Chapter Fourteen
Rowan
I’m still half-asleep when I hear the insistent knocking on the front door. It must the neighbour, you need the code to even get onto this floor. I pull on a pair of grey sweatpants for basic decency and pad barefoot toward the door, yawning widely as I open it.
The moment the door swings open, David and my mom barge in with bright, cheerful smiles. Shit.
I quickly close the door behind them and try to sound casual. “Uh… hi?”
I walk past them and casually position myself at the entrance to the hallway, blocking their view. Cade is still asleep in my bed, our bed now. He’s made sure to be wrapped around me every night for the past two weeks, and I’ve never slept better.
Mom beams at me. “We were passing by and thought we’d pop in! We assumed you’d both be up and dressed by now.”
“Mom, it’s Saturday,” I say, fighting another yawn. “I like to sleep in.”
David chuckles warmly and nudges her. “I told you, love. They’re busy men. Sleep is a must.”
I force a smile. “You guys want a drink?”
Mom glances around. “Where’s Cade?”
Both of them are now looking toward the couch where Cade used to sleep when he first moved in.
“He, um… he went to the gym already,” I lie quickly. “You know how he is.”
David nods, seemingly buying it. “Right. Coffee it is, then.”
They both move toward the open-plan kitchen area, turning on the coffee machine, the aroma flowing out instantly. I let out a slow breath of relief.
Then absolute horror crashes over me.
Cade’s sleepy, raspy voice drifts down the hallway. “Baby, I can smell coffee… did you make me one?”
Before I can react, Cade collides gently into my back, wrapping his strong arms around my waist and pressing a warm, lazy kiss to the side of my neck. I internally malfunction.
Mom’s eyebrows shoot up. “Went to the gym, huh?”
Cade freezes. His arms drop away from me instantly. “Uhhhh… shit.”
I turn around. He’s standing there in nothing but black boxers, hair messy, looking every bit like he just rolled out of bed.
I laugh awkwardly, heat flooding my face. “We should… get dressed.”
David raises a single brow. “Uh huh.”
Cade and I scurry into the bedroom like guilty teenagers and close the door behind us.
Cade whisper-shouts, “What are they doing here?!”
I whisper-shout back, arms waving wildly, “They were passing by!”
We’re both breathing fast, gesturing like idiots.
“I can’t believe you just walked out like that!” I hiss. “‘Baby, where’s my coffee?’ All domestic and shit!”
Cade gestures between us. “We are domestic, babe! That’s what we’ve become!”
I groan and drag a hand down my face. “I know… I’m just… panicking. Oh my god, I wasn’t ready for this yet.”
I grab a t-shirt from the wardrobe and pull it on. Cade grins at me.
“What?” I ask.
“That’s mine.”
I look down. “Fuck… that’s not gonna help.”
I yank it off and chuck it at him. He pulls it on while grabbing the closest pair of bottoms he can find.
Cade steps closer and says softly, “Okay, breathe with me.”
I nod. We stand here like absolute idiots, taking slow, deep breaths together until Cade lets out a quiet laugh. The sound makes me grin despite everything.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” he asks.
“I don’t want to know,” I mutter.
A few minutes later we’ve managed to pull ourselves together, at least on the outside. I’m wearing a soft t-shirt layered under one of my favourite hoodies, needing the extra layer to feel somewhat covered and grounded.
Cade gives me one last brutal, grounding kiss before we leave the bedroom, his hand cupping the back of my neck as he murmurs against my lips, “I’m gonna be right there with you, okay?”
I nod, still a little breathless. “Yeah.”
We walk out together. Cade moves straight to the coffee machine, which is now empty. Mom and David are sitting at the island stools, looking far too calm as they sip their coffees like they didn’t just walk in on something they absolutely weren’t supposed to see.
Cade starts refilling the machine with the same two mugs we use every morning and asks casually, “So where are you guys headed today?”
Oh god, he’s trying to skim right over it, acting like this is just another normal Saturday morning and our parents didn’t witness Cade calling me “baby” while wrapped around me five minutes ago.
Mom sets her mug down with a soft clink. “Oh hush… that’s not what we’re talking about, Cade.”
Cade glances at me, checking that I’m okay.
I laugh awkwardly and gesture with both hands. “Okay… spit it out then.”
David raises an eyebrow, amused. “Spit what out, Rowan?”
I feel the panic starting to rise again and gesture wildly. “That you’re disgusted, that this isn’t allowed, that you’re going to disown us…”
Mom actually laughs, warm and light. “You’re funny, son.”
