Arlo
Grunting, I came to consciousness, picking up my head and looking around in confusion.
Sunlight was coming through the curtains of the window above the bed, but that didn’t tell me what time it was.
On autopilot, I fumbled for the side of the bed to look for my phone to figure out how badly I had slept in before my hand smacked into something warm and incredibly solid.
“Rude,” Ward grunted, rolling onto his side as I stared in confusion. His eyes never opened, and he took a deep breath before settling into the pillow, snoring so softly that if I wasn’t right next to him, I might not have heard it.
Right...of course, he had stayed the night.
Well, I was awake, so any idea of catching a few more minutes of sleep was thrown out the window.
I usually worried when sharing a bed that I would wake them, but that clearly wasn’t a concern here.
I had just strong-armed him, and he’d grunted and fallen back asleep.
..if he had even woken up in the first place.
“Oh, Muffin,” I sighed when I saw the fluffy tawny cat perched on his pillow next to Ward’s head. “One of these days, I’m going to change the handles for knobs, then how are you going to get into my room?”
He would either figure it out because he was far smarter than Rags, though only half as sweet, or sit outside my door and scream until he was let in.
He might not be as sweet as his brother, but woe betide anyone who denied Muffin the attention he thought he was due.
He was unconcerned by my admonishment, staring at me and purring softly.
Clearly, he had taken a liking to Ward, which. ..made sense.
I looked down at Ward and smiled. Trying not to move him too much, I reached across and grabbed my phone, quickly taking a picture of him as he slept.
Ward naturally came across as dignified and even a little regal despite his playfulness and sarcasm, but right now?
There was nothing regal about the way the pillow smooshed his face, and nothing dignified about the small line of drool coming from his mouth.
He had claimed he would sleep well after the night we had, and he was certainly sleeping like...well, like the dead, actually. My chest fluttered at the idea that I had done a good job and tired him out, and that he felt comfortable enough to sleep deeply around me.
Unable to help myself, I reached under the blanket I had dug out of the closet after his head drooped during the third episode of the night, and ran my hand down his back.
It was warm and smooth, and despite how relaxed he was, I could feel his strength.
Maybe it was creepy, but I couldn’t help but run my hand over his ass, but resisted the urge to squeeze it.
Not just because that would have felt like a step too far, but because he was right, he would probably be tender for a few days.
Warmth pooled in my gut, more heated and sharp than the affectionate warmth I’d felt a moment ago.
The memory of Ward stretched out on my bed while I had pounded him flashed through my head, and my morning erection was no longer just an automatic bodily function.
The entire night had been wonderful, save for the awkward car crash, and the end of the night had been perfect.
It wasn’t just the sex, although I knew that if I was allowed, I was going to keep coming back for more.
No, it had been having him here, in a slice of my life rather than me being in a part of his.
I might have thought that he would stick out like a sore thumb among all my things, worn and used as they were.
But not once had he seemed like a stranger in the midst of my things; he had felt like he belonged there with everything else.
And maybe, just maybe, he might come to belong...in my life.
My bladder was not to be denied any longer, and it didn’t care about my anxious, happy, nervous, content thoughts.
I had to extract myself from the bed, checking the floor before I dropped to it and snorting when I found Rags curled up on one of our shirts.
“Oh, baby boy, did you let your brother kick you off the bed again? Honestly, you’re bigger than him. ”
Rags opened his eyes and let me scratch him as I went into the bathroom before I made a mess.
Despite his sleepy appearance, I wasn’t surprised he was waiting for me outside the bathroom when I emerged.
Cooing softly, I scooped him up and walked into the kitchen, setting him on the table in the corner.
Perhaps it was unsanitary to some, but only I ate at that table for the most part, and he sat and watched me quite happily.
I tapped the coffeemaker, having already set it up with grounds and water before I’d left the house yesterday.
No matter how much sleep I had, I wasn’t at my best when I woke up.
