Chapter Thirty-Four
Gavin
Gavin finished all the prep work for dinner and set the chicken back into the fridge. His timing was perfect. Just as he finished wiping the counters and stowing the trash away, he could hear Ben’s bike coming down their street. And how silly was it that even after four years together, the sound of Ben’s bike still made his heart beat a little faster?
He ran down the hall to their bedroom, flicking off lights as he went. The sun was still out, but Gavin wanted to set the mood as much as possible. He lit a few candles in their bedroom and stripped off his clothes before jumping onto their bed. They’d been interrupted earlier, so Gavin wanted to make this one count.
“Babe?” Ben called out from the living room. “Gav? You home?”
Right. His car was missing, so Ben would assume he’d gone out.
“In here!”
He listened to the sound of Ben’s footsteps on the hardwood floor as he sprawled himself back against the pillows.
“Why is the house so dar—” Ben stopped cold in the doorway. “Oh,” he said as he dropped his jacket where he stood. “Hi.” It didn’t take Ben long to figure it out. He started to undress right there, halfway into the room. “Where’re the girls?” he asked, kicking his boots off at the same time as he jerked his shirt off over his head.
“I sent them to the movies,” Gavin said, watching Ben take off his clothes, his skin splashed in candlelight and shadow. “I told them to go out shopping and for dinner after,” Gavin went on, grinning as Ben stripped out of his jeans. “I gave them the emergency credit card.” Gavin stroked himself as he said it, hoping to distract Ben enough so he wouldn’t lose his fucking mind—in a bad way—over the admission.
“Call them,” Ben murmured as he slowly crawled up onto the bed. “Tell them to stay in a fancy hotel tonight.”
Success.
Ben moved slowly over Gavin’s body, leaving a trail of hot kisses in his wake. He slid his tongue over Gavin’s hip bone, then grazed with his teeth. But when Ben shifted and pressed his face against Gavin’s neck, he whispered, “Would’ve been cheaper for us to just get a hotel room for the night.”
Gavin couldn’t help his moan as Ben ground his hips against him, his erection thick and heavy against Gavin’s. “That would’ve been rude,” Gavin said, his voice hushed out of habit now. “My way, we’re treating them to a night on the town.”
“Fair point.” Ben skimmed his hand down Gavin’s side, grabbed his ass, and pulled him closer with another grind of his hips. “Since we’ve got the house to ourselves, we should’ve started in the kitchen.”
A small, wanting sound broke in the back of Gavin’s throat. “Wish I’d thought of that,” he whispered, spreading his legs as he pulled Ben on top of him, wrapping them around Ben’s waist. “I don’t really wanna move this now, though.”
“Yeah,” Ben whispered. He buried his face against Gavin’s neck and then bit down gently over his pulse. “Here is good,” he added softly. “I could spend a year right here.” Ben slipped his hand between them, grabbed both of their cocks and pressed them together in a tight grip, precome slicking his way.
“Only a year?”
Before Ben could answer the tease, Gavin’s phone started singing from the nightstand. “Shit.”
“Don’t answer it,” Ben whispered—begged—before catching Gavin’s earlobe between his teeth.
Gavin was tempted. He tried to ignore it, but after a few seconds, he said, “You sure? That’s your mom’s ringtone…”
Mentioning Ben’s mom had the desired effect, and Ben rolled off him, panting for breath and cursing.
Gavin snatched the phone and answered quickly, trying to control his stilted breath. “Hey, Nora.”
“Hey, yourself,” she said, but Gavin picked up a distinct edge to her tone. “Sorry to interrupt whatever I’m interrupting, but it’s time,” she said. Gavin could hear sounds in the background, voices, Tina panting and grunting.
“You sure it’s not another false alarm? Her doctor said—”
“Her doctor said she wasn’t in labor earlier, but she was ready and it could start for real any day.” Nora added, “Some poor kid at the movie theater had to clean up the puddle where her water broke. This is definitely not a false alarm.”
Ben was already dressed again. How’d that happen?
“We’ll be there in a few. Don’t let her have the baby until we get there.” He knew that wasn’t really an option, but the words came out just the same.
“Yeah, I have that kind of power, no problem.”
Gavin was still sitting naked on the bed when Ben snatched the phone from him. “Hey, Ma,” he said as he sat down next to Gavin and pulled his boots back on. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.” He stood up and started to blow the candles out in the room, flipping the light switch on as he walked past. “She doing okay?” After another pause, Ben said, “Okay, good. See you soon.”
Watching Ben, Gavin felt like his brain had frozen. He knew there were things he needed to do, but everything was a jumble in his head. When Ben tossed him a shirt and a pair of pants, Gavin kicked into action too. “We need to get the car seat from the closet,” he said as he started to dress. “And grab Tina’s bag from her room.”
“Did that this morning,” Ben said as he pulled on his jacket. “Installed the car seat in the back of your car, and her bag is in the trunk.”
As Gavin slipped on a pair of shoes, he stopped and looked at Ben. “Hey,” he said softly, getting Ben’s attention. “I love you.” Yeah, they said it often enough, and Gavin had had plenty of reminders lately about why he loved Ben so much, but in that moment, it meant more to him for some reason.
Ben seemed to feel the weight of what Gavin meant. He stopped everything he’d been doing and walked over to Gavin, put a tender hand on his face, and said, “Love you too.” Then he leaned in for a quick kiss and added, “Now let’s get on the road.”