Chapter Nineteen
Kendrick
“Will you stop the goddamn fussin’, you’re drivin’ me nuts!” Trey grabbed the cloth out of Kendrick’s meaty fist and shoved him towards the end of the bar. “Go home. It’s where you should be, and it’ll get you out from under my damn feet.”
“Don’t even know if they’ve finished up at the ranch.
They only got in a few hours ago.” Kendrick was like a cat on a hot tin roof, and he knew it.
If he wasn’t thinking about how fast he offered to have both men stay in his space, something he’d never have considered he’d do, he was busy fussing over making his home look appealing so the men would feel relaxed and at home in his space.
Then there was the waiting for Rue and Monty to have a definitive date.
It had changed twice, and because Rue and Monty were working extra hours to make it possible to remain in Bayfield, they’d only had one video call in the past couple of weeks.
He acknowledged, late one night last week when Rue had moved the date of their arrival once more, that he missed them.
It was as simple and complex as that. They’d messaged frequently, mostly late at night, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them.
In six weeks, a lot had changed and Kendrick was too old to pretend to himself what was happening, at least for him, wasn’t real.
He wanted a relationship, a permanent one with both men.
He could foresee a future with these men, which he’d not been able to do in any relationship for a very long time.
It was expressed in the ease with which he offered them his home.
It spoke to what his heart wanted to try, even when his head hadn’t quite caught up.
That was fine, he had used the wait these last few weeks to allow it to catch up.
Due to the setbacks, Kendrick was currently working on a ‘see it to believe it’ type situation.
The desire to drive to the ranch to check they’d arrived, after the last two disappointments, had him decide, despite starting his vacation that morning, to go to the bar.
That way, he could drive someone else nuts instead of himself.
“I don’t care.” It was clear, when Kendrick had told Trey he’d invited both men to move in with him, that he already thought he’d lost his mind. Kendrick wasn’t sure Trey had recovered from the shock with how he kept looking at him weirdly, just like he was now.
“This weird shit you've got going on is freaking me out.”
“What weird shit?” he asked, peeved at the implication he was acting differently because he wasn’t. Was he?
“This mooning expression, man. It’s like you’ve got possessed by a sappy looking alien. ‘Cause you know you’re wearing a sappy smile right now even when you sound pissed? It’s fucking weirding me out!” accused Trey.
Kendrick didn’t glance towards the mirror on the back wall of the bar; he did not need to clarify Trey’s accusation when he could feel the tug of his smile at the corner of his lips. But mooning, that wasn’t him.
“Give the fuck over,” he said instead, snatching back the cloth to carry on what he was doing.
What had he been doing?
Trey belly laughed, pointing at him. “See? You don’t even know what to do with yourself. Go, start your vacation for fucksake. I ain’t giving you an extra day ‘cause you chose to come in.”
Kendrick felt a buzz at the prospect of the next two weeks’ vacation time. He hadn’t told Rue or Monty about his plan. He decided to surprise them with the news when they arrived.
Rue had mentioned the house sharing four times in messages, reiterating that they could stay at the ranch if Kendrick had a change of heart. He did not want to change his mind, and Rue didn’t know him well enough to figure that out, so he didn’t take offense.
Instead, he took vacation time to demonstrate how much he wanted to spend time with them. It was the plan of attack on Rue’s doubt. Monty had no such qualms about sharing a house with Kendrick and gushed excitedly about the prospect. Once more, it reminded Kendrick of their differences.
With the new staff working out, and Trey’s insistence he’d be fine even with Cassidy heavily pregnant and house renovations, Kendrick went with two weeks’ vacation.
He had assured Trey that if he needed him, then he’d be there to step in and help.
Still, he sent out a wish that everything would pan out.
“What, are we playing statues now?”
Trey’s laughing comment had Kendrick aim a narrowed eyed stare at his friend. “Remember, payback’s a bitch,” he smirked, throwing the cloth at Trey, who caught it, giving him a shit-eating grin.
“Are you two always like this?” asked Padrick, or Paddy to his friends. He was one of their new barmen, and he looked between them as he came around the bar counter, carrying his jacket. He was ten minutes early for his shift, something Kendrick gladly noted.
“Pretty much,” Trey answered, nudging Kendrick, bringing his attention back to him. “Leave, or folks will think you don’t trust me to be left unsupervised.”
“I don’t.” He waited a beat then added, “All I’m gonna say is sex in the restroom when the bar is open.”
Paddy made a choking noise.
Trey scowled at him, and Kendrick played along. “I feel like you can’t get rid of me fast enough?” He threw up his arms in mock protest, walking in the direction of the office. “I’ll take the damn hint then.”
Trey grunted behind him. “Hint? I threw a fucking boulder at you.”
Giving him the middle finger, Kendrick didn’t look back, chuckling only when out of earshot.
In the office, he grabbed his truck keys and slipped on his jacket. Out the door, he hadn’t even made it to the truck before he heard a shout behind him.
