by BA Tortuga
“Thank you, Mama.” Mat shook his head and chuckled.
Geoff waited for all the others to leave the room before laughing and clapping his hands. “She is fierce.”
“You have no idea. I am—was—the son-in-law.”
“Ah. Well, good luck with that. Did you guys want anything to take back with you? Coffee or croissants or something?”
“Darlin’? You want anything?” He didn’t, but he could take a cup of coffee to go to be polite.
“I’d love some milk, actually. Do you have adult sippy cups?” Mat’s tone was wry.
“I work with cowboys. I have something manly for your milk.” Geoff produced a white disposable coffee cup with a lid. “Goat, cow, or almond?”
“Cow, please.” Mat spread his hands, just looking bemused. “You guys are magical.”
“Right? I get why Jen chose this place.” Reid nodded toward Geoff. “I can’t thank you enough for your generosity with the girls.”
“Oh, they’re amazing. Lucia really has a knack.” Geoff handed Mat a cup of milk and him a cup of coffee, even though he’d never said a thing.
“Your crutch, querido, I’ll carry.”
“Good idea. I’m not the best at these yet.”
“I get it.” Mat took the drinks, letting him hoist his ass up.
Lord, he was sore as a boil, but he stood up and made his way to the door. He didn’t want anyone to know how bad it was. He could rest after this was over. Get it all fixed.
“I’m in no hurry, querido. Take your time.”
“Oh, good. I might die.” He humped down the ramp, glad it was there. The stairs looked steep.
“That would be an enormous waste.”
“Shut up, dork.” God, that was good to hear. Teasing. Pride in him. He opened his mouth to shoot back, then jumped half a mile when his phone rang in his pocket.
“Don’t you fall!”
“I got it.” He grabbed his phone and opened it without looking. “Reid.”
“Hey, man, you got a minute?” His agent, Roger, sounded a bit harried.
“I do. What’s up?” Okay, crutching and talking on the phone was tough.
“I need you to look at a contract I just sent. Nothing needs to be signed, but I need a projection on production and timelines by about two.”
“Two. Okay. Production for what? What happened?” Close-mouthed bastard. He felt his tension building, his stress level rising.
“Well, I need a quote for Crate and Barrel. They love your more mod stuff and want an exclusive sugar and creamer.”
“Oh. Oh, wow.” He stopped, staring for a second at Mat. “I can do that.”
“Good deal. I know you’re out of town, but if you could review those files I sent and give me a projection of timeline and costs, I’ll get back to them.” Rog sounded so freaking smug. It was cute.
“I can. Yeah. I’ll get on it.” Wow. Wow, he was doing this, making it work. “You rock, man.”
“Hey. I just represent the talent. Call me if you have any questions, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.” He slipped the phone into his pocket and started crutching back toward the cabin.
“So, was that good?” Mat asked, following along behind him.
“I think so? I… yeah. It is.” Stressful, but good. God. He needed to look at the email and start sketching.
“Baby?” Mat touched his hip, catching up. “What is it?”
“Can we get in and then I’ll share? I’m a little shaky.” Shaky, scared, excited, amazed.
“Sure.” Mat opened up the cabin and let him in, steadying him when he wobbled.
“Thanks.” He sat hard, the world spinning for a second.
“Here, baby.” Mat handed him his coffee, which had cream and sugar in it, so it did the trick.
“Thank you. That was Rog.” Rog. On the phone. With another huge client.
“Rog is the… agent?” Mat sat down next to him, eyebrows up.
“Yes, the nonboyfriend agent.” Dork.
“So tell me what the heck is going on!” Mat poked his pec.
“Crate and Barrel. They want a sugar and a creamer.”
“That’s exceptional.” Mat’s eyes went wide. “For real, baby.”
“Uh-huh. Scary, but exciting.” He was going to have to rehire someone from the service to help with the girls.
“That’s really—”
Mat was cut off because Reid’s phone rang again.
“God, when Rog gets going. Hello?”
“Did you get that email?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I just hobbled inside!”
