Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I’m nervous when I knock on the front door of Bowen’s house, but I’m not really sure why. It’s not like I’m meeting anyone for the first time—still, I know it’s a big step somehow.
I know tonight is a big deal. Eating dinner with my boyfriend, his brother, and his son. Something tells me Bowen is very well aware of what’s going on between his brother and me—he’s not at all subtle when he drops Elijah off at school or picks him up, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all.
Coming out at work—despite acting like it wasn’t a big secret for me—has secretly been my biggest fear since I started.
But it’s easy to forget that fear when I have Kade.
And when his brother—who was honestly the epitome of everything I hated and was terrified of in high school—seems totally, absolutely fine with me dating his brother. ..
That fact alone kind of blows my mind.
The door opens, and I’m grinning like a fool when I see Kade standing there, his own answering smile so damn beautiful, it nearly knocks me over. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I say, my heart racing. I wonder when or if that will ever change. Something tells me this man is always going to speed up my heart rate with something as simple as a look.
“Come on in.” I do, taking off my coat and handing it to him when he holds out his hand. He places it on the hook, and Elijah runs in to greet me.
“Hi, Mr. Bell!”
I want to tell him he can call me Spencer, but that might make things odd at school for him, so I just let it go for now. I see Bowen is kicked back on the sofa, giving me a wave from there. “Hi, Elijah. Bowen.”
“Hey, teacher.” Bowen looks a lot better than the last time I saw him. Seeing him in that hospital bed was frightening, and I’m glad he’s doing so well, even if I can see that hint of mischief in his eyes, which always seems to be there.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Kade asks me, and a trickle of worry pours through me. But he gives me a calm smile, and I nod my head.
“Of course.”
“Wanna help me finish up dinner?”
“Yeah, I suppose I can do that,” I say, starting to follow him into the kitchen area.
He asks Elijah to go clean up his room, and after a little bit of the normal complaining you’d expect, Elijah heads off down the hall.
Bowen remains on the couch, so by the time we get to the kitchen, it’s just us. “Everything okay?”
Since the house is an open concept, I notice Kade keeps his voice down as he faces me. “So he asked me if we were dating today.”
“Bowen or Elijah?” I ask as I watch him gather ingredients for a salad out of the refrigerator. He places everything on the counter and then faces me again.
“Well both, but I was talking about Elijah.”
“Okay,” I say carefully, not really sure how to feel about it. I can’t believe he picked up on it and asked about it.
“I’m sorry, Spencer. I couldn’t lie to him.
I...” He looks directly at me, even though I can tell he’d rather look away.
He’s antsy, shoving his hands into his pockets nervously.
“I told him the truth, but I also told him I was afraid you could get in trouble, and he asked if it was a secret. He actually seemed pretty excited about having a secret, which...”
I walk closer to him and grab both his wrists, coaxing his hands out of his pockets and into mine. I twine our fingers together and look at him. “It’s okay, Kade. I understand. I wouldn’t want you to lie to him.”
“But you know he’s six, and he might not be able to keep it to himself.”
“Hey, he’s almost seven.” I grin, trying to keep it light because I don’t want him to worry about this for even a second longer but don’t release his hands. “I’m well aware of that. It’s okay,” I say again. “I was actually thinking about talking to the principal at school anyway.”
He looks a little pale. “You don’t have to do that for me.”
“I’d be doing it for us,” I clarify because I would.
I never really had a reason to tell anyone at school before about being gay—it was never anyone’s business.
And while I don’t really think it’s fair that I feel the need to let her know I’m in a relationship—more so because I’m in a relationship with a man—I do know that dating a parent is tricky.
And it’s that part that’s the reason I want to talk to her first. “I think it would be better to give her a heads-up in case there’s an uproar. ”
“It’s not fair. There shouldn’t be an uproar because you’re dating a man.”
“But if there is, it’s going to be blamed on the fact that I’m a teacher and you’re a parent of my student. I want you both in my life, Kade. In order to do that, I need to be upfront and try to get ahead of it.”
“You want us both in your life?” He looks so adorably nervous now, not at all like I thought he was in high school. Not like the strong, confident fireman I know he is in his day-to-day life. This side of him is vulnerable.
It comes from never feeling like he had parents growing up. From a failed relationship. From feeling like he let his son down. I want to be there every single day going forward to remind him how worthy of love he truly is.
“Yes,” I answer easily, grabbing both sides of his face in my hands and staring deep into his eyes, hoping he understands what I mean. This isn’t a fling for me. It doesn’t have an end date. “You know what else?”
“What?” He seems lost in my gaze, and it nearly puts me in a dreamy trance.
“I asked Levi about the perfect flower for me. For you. For us.”
A small grin forms on his mouth—he’s intrigued. “And what did the florist come up with?”
“Daffodils.”
His nose scrunches, “That’s . . . unique.”
I nod in agreement. “Like us. They represent the triumph of hope over adversity. Promising happiness.” I smile, the feeling of just that—hope and happiness—bursting inside my chest.
His nose brushes against mine as he leans even closer to me. “I like that.”
