Obvious

by R. G. Alexander

  He responded exactly the way Matthew expected him to. With a dangerous glint in his eye. “Does he now? I think we should prove him wrong, don’t you, Matty?”

  “Hell yes.”

  “I should,” Oliver spoke up, quiet but adamant. “Show me how to prove him wrong.”

  William’s smile was pure approval. “Good man. Now that we’ve got that settled, I saw a problem with that last maneuver of yours. I’ll try that bear hug this time, all right, Ollie? You do your best to throw me off.”

  Oliver stared at Matthew with big eyes, mouthing, “Ollie?”

  He grinned as his brother wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. Then William caught his eye and Matthew knew they’d be having a conversation about what he’d walked in on at the soonest available opportunity.

  But there was no doubt in his mind that his brother would always be in his corner.

  He’d had the love thing all wrong, hadn’t he? William loved as deeply, as passionately, as his parents had, but there was nothing selfish about his heart. He could, and did, love his friends, family and his unborn child unconditionally and with equal ferocity.

  That was the kind of love Matthew wanted in his life.

  He watched Oliver struggle and swear as William blocked his footwork and his smile grew.

  That was the kind of love he’d fight for.

  Three months later…

  “Oh fuck, baby, we can’t. Not here.”

  Matthew growled against the back of Oliver’s neck, the sound echoing off the tiles in the gym shower. “Oh yes, we fucking can. No cameras in the shower, I barred the door and you haven’t spent the night at my place for a week.”

  “It was three days, and I was babysitting, so I suffered more than you did. But I owed Ruben and you still got off, so you can’t complain.”

  Matthew spun Oliver around and gripped his biceps. “Blowjobs in the car are hot, Legs, but they’re just temporary fixes. I only have so much restraint when it comes to you. I’m not waiting anymore.”

  He turned on the water with one hand, nudging his chest into Oliver’s until his back was pressed against the wall.

  “I love it when you get all bossy and impatient. Have I mentioned?” he asked with a happy sigh.

  Matthew kissed him hard on the lips before spinning him around again so his cheek was pressed into the tile. “I know you do. That’s why you spent the entire self-defense class distracting me. Brushing against me. Bending over right in front of me, this perfect ass begging for a ride.”

  Oliver lifted his hips and arched his back, a move that made the cheeks of his ass caress Matthew’s cock. “You know me so well.”

  He learned more every day, Matthew thought with satisfaction as he slipped on his condom and reached for the now ever-present bottle of lube.

  Oliver Garcia was still his obsession, and Matthew knew without a single doubt he always would be.

  Artistic and strong. Stubborn and determined as he was. Private and under wraps unless he was dancing or Matthew pushed him out of his comfort zone.

  For his part, Oliver kept him on his toes and made him dizzy with need for him with a single, sizzling glance. It was an ache that never went away.

  Happy. Oliver made him happy.

  Matthew slid wet fingers between the cheeks of his gorgeous ass, feeling that snug bit of heaven he’d been dying for tighten around him.

  “Oh God,” Oliver groaned, mumbling that mix of English and Spanish he only spoke when he was too turned on to think. “Matty…”

  “What do you want, love?”

  “You know.” Oliver rocked back against his fingers, one hand slipping down the wall to grip his own erection. “You always know.”

  “That’s right.” Matthew pulled his fingers out, spreading those luscious cheeks wide so he could watch Oliver stretch slowly around him. “Fuck, you’re still as tight as the first time.”

  “Dancing,” Oliver huffed out in a daze. “And Kegels.”

  They laughed. And then the only sounds they could make were possessive growls and breathless cries.

  He tangled his fingers in Oliver’s curls, tilting his head back until he could claim his mouth the way he was claiming his body.

  His man.

  The right one.

  When he came, Matthew’s shout was loud and raw as lightning hit him again, sending shockwaves through his body.