Mostly because of the dreams that interrupted otherwise peaceful sleep, so it was easier if I made sure the coffee was set up to brew with just a push—
Mmm, there hadn’t been any dreams last night, had there? Huh, apparently Ward hadn’t been the only one to have a good, exhausting night.
As the pot gurgled and spat, I stared out the kitchen window.
Nothing demanded my attention in reality or in my mind.
I drifted through my thoughts, vaguely aware I was feeling.
..good. I wasn’t over the moon or prepared to dance in the street, but I was good.
Content would work as well, as if all the frantic, wild things inside me had retreated to the back of my mind, and there was a peace I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Arlo!” a sharp, deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I twisted around to find Dom standing at the door leading to my backyard. I blinked at the dirt on his clothes and hands.
“Morning, Dom,” I said slowly. “How long have you been there?”
“You mean how long have I been standing here seeing you lost in your own little world?”
“Yes.”
Dom smirked. “Long enough to see you were trying for the astronaut program from how far out in space you were. Good night?”
I sighed. “Yes, it was.”
“I hope so,” he said, walking over to the sink to wash his hands and scrub his nails. “After what I was forced to see last night, it better have been good.”
“Keep complaining about it, and I might worry that you’ve spent too much time with Milo at the school of melodrama,” I teased softly, cringing.
Thirty-one years, and I had never been witnessed by my siblings in anything resembling a compromising situation.
That had changed last night. I suspected Dom hadn’t actually seen much; it was too dark in the house.
But he had seen enough to know what was going on, and considering his timing, he had clearly heard Ward’s.
..compliment. “Though I hope you’ve not forgotten the art of discretion. ”
“If that’s your way of telling me to stop being a baby and not go blabbing, you don’t have to worry,” he said, looking at me and shaking his head. “I can’t make any promises about the first thing, though.”
“Well, if I were forced to pick one, that would be the one I’d choose,” I said.
Dom flipped the water off and looked around. “He gone?”
“No, Ward is currently sleeping, peacefully,” I said.
Dom must have caught the faint note of pride and grinned knowingly as he snatched the towel from the rack. “Oh? Well, don’t you sound smug? Sounds like you’ve been spending extra time around Mason.”
My face warmed, and I snorted. “Hardly. I was simply saying that he was sleeping peacefully.”
“Meaning you wore him out,” Dom said as he hung the towel back up and squinted at me. “I notice you’re not sleeping peacefully, though, did, uh—”
I stared at him before realizing what he was trying to ask and coughed. “No, no, that...there are...no worries there, I promise you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There were no dreams.”
He paused, considered that, and grunted. “Alright, that’s good enough. I guess he ran you ragged too.”
“Now you’re the one sounding like Mason,” I complained.
“Not really, because I’m not going to ask for details, and if you start giving them, I’m going right the fuck back outside and spend the next few hours pretending I didn’t get even more scarred than I already was.”
“It would take an expert team of torturers to pry the details from me.”
“Good,” he said with a smirk. “And he stayed the night.”
“I think that’s self-evident.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you suddenly go on a date, bring him back here, and he stays the night. That’s a big deal for you.”
“I think more impressive would be if you did something like that,” I said with a raised brow. “Since I can’t remember the last time you had someone.”
“Says the man who gives me shit for being a man whore.”
“I still am, because I know you’re still having sex, but I don’t get to see the people. Not even a glimpse or a hint. Which means they spend even less time around you than usual.”
His nose wrinkled. “I hate that you spot stuff like that, I really do.”
I shrugged, knowing there was no point in reminding him that I didn’t care what he did with his personal time.
My ready acceptance and open-mindedness that puzzled Ward so much was something all my siblings were well aware of and expected.
So long as Dom wasn’t going out of his way to endanger himself or others, I wouldn’t cast judgment—especially not a moral one when it came to sex.
Much like Ward had said last night, too many times, people held themselves and others back from free sexual expression.
And while my own expression of sex and sexuality was different than other people’s, that didn’t mean I would judge; different folks, different strokes.