Sums of the Heart (Luv by Numbers #1)

18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Ford

Ford let himself into Cade’s apartment to see the two loves of his life sound asleep. They were both fully clothed, but there were champagne glasses and a half bottle of expensive champagne on the dresser in a wine bucket.

He wondered if he should be worried because he wasn’t involved, but he knew in his heart Jax was doing his best to make things up to Cade because he’d been a cold prick to the young man over the last few weeks. He had some lost ground to cover, and there was still an important discussion to be had regarding how the three of them proceeded in the future.

Ford took the bottle of champagne out of the silver bucket, which was actually from their apartment, hearing the ice ching-a-ling. He took a swig of the liquid, remembering the first and last time he’d had the expensive beverage.

“Baby? Daddy’s home and he has good news,” Jax called from the entrance of their apartment in New Orleans. They were nearing graduation day, and Jax had been waiting to hear about which round of the draft he’d be going into. They’d been reading things online, and Jax had been glued to the TV watching all the sports networks for any word.

Ford hopped up from his desk in the spare room and hurried out to the living room to see Jax with a bottle of champagne. He had the trash can from the bathroom and he was filling it with ice. “What’s up?” Ford asked as he strolled over, taking off his glasses and clipping them in the neck of his T-shirt.

He wore contacts most of the time, but he’d been burning the midnight oil to finish projects for his last few classes and his eyes were overtired, so he was wearing the round, tortoiseshell glasses which had been an impulse buy a few years earlier. Yes, the selection of that frame might have been influenced by a certain, very popular, wizard from a series of books Ford loved, but Jax had given him the thumbs up when they were at the store, so he went with it.

“Second round,” Jax announced as he reached for two of the juice glasses they had bought at Wal-Mart when they moved into the shitty little apartment.

Ford walked over to hug him. “Congrats, love. I told you it would be a low round. You’re a hot commodity, just as I suspected.”

After a gentle kiss on the lips, Jax grabbed the trash can and the glasses, opening the French doors onto their balcony, where they had two camp chairs. They lived in the Quarter, and it was a Thursday night, which was a party night, not that almost every night in New Orleans wasn’t.

The two of them drank the insanely expensive liquid from orange juice glasses as they watched the people enjoying the nice spring evening. After it was empty, they used the bottle as a vase for cuttings from the beautiful white Mandeville vines climbing up the trellis of their building. Back then, it was the simple things that made them both happy.

He took another sip from the bottle and stood from the small kitchen table to leave them to their privacy. He heard a snap and turned to see Jax was awake. He crooked a finger to motion for Ford over to the bed, so he obeyed. He could never deny Jax anything.

Jax moved away from Cade without waking him and moved him into the middle of the bed. Ford kicked off his shoes and laid down on the other side of the younger man. “How was today?” he whispered.

Ford smiled. “Not bad. Cade’s been working with Griff on the entertainment for the bachelorette party this weekend. He has a knack, I’ll tell you.”

“Can I take him with me to Dallas next weekend?” Jax asked.

Ford exhaled because not once in the whole time he’d known Jackson Delacroix had the man ever asked him to attend an out-of-town game, and he wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t hurt. “Um, sure. Yeah, you take him… I mean, if he wants to go. I’ll be busy at the club anyway,” he stated as he started to get up. It felt awful to be the third wheel. He didn’t know how Cade could overcome the feeling.

Cade’s eyes popped open, though Ford had no idea how long he’d been awake. “Sorry, but my mother’s going to be in town to see her lawyer next weekend and she wants to get together while she’s here. Take Ford with you. I can watch the club while he’s gone, but I’ve gotta stay in town. My father called me in a lame attempt to garner my favor against my mother, so I need to look out for her. I’ll take care of things around here and you two go to Dallas. You need some time alone.”

Ford looked at Jax and saw a tender smile that he hadn’t seen in a while. “Yeah, we do, chère. Thank you for pointing it out. Now, are we sleeping here?” Jax asked as he stood to pull off his clothes, down to the suit God gave him.

Ford did the same, and they both looked at Cade, who giggled. “God, I’m fuckin’ lucky,” he told them as he stood on the mattress and stripped down, bouncing down on his ass and laughing as he took both of their hands and pulled them to the bed with him.

After kissing the side of his neck and leaning over the gorgeous, youthful body, Ford met Jax’s lips in a joyful kiss. They were making life far too hard by fretting over every little thing…

Speaking of which, Cade’s cock was hard, so they winked at each other before moving south and showing it the respect it deserved. The taste that leaked from Cade was sweet, just like the man.

