Chapter Eleven
Royce slid his arm around Sawyer’s waist and looked down at the pizza box sporting a Savannah bakery logo that promised the world’s best brookies. “What exactly is a brookie? And who decided this bakery makes the best?”
Sawyer opened the lid and revealed a massive chocolate chip cookie and brownie hybrid that smelled like heaven. “This is a brookie.” He leaned forward and sniffed. “I just gained five pounds.” He shook his head and closed the lid. “We shouldn’t serve this.”
“You’re right. We just fed them a feast,” he said, nodding toward the living room, where their family gathered. “They shouldn’t expect dessert from two men with a three-week-old baby.”
Sawyer turned to him and rolled his eyes. “Not for that reason.”
“You don’t need to watch your weight,” Royce protested. “You’ve already resumed your workouts, and I read that feeding a baby burns off a lot of calories.”
“Breastfeeding burns calories. Neither of us is producing milk.”
Royce pursed his lips in confusion. “Then why can’t we eat the crownie?”
“Brookie.”
“Same difference,” Royce said. “They both mean the same thing.”
“Brookie sounds cuter. Crownie is too clown-y.”
Royce quirked his brow. “Is this the beginning of corny dad jokes and puns?”
Smiling, Sawyer said, “I guess it could be.”
“So, why can’t we eat the dessert you bought?”
“That’s the thing,” Sawyer said. “I didn’t buy it. Alec sent it as a gift, but Dane is the actual intended recipient because it’s his favorite.”
“Why didn’t he send it directly to him, then? Cayden told me Alec and Dane talk all the time.”
“Yes, but Alec is trying to give Dane the space he needs to heal. He thought sending the brookie might come across as a romantic gesture.”
“Because it is,” Royce said. “Dane will get heart eyes when he sees it. Mark my words.”
“Not if he doesn’t know it’s from Alec,” Sawyer countered. “We’re supposed to serve it to everyone without mentioning where it came from.”
“Alec doesn’t want credit?” Royce asked.
“Nope. He just wants to make Dane smile.”
Royce pondered that for a minute. “Does Alec realize he’s in love with Dane?”
“He does.”
“And he plans to do something about it?” Royce asked.
“He does.”
Royce sighed in frustration. “Anytime soon?”
“Alec will make his move when the time is right,” Sawyer said. “And before you ask, I don’t know when that will be. They both have a lot of healing to do, and Alec is constantly traveling for his podcast production.”
“Love will find a way,” Royce said.
A collective “aww” came from the living room, and the guys turned in that direction. Kelsey was burping Darla, and all heads had turned in their direction.
“Darla better not have given them her first smile,” Sawyer said.
Eddie was the first to look toward the kitchen. “Your daughter belches like a drunken sailor.”
Sawyer sighed in relief and whispered, “Oh, thank goodness.”
“Wait until you hear her fart,” Royce told his dad.
As if on cue, Darla let one rip, and the gathering said, “Awww,” again.
“Dang, we heard that in here,” Sawyer said.
“She gets that from the Locke side,” Kelsey declared as she repositioned Darla to drink the second half of her bottle. When Andrew only cleared his throat, Kels turned her head and glared at him. “I dare you.”
“What?” Andrew tapped his throat. “I just had a little tickle.”
Ella, who sat in his lap, giggled and clapped her hands. “Me. Me. Ickle me.”
“Tickle me,” Kelsey said, emphasizing the T.
“In about three more weeks, dear,” Andrew promised his wife. He dodged the burp rag she tossed at him, then wiggled his finger against Ella’s collarbone to make her squeal in delight.
Royce turned his attention back to his husband and the delicious issue at hand. “Do we have something else we can offer for dessert? Then we can pretend to remember the brookie as we say good night to everyone and make it look like Dane would be doing us a big favor if he took it off our hands.”
Sawyer grimaced. “I have all the sundae toppings I ordered from the grocery store to go on top of this.”
Royce’s eyes glazed over. “We’re having brookie sundaes?”
“That was my goal. Do you think we could get by with just sundaes?” Sawyer snapped his fingers to get Royce’s attention. “Did you hear my question?”
“I’m not sure I even know my name right now. All I can think of is building a massive sundae on top of that brookie.” He shook his head to clear the image. “What kind of ice cream?” Nope. Still there.
Sawyer groaned as he headed to the refrigerator. He opened the freezer drawer and said, “You answered my question.”
“I did? Because I’m pretty sure I blacked out.”
“That was my answer.”
Royce moved to Sawyer’s side and gasped when he saw the six half gallons he’d selected. “I think we should just kick them all out now and live off brookie sundaes until there’s nothing left.”
“Tempting, but no.”
