by Webster, K
“So glad you could make it,” a familiar voice deadpans.
I jerk my head up and lock with a pair of green eyes. Max Rowe. Fuck. He’s at the bench, a gavel resting in front of him, dressed in a black robe. His eyes are narrowed and he seems annoyed by my presence.
“I apologize, Your Honor.”
He picks up a pair of black-rimmed reading glasses and sits them on the end of his nose as he looks over a file. We spend the next half hour on edge, as Max drills us with questions and wants clarification on parts of the reports. By the end of it, I’m feeling doubtful.
“Permission to approach the bench,” I utter.
Max narrows his eyes at me but then gives me a clipped nod. I rise from my seat and stride over to the podium. His jaw clenches as he regards me with scrutiny. As though I’m not good enough to be an attorney—I’m not. As though I’m not good enough to be Dane’s—I am.
“The little guy, Xavier,” I say softly. “He asked Santa for him and his brother not to be hurt anymore.”
Max’s gaze softens slightly. “Everything checks out here.” He thumps the paper.
“It does…” I trail off, feeling defeated. Then I remember the steely strength in those boys’ gray eyes. “But sometimes what’s on the surface isn’t always right.”
He cocks his head slightly as he watches me. “I agree.”
“There are some other places that have been checked and verified. Safer places. All we’re asking is to get them moved,” I tell him.
“I’m sorry, counselor, but I don’t think that’s all you’re asking. I feel like you’re asking a lot more than even I’m able to give.” He frowns and my heart sinks. “But something tells me you’re the kind of guy who finds a way to get what he wants anyway. For the life of me, I don’t want to help you…for my own reasons. But I will. I’ll grant all five children to be placed in one of the proposed homes.”
I gape at him, my heart thudding. “Really?”
“Something tells me that won’t be enough, though.”
“For now, it will be. Thank you, Your Honor.”
The gavel slams down and I feel like I’ve won.
On so many levels.
Two months later…
“Are you sureI’m welcome?” I ask as Dane pulls his Porsche into Max’s driveway. “The guy doesn’t exactly like me.”
He scoffs. “Dorian does. She wears the pants.”
I roll my eyes but can’t help but chuckle. Dorian has the most issues with computers at the firm. I swear she breaks them on purpose just so she can show me pictures of her son. When I’d confessed about my run-in with Max at the bar, where I nearly kicked his ass over Dane, she just laughed and told me everything was going to be okay.
I hope she’s right.
We climb out and it’s cold as fuck outside. Snow is fun during Christmas but when it’s February and still snowing, it’s no longer fun. It’s annoying. I rush into the house behind Dane and I’m immediately tense at the similar type of house my parents live in. The foyer is ornate and fancy. I’m at unease until we walk into the living room. Pictures line every wall and corner. Max’s daughters sit on the couch with Dorian. When Dorian sees me, she jumps up and rushes over to us and I’m immediately welcomed in her hug.
“I’m so glad you came, Nick,” she says. “Don’t worry. Max doesn’t hold grudges long.”
Dane chuckles. “Where’s Max?”
“In the kitchen with the boys,” she replies. “Come on. You need to meet my stepdaughters.”
Both women are gorgeous—a spitting image of their father. The one I learn is named Olivia is bubbly and always smiling. Soph, the younger one, frowns a lot. She has a suspicious glint in her green eyes that rivals her father’s.
“You’re Uncle Dane’s friend?” Soph asks once I settle in a chair across from them. Her words are cold and accusatory. Maybe she should be a goddamn attorney.
“Boyfriend,” I clarify, meeting her hard stare.
Olivia grins. “I knew it. I knew he was into guys.”
Soph frowns at her before turning back to me. “Is it serious or is this some sort of fling?”
“Soph,” Dorian warns gently.
“I love him,” I tell her proudly. “And he loves me.”
My words soften her right up because she graces me with a pretty smile. “Well, that’s settled then. I heard you’re good with computers. Can you fix my iPad?”