  His heart was pounding, lungs struggling as his body slowly recovered. Then he wrapped his arms around Oliver’s limp, shivering frame and guided him toward the water’s soothing spray.

  “That was perfect,” he mumbled.

  Matthew tightened his arms around him. “Close.”

  “Close?” Oliver’s doe eyes popped open in surprise. “Close?”

  “If you lived with me, we could do this whenever we wanted. That would be perfect.”

  Oliver leaned back and pushed his wet curls out of his face. “You want me to live with you?”

  “Did you miss the part in this story where you finally admitted you loved me? I think it happened seven weeks and eighteen hours ago.”

  Oliver’s lips curved adorably. “That’s pretty specific.”

  “Move in with me.”

  “That could be a problem.” He wrapped his arms around Matthew’s shoulders.

  He swore, knowing what his hesitation was about. “It’s always going to be a problem until we fix it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you love me?”

  Oliver’s expression softened. “You know I do.”

  “Then it’s time I met your family.”

  His breath came out in a whoosh. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  He’d never been more serious. He wanted a future with Oliver. He couldn’t have it until Oliver’s family at least knew he existed and accepted his presence. “About you? Always.”

  “Does Kate know?”

  “About you moving in? She loves the idea.” She wasn’t about to move out and miss all the fun, but she’d promised to give them plenty of alone time.

  Oliver didn’t look reassured but he said, “Okay.”

  “Okay?” Matthew couldn’t hide his surprise. “Okay? I was expecting more of a battle.”

  “You’ll get enough of that if I move in with you,” Oliver warned.

  “When you move in with me.”

  “You might change your mind after you meet my family.”

  Matthew smiled, reaching around him to turn off the water. “You seem to forget how good I’ve gotten at handling big families.”

  The knock on the door to the locker room had them both turning their heads.

  “Matthew Finn?” Robert’s shout was irritated. “Godfather Barbie is out here trying to bribe me with cold lasagna. Stop with the exhibitionism and take care of that.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened and he covered his mouth to muffle his laugh. “Is he really still that angry at Rory?”

  “He appears to be.” Matthew reached for a towel and wrapped it around Oliver protectively. “He was only mildly irritated with him until Bronte had the baby.”

  Rory had been at the gym then too, covering the front desk to make up for pestering Robert in the first place. And Bronte had been in a hurry.

  Oliver shook his head, striding toward the lockers with a grace that never stopped stealing Matthew’s breath. “He’s an EMT. It’s not like that was the first time he’s delivered a baby, right? What’s the big deal?”

  Matthew imagined it was partially because Robert had missed the moment. By the time he’d gotten back, William and the ambulance had arrived, and Bronte and the baby were being taken away on the stretcher.

  Then again, it could also have had something to do with the baby’s name.

  Bronte had been so grateful that she’d broken part of the Wayne family literary tradition. The baby’s first name had been chosen for months. William and his father-in-law had made sure of that, finally settling on Irish author, Oscar Wilde. Bronte insisted they a
ll agree to call her son Wiley so the boy wouldn’t be traumatized or be given any ideas before she agreed to the decision.

  But because he’d delivered the baby, Rory had gotten to vote on his middle name. And that, Robert claimed he could never forgive.

  Deveraux. Wilde Deveraux Finn. Another boy named after a famous romance author.

  “He’ll get over it,” Matthew assured him, kissing his cheek as he passed to gather his clothes. “You and I have more important things to worry about than the adventures of Nora and Barbie. And a lot of plans to make. Like how quickly we can get you packed. And what I should bring to the family dinner.”

  And how soon I can start talking about forever.

  Oliver grinned weakly. “This should be fun.”

  Bonus Short:

  More Obvious

  Chapter One

  “This is all your fault.”

  Matthew sat awkwardly at the kitchen table, rubbing his sister’s back. “I know it is.”