Ford noticed Cade ate a lot of fruit and drank a lot of juice, which he knew could flavor semen. The handsome brunet was a walking specimen of perfection.

“Oh, god, guys,” Cade moaned, which made Ford smile and release the younger man’s erection so Jax could take his turn.

The two of them flipped Cade onto his hands and knees for easier access, and Ford wet his middle finger and moved it up to Cade’s hole before he began licking and sucking the hairless balls into his mouth. When the tip of his finger circled Cade’s entrance, he heard their young lover gasp.

“Fuck, yes, please,” he groaned. Ford wet his finger again and slid it inside to the first knuckle, feeling Kincade thrust onto it before he pushed forward into Jax’s mouth.

Jax pulled away for a second from his place on his back with Cade’s cock hanging over him. “Give it to me.”

Jackson’s mouth covered the mushroom head, and Ford pushed in a little further, continuing to suck those soft globes as they pulled closer into the tight body. He found the P-Spot, and as he stroked it, Cade shivered before letting go in Jax’s mouth.

Ford could feel the tension release in the lithe, sexy body, the tight channel clamping on his finger as he continued to stroke the spot before releasing the left ball and moving up to kiss along Cade’s spine.

Jax pulled off the spent cock and sat up, pulling Ford closer to share the fruits of their labor. After they both swallowed it down, Ford gently removed his finger and moved up to nip at Cade’s neck, hearing their boyfriend giggle.

“I can’t move…” Cade whispered. Jackson laughed, as he’d done so many times when he’d given Ford a blow job that had left him breathless. They didn’t like to fuck, but man, they loved blowing each other.

“Don’t try, sweetheart. Go to sleep. Love you,” Ford whispered as he settled on the pillow next to Cade.

“Love you both,” Jax whispered as he settled on the other side of the brunet. He took Ford’s hand to kiss it, and they clenched hands over Cade’s abdomen before the three of them melted into glorious sleep. It was soothing for Ford’s soul.

Much too soon, soft lips brushed Jax’s shoulder and he opened his eyes to see Ford was missing. Cade was sleeping, but someone was behind him with a hard cock and a hand around his erection. He glanced over his shoulder to see Ford’s blond hair, and he relaxed.

He moved to take Ford’s hard cock between his ass cheeks, as they’d done many times after they’d discovered neither liked to be penetrated. As the hard cock leaked pre-come to lubricate the way, he felt Ford moan deep in his chest.

Yes, it felt incredible… as incredible as it felt when Ford took his cock between his legs and let him get off without penetration. He turned his head to kiss his lover and when the man released on Jax’s lower back, the larger man let go in Ford’s hand. Everything between them still felt amazing.

“Come on, let’s clean up. We need to figure out this birthday stuff,” Ford whispered.

It was their boyfriend’s twenty-third birthday, and they needed to make it special. Jax wanted to buy him a car, but Ford insisted it was too much, too fast, so they opted to add him to their membership with the car service they used regularly. They also bought him a new iPad and a gift certificate to a clothier’s they both loved downtown for Cade to get a new, custom-fitted suit.

They had reservations at a five-star restaurant that night for dinner, but they hadn’t told Cade. Jax had hired a limo for the occasion, and he and Ford were looking forward to surprising him.

They slipped into Cade’s bathroom and turned on the shower to rinse off. “Are you… is it okay if I go with you instead of Kincade?” Ford asked as they both lathered their hands to wash each other in the dinky shower stall.

“Hell, yeah, it’s great. I don’t know why I’ve never asked you to come with me on the road. I mean, so many times I wished I could look up in the stands to see you there, babe, but I didn’t want to take your time away from work or whatever you were doing.” Jax’s hoped ford could see he was sincere.

Ford lowered his head, but Jax wasn’t having that—he gently lifted his lover’s chin. There were tears in the man’s eyes, and he held his breath as his own tears stung. “We just didn’t… we didn’t do it right, did we?” Jax whispered as he pulled Ford into his arms and held him, the two of them sobbing together.

“No, we didn’t,” Ford whispered. “But I can’t let him go, Jackson. I love him. I love you both,” he whispered.

Jax could only nod as he held Ford in his arms. Yeah, they’d neglected their relationship because of Jax’s career, and now they’d made the move to bring a beautiful guy into it.

