Chapter 5 #6
I did close the door after me, though.
Ash sat back against the railing and dug out his phone. “For the record, my folks never paid Theo and me for doing chores. That’s some modern bullshit we put up with.”
My mouth twitched. “You’re hoping that Lynda and Geoff will help you with the down payment for an RV, honey.
I think they’ve paid you plenty.” And I hadn’t exactly forgotten the rest. A part of our wedding, tuition for the children one year, Dylan’s most expensive golf clubs, “some extra cash” for various vacations… The list went on.
“Now I regret telling you my master plan,” he muttered, eyes on his phone. “I texted James to come over and bring Jordan.”
Oh. Oh, okay. I was ready.
“What do you want with your chicken?” he asked next.
“If you order now, we gotta leave in the next five minutes.”
He waved that off. “I’m just makin’ a list. I’ll order when we get in the car.”
That made more sense. “Uh…get a mix of the brussels sprouts, the rice, and the corn for all of us.”
If we let the kids decide, we’d end up with a bunch of fries, garlic bread, and mac and cheese.
“And extra sauce for everyone that you and I will steal,” he finished. “Perfect. Done.”
I chuckled.
With that out of the way, I was curious about his thoughts on what Dylan might want from us—but those thoughts flew out the window when I saw a man leave the house next door. They had a porch similar to ours, but maybe a touch smaller.
Ash followed my gaze and scratched his bicep absently.
“James, I presume?” It was my guess anyway.
“Yeah.” Ash rose to his feet and trailed over to the short end. “James!”
James looked over here.
The door was still open, so Jordan was probably on his way out too.
“Is he shy?” Ash asked.
James smirked.
A much shorter guy poked his head out behind the door. “I’m not shy!”
I couldn’t help but grin. He was wearing a hoodie of some sort with ears. Bear ears or dog ears, I wasn’t sure.
It was clear that James was coaxing Jordan out, and it seemed to work after a while. But that wasn’t a hoodie. Jordan was in a onesie. Like the pajamas our children had worn as toddlers.
If I found that adorable on a grown man, Ash didn’t stand a chance as a Daddy Dom.
As if he heard my thoughts, he turned around and shook his head in amusement. “Unless he’s working or running errands, he’s always in one of those onesies. I think he owns like twenty.”
Impressive.
He came over to me and slipped his hand into mine. “Lemme introduce you.”
Okay, time for a deep breath. This was going to go well.
Right?
I swallowed hard as we trailed down the porch steps.
Ash threaded our fingers together and gave my hand a squeeze.
We’re in this together.
I exhaled.
James was certainly…very, very handsome.
He and Ash shared that rough-around-the-edges, bad-boy look.
Except James was slightly shorter, not as broad-shouldered, not as stocky.
Sun-kissed, charming blue eyes, a smile that bordered on a smirk, and yet…
I detected something sweet and almost demure about him.
He flicked a glance my way that lasted less than a second.
“Baby, I want you to meet the best neighbors we could ask for.” Ash squeezed my hand again. “James, we work together. Jordan, the brat who knows his way around cooking and making trouble. Guys, this is my husband, Nathan.”
I smiled politely and shook hands with James first. “Very nice to meet you, James. Ash has told me a lot about you.”
“Yeah, definitely—I mean, it’s real nice to meet you too.” He cleared his throat and took a step back. I liked his accent. He was Southern. “I think I know everythin’ about you at this point.”
“Close to it.” Ash grinned.
I was gonna ask him about that later.
I tilted my head as Jordan extended his hand, but he seemed to struggle with eye contact far more than his husband. In fact, I was sure the hood on his pajamas felt like protection to him when it fell down past his forehead like that. The boy was in hiding.
“Hello, Mister Rigger, I’m Jordan,” he said shyly. “I was so happy to hear that you and Mister Ash reunited.”
I shook his hand—not as firmly as I’d shaken James’s hand. “That’s sweet of you, Jordan.”
Ash, who couldn’t spell finesse, ruffled the boy’s head and pushed back the hood.
“There’s no reason to be scared, kiddo. You’ll eventually beg Nathan to torture you.”
Jesus.
Jordan shot Ash a scowl, which was just fucking cute, but I guessed I was standing too close, because he got stuck on me a beat later.
He was undeniably gorgeous, and I recognized those beautiful eyes from his profile picture online. This was Lilducky, who’d signed up for my session tonight.
Those freckles were something else too.
“I’ll need a test subject for tonight,” I mentioned.
He blinked. “Um.” Then he stepped back and pointed at James. “He can do it.”
I smirked faintly. “That’s fair. I know brats aren’t…you know.”
He knitted his brows and tried to stand taller. “Aren’t what?”
I leaned forward as if I were going to whisper a secret. “Brave.”
Ash rumbled a laugh. “Yeah, that’s a rumor we’ve debunked repeatedly.”
Truly.
The corners of Jordan’s eyes tightened. “I can totally do it! I will do it!” He locked eyes with me. “I will do it. Sir.”
Adorable.
“We’ll see.” I smiled. “Nobody’s getting up there with me if I think they’ve been taunted or pressured into it.”
James cleared his throat. “I, uh…don’t feel pressured.”
Good to know.
“But I wanna do it,” Jordan argued weakly.
James shot him a cocky little look. “Then you should’ve volunteered yourself instead of me.” He glanced back at Ash and me. “Is there a dress code?”
I shook my head. “Come as you are. People show up in everything from jeans and tees to underwear.” That applied to Jordan as well. “And you wouldn’t be the first Little to join the Pajama Parade out there if you wish to wear that at Mclean.”
Jordan’s relief was instant. “Really? That’s awesome. Maybe next time, though. I picked out a pair of cute briefs for tonight.”
I was definitely looking forward to that.