  Kate lifted her head and pushed back her hair to glare at him. “Oh, shut it. It’s entirely your fault. You and our overbearing, bloody interfering, big pain in the arse of a brother.”

  “Did you not hear me saying I know?”

  “You don’t mean it and neither do I,” she sniffed, wiping a tear off her cheek and glaring at it instead. “Look at this bullshit. She’s the idiot and I’m sitting here crying about it.”

  This wasn’t how he planned to start his morning. Not with Oliver here. He’d snuck down to try his hand at making breakfast in bed, and found his sister sobbing because her girlfriend had broken up with her.

  “What did she say before she left?”

  Kate got to her feet and pushed up the sleeves of her pajama top, methodically untwisting the bread tie and slipping two slices out to pop into the toaster. “She said Larry was right to look for something better, and it was time she did the same.”

  Matthew winced. “Oi. That was uncalled for.”

  “Right?” She swore at her mass of wayward hair and wrapped it up into a loose bun. “I am the best girlfriend either of them will ever have. No judgments. No nagging. No jealousy. Was that good enough for them?”

  The fierce question in her blazing blue eyes had Matthew leaning back in his chair. “No?”

  “No.” Her toast popped up and she slammed open a drawer to grab a butter knife. “I gave them space to be themselves, good times and laughs, not to mention the best sex of their lives—”

  “I don’t need to hear—”

  “And because of one thing,” she raised her voice to talk over him. “Because I didn’t tell her about William’s anniversary party, she tells me that I never loved her. Can you believe it?”

  Oh. Matthew glanced at the butter knife still clutched dangerously in her hand. “Want to put that down, love?”

  He joined her at the counter, nudging her back toward the table while buttering her toast for her and pouring her a glass of orange juice.

  Kate sat down and propped her chin on her hand, staring at him with red-rimmed eyes when he slid the plate in her direction. “You think she’s right.”

  Matthew sighed and braced his hands on the back of his chair. “We’ve always been straight with one another, yeah? You cared about Zo, true enough. And Larry was a laugh. But love?” He shook his head. “I think you know that’s not what you were feeling for either one of them.”

  She bit into her toast and Matthew sat down again, knowing she needed to work through this, talk through it, to be able to let it go. Oliver and breakfast would have to wait.

  He wanted her to find love the way he had. She’d been through as much as the rest of them. More, since she’d been the only girl and Grump and William were overly protective. Her fearless nature and good looks had gotten her into all kinds of trouble until they’d gotten out of Ireland for a fresh start.

  Calamity had gone a little wild with her first taste of freedom. Wanting to learn everything. Experience everything. Date anyone she wanted. Often two at a time.

  Their cousins Jen and Rory were her two favorites, and he knew part of that had to do with them both finding happiness and balance in poly relationships. He wasn’t sure if she was set on that for her future, but she was young yet. Maybe too young to commit the way she thought she wanted to.

  Oliver is younger.

  That was completely different.

  “Did you fight after William’s visit yesterday?”

  She nodded glumly. Their brother had stopped by with a fat baby strapped to his chest and a pep in his step Matthew hadn’t seen in a while.

  “Wilde’s sleeping through the night again and Bronte’s been giving me the eye,” was more than he’d ever needed to hear about William’s love life, so he’d excused himself to get ready for Oliver’s arrival.

  “I walked in as he was telling Zo what a shame it was that she hadn’t been able to come to the anniversary party. That Bronte was looking forward to catching up with her at the next family dinner.”

  “Hell.”

  “Yeah.” Kate scowled at her plate. “So, I’m the bitch that didn’t invite her to chaos central, where every Wayne and Finn in a five-mile radius could talk about how happy Bronte looks, and ask us when we would be making things official. If the situation were reversed, I’d have been so relieved to miss that I’d have kissed her damn feet.”

  But her girlfriend hadn’t been. “You can see how she might take it, though. Especially if she was hoping for something official in the future.”

