34. Aubree
THIRTY-FOUR
“Be good for Grammy, and don’t go overboard.”
“We know,” Miles and Evie say in unison.
“Please let me give you some money,” I offer Beatrice. Just her taking the kids to pick out decorations and two cakes while I bake is enough—yes, I’ve ordered their cakes because I don’t have time to bake two specialty cakes. With Caroline and Lacey both home with colds, and still being down an oven, the last thing I need is the kids complaining while I bake. When Beatrice offered to take them to pick out the stuff for their party this weekend, I could’ve kissed her.
“It’s not happening,” she insists. “It’s my treat. We’ll be back soon.”
Once they’re gone, I get to work. I’m several trays of muffins and scones in when I remember I never let the guys know today isn’t happening after all. Lacey had originally offered to watch the kids, but she came down with a cold. Then Caroline called in, saying she was feeling under the weather, which put me behind on my baking. I meant to let them know that I can’t meet up with them, but I got busy.
Me
Rain check? I’m stuck in the shop baking. I’m sorry.
Hayden
Are the kids with Lacey?
Me
She’s sick. They’re with my MIL, but Caroline called out. Since I had to work the front instead of baking, I need to get it all done for tomorrow.
Brody
It’s okay.
It’s not, though. They may say it is, but it’s not. Dating someone means actually seeing them. It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen the guys, and I’ve passed the point of desperation. And based on their texts, I’m almost positive they feel the same way.
We talk every night after the kids go to bed and text throughout the day, but I miss being with them. I’m stressed and exhausted, and I just want them to hold me. I want to feel their mouths on mine and their hands on my body. I want to lay my head on their chests and fall asleep to the thumping of their heartbeats.
I’m lost in thought when there’s a knock on the door. When I walk out to see who it is, my heart picks up speed. Because standing on the other side are Brody and Hayden.
I quickly undo the lock and pull them inside, hugging each of them as tightly as I can. “This is the best surprise ever, but I told you I can’t go anywhere.”
“We know,” Hayden says. “That’s why we came to you.”
“I have to bake.” Just as the words leave my mouth, the timer goes off.
“Smells good in here,” Brody says, walking to the back ahead of me.
“They’re blueberry muffins.” Slipping on my oven mitt, I pull the trays out and set them on the cooling racks. “I still have at least another hour to go. I’m sorry. I wish I could leave, but my oven is broken and?—”
“Stop,” Hayden says, pulling me into his arms. “We aren’t asking you to leave. We miss you, and if that means hanging out here while you bake, that’s fine by us.”
Emotion clogs my throat as tears fill my lids, and when Brody leans in and kisses the crown of my head with Hayden still holding me, a choked sob escapes. I drop my head against Hayden’s chest and lose it.
Neither man says a word while I cry into Hayden’s shirt. A hand rubs my back, while another rubs my arm, attempting to comfort me. When I finally get myself together, I exhale a deep breath and glance up at Hayden, who’s looking down at me with concern etched in his features.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, tucking several strands of hair behind my ear. “Talk to us, please.”
“I just feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment,” I admit through a sniffle. “The broken oven doubles my baking time. My baker quit, two employees are sick, the kids’ birthday party is this weekend, and I haven’t gotten it all together. And then there’s you guys. I haven’t seen you in almost two weeks, and instead of failing at one relationship, I’m failing at two.” By the time I’ve gotten it all out, my cheeks are covered in tears, and snot drips out of my nose.
Hayden lifts me and places me on the counter, then grabs a paper towel and dabs the tears from my cheeks. I take it from him and clean my nose.
“Have Brody or I complained once about not seeing you?” Hayden asks once I’m halfway decent.
“No, but?—”
He presses his fingers gently over my lips and shakes his head. “Do we miss you? Yes. Do we tell you that? Of course. But we know you’d spend time with us if you could. Right now, seeing you like this, my only concern is how stressed you are, and I don’t like that you’re adding our relationship to that pile. We love you, and being with us should never feel like a burden or like you’re failing.”