“Well, good, because I just sent an amended form. They want a salt and pepper too. How soon?”
“Please. Give me a minute. I’ll look and get back to you.” God, his head hurt.
“Okay. Will do.” The phone clicked, and he sighed.
“Do I need to let you work?” Mat asked.
“Probably. I mean….” Reid, man. He left you because you weren’t making your half of the bills. “He wants me to look over the contract and make some timelines.”
“Okay. Uh. If it won’t bother you, I’ll get my laptop and do some stuff while you do that.” He couldn’t tell what Mat was thinking. Not one bit.
Right. You can either bite your tongue or take a shot at the best thing ever. “We could snuggle on the couch.”
“We could.” Now he knew what Mat was thinking. The man was beaming at him, eyes dancing. Someone was pleased.
“Look at you. It’s almost like you lust after my bod.”
“I lust after all of you. Bod, brains, heart.”
“Oh.” Oh God. Him too. He tried to speak, but all he could do was put all he felt into his gaze and pray.
“Turn our phones off?” Mat pulled his out and turned off the sound before setting it on the bedside table.
He watched Mat, just sitting there with his teeth in his mouth, totally off-balance.
In fact, he sat there long enough that Mat shifted restlessly. “If that’s not okay….”
“No. No, I don’t mind. Your folks have the girls.” He trusted them. They loved their grandbabies.
“Cool. Come on, baby, give it up. You don’t want to end up like me.” Mat held out his hand.
“Shit, I’m doing this for you, for us.”
“Doing what?” Mat shook his head. “Snuggling first? I think we have a lot to talk about, but I want to love on you.”
“Please.” That sounded like a dream. Could they do that? Just hold each other?
“Cool.” Mat took Reid’s phone when he handed it over, then hoisted him off the bed. “Couch. If we stay here, we’ll only get interrupted.”
Then Mat manhandled him to the sofa.
He laughed, his ankle barely twinging. “Right. No nakey.”
“No. Mama is waiting to interrupt us. You know she is.”
“That woman is… amazing.”
“God. She’s on the warpath.” Mat eased him down on the couch. “She’s not as mad at you as you think, but she wants you to suffer.”
“You think?” Patty hated him a little bit.
“Yeah.” Mat kissed his cheek when he sank down on the couch too. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
The world just stopped. God, he’d worried for years. Every day. Every fucking second. “You do?”
“I do.” Mat said it firmly, reaching out to grab Reid’s hand. That strong, tanned hand felt good wrapped around his. Really good. What a simple thing, but in a lot of ways, it was better than sex.
“Good.” Also scary and wonderful.
“Yes.” Mat squeezed his hand, then let go to wrap an arm around him. They leaned, barely rubbing shoulders. He loved how Mat smelled, and more than that, he loved how they smelled together.
That was the hardest part of getting their divorce. Half of him seemed to have disappeared.
He held on, telling himself he would absolutely not tear up. No way.
This was too good to waste on
being all weepy. He breathed in and out, feeling Mat match him breath for breath.
“I miss you.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but he did.
“I know. I think that’s why I was so mad about the nanny. I was like, I could help.”
“I wanted you to be proud of me.”
“I am.” Mat sighed. “I feel like… like if we’d just talked more.”
“I was so hurt, so pissed off, and then….” Then it was over and lawyers were involved.
“I know.” Mat laughed, ribs shaking against his. “I feel like an ass.”
“You have a fine one. I can’t believe you aren’t taken, that no one snapped you up.” Please don’t say I’m wrong. Please God.
“Mmm. Nope. I really haven’t looked, baby.” Mat hugged him even closer.
“No. No, I—”
“No? Are you okay?” Mat leaned back to stare at him.
“I still love you.” No, he wasn’t okay.
“Oh, baby. I love you too. That was never the question.”
He held Mat’s hand, forcing himself not to tremble. God, this was ridiculous—they’d spent thousands of dollars, months of time.
“Shh. We can do this slow.” Mat stroked his arm.
“I feel like I did when we first hooked up.” Caught in Mat’s energy.