  “I never lied.” Her arms crossed defensively. “And I was always clear about not rushing things. People get so hung up on what they’re supposed to do next they can’t enjoy what’s happening in the moment. We’re in love, we should get married. We’re happy, we should have kids and buy a house. We’re in debt and we never sleep together anymore. We should have an affair or a nervous breakdown or get a divorce. Maybe all three.”

  “Now I wonder why we didn’t name you Sunshine.”

  She shook her head at his gentle teasing. “I’m not like you and William, Matty. I’m not an insta-love girl. Zo actually mentioned you in the argument. Your brother knew as soon as he saw Oliver,” she said in a high-pitched whine. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t just ignore common sense for some good-smelling pheromones and leap off a damn cliff like— Fuck, you know what I mean.”

  Matthew rubbed his neck and shrugged. “I know. Believe me. And before I met Oliver, I thought exactly the same way. A year ago, I would have laughed if someone told me I’d be this focused on another person’s happiness. That I’d be this impatient to get a damn ring on his finger and start using words like forever.”

  She reached out and squeezed his forearm affectionately. “You know I’m happy for you, don’t you? None of my ranting is about you two. Or William and Bronte. But you’re anomalies.”

  “Thank you. And I’ll be happy for you when you’re ready to leap. Whenever that happens. Until then, you’re absolutely right. You shouldn’t let anybody push you into something that doesn’t feel good to you. And screw any man or woman that doesn’t think you’re worth waiting for. Worth earning.”

  Kate wrinkled her nose, her eyes welling up again before she leaned her head on his shoulder. “This sucks.”

  “There it is now,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “There’s the last of it.”

  She’d mope around the house for a few days. Then she’d deck herself out and start going out with her single friends again. Nothing held Kate Finn down for long. She was the most resilient of them all.

  “William wants me to help out this summer,” she said into the wet spot she’d created on his shoulder.

  “Do you think you can do that without killing him? Or me?”

  She snorted. “That depends. Are the regular members all as pretty as Oliver?”

  Matthew smiled into her hair. “No one is as pretty as Oliver.”

  “That’s sweet,” Oliver said from the kitchen doorway. “But wrong in this case
. I can make a list right now of the ten hottest members you can… Matthew?”

  Matthew heard himself muttering and growling as he got up from his chair, but he couldn’t help it. “You have a list?”

  “For Kate,” he swore, but his eyes were sparkling as he backed up a step. “A list for your sister.”

  “See you later, Ollie,” Kate called, sounding a lot better than she had an hour ago.

  “Are you going somewhere?” Oliver asked, right before Matthew reached him, hoisted him over his shoulder and carried him back upstairs to his room.

  “But I wanted toast and coffee,” Oliver managed through his laughter.

  He tossed him on the bed, watching him bounce as he dragged his shirt off. “You’ve missed that window. Now you have to give me all the names on your list so I can accidentally delete their memberships.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. I was trying to make her feel better. There is no list.” He hesitated. “But if I were going to make one—for Kate—it would have a few of the women in your self-defense classes on it, too. Especially Gina.”

  He almost told him that Gina had a crush on Robert, but he held his tongue, crawling onto the bed until he was straddling Oliver. “Is Tony on that list? Maybe that burly Bobby guy William’s been training for competition. The fireman who’s always asking about you?”

  Oliver’s smile faded. “I wouldn’t call him burly. And Tony isn’t— Do you think Tony is hot?”

  Matthew reached for Oliver’s wrists and held them over his head. “You know better, Legs. I only have one name on my list, and that’s not changing anytime soon. No matter how high and firm Tony’s ass is.”

  Oliver bucked beneath him and Matthew tightened his grip. “Let me up so I can give you a high, firm kick in the ass.”

  “I’m glad we’re both on the same page now,” he said, out of breath from the struggle and his insistent arousal. “I’m already fighting to keep your attention as it is. I don’t want to start worrying about the guys at the gym, too.”