Chapter Thirty-Two
Jace
Mom walked into my studio, and I nearly dropped the can of spray paint I was holding when I saw her standing in the door.
I’d come here for a few hours to finish up one of the paintings I was working on for the rehab facility after Kayden left my condo to sequester himself away and finalize his designs.
Olivia had texted to tell us that she was taking Kaylee to the hospital for Sunday visiting hours and would be there with her mom and Carl for the day.
When Liv and I had gotten back to my place after our date, Kayden looked like he’d thoroughly enjoyed his one-on-one time with Kaylee, despite his very obvious tiredness of having spent a full day with a toddler.
He’d smiled at us when Olivia and I had walked in holding hands, dropping them quickly before Kaylee noticed.
Liv made it clear she didn’t want Kaylee to have any more changes or uncertainty right now, which meant no obvious signs that we were together romantically until we knew exactly what we were going to say to her.
She’d also told me she was happy that Kayden and I often spent the night together.
She said she preferred it to knowing that I was alone, since sleepovers for her and I weren’t really an option yet.
I planned to start going into the office an hour early each morning so Liv could clear me an extra hour for lunch.
That way, I could have some alone time with her every day, and I would be spending more evenings at her place for dinner with her and Kaylee too.
“I didn’t expect you here this morning,” I said to Mom as I pulled the N-95 mask down off my face. Spray paint had always been my favorite medium but there were necessary safety precautions to take when using it, especially inside.
“I came in to review a couple of submissions from a new artist. I ran out of time last week and didn’t want them to wait much longer,” she said, looking me over. “You look a lot better than you did a few weeks ago.”
I can’t believe it’s been that long. We had a pretty close family, and I usually saw them more often, but I supposed over the last couple of years with Leo’s hockey schedule and the time I spent with Liv and Kaylee, it had become more typical to go a few weeks in between visits.
“Yeah, things are really good,” I said. “Kayden and Kaylee have met a few times, and Liv seems happy. They all do.”
“You look happy, Jace,” Mom said.
A grin took over my face. “I am. I really am. I’m in love with them, Mom.”
“I know.” She chuckled. “That was really obvious a few weeks ago. So, the three of you are…figuring it out?”
I laughed and set down the can of spray paint. “How are you not batting an eye at this? It’s like you expected me to be in a relationship with two people at once.”
“Ima and I have been talking about it, and we suspected this was the direction things would go. You’ve been in love with Liv since you met her, Jace, and your agony over Kayden’s feelings made it obvious you were falling in love with him too.”
“Still, most people assume that means their child will have to make an impossible decision.”
She shrugged. “Aren’t you glad your moms are not like most parents?”
“Every day.” I pulled her into a hug while trying to keep my paint-splattered body from pressing against her T-shirt and jeans.
She hugged me and rubbed my back. “You know we love you, and we already love Liv, but when you’re ready, we’d like to meet Kayden too.”
“Of course. They’re still navigating their relationship but”—I smiled hopefully—“am I insane to think this is going to work out? There are definitely feelings between them; they both made that clear to me. I think they could fall in love with each other too and that makes me so happy I want to pinch myself to make sure this is my life.”
Mom laughed. “If you love both of them, then I have no doubt they could love each other too. I’m willing to bet they’re both pretty special.”
“They are. They really are.” I smiled, getting lost in visions of the three of us building a life together.
I tipped my head back and groaned as I remembered that not everyone would be quite as accepting as my moms. “No matter what happens next, a nontraditional relationship is going to raise a lot of questions and judgment. All I want to do is protect them from that.”
Mom squeezed my shoulder. “Look, Ima and I have a less-traditional marriage than society would have you believe is normal. But you know what I believe?”
I shook my head.
“Other people are just suppressing the shit out of what they really want. Most people choose one partner because that’s what society makes us believe we have to do.
If the three of you end up loving each other and you want to build your lives together, then fuck society.
Fuck the world. Build your life together and never look back, Jace.
Because when your life is over, the only thing that really matters is that you spent it the way you wanted to.