“Okay, okay.” Royce reached down and grabbed the mint chocolate chip and peanut butter chip. “This is a celebration dinner, and we should cap it off with a dessert equal to or greater than the food from the previous course.”
“Does that rule come from the Royce Locke Book of Entertaining?” Sawyer set down the cherry cordial, vanilla bean, and strawberry ice cream cartons on the island, leaving fudge swirl for Royce to retrieve.
“No,” he replied. “I’m trying to find a reason not to lick the brookie and yell ‘mine’ at the top of my lungs.”
Sawyer growled playfully and tugged Royce into a hug. “I love being on the receiving end of those possessive licks.”
“Yeah?” Royce maneuvered his husband a few feet to the right, shielding them from prying eyes in the living room. He nuzzled his nose against Sawyer’s neck before licking a path up to his ear. “Mine.”
Sawyer shivered hard, and his dark eyes glittered with arousal. “Lower next time.”
“All the more reason to boot these people out of our house.” Royce stepped back to put some room between them before things got out of hand. “What else do we need to lay out?”
Sawyer tipped his head toward the walk-in pantry. “The rest of the supplies are in here. Wanna help?”
Royce’s pulse kicked up a notch. “For real, or is this a ploy to get me to yourself?”
“Yes.”
They ducked into the pantry and shut the door.
Royce backed Sawyer up against the nearest shelf and feasted on his mouth.
Who needed fancy foods and desserts when he could have this?
He tangled one hand in Sawyer’s hair, angling his head to deepen the kiss.
Sawyer slid both hands under Royce’s sweater and slid them upward to caress his back.
Royce tore his mouth free and whispered, “I could drop to my knees and claim you now.”
Sawyer was seconds away from telling him to do it when someone rapped on the pantry door.
“Um, guys,” Eddie said from the other side. “Do you want us to head on out?”
“No,” Sawyer said as Royce replied, “Yes.”
Sawyer playfully pinched Royce to make him behave. “We’re just getting out the rest of the ingredients for the sundaes.”
“Uh-huh,” Eddie said. “Didn’t mean to interrupt the hunting and gathering. Carry on.”
They waited until his footsteps faded before breaking into unhinged laughter.
“What’s happened to us?” Royce asked. “Sneaking into our pantry for a quick fumble with a house full of people. For shame, for shame.”
Sawyer waggled his brows. “Hot as hell though.”
“We should role-play this when we’re alone.”
“Deal.” Sawyer kissed him once more before turning to pull items off the shelf.
He pulled the bottom of his shirt out to act as a pouch and chucked three different nuts, multiple flavored syrups, and a variety of sprinkles.
“Will you grab the whipped cream and the container with fruit from the refrigerator?”
“Sure.” Royce retrieved the items and helped Sawyer organize a brookie sundae bar on the island.
“I forgot to grab the paper bowls from the pantry.”
“I’ll grab them.” Royce turned and walked backward. “Want to help?”
Sawyer inhaled slowly. “I’d better stay right here.”
“Smart.” Royce retrieved the bowls from the pantry and set them on the island. “This is quite a spread. I’d like to thank the people who invented the modern grocery delivery systems with—”
“Careful,” Sawyer cautioned.
“—a friendly handshake.”
Sawyer nodded his approval. “Let’s call them all in for dessert.”
“Yeah. Then they can go home, and I can possessively lick you all over.”
Sawyer moaned softly before tearing himself away and walking toward the living room. “Dessert is ready.”
Their guests didn’t exactly stampede into the kitchen, but they moved with purpose. The Sutton brothers led the charge, which meant they had a front-row seat to Dane’s reaction, and it didn’t disappoint.
“A brookie!” Dane’s face lit up with joy. “They’re my favorite. I need to take a quick picture. Alec has never had one of these. I keep telling him we’ll share one when he gets back to town.”
Beside him, Sawyer snapped a discreet photo. Royce knew he’d send it to Alec later.
“Dude,” Cayden said. “Don’t worry about angles and lighting. You’re not a foodie influencer on Insta. And don’t drool on the brookie. The rest of us want some too.”
Sawyer chuckled as he typed furiously on his phone. He hit Send and tucked his device away without Dane noticing. “Let’s make sure Dane takes home the leftovers.”
“Fine,” Royce grumbled. “We’re keeping the ice cream.”
Evangeline and Jo oohed and aahed when they stepped up to the sundae bar and perused the options. The overhead lights caught the diamond solitaire on Jo’s left ring finger.
Eddie, you sly dog. Royce didn’t draw attention to it since the engaged couple hadn’t announced the news, but he’d mention it to his father when he could talk to him alone.
“Nice spread,” Jace said as he piled three different scoops of ice cream on his slice of brookie. He looked over his shoulder at Holly, who was carrying Harper on her hip. “Want me to make one for you?” Jace asked her.