Chapter 17
“Where’s your sissy car?” Kieran asks as they stop in front of a shiny navy blue BMW. He’s back to his usual snarky self after their bumpy landing half an hour ago, no longer green around the gills.
“Parked at home. You refuse to ride in it unless it’s a life or death situation.”
“Sounds accurate.”
Ash dangles the car key. “Catch.”
“What—ah!” Kieran fumbles to catch it, being the dropper he is. Ash laughs softly.
“You want me to drive?”
“It’s your car.”
Kieran’s eyes nearly pop out of their skull. “No fucking way. Mine?” He jabs a thumb at his chest, flicking a bewildered glance between the car and Ash. “How was I able to afford this?”
Despite the shock, he wastes no time getting behind the wheel, looking like a kid on Christmas Day.
Smiling to himself, Ash dutifully puts their luggage in the boot before sliding into the passenger seat.
“Maybe go easy? You must be jetlagged,” Ash suggests gently.
Kieran rolls his eyes. “Okay, Mum.”
“If we have to do this, I’d prefer Daddy.
” He loses it at Kieran’s half-horrified, half-disgusted expression.
“Joking. Just a joke.” He holds his hands up.
It was a joke. He tried to play around with daddy kink before.
Turns out, he’s sensitive about his age, especially given their age-gap. A fact Kieran loves to exploit. Often.
“Unless you want this beautiful car to die a fiery death, never say that again.”
“Yessir.”
Kieran turns on the GPS, his finger hovering. “Where are we going again?”
“I’ll guide you. Just get on the freeway. We’ve got about an hour of bonding time.”
Kieran scrunches his nose.
“Or I can drive if you wanna take a nap,” Ash offers.
“I’m driving my own car, thanks.” With that, Kieran pulls out of the parking spot.
“You didn’t even know this car existed ten minutes ago, but you’re already attached. Should I be jealous?”
“Notice how the car does what it’s supposed to and doesn’t say creepy things? Maybe you should take notes.”
“Sure, it takes you from point A to point B, but does it give you earth-shattering orgas—”
“La-la-la-la! Can’t hear you!” Kieran scrambles to turn the radio on, dialing the volume way up.
Ash laughs, loving seeing Kieran so flustered and red to the tips of his ears. He makes himself comfortable and keeps quiet, figuring it’s safer to keep the teasing on the down low since they’ll be going 110km/h.
It takes Kieran a while to relax, side-eyeing Ash every now and then, but once he does, it’s on.
He sings along with some of his favorite songs, way off-key, of course.
Goes over the speed limit when Ash confirms there are no cameras around, grinning from ear to ear.
Flips off a red Porsche when the driver isn’t too happy about being overtaken.
Ash watches him while Kieran watches the road, infected by his good mood. Seeing him smiling and happy isn’t a rare occurrence, not anymore, but it never fails to awaken a swarm of butterflies in his stomach. Kieran’s just…so fucking beautiful when he’s happy. When he’s free to be himself.
“Exit in five hundred,” Ash tells him as they approach State Route 3.
Kieran squints at the exit sign. “Burleigh Heads? Are you kidding? Posh people live there.” He takes pause and gives Ash a judgmental once-over. “Makes sense, actually.”
Ash smiles, looking forward to Kieran’s reaction when they finally arrive.
He doesn’t have to wait long.
By the time they pull into the underground parking garage, Kieran’s already suspicious. And once they walk into the apartment, he completely short-circuits.
“No. Fucking. Way.” He looks around in disbelief, nearly shutting the door in Ash’s face. “We live here? I live here?”
Ash shoulders his way into the apartment, hands full with their respective luggage. “Sure do.”
Watching Kieran’s face morph through five stages of disbelief is everything.
Ash, being the big sucker for fancy things that he is, wasn’t much better when he first came to inspect the place.
Open, airy, and drenched in natural light.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the endless stretch of the ocean, sun glittering off the waves.
The furnishings are what makes it look lived-in.
The sectional sofa is big and comfortable, scattered with mismatched throw pillows that Kieran picked up from Kmart because he liked the comic book patterns.
Each room is painted a different color, because Ash secretly believes in color therapy.
A few framed photos are set along the TV unit and hanging on the walls.
A plant in the corner—an unsolicited move-in gift from Zeke—has somehow survived a whole year (Ash is starting to suspect it might be enchanted).
The kitchen is all black stone and steel, but the counter is lined with their favorite mugs and pots with herbs.
It’s neat and organized because Ash would lose his mind otherwise, but it’s still warm and cozy. Theirs.