“Me too. Everything is shiny and new.”
“Even me?” He hadn’t felt shiny in a while.
“God, yes. I love how you scratched up my back.” Mat moaned a tiny bit.
“Can I see?” His mouth was dry, and he had to force himself to sit still.
“Uh-huh.” Mat sat up and untucked his shirt, then pulled it off. The scratches were clear, red, and he could only imagine how they’d looked last night. He reached up and traced one and then another, groaning softly.
“Mm-hmm. Yeah. They still burn a little.”
“Do they?” He leaned in, feeling wild, daring to lick along one of the stripes.
“Fuck. Oh, baby, I thought we were going to be snuggling.”
“Uh-huh. I was trying to help.”
“You little liar.” Mat turned around and kissed him, the connection like to burn him to the ground.
He felt that kiss from his tongue to the tips of his toes. So good, and all he could do was cling to Mat.
The door was flung open, Dani running in. “Daddy! I have to potty!”
He blinked and pointed before he even found his words.
“Papi! Put your shirt on!” Luce sounded absolutely shocked—not as shocked as Patricia looked, of course, but still, pretty damned shocked.
“Okay, kiddo. Daddy was scratching my back.”
With my tongue. “Totally.” Reid nodded, smiled, and handed Mat his shirt.
Mat shrugged into his shirt to take Dani to the potty, and Lucia ran into the bedroom area, leaving him with Patty.
Patty stared at him, glaring. “What are your intentions with my son?”
To ride him into the ground? “What?”
“You heard me.”
Reid rolled his eyes but managed not to sigh. “Patty—”
Her eyebrow winged up. Dammit.
“Sorry, Patricia. I’m not going to discuss that with you. Not until Mat and I decide ourselves.” That was fair enough, right?
“Well, you broke him, so if you aren’t going to fix him, think long and hard about what you are going to do.”
Jesus fucking Christ. He was always going to be the bad guy, no matter what, wasn’t he? “I—”
“We broke each other.” That was Mat. “Please, Mama. Let it be.”
“Ay de mí!” She threw her hands in the air. “I’m trying to help! People who work hard at things stay married.”
“We have some things to discuss.” He was going to be calm.
“Good. Maybe you two will get your heads out of your asses!”
“Don’t you cuss at my daddy!” Lucia’s eyes were lit up and furious as she put her little body between Patty and them. “My daddy is nice, and Papi loves him.”
“Of course he does. I do too, so I get mad at them.”
He stared at his daughter, then at Mat, then at Lucia again. “Lucia, you don’t be rude to your Abuelita.”
“But, Daddy….”
“Lucia Domenica, what did Daddy say?”
She burst into tears. “Stop it! I just want us all to be happy again.” Then she spun around and ran to the other cabin.
Patty stared at them, opened her mouth, and Mat cleared his throat. “Mama, can you…?”
“Sí. Sí. I’ll see you at supper, no?” She whirled and left too. Dani stood there, watching, her eyes huge.
“Dani, stay with Daddy and protect him. I’ll go get Luce and we can all snuggle, okay?”
Dani launched herself at him, managing—just—not to hit his ankle or his balls, thank God.
“Are we in trouble, Daddy?”
Him? Oh, yeah. “No, baby. We’re all stressed-out and tired.”
She nodded, so seriously. “We are. It’s hard to be us.”
“And we don’t even have Dolly to wag and lick and make us feel better.”
“Yeah.” Dani frowned, looking so serious. “Can we go home to our real house, please? I’m tired of staying with Granny.”
“We will, baby. I promise. I only… they wanted to see you for a while.” He wasn’t gonna toss anyone under the bus, not even him or Mat.
“You promise for real? I can go to school at home?” Lucia was in tears, clinging to Mat.
“Yep. We’ll figure all this out, kiddo.” Mat gave him a smile over Luce’s head. “Back to bed, baby?”
“Do you want to all come watch a movie together? Rest?” Please?
“With Papi too?” Dani asked. “Jen was fun, but I want Papi.”