“For fifty bucks,” I tease.
“Never mind that price. I’ll take it to the Apple store.”
“And they’ll fuck it up real good for you,” I tell her smugly.
Her lip curls up. “Fine.” Then she hollers, “Drew! I need fifty bucks!”
A deep “No” resounds from the kitchen.
She flips him off, even though he can’t see her. “Do it for free, and I won’t poison your food when you’re not looking.”
I arch a brow at her and both Olivia and Dorian snigger. “Damn, you’re cold,” I retort.
She smiles sweetly at me. “Do we have a deal?”
“It sounds an awful lot like extortion. Don’t make me call my lawyer.” I shoot Dorian a knowing look.
Dorian laughs. “If I’m going to be your lawyer instead of Dane, then you need to figure out a new payment plan. I can assure you I don’t accept whatever form of payment he does.”
Olivia snorts and Soph gives me a wicked grin.
“How about you keep your dad from killing me and I’ll fix all your computer problems for the rest of your life?” I hold my hand out to Soph.
She eyes it like it’s a snake. “You’re in this for life?”
I think of the way Dane makes me so fucking happy. All the time. Whether it’s at home or at the office or in bed. Always.
“I am,” I agree.
She shakes my hand. “You got yourself a deal, nerd.”
Once again, I’m sitting at a lively dinner table and my heart beats wildly in my chest. I wish I could bring Christina. My sister could use the break from the monotony that is our cold, boring home. I text her here and there to check on her, but she’s busy with her own life. I can tell she’s Team Dad because she doesn’t give me elaborated answers. It’s enough though, knowing she’s doing okay without me.
I quickly learn that Miles worships the ground Olivia walks on. He watches her like he wants to eat her. Max and Dorian are like a milder, older version of them. But it’s Soph and Drew who are the entertaining ones. She gives him shit and he gives it right back. They spend the entire dinner arguing but something tells me—by the twinkle in her eye and the barely hidden smug grin of his—that this is their foreplay. Babies get passed around and at one point, I have two in my arms.
A pang slices through my heart.
I only have two arms.
My mood sours as I worry about Malachi and Xavier. Enzo says they’re doing okay, but I can’t help but worry. He confessed he’s more worried about Jenna. She turns eighteen soon and will be forced from the system. Cora loves her and it’s going to be hard on them both. It’s still a sad story. At least one of them is getting his happily ever after.
“Mel and Stan are adopting a boy named Joseph,” Dane tells Olivia. “A lot of red tape, but your dad is helping make that happen.”
Olivia beams at her father, so proud of him. In this moment, despite my beef with the guy, I’m proud too. He really did us a solid with those kids. When Mel mentioned adopting, Dane and I were quick to help. Turns out, they fell in love with little Joseph upon meeting him. They’re still going through the rigorous amounts of paperwork but within a few weeks, it’ll be a done deal.
“Tell her to bring him by,” Dorian says to Dane. “We’d love to meet the little guy.”
The rest of dinner goes well, but my mind is stuck on the Bryant boys. My heart aches for them. So much that I slip out of the dining room and into an office so I can text Enzo.
Me: How are my boys?
Enzo: They’re doing fine. I wish I could say the s
ame for Cora and Jenna.
Me: What’s wrong?
Enzo: Jenna just thinks it’s as simple as her adopting Cora when she turns eighteen. She has no job. No income. Struggling in school. It’s not that easy.
Me: Nothing ever is.
I rub at the tension on the back of my neck as I wait for him to respond. Looking around, I realize I’m in Max’s office. Books line every shelf. Pictures sit in every empty spot. It’s warm and inviting in here.
Enzo: She’s going to be heartbroken.
Me: How do you do this job, man?
Enzo: The job does me. The job is a cruel bitch.
Almost immediately, he texts again.
Enzo: I will do what I can, sweetheart. You know this.
I frown in confusion.
Me: Sweetheart?
Enzo: Sorry. Wrong person.
“Snooping, huh?” Max asks from the doorway.