“How much was it?”
“A little over two mill.”
Kieran stumbles back, as if Ash is a wife who just informed her husband she spent thousands of dollars on a designer handbag.
“There’s no way I could afford to pay even a half of—oh my god.” Kieran’s hands fly to his hair, pulling in all directions. “Am I your kept man?!”
I wish. “How much do you think my job pays?” It does pay well, but not that well.
“I don’t know…”
“You paid for most of it.”
“There’s no way.” Kieran shakes his head resolutely. “Did I win the lottery or what?”
“You did,” Ash confirms, even though he’s sure the question was only rhetorical.
“Excuse me?!”
“I only put it together when I saw you react to the car,” Ash begins casually. Parking the luggage out of the way, he interlocks his fingers behind his back and pulls until his spine gives a few delicious pops. “You must’ve looked up previous draws and memorized them before returning to your time.”
He kept thinking about it while they drove here.
They had been in a relationship for less than a year when Kieran brought up moving in together, but he was also adamant he didn’t want to just move into Ash’s place (Kieran’s apartment was out of the question anyway, since they’d never fit there).
He wanted something that would be theirs, a place to start fresh and make into whatever they wanted, together.
Ash was, of course, more than happy to oblige and began scouring real estate websites.
Then one day, Kieran sent him a link to a listing for this unit, but looking at the starting price, Ash was convinced it was a joke.
Told Kieran that, as much as he wanted to give into his every whim, they needed to keep it a little more realistic, unless one of them won the lottery.
To which Kieran replied with, “Okay, I will.”
Two weeks later, he did just that. He explained it away with, “Law of attraction, baby! I had a dream about the lottery numbers.”
The little minx knew very well Ash is a believer in most things spiritual and supernatural, and used it against him!
But still, it’s embarrassing how gullible Ash had been.
Back then, Kieran had already learned to fortify his mind against intrusion, so Ash couldn’t even check if he was lying (not that he’d tried).
After taking a good, long while to process the news, Kieran shouts, “I’m a genius! Maybe this time-travel shit isn’t all bad!” Turning a cheeky grin on Ash, he says, “I guess that makes you my kept man.”
Throwing his head back, Ash laughs. “I guess it does.” He’ll happily take on that title.
His grin slipping, Kieran eyes him curiously. “How come you’re not reprimanding me?”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. You seem, you know…” He gestures vaguely in Ash’s direction. “The righteous type. You could give me shit for messing with timelines, or using this experience for personal gain.”
“That would be very hypocritical of me.”
“Huh?”
“I assure you, I’m as far from righteous as one can be.
” Just thinking of all the times he’s used his powers for personal gain…
As in, something he does every day. But hey, the world hasn’t ended yet, so all’s good.
“And Kieran, you’re here for a reason. No one prepared you for this, and it’s naturally quite a mindfuck for you.
You have every right to milk this experience for personal gain. Plus, I gained from it too.”
“You can be surprisingly reasonable,” Kieran admits, sounding like he’s not sure how to feel about it. In fact, he looks a little annoyed that Ash’s personality includes some positive traits.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
Kirean laughs, genuine and carefree, the way Ash knows and loves.
“Coffee?” he suggests when Kieran stretches his arms overhead and lets out the biggest yawn ever.
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you go explore, and I’ll make the coffee?”
“Good idea. But just so you know, if I find any stashed porn, we’re breaking up,” Kieran mock-threatens.
“Hate to break it to you, but if you find any, it’s yours. I don’t watch porn.” And who keeps that stashed anyway? Everything is online these days.
Kieran scoffs. “Yeah, right. Everyone watches porn.”
“That’s wildly inaccurate. There are many people who—”
“Yeah, yeah, fine. Most people do. And my point is, there’s no way you don’t.”
“What makes you think so?”
“You’re a perv, duh.”
“You’re correct on that part, but I don’t see what that has to do with porn watching.”
“That’s because…I mean…it makes sense that…”
Ash struggles not to laugh. Watching Kieran confuse himself will never get old.
“Maybe leave big philosophical questions until after you’ve had coffee.”
“Oh, fuck you. You’re just gaslighting me! You know what I mean!”
“I do, but I’m trying to get you to figure out why that assumption is incorrect.”
“Uh-huh. Are you gonna claim you don’t watch porn because you’re in a relationship with me and you don’t feel like fulfilling your needs somewhere else? Or better yet, that watching porn is basically cheating?”
“I mean, you do keep me satisfied…”