Chapter Thirty-Nine
Kendrick
“How did the pool date go?” Trey’s inquiry brought Kendrick’s attention to his friend from the cash register.
He was leaning his hip against the counter at the back of the bar, staring at him with interest. The Sunday lunch crowd had ensured Kendrick dived right into work, which prevented him getting twenty seconds to chat with Trey.
It helped stop him grumping at having to come to work, a state he’d only been in since his return from vacation.
“Monty is so fucking cute and playful in his shifted form.” Kendrick had gotten Trey to reach out to Thorn Vaughn to ask about using the pool privately as a surprise introduction for their animal sides.
“And Rue?”
Kendrick motioned for Trey to wait while he went to give the customer their change. He checked to see if anyone else needed serving. Seeing no one, he walked back to Trey and mimicked his pose.
“Huge and playful, it turns out.” Kendrick had been amazed at just how playful. His bear's side was cheeky, but so was Rue’s rhino. The man was far more serious, not that Kendrick minded at all. Monty balanced things out.
Trey laughed and slapped him on the shoulder playfully. “I can see your bear loving that.”
“Of course…” Kendrick frowned, recalling Dacian’s behavior and what his bear didn’t love. “Peculiar thing when we got there, though. Dacian came to greet us and got all up in Monty’s space.”
He hadn’t really talked with Rue about the way Dacian had acted, bar mentioning it when they entered the pool area.
He’d set it aside after seeing Monty in the pool, but that didn’t mean he was going to let it go.
Kendrick planned to go back to the winery without Monty or Rue and make a point that both men were taken, even if Dacian seemed more interested in Monty.
There was no harm in laying it out so there was no misunderstanding.
“He did? I find him a bit more reserved around folks. You know, distant, though he’s friendly enough when you talk to him.”
“He took friendly to a whole new level this morning with Monty! Do you know what kind of shifter he is?”
Trey shook his head. “Never figured it out. The brothers don’t have a scent that gives any clues.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” And wasn’t that odd?
“Anyway, what’s with you? When you came in, you weren’t your normal sunny self. It wasn’t the face of a man who’d had a fun outing this morning with his boyfriends. What caused it?”
“You know how you felt about the time apart from Cass,”—at his nod, Kendrick rubbed a hand over the back of his neck—“I’m feeling the same. I hate leaving them.” He hit the center of his chest with his other hand. “It’s like a mule has kicked me, right here.”
Trey’s sigh said it all before he uttered, “You’re gonna resign, aren’t you?”
“I’m thinking about it. I own the house and have some savings. They’re here for what, six months, if I’m lucky?” He really didn’t want to dwell on that, when it would lead down a spiral of despair.
“I don’t wanna waste the time I could have with them working.” Laying it out helped put it into perspective for him, but he could see the worry in Trey’s eyes. “Don’t stress, I’m not gonna just abandon you.” He wouldn’t do that, they were friends first. “The new guys are working out great.”
“They are,” Trey agreed. “What about dropping your hours? Do fewer evenings? Have the weekends off?”
Kendrick could see Trey trying to work it out to meet both their needs, and he was grateful for it. “That could work temporarily.”
He would not commit to long term when he had no clue what that would look like for him.
Monty and Rue had a life elsewhere. This was temporary for them, and he needed to keep that at the forefront to push him to live in the now.
“I can assess who can do what to cover you and me.” Trey would need more time when Cassidy gave birth, and the days were counting down.
“I’ll take that.” Trey shifted off the counter to go when someone called his name. “Just keep me in the loop.”
“Will do.”
It was all he could think about throughout the rest of his shift. The crossover into the evening went smoothly with Paddy coming in early, giving Kendrick a chance to leave half an hour earlier than planned.
When he pulled up outside the front of his house, he ran a hand over the middle of his chest. The increased thudding at coming home to two men who held his heart in their hands, whether they knew it or not, let him know how invested he was.
The shadows flickered from the TV beyond the window, and he got out of the truck hurriedly, imagining himself snuggling on the couch between his guys before he took them to bed like he’d promised.
Entering the house, the homely scent of cookies greeted him. It was with mixed emotions that he shut the door. Monty baked when upset or happy. Earlier, when he’d left, he’d say it was the first and not the second that had the house smelling like a bakery at Thanksgiving.