I flinch and pocket my phone. “Just texting Enzo. I’m worried about the Bryant boys.” Honesty always is the best policy.
He crosses his arms over his chest and regards me with an unreadable expression. “I didn’t get it that night.”
I cock my head to the side, waiting for him to continue.
“You. Dane. I didn’t understand what was happening.” He sighs and scrubs his palm across his scruffy cheek. “I just didn’t want my best friend to get hurt. And here this cocky little sonofabitch was, in my face, yelling at me for shit that I thought I’d long since buried.”
I grit my teeth. “Pain doesn’t disappear with time. You hurt him.”
He nods. “I realize that. Hell, I knew it at the time. I was embarrassed and confused as to why he’d do that. I’m ashamed of how I reacted. When you’re in your early twenties, you think differently than when you’re older. I never wanted to hurt Dane. I love him like a brother.” He walks over to a shelf where a picture of him and Dane sits. They’re both wearing graduation gowns and look much younger. “When you were up in my face, I was pissed. Stewed over that conversation for days. Then, when I saw you in the courtroom, I got mad all over again.”
I’m thankful as hell he didn’t allow his anger at me cloud his judgment.
“But then I saw your passion once again. You’re a fighter, Nick. You fight for those around you who don’t seem to know they need fighting for. I saw it in your eyes as you fought for those kids. I see it now, how you fight for Dane.” He smiles at me, and it’s beautiful and genuine. Apparently, this guy is likable and I’m the only one who didn’t like him. “You’re good for him. I’ve never seen him so happy.”
“Dane’s worth fighting for,” I tell him. “Those kids are too.”
He winks at me. “Keep fighting. I’m on your side, buddy.”
Four months later…
Nick saunters out of the bathroom with just a towel hanging loosely around his hips. He’s a picture of perfection. Solid, tanned muscles. A lean, young body. His brown hair is wet and hangs in a messy way over his eyebrows, giving him a roguish look. My gaze travels down his sculpted chest to the defined V in his lower abdomen. A V I’ve licked more times than I can count. If I could worship a letter of the alphabet, it’d be V.
He stops at the edge of the bed and smirks. “Enjoying the view, old man?”
“You know I am. Just thinking about getting that towel away from you and inside that tight ass of yours,” I tell him, as though we’re talking about the weather.
His cock flinches beneath the towel. “Who says it won’t be me in your ass tonight?”
I sit up and tug off my T-shirt. “I was hoping we could sample a little of both. I’m extra hungry tonight.” When I toss it at him, he laughs and then drops his towel. Our humor fades as he grabs the bottle of lube and climbs into bed with me. For a moment, we lie facing each other. His fingers run over my shoulder as mine thread through his hair.
“Any regrets?” I ask, my voice husky and raw. I have none, but once I was sure, I was sure.
“I’m not exactly marriage material, but now you’re stuck with me,” he says with a grin. Despite his playful words, I hear the pain hidden in them. Still, even after all this time together, he doubts himself. It doesn’t help that his father is a shitty human and continues to treat him like scum. Thank fuck his dad moved on to another law firm. I don’t think either of us could continue working with him after all he’s put Nick through. And thankfully, the temporary contract was just that. Temporary. At the end of the trial, he was gone.
“I married Janice,” I tease. “Anything’s a step up from that.”
He growls and it only serves to make my dick hard. “Fuck you, old man.”
“You’ll get your wish.” I lean forward and kiss his pouty mouth. “I love you, and I knew who I married. I married you. And today was the best day of my life.”
His body relaxes and we lose ourselves to a kiss. Today, we cut out of work early and went to the courthouse. In Max’s office, with Dorian and Mel as our witnesses, Nick and I were married by Judge Rowe. Simple yet binding. I always knew he was mine. Now the law agrees with me.
“I can’t shake the dread that one day, I’ll fuck it all up,” he admits, his voice hoarse with emotion.