“I just…” I choke up again and wipe my eyes. “I just feel like I can’t do it all. Like everything is falling apart, and I want to go back to when we were in that cottage. When everything felt simple.”
Brody steps closer and smiles. “We can go back any time you want, but right now, tell us what you need from us to make it better.”
“Aside from a second working oven,” I joke. “I just need you both to kiss me and make me forget about all the stress for a few minutes.”
“Done,” Hayden says, just before his mouth descends on mine. He tastes like what fairy tales and happiness and love are made of, and I sigh into the kiss, wanting to get lost in everything that is him.
When he breaks the kiss, I pout, wanting more, until I realize why he broke the kiss. He backs up so Brody can take his place, his hands gripping the curves of my hips and pulling me toward him. He leans down and licks the seam of my lips and then gently pushes his tongue into my mouth.
My thighs clench around his waist, my ankles locking behind him, never wanting this to end. But just like Hayden, he ends the kiss all too soon.
It’s not enough, though. I need more, so I lift my shirt over my head, silently telling them what I want… what I need.
And thankfully, they don’t have to be told twice. Within seconds, I’m laid out on the counter while Hayden licks and sucks on my breasts, and Brody pulls my shorts down.
They work together to bring me to an orgasm. And like a tidal wave, it crashes into me quick and hard, taking me under.
“Holy shit,” Brody murmurs as waves of pleasure roll through me. “That’s it. Come all over my fingers.”
“I need you,” I tell them. “In me, now.” I pull myself into a sitting position and then spread my legs, glancing from Brody to Hayden. “Both of you.”
Brody goes first, sliding my legs over his forearms and slipping into me slowly. His mouth connects with mine, and he fucks me with slow and deep thrusts while kissing me the same way.
“You feel so good,” he mutters against my mouth. “I missed being in you, kissing you…”
A second orgasm starts to build, but before it can surface, he’s draining his release into me and then pulling back so Hayden can take over.
The second Hayden slams into me, his mouth crashes against mine. He fucks me with abandon as if he’s starving for me. And that orgasm that was close to surfacing erupts through me like a volcano.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Hayden roars, stilling his movements as he comes deep inside me.
We both take a moment to catch our breath, and when he pulls out, I can feel their cum dripping out of me.
“I better get cleaned up,” I say with a small laugh, already feeling like some of my stress has been alleviated.
I jump off the counter and kiss Hayden and then Brody. “Thank you,” I say to both of them.
“What the hell are you thanking us for?” Brody asks, one brow quirked up in confusion.
“For being patient with me, for showing up here. For giving me two mind-blowing orgasms…” The guys chuckle and shake their heads. “I’ll be right back!” I grab my clothes and run to the bathroom in the back.
Once I’m cleaned up, I get dressed and head back to the kitchen. Only, when I get there, it’s empty.
And then I hear voices coming from the front. They probably went looking for treats…
“Guys?” I yell out.
When I get out there, I don’t find them looking for food. Instead, they’re dressed and talking to Beatrice and my kids.
“The door was unlocked,” Beatrice says with a smirk.
Shit! In my excitement to see the guys, I forgot to lock the damn door.
Oh my God, if the kids would’ve shown up a few minutes earlier, they would’ve walked in on us having sex. They would’ve been scarred for life!
“Who are you?” Evie asks, her head tilting to the side curiously.
“I’m Brody.” Brody points at himself and then at Hayden. “And this is Hayden. We’re friends of your mom’s.”
“I’ve never heard of you,” Evie says, her face scrunching up like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle.
“Are you her boyfriends?” Miles asks. “Grammy told Papa that she has two boyfriends.”
Beatrice’s eyes go wide. “Oh, I?—”
I want to protect my kids, but I won’t lie to them, and I won’t belittle my relationship with Brody and Hayden either. I’m proud to be with them, to be loved by them, and I won’t hide that from my children.
“They are my boyfriends,” I admit before Beatrice can finish her sentence.