He didn’t hate the idea of having two lovers… two permanent lovers. But Jax hated how they’d gone about it. They should have had a strategy. Question was, how would someone go about bringing in a third properly?

It would be impossible to unlove either of the men in his life, so the only thing left to do was to figure it out and move forward. If they had love, Jax believed they’d win half the battle.

The two went back to bed with Kincade after they dried off. The younger man turned on his side and Ford pushed Jax into him to hold him, which was perfectly fine. When Ford cuddled behind the big man for the first time to sleep, it was amazing. Jax wondered why the fuck they hadn’t been doing it all along.

“Quit complaining and stand still,” Jax ordered with a laugh as he and Ford were standing with the tailor for Cade’s fitting for his custom suit.

“I don’t know why I gotta have another suit,” Cade complained like a teenager, which brought a smile from Jax because he remembered being obstinate with his mother over that very topic when he was getting a suit for his high school graduation. Of course, Mama Juliette was making it herself, but he hated the whole damn process.

“We’ll have functions which will require a suit, okay? Jax and I have at least seven each. You have one, and a tuxedo. That’s fine, but you need clothes, sweetheart. We have places to take you, and you need proper attire.” Ford walked out, leaving Jax to deal with him.

“Now, get that frown off your gorgeous face. He means no harm, chère. It’s just that I’ve reconsidered my approach to the season—which means I want to be out with both of my guys. There will be parties where we can dress down, and there will be things where we need to dress up, so we want to make certain you’re ready for what’s coming your way.” The look of surprise on Cade’s face was priceless.

Jax continued. “By the way, I got a call from Mitch. He checked out Stan Adams. The guy’s legit and Mitch set up an appointment for us to meet him next Tuesday. Stan’s gay, but he also represents some straight athletes. Everyone says he’s a hell of an agent. You should see his roster,” Jax explained.

The big smile on Cade’s handsome face confirmed what Jax already knew—the two of them would allow no one to take advantage of Jax, like he’d let no one take advantage of either of them. They had each other’s backs.

After the fitting, the three men went to a steak house on North LaSalle. It was one of the top ten steak restaurants in Chicago, and all three men loved red meat… literally and figuratively.

When Jax approached the reservation desk, the young lady seemed to recognize him and smiled. “Mr. Delacroix, welcome back. Please, follow me.”

Jax walked behind her and turned to see Cade and Ford behind him with beautiful smiles on their handsome faces. They confirmed what he already knew. He’d made the right decision by picking that restaurant.

The three sat down, taking the offered menus. The young woman told them Brendan would be their waiter and left them alone. Jax opened the large folio as his stomach growled. Everything looked amazing.

“Branford, pick an appropriate wine for us, please? We’re about to get our beef on.” Both of his companions laughed, and that set the tone for a fun, relaxing dinner.

They had appetizers with cocktails, then steaks with sauces and sides. Ford picked a hearty cabernet to pair with their choices, and once the three had eaten their fill, they ordered nightcaps instead of dessert.

“I’d like to toast you, Kincade. Happy Birthday, chère. Here’s to many, many more,” Jax offered as he held up his Jameson’s in a fancy snifter. Cade and Ford extended their glasses in honor of his toast.

“Thank you, both. I appreciate how much you’ve both tried to make this day special for me. It’s been a long time since anyone’s cared,” Cade told them quietly as he sipped his Baileys Irish Cream and coffee. It broke Jax’s heart to hear the news, but he hoped he and Ford could change history and make Cade’s birthday special every year.

“When are your birthdays?” Cade asked. It reminded Jax that the three of them hadn’t actually done enough talking, so he decided they’d do the getting-to-know-you thing, only better this time.

Jax grinned. “Mine’s November 8… Scorpio. Ford’s is in April. The 29th, as a matter of fact. Are you both ready to go home?”

They finished their drinks and nodded, so Jax stood from his chair and walked behind Cade’s pulling it out. He kissed the younger man on the top of his head before he took Ford’s hand and pulled him close. “I love you,” he whispered. He then took Cade’s hand and pulled him closer. “I love you.”

The three of them walked out of the restaurant with bright smiles, only to be met with harsh, white camera flashes. Once the bright light faded from their eyes, they could see the offender had already fled the scene.

“Mother fucker,” Ford cursed as they stood, waiting for their car.

Jax laughed. “Don’t let it ruin the night. We have a birthday boy. They won’t have anything new, trust me, and we’ve already been down this road, Branford. Do not worry about it.” Life was too short to sweat the small stuff.