He spun around to see Monty, casually dressed, looking gorgeous as he sprinted towards him from the back entrance of the bar.
Kendrick barely had time to open his arms to catch Monty when he launched himself at him.
Monty’s lips latched onto Kendrick’s the second he was in his arms. His heart stuttered at the emotional depth of the kiss.
If there was ever a kiss that said, ‘I missed you’, it was the one.
Monty didn’t hold back as he wrapped himself around Kendrick.
Legs wrapping around his middle, Kendrick dropped his truck keys without thought and boosted Monty up by his ass, even as one hand slid up the back of his head, fingers digging in possessively, holding him closer.
Kendrick groaned, lips parting as a large body pressed into his side.
Rue’s scent surrounded them as another set of lips touched the corner of his and Monty’s mouths.
Tongues and teeth clashed as they worked to connect all three mouths together in what felt like the hungriest kiss Kendrick had experienced in some time—if ever.
The difference was telling the longer it went on, and Kendrick acknowledged it, then set it aside, knowing one of these men wouldn’t trust the depth of Kendrick’s feelings… yet.
“Smell so good.” Rue buried his nose in Kendrick’s neck, who shuddered when, at the same time, he ran a proprietary hand over his ass.
“Are you done for the day?” rasped Monty, lips slick, eyes clouded with lust.
It took his brain a second to compute the question, getting a giggle from the sexy man who played with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I wasn’t really working, just hanging. But Trey got annoyed with me, so I was just heading home to wait for you two.”
Rue took a step back at the sound of a door opening behind them, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.
Kendrick glanced sideways in annoyance, witnessing Paddy’s gawping mouth. Clearly Rue hadn’t been quick enough.
“Paddy, meet Rue,”—he nodded towards Rue, who looked anything but comfortable—“and Monty.” He brought Monty around onto his hip, not considering putting him down.
He didn’t care who knew about their relationship, regardless of the unorthodox nature of it.
“Paddy’s one of our new bar staff,” he said, by way of introduction when Rue frowned at the very interested stare Paddy cast in their direction.
“Hey,” Monty murmured, barely looking at Paddy. “Our bags are inside. Ethan dropped us out front when we went by your place and found it empty.”
“Sorry, I was expectin’ you to call when you were headin’ my way.” Kendrick turned his attention to Rue. “Things go okay?”
“They went,” Rue replied cryptically, his troubled gaze remaining on Paddy, who watched them while holding onto a pair of bulging trash bags.
“Rue, you go grab the bags, and I’ll bring the truck round front,” said Kendrick, sensing Rue’s unease, but not knowing why.
Kendrick inclined his head at Paddy, suggesting he get on what he’d come to do. When Paddy moved, giving an awkward grin, Kendrick bent to collect his truck keys. Monty clung to him, and he chuckled when he had to adjust his balance to grab the keys.
“Miss me?”
“Can’t you tell?” An impish smile appeared before Monty kissed him softly. “We both did.”
He acknowledged what Monty was doing. Rue might never be as expressive as Monty and Kendrick was alright with that. Not everyone was comfortable showing their emotions, it was a fact of life.
Seconds later, Monty now in the back of the truck, Kendrick pulled in front of the bar where Rue stood at the curbside with a mountain of bags. Kendrick’s laughter boomed out. “What you got in there, the kitchen sink?”
What followed was a shy giggle and a sheepish look. “All my necessities for a long trip from home. The sink, I left behind,” Monty replied cheekily, getting out of the truck to help store the bags.
When they were all back in the truck, Kendrick spilled his surprise.
“I’ve taken a couple of weeks of vacation time.
” He glanced sideways, scrutinizing Rue to gauge his reaction.
He was the only one that worried him. Seeing nothing that suggested Rue was uncomfortable, Kendrick continued.
“Thought it would be nice to spend some time getting to know each other without my late evening shifts getting in the way.”
“With everything we’ve done naked, I’d say we know each other pretty damn well.”
Monty came through the gap, the seatbelt straining. “Stop being obtuse, Rue.”
He kissed Kendrick on the shoulder when it seemed he couldn’t get any closer, grunting when the seatbelt made a noise of complaint at the abuse.
He then looked at Rue, whose lips formed into a scowl.
“Do you think we could take a few days' vacation, too?” he asked, seeming unphased by Rue’s reaction.
“We just got here,” Rue replied with a snap in his voice.
If Kendrick had to guess at Rue’s feelings in that moment, he would have said unimpressed, and possibly even unsure of his footing.
Yet when he continued, there was enough sexual implication to his comment that they’d both have to be deaf and blind to miss it.
“We’ll have this weekend, and many more, along with evenings and the nights. ”
Kendrick felt the tension that gathered in his neck and shoulders ease at Rue’s promise. “We will.”
If this was what kept Rue comfortable for now, then Kendrick would work with that. His gaze met Monty’s in the rearview mirror, and he gave him an intrigued wink.
A light appeared in those pale eyes that Kendrick was glad Rue didn’t see, suggesting they were going to war, and he had his battle plan already.
Bring it.