I frown at her. “What?”
David leans back in his stool, smiling. “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this.”
Cade turns sharply from the coffee machine. “Come again?”
Mom puts her coffee down and continues gently, “Well, you two won’t remember. You were hungover for days afterwards.”
David nods. “Oh, that’s right… what a state you were in.”
Cade sets my mug in front of me and waits, clearly as lost as I am.
Mom continues, “It was Cade’s seventeenth birthday party. You were almost sixteen, Ro. Somehow one of Cade’s friends had snuck alcohol into the house, even though we had security that night, we didn’t want just anyone wandering around.”
We both nod, that part makes sense.
David picks up the story. “You two got stupidly drunk. We found you the next morning… together, in Cade’s bed. All tangled limbs and faces way too close.” He gestures vaguely at Cade. “Thankfully fully clothed back then, but…”
Mom finishes with a pointed look. “We already had our little panic moment twenty years ago. We assumed it was a one-off thing.” She shrugs lightly. “Guess not, huh?”
Cade runs a hand over his face. “I don’t… uh…”
I blurt out, “We’re not related.”
Mom and David both nod calmly. Mom says, “We know.”
David takes another sip of his coffee like we’re discussing the weather.
Cade and I share a look of pure confusion.
Cade leans down to my ear and whispers, “What the hell is happening right now?”
I stare at both of them and whisper back, “I don’t know.”
Mom laughs softly. “So, is this why you’re still here, Cade?”
Cade straightens and tenses, laughing awkwardly as he takes a long sip from his mug. “Wh-what?”
David smiles. “Well, we wondered why you didn’t move back home three days ago when the builders finished.”
My eyebrows snap up. “Wait… it’s done?”
Cade mumbles, “Yep… a job got cancelled, so they worked on mine non-stop.”
“Oh… that’s… good,” I manage, though my voice sounds flat even to me.
Cade clears his throat and nods, not very enthusiastically.
Mom’s eyes are sparkling with amusement. “This is adorable.”
I groan. “Mom… I think I might’ve felt better with a little resistance. This is weird for me.”
David chuckles. Mom leans forward slightly. “Son, I don’t think Cade wants to move out.”
I can feel the blush burning across my cheeks as I turn to Cade. “Is that true?”
He meets my eyes, inhales sharply, and says simply, “Yes.”
I smile because I didn’t want him to move out either.
David adds, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to move into Cade’s house? I mean, it’s a proper home, not an apartment.”
Cade says quietly to his dad, “I was working up to asking him, for goodness’ sake.”
Mom claps her hands together lightly. “Okay, so… you boys want to come out with us today?”
Cade looks surprised. “Really?”
“You’re still our boys,” Mom says warmly, though she winces a little at how that sounds now. “As weird as that is. Besides, you can’t hide this forever.”
“Just a little bit longer,” I plead.
David nods. “Fair enough.” Then he looks at me more closely and asks, “Do you own any makeup?”
I laugh despite everything. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to cover that up before stepping foot back into my company,” David says, gesturing vaguely at my neck. “We’re not advertising sex.”
Mom laughs. Cade clears his throat and points at my neck. The memory of him biting me last night flashes through my mind.
I make a horrified noise and scurry toward the bathroom. “Oh my god!”
…
A few minutes later I emerge from the bathroom, face still burning with thorough mortification. I’d spent way too long staring at the dark hickey on my neck in the mirror.
Cade’s sprawled on the couch, looking far too amused for someone who just got caught half-naked by our parents. He laughs the second he sees me.
“They left,” he says, still grinning. “They thought you’d had enough emotional embarrassment for one day.”
I let out a huge sigh of relief and cross my arms over my chest, trying to regain some dignity. “So… do I need to start packing my shit up?”
Cade’s smirk turns wicked. In one smooth motion he vaults over the back of the couch and crosses the room, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me flush against his chest.
“Absolutely yes,” he murmurs, voice low and playful. “Let’s do that right now.”
He starts pressing quick, affectionate kisses all over my face… my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose, my jaw… each one making me laugh despite myself.
“We’ll have a backyard,” he continues between kisses, “with a pool, where I can watch you swimming naked and sexy…”
I laugh harder and push at his chest half-heartedly. “Um, no… imagine our parents turning up and seeing that.”
Cade just grins wider, undeterred, his arms tightening around my waist. For the first time since they walked in this morning, everything feels okay again… light, easy, and strangely right.