I slide my leg between his thighs and kiss him hard, as though I can pour my reassurances right down his throat, into his heart. He groans when our dicks rub against each other. His is naked and mine is barely clothed by my boxers.
“You’re not going to fuck it all up,” I assure him. “I won’t let you because I’ll be there every step of the way.”
He rolls me away from him, onto my stomach. He kisses his way down my back before grabbing the waistband of my boxers and tugging them down my thighs. Once I’m naked, he pours lube on his cock.
As he strokes it all over, I can hear the slick sounds it makes. Then, his lubed fingers are sliding down my ass crack, sliding against my hole. He’s a much more generous lover than I am. Always priming me to take him. Sometimes, I lose myself to the passion. It works though, because Nick gets off on a little pain.
His fingers are soon replaced with his cock. Slick and unsheathed. A tremor of excitement ripples through me. We’d gotten tested before marriage to make sure we were disease-free, and now that we both have the all-clear, I want nothing between us.
The burn as he prods my opening is always so intense at first. For a split-second, I always panic. But then, like now, he slides inside me and takes me to new heights of pleasure.
“Fuck,” we both groan in unison.
Once he’s fully seated inside me, he goes back to reverently kissing my shoulder. With his dick stretching my ass and my body pinned beneath his, I feel completely at his mercy. But I trust him fully. He’s my husband.
“I love you,” he murmurs, his hot breath against my flesh. “More than you will ever know.”
Pleasure ripples through me when he begins a slow, sensual thrusting against me. I love that I can feel his skin and not the annoyance of a rubber between us. It’s just us. Together, like we should be.
“Nick,” I groan, my voice a raspy plea. “Fuck, I love you too.”
He smiles against my skin and then nips at my flesh. “Mine,” he growls.
His thrusting becomes hard and wild. I feel like he might be trying to split me in half so he can climb inside me. I want him there. I let him ravage me like he so desperately craves, and then his ragged breaths become moans. The sounds coming from him are so erotic that my cock spills and I soak the bed with my release. His heat floods inside me like a river. Hot and furious. I’d only imagined what it’d feel like to have nothing in between us, but I never thought it would feel this good. This possessive. I want to pin him down and fuck another release into his ass to claim him, but I can’t deny how good it feels to be claimed by him too.
We’re good together.
Really good.
His body is sweaty as he relaxes against me, his cock still twitching inside me. We’ll both need a shower after this.
“Dane.” My n
ame on his lips comes out broken. “I want more than this.”
“More?”
“Do you ever wish you would have had more kids?”
Long ago, I’d broached the subject with Janice about giving Mel a sibling. She shot me down and told me her body barely recovered from giving birth once, and she sure as hell wasn’t going through that again.
“Yeah,” I admit.
“I want kids.” His cock twitches inside me.
I chuckle. “Unfortunately, we can’t have any.”
He slides out and his cum runs down, drenching my balls. I roll onto my back and he settles against my chest. You’d think two hard, muscled bodies wouldn’t fit together comfortably. We seem to always cuddle just fine. His brown eyes are sad and serious.
“We can, though,” he says. “You know we can.”
He means through adoption. Seeing Stan and Mel with Joseph has been beautiful to watch. Even Janice has turned into a doting grandma. They brought such joy into that child’s life. Nick and I have the power to do that too.
“How are the Bryant boys?” I ask, knowing he and Enzo are friends now. Enzo keeps him in the loop.
“They’re okay, but I think they’d be happier if they were Alexanders.”
“I think you’re right,” I agree, stroking his messy hair out of his eyes. “You’re sure about this?”
“I’ve never been so sure about anything besides you.” His mouth presses to mine and he kisses me as though he must convince me. Too bad he already convinced me to give him whatever he wants the second he smiled at me at that office Christmas party. Lucky for him, I want it too. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life. This time, I get to dictate how it goes. I’d never trade Mel in for a second, but I’m happy as hell to have this shot at a new path.
“Let’s do this,” I murmur against his full lips. “Let’s find a way to get our boys.”
“Our boys.”
Six months later…