21. Archie
21
ARCHIE
“ I really don’t believe these are the only costumes available,” I grumble at Cane as we climb out of his truck. I look at him, sexy as fuck in a lumberjack costume—which is basically just a fake ax, short brown shorts, and a flannel shirt that barely fits and stretches across his mouthwatering chest and is unbuttoned, showing off a peek of the hair there.
Fuck, what was I saying?
He moves his hand to lift my jaw. “Careful. You’re drooling.”
“You look hot as shit on Gay Christmas. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
He chuckles, shaking his head at me. “Gay Christmas?”
I shrug. “Everyone knows Halloween is for us.” He smiles again, and it’s so damn beautiful, I can’t help but pull him in for a heated kiss—one that lasts far too long and makes my tight brown pants a little too tight to head inside a public place right now. One I haven’t been in for far too long.
“You look cute as a bunny.” He tosses his head back and cackles. I roll my eyes but then wiggle my nose at him—one he painted pink before he added whiskers and put actual bunny ears on me. I’m a goddamn bunny for this lumberjack, and I can’t bring myself to be too mad about it.
“I love you,” I say, and he stops laughing to drag his hands down my bare chest because apparently bunnies can wear pants but not a shirt. Make that make sense. It’s cold out here too. Supposed to snow tomorrow but well worth it.
“I love you. Let’s get you inside,” he says, pinching my ass and taking my hand, leading me inside where there are already plenty of people. Most in costumes. Mostly skimpy ones.
I notice Mae behind the counter right away, dressed up as a queen—the queen she is—and I make my way over, Cane’s hand in mine. “Hi, Mae.”
“Well, baby, where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you,” she says and reaches over the bar to hug me. I revel in the feeling of her warm arms around me.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been in for a while.”
“I think that was my fault,” Cane says with a bright smile, and Mae looks over at him fondly.
Her eyes meet mine, watery and happy at the same time. “You finally found your match, didn’t you, kid?”
I nod my head, squeezing Cane’s hand a little tighter. “This is Cane.”
“Well hello, Cane.” She hugs him too and then pulls back. “Welcome to the family.”
And she is my family. It wasn’t right to disappear on her like that. We sit and chat for a while, and I apologize profusely for being a shithead and promise we’ll be back many times before she gets super busy and we find a booth.
One that soon fills up with Walker and Dutton and Travis and Oakley. Jackson shows up for a bit but leaves with a guy he was grinding against for most of the night. The crowd starts to dissipate over the night, and soon it’s just Oakley and Travis and Cane and me at the booth.
“We need to talk to you about something,” Travis, who’s dressed as a pirate, says, taking a sip of his beer.
“What’s up?” I ask, a little nervous because he sounds serious.
“You look like shit, bunny,” Oakley—who has no room to talk because he’s dressed as a parrot and perched next to his pirate—says with a shit-eating grin.
“Thanks, Polly.” Oakley tosses his head back and cackles, and I roll my eyes. “I haven’t been sleeping much.”
I can see the guilty look on Cane’s face, and I don’t like it one bit. I’d give up every bit of sleep to spend every night with him. He has to know that. Travis’s lips thin, and he looks grim. “Yeah, that has us a bit worried. I mean, we can’t have you falling asleep on the job or on the way home and getting hurt.”
I feel Cane stiffen next to me. “I’m fine,” I say firmly, irritated they’re bringing this up around Cane and making him feel even more guilty.
“Will you just listen to us for a moment?” Oakley demands, his tone oddly serious, and I nod.
He of course lets his man take over. Travis gives me a kind smile. “We’re happy as hell for you, Arch. You deserve to be happy.”
“This the part where you tell me I’m fired?” I say, trying to joke but honestly not having it in me. I love Cane with all my heart, and I’ll never give that up, but not working for Oakley’s Crew kills me. It’s been a huge part of my life.
“I can move to Hayes. I have no problem with that. We can make it work,” Cane says to Travis and Oakley, sounding panicked, and I squeeze his thigh.