No one will praise you for forcing yourself into society’s definition of normal when you were built for something different. ”
“I love you, Mom,” I said.
“Of course you do, I’m awesome.” She turned to look at my painting of a man with glasses sitting next to a dark-haired woman with a nose ring at a bar.
She had a glass of wine in her hand, and he held a glass of sparkling water.
“That’s gorgeous by the way. I can feel your love for the subjects pouring off the canvas.
You should really keep this one for yourself. ”
I glanced at it again. I’d started painting it without any conscious thought about what it was going to be, but art had always been like that for me. I’d start spraying the can and something would appear in front of me as if I’d painted it all subconsciously.
“You want to grab lunch when I’m done here?” I asked as she turned to leave.
“Yeah, I’ll call Ima too. She owes me twenty bucks.”
I laughed. “For what?”
“For you telling them both you were in love with them before Thanksgiving.” She looked back over her shoulder at me. “I did win that bet, right?”
I shook my head. “Yeah, you won.”
Kayden and I walked back to my condo after dinner, hand-in-hand, and the knowledge that I’d held his hand and kissed him in public tonight still made my heart race with excitement despite this being our norm now.
The only thing that had made me happier was listening to Kayden tell me all about his day with Kaylee yesterday.
We’d spent last night talking about my afternoon with Olivia—though I’d left out her intention to ask him out, since it didn’t feel like my place to tell him.
He’d been so happy for us and then became so turned on when I told him about the moment we’d shared on her couch that we’d stopped talking before we’d even gotten to discuss his afternoon with Kaylee.
But tonight, she was all he could talk about and he looked absolutely stunning, beaming in the glow of fatherhood. Part of me wanted to record him and send it to Liv because I knew if I did, her love for him would be locked and loaded. Deal closed.
He pulled me against his chest as I fumbled with the door and kissed me slowly and deeply. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this, and I want you to fuck me tonight,” he whispered against my lips.
My dick twitched and I gave up on opening the door. “That sounds phenomenal.” I cupped his face in both hands. “I want to do that because you want it, not because you think I need it from you. I’m very happy, Kayd.”
“I know,” he said, pulling my hips against his. His dick hardened against me. “I’ve been wanting to do it for a while. I want to feel you inside me. I want to share that level of intimacy with you.”
I smiled and gave him a soft kiss. “I love you.” I pushed the front door open and kissed his neck as I pulled him into the condo with me.
“I love you too.” He palmed my erection through my jeans and bit my lip lightly. “I can’t wait to see your face when you come inside me for the first time.”
“Or what I can do with my piercing?” I teased.
He moaned deeply. “Fuck me. Literally, Jace. I need you to fuck me now.”
I chuckled, pulling us toward the bedroom. “I thought we were going to work on the rehab facility, but this is a hundred times better.”
Kayden laughed. “Play first, work later.”
We kissed our way to the bedroom, shedding clothes along the way until we were both naked and Kayden lay flat on his back beneath me.
I kissed down his chest and took his dick in my mouth as I popped open a bottle of lube.
I positioned myself between his legs and pressed one finger inside, gently warming him up.
He groaned in pleasure as I pushed past the ring of muscle and sucked his cock.
“More,” he cried.
I chuckled and lifted myself off his dick as I pushed a second finger inside. “You’re always asking for more.”
“Because you’re always insisting on stretching me slowly. I want your dick in me, Jace.”
I kissed the divots of his hips, swirling my tongue on his skin.
There was a small scar on the left side that he’d told me came from a cigarette burn courtesy of his father many years ago.
Ever since, I made a point to kiss him a little extra in that spot when I went down on him, as if I could somehow love away all the hatred he’d experienced earlier in his life.
I pushed a third finger into his ass and moved my fingers around, getting him ready for me.
My dick leaked against his leg in anticipation.
I’d been wanting to fuck Kayden since the moment I saw him in that bar, but I’d never asked again after he said no the first time, and I never would have, despite how badly I wanted it.
“Jace,” he groaned. “Please.”
“Alright, alright,” I said, withdrawing my fingers and squirting lube into my hand. “Lift your knees, baby.”