20. Casey
Casey
T he aroma of my favorite breakfast burrito recipe usually made my mouth water. Today, though, I felt a knot of unease in my stomach. Something had been off about Kai the night before. I supposed it could have all been housing worries, but it felt like more.
What if he'd been so awkward because I'd brought up the topic of romance and dating? He'd been fine once we'd gone to bed together, fine as we kissed and cuddled and fucked late into the night. Perhaps I'd read things wrong. Perhaps all he wanted was sex.
My stomach flip-flopped as Yara wandered into the kitchen, dressed for a day in her glassblowing studio. I plated the food and carried three plates over, even though I wasn't sure where Kai had gone.
"Lots of work in the studio today?" I asked.
"I don't know," Yara said vaguely. "Rowan helped me put up a website for the glass sex toys, and I have to check it this morning to see how it's doing."
"Ah. Hopefully you have a good number of orders. I have to be at work in about thirty minutes. Is Kai not joining us?"
Kai had spent the night in our bed, and the morning buried deep inside me, so I'd expected him to have breakfast with us. I put a plate in front of Yara and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. Her curls tickled my nose, and I couldn't resist inhaling the familiar scent of her favorite coconut shampoo.
Yara shook her head, her expression pensive. "He left. He went to see an apartment in town."
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and suddenly, the food didn't seem so appetizing. I sliced the burrito in half and added a drizzle of hot sauce, watching it slide over the warm tortilla. The thought of Kai not being nearby, not sharing our space, our lives—it left a hollow ache inside me.
"An apartment?" I said absently. "Why would he need an apartment?"
She huffed out a frustrated breath. "Because my brother is moving back. Remember?"
I frowned. "So, wouldn't Kai move in with us?"
Yara stared at me, blinking as she took a little bite of her burrito. "If that's the plan, you forgot to mention it to Kai. Or me."
"I've gotten really used to having Kai close by," I admitted. The thought of him moving away felt like pulling a thread on a tightly wound sweater, threatening to unravel everything. "Haven't you?"
"I have." Yara's smile turned wicked. "And he fucks you so good?"
"And you. You like his cock, too." The memory of this morning surged up unbidden, sending a jolt straight to my groin. I groaned softly, unable to stop the twitch in my cock as I recalled the way Kai had fucked me against the cool tiles of the shower. His strong hands gripping my hips, his breath hot against my ear as he thrust into me with a fierce intensity that left me trembling.
"I know what you two were doing in the shower while I took that call with a supplier," Yara teased. "I could hear the moans, and I almost hung up and raced in to join you."
"He hits me somewhere just right." I could still feel the slick heat of his body, the way he filled me completely, leaving no room for anything but pure sensation. And when I'd finally turned him around, pushing him against the bathroom sink, taking his ass with a hunger that hadn't been sated... I shook my head and glanced at my wife. "Sorry, I shouldn't be thinking horny thoughts right now."
She reached out and rubbed her hand down the hardening length of my cock. "I like you horny. Maybe you'll want to have some sexy fun before you leave for work?"
"Sex is a good idea. But first, we convince him to stay?"
"And kick my brother out? We can't do that. Sage owns the cabin?"
"Yara, stop playing. I meant we need to convince him to stay at our house. Take things to the next level. If he wants to."
She sighed. "Fuck, I hope he wants to."
"Do you..." I hesitated, suddenly worrying that I was reading the situation wrong. "Do you think he wants to go instead? It seems like he leaped at the chance to find his own place."
Yara's hand froze mid-air, her fork hovering just inches from her lips. Slowly, a smile began to creep across her face, spreading like sunlight breaking through morning mist. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and something deeper—hope, maybe? "I don't know. We have to try."
"We'd be sharing everything," I said, feeling the weight of that word. Everything meant waking up tangled in sheets and cooking breakfast together every morning. Everything meant the chores and the housekeeping, not just stolen glances over coffee cups. And I could imagine it with him and Yara, our days filled with joy and sex and those heated moments when words weren't necessary. "It's a huge step."
"But a worthwhile step." Yara set down her food and leaned forward. Her eyes were alight with determination. "He fits so perfectly, babe. You see it, don't you?"
"Of course I do. And we need to make sure he knows that this isn't just about convenience or our horny need to fuck him constantly. It's about turning this into something more."
"Absolutely," I nodded, feeling a surge of resolve.
"Well then," Yara said, grinning broadly. "Looks like we've got to come up with a plan, Mr. Planner. And you're taking the day off work."
"I am?"
She reached out and rubbed my hand. "Call in. We need to resolve this before Kai decides to put down a deposit. He doesn't have a lot of money, and I don't want him to waste it."
"Alright," I said, pushing my half-eaten burrito aside and sending a quick email to my boss. I rarely called off work, and there wasn't a big deadline looming so a personal day would be fine. I didn't even need to wait for a response to know that. "How do we approach this? We can't just blurt it out over dinner. We need him to take us seriously." I leaned back in my chair. The wooden creak under my weight was a familiar sound, grounding me as I considered the gravity of our next steps. "We need to show him that this isn't spur of the moment. That it's... everything."
"Well," Yara mused, twirling a curly strand of hair around her finger. "Maybe we start by reminding him how much he means to us. How integral he's become to our lives." She paused, her voice softening. "How much we love him."
"Love him," I echoed, feeling the truth of those words settle deep within me. They were the right words. The perfect words. "Should we offer him the guest bedroom?"
"God no," Yara shook her head, looking horrified. "We need him in our goddamn bed. And where would our guests sleep?"
I burst out laughing. "Babe, I meant as an office! So he has his own space. You have your studio, I have my workshop in the garage—"
"And the kitchen."
I snorted. "The kitchen belongs to everyone."
"Yeah, tell that to the guy who gave me a twenty-minute lecture on properly storing his knives."
"They're expensive knives!"
"Anyway, let's go take a look at Kai's future office. We'll need a solution for guests, but that's only a few times a year, around the holidays."
"Guests can sort themselves out. Making Kai feel welcome is more important." I pushed back from the table, leaving my half-eaten breakfast behind. "We need to show him how much he means to us. Show him that this is forever."
She grabbed my hand and tugged me back to the guest bedroom, which was currently set up with a queen sized bed and two nightstands. Yara spun around, talking excitedly about how we could make the space nice for Kai, and fueled by that energy, we decided to go shopping. The drive into town was filled with a mixture of anticipation and nervous excitement as we discussed
We arrived at Greendale's main business district, parking in front of one of the small, expensive furniture boutiques that catered to people decorating their vacation homes. Usually, this kind of shop would be a bit out of our price range, but I planned to spare no expense in making Kai feel welcome. As we walked inside, the smell of polished wood and new upholstery greeted us.
"Office sets," Yara said, scanning the showroom. "Where do you think they are?"
"Probably in the back," I guessed, leading the way past rows of sleek sofas and armchairs.
"Look at this one," Yara exclaimed, stopping in front of a setup that looked the right size for our guest room. A big, sprawling desk made from reclaimed barn wood, with a matching bookshelf and plenty of storage.
"But how does this all fit with the bed?" I asked. "Or do we just throw the bed out." We did still need a guest room when our families came to visit, but I supposed we could buy a sleeper sofa, too. I walked back through the showroom, trying to figure out how we could make the space work as Kai's office without losing the original function, until my eyes landed on the perfect solution — a big, gorgeous wood cabinet holding a murphy bed.