“You said you didn’t have one,” Miles says, his eyes narrowing.
“No, I said no man will ever replace your dad.” I walk over and kneel in front of my children so I’m at their level. “And I meant that. Your dad will always be your dad. But do you remember the part of his letter when he said he wants me to find love again?”
The kids nod. I’ve read their letters from him enough that they probably have them memorized, even if they don’t understand all that they say.
“I found love with Brody and Hayden.”
“You still love Daddy, though, right?” Evie asks.
“Of course. I will always love your dad.”
“And you love us too, right?” she adds.
“I love you more than brownies, cupcakes, and blueberry muffins combined.”
A happy smile spreads across her face. “I love you more than brownies, cupcakes, blueberry muffins, and chocolate chip cookies!” She throws her arms around me, and I hug her tightly.
When we break apart, Miles still stands there with a blank expression.
“Miles, is there anything you want to say or ask me?”
He glances over at Brody and Hayden who stand nearby, watching our interaction, and then looks at me.
“I think it would be best if you guys go,” I tell Brody and Hayden. Miles never has trouble speaking his thoughts, so if he’s not saying anything, it’s because he’s uncomfortable. Regardless of how I feel about them, my children will always come first.
Brody and Hayden both smile in understanding.
“It was nice meeting all of you,” Brody says as they walk toward the front door.
“Wait,” Miles says, shocking everyone. “Dad said I have to make sure they treat you good.” Oh, my heart… It seems he understands more of what his dad wrote than I thought he did.
“He did write that,” I agree, my words laced with raw emotion.
“How will I know if they’re treating you good if they leave?”
I glance at Beatrice, who has tears in her eyes. She’s read Peter’s letters as well.
“I think in order to know, we’ll have to spend time together,” I tell Miles. “Are you okay with that?”
He thinks for a moment before he says, “Yeah,” then steps closer to me. “How do I know if they treat you good, though?” he asks, back to sounding like the almost nine-year-old he is.
“Well,” I say, kneeling in front of him. “If I smile and laugh a lot, that means I’m happy. And if I’m happy, that means they’re treating me good.”
Miles nods in understanding. “You laugh and smile a lot with Evie and me. That means we treat you good, right?”
“You definitely treat me good,” I choke out, trying to fight the tears about to fall whether I like it or not.
“Okay,” Miles says after a moment. “I’m hungry. Can we go eat dinner?”
I stifle my chuckle at the change of subject. “Sure, sweetie.”
I stand and am about to tell Brody and Hayden that I’ll see them soon when Miles speaks first. “We’re going to dinner. I’m going to watch and make sure my mom laughs and smiles. If she does, then you can be her boyfriends.”
“Where would you like to go to dinner?” Brody asks Miles, his voice rough.
“Evie and I like pizza. You want pizza, Evie?”
“Yes!” She jumps up and down. “And I’ll make sure Mom laughs and smiles too,” she tells Miles as she walks to the front door. Then she turns around and glances at the guys. “Do you have a puppy?”
They shake their heads.
“Where you live, can you have one?” she asks.
Oh, geez.
Before I can stop them from answering, Hayden says, “Sure,” with a shrug.
Shit!
Evie perks up, then quickly schools her features. “You should probably get a puppy. When we saw the puppies at the park who need homes, they jumped all over Mommy and made her smile and laugh.”
I snort at my conniving daughter, who should be too young to manipulate grown-ass men. She begged for a puppy that day, and when I told her we couldn’t have one where we lived, she asked if we could move to where we could have one. Of course, I told her that wasn’t going to happen.
Hayden grins wide. “We’ll take that under consideration.”
“Consideration?” she asks, her nose scrunching up. “Is that closer to a yes or a no or a maybe?”
“Umm, a maybe?” Hayden says, though it comes out like a question.
Evie’s face falls. “Everyone knows maybe means no.”
Brody chuckles. “Then it’s closer to a yes,” he says, glancing at me and winking.
Evie’s smile returns. “Cool. Let’s go get pizza.”