been like something out of a movie. I’d adapted though, and it all had become home.
But now it felt weird.
We’d been in Seattle for two nights. Not even three whole days. Somehow, though, it felt like we’d been gone for years.
However long we’d been gone, we were back now, and before I knew it, Aaron was pulling up in front of my house.
“Well.” He turned to me and smiled. “Here we are.”
“Yeah.” I met his gaze as the engine idled in front of us. “I know the weekend didn’t quite play out the way we thought it would, but for the record, I had a really good time.”
He rested his hand on top of mine. “Me too.” He leaned across the console and kissed me softly, reminding me of how we’d spent the morning in bed. “I’ll see you soon?”
“The sooner the better.” It was so tempting to ask if we could do it again. Maybe pull off an actual threesome this time, or at least skip the part where I had to worship the porcelain god. This didn’t have to be a one-time thing, right?
But I didn’t say anything. I smiled, kissed him once more, and got out. I retrieved my overnight bag from the backseat, and we exchanged one last look before Aaron drove off.
And now . . . I was home.
Back to my life, my house, my kids, my job. Back to grass that would need to be cut when the weather dried out a bit more, a trash bin that needed to be on the curb before I went to bed tonight, and a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Same routine, different week—life went on no matter how much I felt like I’d just been dropped onto another planet with no clue what I was supposed to do next.
Not that I had much time to figure it out—less than an hour after Aaron had left, Leo pulled up with the kids. I hugged everybody hello, and while the kids went to their rooms to unpack, he and I lingered in the living room.
“So, good weekend?”
He nodded. “Always a nice weekend with those three.”
“Yeah, it kinda is, isn’t it? I assume the cops didn’t hassle you again?”
Leo rolled his eyes. “No. We had some lady watching us pretty closely at a shop down in Westport, but Desiree made a point of loudly calling me Dad, and that helped apparently. She still gave us dirty looks, but she didn’t do anything.”
“Typical,” I grumbled. “Still
fun besides that shit, though?”
“Oh yeah. Yeah, it was a great time.” He beamed. “Michael’s becoming one hell of a clam digger.”
“Is he, now?”
Leo nodded. “He got as many as the rest of us combined.”
“No shit? That’s impressive.”
“Isn’t it? And Des is seriously getting the hang of making my grandma’s clam chowder.”
I straightened. “You taught her how to make it?”
“Of course I did. And she’s almost got it perfected.” He chuckled. “Took me ten years to get it right, and she’s almost there after three tries.”
“Are you really surprised?”
“Not in the least.” He paused. “Oh, and we rented horses yesterday. Guess which of your kids wants to take riding lessons now?”
“Gee, let me think.” That was a no-brainer—Christian was the animal lover, and Leo and I had been sure that if he ever got into the saddle, he’d get hooked on horses. Apparently we’d been right. “Well, I guess I should put some money aside, then. Maybe that’s something we can do in the spring.”
“Let me know if you want me to pitch in.” He laughed. “I was kind of the enabler.”
“Yeah, you were. But I think I can handle it.”
“Fair enough.” He grinned. “So how was your weekend? Have a good time?”
There was no point in playing dumb, so I just laughed. “Yes, I did. My liver might not have, but . . .”
“Bit too much to drink?”
“A bit, yeah. Don’t think I’m gonna do that again.”
“Smart move. But otherwise . . .?”
“Otherwise.” I sighed and couldn’t help smiling. “God. It was amazing.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. And, for what it’s worth, anytime you want to spend a weekend with your man, just holler.” He winked. “I’ll take care of them anytime you need me to.”
I laughed. “You eager for me to hook up with somebody or something?”
“No.” Leo shrugged. “But you’ve seemed a hell of a lot happier since you met him. I’d like to see that continue. So if I can help somehow, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks.” I glanced in the direction the kids had gone. “I don’t want to be taking advantage of you or pawning them off at every turn, though.”
“Shane. Hon.” He touched my arm, drawing my attention back to him. “You’re a good dad, and you’ve always made a point of spending as much time as you can with them.” He gently squeezed my elbow. “It’s okay to take some time for you too.”
“I know. I just . . .” I swallowed. “I guess I feel guilty because dating means time away from them and usually ends with them getting hurt too.”
“It does, but . . .” He hesitated. “Listen. I see a lot of kids in the middle of divorces that are a hell of a lot worse off than yours. There’s no way anybody gets through one without hurting, but I saw you through your first divorce and through ours.” He smiled. “Even if it hurt everybody to go through it, I guarantee those kids took some valuable lessons away from it.”
“Like what?”
“Like that it’s okay to call time on a relationship that hasn’t worked out. That it doesn’t mean you’ve failed at life or that there’s something wrong with someone if they say ‘Hey, I’m unhappy, and I’m going to do what I can to fix it.’ And if they realize you’re seeing somebody now, you’ll be showing them that it’s okay to move on and meet someone new.” He squeezed my arm again. “Those kids want you to be happy, Shane.”
I winced. The words hit me right in the chest. “They’re not the only ones.”
“No. They’re not.” He patted my arm, then let go. “I’ve gotta run, but think about what I said, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.”
We locked eyes, and then he gathered me into a tight embrace. I hugged him back.
