Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“You better be talking about me.” Ford slid his hands over Chase’s shoulders and down his chest.
“Hey, darlin’,” Chase replied, soft as a whisper but with that distinctive purr that always came out when he and Ford were together, the one that said his flirty side had been activated.
Ford hummed and cupped his jaw to tilt his head up for a thorough kiss. He broke away and slipped between Grant and Chase to lean over the table to Lucky. “You got one for me?”
Lucky stood up to meet him halfway. “I missed you.”
Ford hummed and straightened up. “Seeing my boys is the best part of my day,” he said, then looked over his shoulder. “Come on, monster. Stop draggin’ your feet. I promised you lunch with Lucky, and you’re miles away,” he called back, chuckling when Pip approached the side of the table.
“Hi, Imse.”
He would never get tired of hearing that word. Lucky beckoned Pip closer for a hug. “Hi, sweetheart.”
He beamed bright and touched Lucky’s ponytail, hanging over his shoulder. “You look pretty today.”
“Thank you.” Lucky’s cheeks heated at the innocent compliment. “Are you boys hungry?”
Chase grabbed a packet of cigarettes from his bag and lit one. “Not for food, he’s not.”
Ford grinned in silent agreement and pointed a finger at Pip. “Pip is hogging the food,” he mentioned, walking around to where Lucky had slid into the gap between himself and Kain to make room for Pip. Ford took the space and lifted the bag Pip had set on the ground when they hugged.
A bucket of fried chicken appeared from inside and instantly had Kain and Caroline leaning over to steal a piece, until Grant and Chase smacked their hands away. Grant looked horrified, like he couldn’t believe he’d had the audacity to touch an omega.
“Guess we’re not mates then,” Caroline quipped.
It took Grant a moment, then he dropped his head into his hands and groaned. He probably had no idea what a close call that was.
Pip looked around the table, where Chase, Grant and Phoenix filled the other side of the bench, while Kain sat beside Lucky, with Neko and Caroline at each end of the table. Ford had filled the last space. “Where do I sit, Tauri?”
Something fell to the table and everyone froze. Kain apologised and quickly picked up the set of keys that had fallen from his pocket while he’d been reaching for chicken.
“Hmm, I dunno. We’re one seat short.” Ford made a point of looking around the table and counting. “There’s only one thing to do.” He wrapped an arm around Lucky’s waist to effortlessly lift him onto Ford’s lap.
Not resisting the pull of his strong arm, Lucky arched an eyebrow. “This is your solution? Instead of lifting the small child onto your lap?”
“It’s what I would have done.” Chase handed Ford a newly lit cigarette with a lingering graze of fingers that had Lucky tempted to smack him. Except Pip looked so happy that Ford had made space for him.
Ford huffed against his neck and made a small sound in the back of his throat. “You don’t smell like me,” he grumbled, rubbing his nose along Lucky’s neck and jaw, like he could leave his scent behind.
Shifting to lean against his shoulder, Ford’s arm firmly around his waist, he focused on Pip and let Ford enjoy his smoke. “Have you had a nice day?”
Pip reached for the bucket of chicken and smiled sweetly when Lucky tilted the bucket for him to reach inside. “Tauri took me to the shops and we picked up a present for Tiloo, to say thank you for signing my forms,” he admitted, like it was nothing to have his adoption process begin.
“What else did you do?”
Pip tore off a chuck of chicken. “We went to play games and Tauri didn’t let me win.”
Ford ruffled his hair, unconcerned. “’Course I didn’t. You gotta earn your wins wi’ me. You will, eventually.”
While Pip rambled and answered the questions of their friends around the table, Lucky leaned against Ford. “You make a wonderful tauri. I love seeing you like this. Pip lights up when he’s with you, because he knows you mean everything you say. He knows he can trust you.”
“Shut up or I’m gonna kiss you,” Ford replied, making him smile and nudge closer.
“Then hurry up and kiss me.”
Ford didn’t hesitate to claim his mouth with teeth and tongue, saying nothing about his immediate surrender.
He retreated too soon, the hand on Lucky’s stomach pushing up his T-shirt to make skin-on-skin contact.
“Better save some for later. I finally got you both for a whole weekend, and I intend to enjoy it.”
Lucky brushed his fingers against Ford’s thigh. “I can’t wait to meet your friends.”
“I want you to meet Jesi. Properly, when it’s not work. He’s kinda like my kid.”
That was far more important than just meeting his friends. Lucky swallowed his nerves and tried not to grab Ford’s thigh for support. “Then he’s my kid too.”
Ford groaned and tightened his hold of Lucky. “If it weren’t for Pip, I’d have you over this fucking table for talkin’ like that,” he warned, grazing teeth over the curve of his jaw.
Lucky’s breath hitched and he bit his bottom lip. Maybe it was his upcoming birthday or the OX that was potentially still in his system, but he could feel slick slipping free.
Ford inhaled deeply, proof the waves were already rolling towards his two mates. “You’d better be careful. Your papa made me swear you’d get home in one piece, but the more you open your mouth, the more I wanna take you to bed and fucking destroy you.”
“You’re not the only one,” Chase piped up with an intense gaze that made Lucky’s heart beat faster.