“If Papi wants to, I think that would be great.”
“I do. So bad.” Mat set Luce on the floor to hold out a hand to Reid. “Up we go.”
He let Mat pull him up, steadying himself before he wrapped one arm around Mat. “Let’s go, darlin’.”
“What are we watching today, ladies?” Mat asked. “Beauty and the Beast? Brave?”
“Snow White!” Luce said, and Dani frowned deeply.
“No! The witch is mean!”
“How about something like Despicable Me?” The girls could fight over Disney for hours. Except Moana, which they had already watched.
“Minions!”
“Nicely done,” Mat whispered.
“Thanks.”
Boom. They would call up for snacks after and just spend a lazy day, since the bride and her posse were riding out soon.
He couldn’t wait.
Chapter Twelve
MAT lay on the bed, looking at his husband and his kids. They’d all dozed off but him, and he got to watch over them now.
Dani was in his arms, thumb in her mouth, while Lucia was draped across both her fathers’ legs. He’d bet Reid’s leg would be sore as a boil when he woke up, poor baby.
They still needed to talk. He was going to have to make an appointment for that, maybe.
Crate and Barrel. Shit. Had he been the one holding Reid back? Had he been stifling him in some way? The thought made Mat queasy. He loved Reid, wanted him to succeed.
He also wanted them all to be a family. Together. Reid was stressed and exhausted. Mat could read that in the naps, in the tension Reid carried in his shoulders. It felt like Reid was dragging a boulder around, and Mat got that. Hell, he’d spent his entire professional life doing it. However, he was figuring that shit out. He was backing off, delegating, and it was working for him.
Maybe… well, maybe they could help each other.
Maybe for the first time in a long time, they could work together, for the girls, for them.
That would make his soul happy.
Luce turned her head, smiled at him. “Love you, Papi.”
“I love you too, baby girl.” Looking at her was like looking at a mirror sometimes.
�
��Are we moving away to Florida?”
“Nope. Your Daddy doesn’t want to live there, huh? Do you?”
“No. Daddy cried the whole time.” She sighed. “He cries a lot when we’re supposed to be in bed.”
“What about you?” His heart was gonna break right in two.
“I wanted to go to Disney and see Granny and Pappy, but then it was time to come home. Little girls need their daddies and their papis.”
“They do.” God, she was his big, brave girl, and he loved her so much it hurt.
She leaned up on one elbow, making Reid grunt. “Are you and Daddy going to get married and live together again? Dani doesn’t ’member, but I do.”
He closed his eyes, for a split second, and offered up a prayer. Por favor, Lord. From her lips to your ears. “I would like that, mi’ja. We have some stuff to work out and talk about, so I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
“Pop-Pop says to pray real hard and it might come true.”
“Pop-Pop is a wise man.” And clearly in the back-together camp.
She blinked. “Pop-Pop helped Mary with the baby Jesus?”
“No, baby. He’s not one of the three wise men. He’s just a smart guy.” He wanted to howl with laughter.
“Oh.” She looked disappointed, but only for a minute. “Good. I like Pop-Pop without his beard.”
“Did he have a beard?” He couldn’t imagine.
“No, Papi. The wise mans!”
“Oh!” He laughed now, just roaring with it.
Dani’s eyes popped open, and she started crying. Reid immediately woke up and reached for her.
“Shhh. It’s okay, baby girl. I’m sorry I was loud.” Mat reached out to touch her cheek, even as he smiled at Reid. “Papi’s got you.”
“What’s funny, darlin’?” His Reid looked amazing, all rumpled and sleepy.
“My dad as one of the three wise men.” He winked. “I’ll explain later, huh?”
“Oh wow. Wise men. At least that’s better than someone announcing he’s Jesus….”
“Well, I do have a cousin named Jesus.”
Reid looked at him, shoulders shaking—silently at first, but then the laughter burst out. “Cute guy? Mohawk?”
“Indeed. Pierced nose.” He winked. “Who needs to pee?”
“Me, Papi.” Luce pushed up, and Reid winced.