“No,” I say firmly to him, ignoring my two bosses for the moment. “You have a life in Larnard. We have animals that are happy in their home to think about. You aren’t moving. I’ll move.” I swallow hard, that feeling in my gut twisting even harder, but I can’t let him move for me. Give up his business. I won’t do that.
“You know, if you two would listen for a second, we have an idea,” Travis says, a little bit of snark in his tone, but when I turn to look at him, I see he also looks pretty amused.
I quirk a brow in his direction. “What’s the idea?”
“We have more business than we can handle right now, and we’re going further and further out for jobs. I’ve been turning them down left and right,” Travis says solemnly, and Oakley suddenly does not look happy.
“We’ve been turning jobs down?”
Travis laughs, shaking his head at Oakley. “You know this. We can’t do it all, Oakley.”
Oakley frowns, and he looks so ridiculous as a pouting parrot, I can’t keep my laugh from slipping out. “So how can I help?”
“We need you to run a Larnard office. Or at least a little bit further to the east office. Though I know it’ll be hard for you and Walker to be apart.”
I flinch at that because even though Oakley was kind of teasing, I’d miss him. “You want me to run a whole office?”
“We’d probably locate it somewhere in the middle, but you can also just meet guys at jobs. Take the ones closer to Larnard and around there, so you don’t have to check in at the shop before work. We’ll make sure to schedule Walker with you at least once a week, so you won’t go through withdrawals.”
I flip Travis off, but I’m grinning like a fool. “You guys would do that for me?’
“You’re family, dummy,” Oakley says, reaching across the booth to shove my shoulder. “We’ll do whatever we can. We’re hiring a few more guys too and thought we could advertise for guys in and around Larnard. You can run your crew, and we’ll meet once a week. Of course, it’ll come with a pay raise too.”
My face hurts from smiling so much as I look at Cane, who’s also happy if I go by the expression on his face. I look back at Travis and Oakley and give a nod, my throat nearly closed up from all the gross feelings there, but I manage to thank them before they head out.
We stay and talk to Mae for a little while longer before making the drive back to Larnard and barely make it through the door before we’re getting naked and heading toward Cane’s bedroom.
I fall onto him, kissing and stroking over his bare skin, aching for him. “I need you,” I beg, my naked body pressed against him, our slick cocks sliding together. “Fuck me.”
He laughs at that, unhooking my bunny ears and tossing them. “That’s better.” I roll my eyes at him, needy and desperate, not caring about the costume in the slightest.
He grins up at me and then rolls us so I’m under him. He kisses down my neck and over my chest, teasing my nipples and making me hard as stone. He climbs off me, and I whimper, reaching for him, but it only makes him laugh as he grabs for the lube. “Flip over.”
I do what he says instantly, no hesitation there. He smacks my ass and then spreads me apart, I expect him to open me up with his fingers, but nope, he goes for the kill. Eating me like a starved man, making a mess with spit and drool. It feels so damn good, I thrust back against him and hump the bed, seeking relief.
“Please. Get inside me.”
The bastard laughs again, but pulls his mouth away, replacing it quickly with lubed-up fingers, stretching me, and though I was already pretty relaxed from the rimming, I’m grateful because it’s been years since I’ve bottomed.
Soon he’s pushing his slick cock into me, and I’m bowing my back, my throat pulled tight, and I lean back and take every single deep, strong thrust inside. It doesn’t take long before he hits my gland just right, over and over, and I’m spilling my cum all over the comforter underneath me. He cries out, and I feel his warmth bathing my insides.
He collapses on top of me, and I’m too sated to move out of the wet spot or be bothered by his heavy weight on my body. All I want is this. Forever.
“Move in with me,” he says against my ear, and for a moment, I’m sure I didn’t hear him right. I move my shoulders, getting him to roll off me and onto his side so he’s looking at me.
“You really want that?”
“More than anything. Yeah.” He’s smiling wide, and I don’t think it’s just from being drunk off the spectacular sex.
“Okay,” I say and lean over, lazily kissing him until my dick starts to twitch and make it known that we aren’t quite finished. Cane’s cock is hard as steel as he moves against me when I roll to my side, wrapping around him, our hard cocks sliding together as we kiss and celebrate our upcoming cohabitation.
I can’t fucking wait.