“I’m home,” he called out, despite knowing they’d have heard him come in. He kicked off his cowboy boots and shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it up before heading straight for the living room when no one appeared.
In the open doorway, he stopped, frowning at finding the room empty. He listened out, but heard nothing from above. The TV was on low, and he went and switched it off. Were they both asleep?
He went into the kitchen to check he hadn’t missed something and found it empty and spotless. He suspected that was Rue’s doing with the number of tubs filled with cookies on the counter. Messy Monty could create a disaster zone without trying when he was baking.
Checking the house was locked up, cuddles looked like the only thing he’d be getting tonight. He had no problem with that. Retracing his steps, he headed upstairs.
He heard Monty giggle and Rue shush him, and he was grinning before he opened the bedroom door.
Dang it, how did I get so fucking lucky?
Monty lounged like a sexy siren in Kendrick’s chair—naked and on display. Rue was sitting in the center of the bed, looking sexy as fuck, all flushed and aroused, his cock at full mast.
“What’s this? Did you think to get this party started without me?” Kendrick didn’t think so. They were waiting for him. Entering the room, he reached to unbutton his shirt, his senses firing in all different directions at the intention rolling off both men. What was he missing here?
“Absolutely not,” Monty informed him, a devilish light sparking in the depths of his eyes. “But you aren’t in charge tonight. We’ve decided that I am.”
He didn’t miss the ‘we’ and, as aroused as he was by the sight of his men naked, Kendrick’s cock went from semi-hard to full fucking mast at the intention behind Monty’s bold statement. Kendrick’s eyes narrowed with speculation on Rue before switching to Monty, playing along.
“Is that so?” He undid the cuffs of his shirt, coming to a stop at the side of the bed.
“It is. But first, I’ve a question—”
“We’ve a question,” Rue interjected, chuckling.
“We’ve got a question,” Monty stated with an eye roll at Rue.
“And what’s that?” Kendrick had his shirt off, dropping it to reach for his belt.
“Where do you see this relationship going?” Monty’s voice was full of nerves that weren’t there a moment ago.
Kendrick’s own danced under his skin like ants had invaded his body.
It was difficult to hold still when he once more looked at Rue, assessing what they were after.
His guarded expression gave little away, but the tension in his body betrayed him.
Then Kendrick looked closely at Monty. There was the love that he’d declared to Rue, aimed directly at him.
It took a second to release the air from his lungs and find the ability to speak.
“I talked to Trey today about quitting to spend time with you both.” He shoved open his fly to release the pressure off his erection, but his attention never wavered from the two men in front of him.
“I don’t want to waste any of the time we have while you’re here. Does that answer your question?”
“How would you feel about a more permanent arrangement?” rasped Rue, the words barely more than a whisper. He pointed between himself and Monty. “With us.”
That he was the one to ask was all the declaration Kendrick needed about Rue’s true feelings. “I’d ask, ‘where do I sign up for that’?”
Monty nodded towards the bed. “Right there. You with mine and Rue’s dick inside you at the same time so I can fuck you both and we claim you the way we want.”
Kendrick bent forward, breathless, hands hitting his knees with how dizzy he felt. His dick hurt at the visual while his ass clamped tight at how that would feel when neither man was small.
“Fuck,” came the raw curse through a voice box that tried to mince the word.
“Is that a yes?” Monty questioned, sounding far from certain.
A hand touched his shoulder, and he wheezed out a breath, nodding vigorously.
A dark, sexy chuckle came from the man on the bed. “I think we’ve rendered Kendrick speechless.”
Lifting his head, Kendrick fired an incendiary look at Rue.
“When I fuck into you, my dick up against Rue’s, know this: I’m going to own both of you for eternity,” Monty growled right into his ear.
Rue and Kendrick groaned in unison, both sounding pained.
“I’ve created a monster,” Kendrick complained when Monty skipped to the end of the bed.
When Kendrick felt able to stand upright without embarrassing himself at the loss of blood to his head when it vacated to another part of his anatomy, he straightened.
It seemed his body was fully on board with Monty’s plans for the rest of the night.
Monty patted the mattress. “Climb up, big boy, and straddle Rue’s lap facing the end of the bed.” He waggled his brows and held up a tube of lube, his expression sparking some concern when it was pure naughtiness. “We need to prep you.”