“Me too,” I breathe against his mouth, wanting to claim it, but he speaks before I can do just that.
“Do you want to spend Christmas with us? Well... the day after Christmas because I have to work on the actual day.”
“I want to spend the rest of our lives together, but yeah, let’s start with Christmas,” I say and pull him in for a kiss.
My lips just barely brush over his before I hear a small voice from behind us. “Yuck. I don’t want to see that.”
I grin at the sound of Elijah, but then there’s a much deeper, older voice joining him. “Agreed. Gross.”
“Seriously? At least I know his name,” Kade says to his brother before placing a quick kiss on my lips, and I release him.
“Cheap shot, little brother.”
“You don’t know his name?” Elijah asks, confused. I can only assume Kade is giving his brother a hard time about not knowing the people he kisses very well, so I decide to deflect.
“Weren’t you going to show me your Christmas list, Elijah?”
“Oh yeah, come here!” he says, and I kiss Kade on the cheek again before walking to the couch, where Elijah asks me to pull up some website on my phone so he can show me the biggest thing he wants for Christmas.
Bowen and Kade get dinner ready—only bickering a little—and then we all sit down for a really nice dinner, just the four of us. I’ve never had this before. I mean, I’ve gone over to Janelle’s for dinner a few times, and yes, that’s always been nice—but not like this.
Tonight, I feel... complete. I didn’t really let myself think about it before, but all I really wanted was a family to love and accept me, and now somehow through total chance, I have that here with Kade, his adorable son, and his goofy brother.
“Okay, seriously. You need to leave.” I look over at Bowen, feeling a little sheepish because I am kind of mauling his brother.
Elijah went to bed pretty quickly after dinner, and we all decided to hang out in the living room—watching something on Netflix, but admittedly, I couldn’t really tell you what it was.
My mind was on Kade, and my hands may have roamed a little bit. Nothing too crazy, but when Bowen went into the kitchen to make popcorn, I may have taken my chance to taste my boyfriend’s lips.
“Oh... I guess it is getting late,” I say, starting to extricate myself from Kade’s big, strong arms, but he hangs onto me.
“It’s not late at all.” He glares at his brother, and Bowen just snorts loudly as he flops down into his chair.
“You two really should just go back to his place, so I don’t have to see all...”—he waves toward where we’re tangled together on the couch—“that.” He grimaces, and I laugh.
But still, I feel a little bad about it. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I’ve had to deal with his half-naked hookups. At least we’re fully dressed.”
“That was one time.” Bowen tosses a handful of popcorn at us, and I reach up to block it as Kade bats them away. “You two should go.”
“You sure you don’t mind?” Kade asks him.
I look over at Bowen hopefully, and he just laughs. “Go.”
That’s all the permission we need before thanking him profusely and both of us driving to my place. I know that he likely won’t stay the night, so I don’t push him to ride with me.
When we walk through my door, it feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been able to touch him. And I don’t waste any time getting him naked and in my bed. I’m ready for him to be inside me right away, but unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—Kade is in a teasing mood.
He brings me close to orgasm over and over again, using his mouth and hands. He hoovers my dick into the back of his throat and fondles my balls before releasing me altogether, then licking and sucking my balls into his mouth, making me cry out and beg.
By the time his tongue reaches my hole and swirls around it teasingly, I’m close to coming, my body sweating and rigid, my fingers digging into the comforter as I beg him without any shame to let me come.
I think he’s going to when he reaches his hand up to surround my aching shaft, stroking it slowly and teasing under the sensitive flared head. His thumb sweeps through the moisture pooled at the tip, but just as I’m about to come, he pulls his hand away.
“Fuck.” My entire body is trembling under him.
“You want to come, baby?”
I glare down at him, my muscles all drawn up tight. “You know I do.”
The bastard actually chuckles as he plants a kiss against my well-used hole and then over my balls, creeping up over my shaft, and then collecting the precum from my tip.
His body lies over mine, and I feel his slicked-up cock against my opening before he finally starts to push his way inside. I grip his strong biceps, my nails digging into his flesh.
He bottoms out, and we both stay like that for a moment. I’m well-prepared and relaxed, my body on edge, waiting for its release, but we don’t move. We just stay there, with him inside me, making us one, and then he leans forward and kisses me.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” I sweep my fingers through the back of his hair and then kiss him softly before gripping the hair harder. “Now show me.”
His grin is wicked as he lifts his upper body, bracing himself on his arms. He pulls almost all the way out of me and then plunges forward, fucking into me and nailing my prostate.
He doesn’t hold back, and my hands move to his firm ass as it flexes with each stroke. My balls are begging for relief, but I don’t dare touch myself, knowing just how close he already brought me over and over. I know I don’t need the extra stimulation.
All I’m waiting for is him. And when his neck muscles pull tight and his head falls back just before his cock swells deep inside me, that’s when I allow myself to let go and go over.
I come when he does, his release spraying my insides as I squeeze around him, and my cock spurts between our bodies as I lean up and capture his mouth with mine.
I realize I want to talk to the principal sooner than later, now. I’m not afraid at all.
In fact, I’m actually excited.