“Thank you again, Leo,” I said quietly. “For everything.”
“Anytime.”
He left after that, and admittedly, I did feel better about things. Or, at least, less guilty for spending time with Aaron. If I hadn’t been in Seattle with him for the weekend, I’d have been sitting at home alone anyway because the kids had been with their stepdad. So no harm, no foul.
I went down the hall to regroup with the kids. They were in their respective bedrooms, unpacking their bags. The rooms were directly across from each other. Standing in the hall between the doors, I said, “Anybody have homework to do?”
“No,” the boys said in unison. “Leo helped us with it already.”
“Oh. Good. Desiree?”
“Nope. Did it on Friday.”
“Okay,” I said. “Well, how about if everybody gets their stuff together for school tomorrow, and then I’ll make some dinner so we can watch a movie?”
That was a winner. They continued unpacking, and I went back into the kitchen to put together some grilled cheese and tomato soup. Nothing gourmet, but we’d all live.
By the time I’d finished cooking, all three kids’ schoolbags were in a row by the front door. I signed a couple of forms—a permission slip for the boys to go to the rainforest with their class on Wednesday and parental advisory that Desiree’s health class was getting into “potentially controversial subject matter”—and made sure the calendar was up-to-date for extracurricular activities.
Before long, we were all crowded onto the sofa with plates, bowls, and cups spread out on the coffee table and the third Harry Potter movie on the screen. We’d all seen it hundreds of times, but we’d probably watch it a thousand more.
And this was nice. It was good to be home with my kids again. Three days apart, and it already felt like when the boys spent summers with their mother or when they’d all gone to see Leo’s family for a week last year. I was going to be a mess when the last one moved out, wasn’t I?
Even as I settled in to enjoying our evening, I couldn’t quite get comfortable. Aaron’s absence was palpable. An entire long weekend together hadn’t been enough. It had been a taste of something I’d been missing, and I was hungry for more. Maybe I’d just needed a weekend of adult company and adult conversation. Or some unbridled sex without having to glance at the time now and then. Or maybe I’d needed all of that. Besides the hangover, at least.
Well, whatever it was, I wanted more. More of Aaron. More sex. More downtime together where we weren’t rushing in opposite directions.
At some point during the movie, my phone buzzed, and I picked it up off the coffee table.
We should do that again sometime.
I suppressed a shiver. Yes. Yes, he was absolutely right.
So before I returned my attention to the movie I was watching with my kids, I texted him back:
Sooner the better.
* * *
After the movie was over, I put the boys to bed. Tired as I was, I wouldn’t be far behind. Especially since I had to be up at a reasonable hour if I wanted to swing by the garage before I went to work.
My spine prickled. It had only been a few hours since Aaron had left my driveway, and I was already counting down the minutes until we could sneak a quickie in his office.
Cannot wait.
From down the hall, the rush of water in the sink and the clanking of dishes turned my head. I followed the sound into the kitchen, where Desiree had busied herself washing the dishes.
“Hey, kiddo,” I said. “Let me take care of those. You need to get some sleep.”
“I’ve got time,” she said through her teeth. She scowled as she scrubbed a plate.
I picked up a bowl and started drying it. “Talk to me, Des. What’s up?”
Her lips twisted. She scrubbed the plate so hard she was nearly taking off the faded design.
“Is this about having you babysit so much?”
Mutely, she shook her head.
“Okay, then . . .” I touched her arm. “Hey. Come on. Throw me a bone.”
“What do you think’s on my mind?” She tossed the sponge into the sink an
d glared at me. “Why can’t you just come out and tell us you’re seeing someone? Do you think we’re stupid?”
I blinked. “I . . .”
She rolled her eyes. “Dad. Seriously. The boys might not know what’s going on, but I do.”
I pursed my lips. You’d sure as shit better not know what’s going on.
“And I’m fine with it,” she went on. “If you want to date, then date. But it’s like you’re pretending you’re not. What the hell?”
Chewing the inside of my cheek, I set down the bowl I’d been drying. “Okay. I . . . Yeah. I’ve been seeing someone.”
“No kidding. When were you going to tell us?”
I didn’t have an answer to that. My relationship with Aaron wasn’t one I wanted to explain to my kids. Apparently I hadn’t done as well as I would’ve liked keeping it off their radars, but how did I tell them what I was doing?
I swallowed. “I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t gotten that far yet. I didn’t want to rush into telling you guys about him.”
She held my gaze but didn’t speak.
“Look,” I said, “I’m not trying to sneak around and hide something from you or your brothers. I’m just trying to be cautious about things. You know? The divorces were hard on all of us. If things don’t work out this time . . .” I kept my gaze down, struggling to find the words. “If it falls apart this time, I’d rather take the brunt of it.”
“What do you mean?”
I made myself look at her. “I mean, I’m trying to keep you kids from getting hurt. If you don’t know him, if you haven’t gotten attached to him, then if it doesn’t work out . . .” I let a shrug finish the thought.
“But you’re attached to him.”
No, I’m not.
Okay, maybe I am.
But for reasons I’m not explaining to my daughter.
I swallowed. “That’s on me. It’s my relationship, and if it doesn’t work, it should be on me to deal with it. Not you guys.”
“For how long?”
“What do you mean?”
