by B. Cranford
Little: And besides, I just had a baby a few weeks ago.
A: Meaning?
Little: Meaning, I need to get the all clear from the doctor before we . . .
A: Fuck like rabbits?
Little: Not how I would have phrased it, but yes. Essentially.
A: I’m trying to imagine how blue Dunk’s balls must be right now.
Little: Please don’t do that.
A: It’s a nice visual, actually.
A: I’ve seen him naked, you know.
Little: You’ve mentioned. I’d rather you didn’t again.
A: What? A thing of such beauty should be remembered fondly.
A: Did you ever think that the word ‘fondly’ looks and sounds a lot like ‘fondling’?
Little: No. Never.
Little: However, I’m not surprised you made that connection.
A: My mind is a brilliant thing.
Little: Anyway. Dinner. Tonight. At my place.
A: I’ll be there, Simon and Finn in tow.
A: If for no other reason than I need to check on the state of Dunk’s balls.
Little: *middle finger emoji*
Chapter Eighteen
Odie smiled at baby Kennedy, who was laying on the floor of Ashton and Andrew’s lounge room, staring at the dangling toys above her. She was on some kind of playmat, and though she didn’t do much more than flail about, every adult in the house had mentioned that she was smart within five minutes of arriving.
It made Odie smile to see the four men in Kennedy’s life—her uncles Simon, Aaron and Austin, and her father, Andrew—fawning over her and praising her and taking turns to love on her.
It was stupidly hot and annoyingly adorable and she hated every minute of it.
Not.
Even Finn, at four years old, seemed to be completely taken with the little girl. He’d taken a seat on the floor beside her playmat, and would occasionally wiggle one of the toys for her or change the music that the speaker jiggled out when something moved. That he called the baby girl “Ken Ken” was just the icing on the cake.
“Hey, you have a minute?” Ashton sidled up next to her, smiling down at her daughter surrounded by men of all ages. “Have a question for you.”
“Sure.” She followed behind Ashton as she moved into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and stroking the top of the wood affectionately.
“You know, Andrew and I have some fond memories with this table,” Ashton started, before Odie stopped her with a long-suffering groan. Laughing, Ashton shook her head. “Not those kind of memories, you pervert. We had the most important talks of our relationship here. It’s where he proposed, too.”
Odie nodded, picturing Ashton in the seat she was currently in and Andrew across from her, probably talking about the bab—“Wait. Proposed? You’re engaged?”
A nod was all it took for Odie to let out a strangled noise of happiness before wrapping her arms around Ashton. Of course they’d known each other for years—for as long and she and Austin had been friends—but for a time, Ashton hadn’t opened up to her much.
Now, through the pregnancy and Odie’s new relationship with Austin, they were getting closer. Very close, actually, considering that Odette was squeezing the bejesus out of Ashton, who tapped her on the back in a bid for freedom. “Shit, sorry!” She stepped back, releasing Ash, but unable to wipe the happiness off her face.
Austin was going to be thrilled, too.
“Have you told your brothers?” Odie asked, sitting back down in her own seat.
“Not yet, I figured we would do it tonight. I kinda slipped up a little there,” she confessed, biting her lip in a way that Odie took to mean she hadn’t really slipped up, but had been too excited to not share when the moment arose. “It’s not why I wanted to bring you back here, anyway.”
“It would have been a good reason though.”
“True. But Kennedy’s birthday is coming up—Andrew’s sister, Kennedy,” she clarified, “and I wanted to do something special for him.” She laid out her plan, which included a meal, a showing of Kennedy’s favorite movie—one of the interactive screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show—and a visit to the place they’d laid her to rest after Andrew moved from New York City. “We could take Ken, but I was hoping you and Aussie might . . .”
“Say no more, we’ll be happy to.” She felt comfortable enough speaking for them both, though she knew she’d have to check and triple check with Austin that he didn’t make other plans. Like a salsa lesson, or gall-bladder surgery, or naked line dancing.
Though why anyone would want to naked line dance, she didn’t know. Somehow, it seemed like the kind of thing Austin would find and embrace, though.
“Thank you. I’m sorry if it’s weird I’m asking you, but Austin’s more than likely going to forget if I ask him, and Simon and Aaron have Finn, so I don’t want to ask them if I don’t have to.” There was apology in Ashton’s blue eyes—so similar to her brother’s, Odie thought.
“All good, I’m glad you asked.” Odie opened her mouth to say she wasn’t sure what—something to keep the conversation going—when the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of dinner.
It wasn’t until they were standing around the lounge room with plastic dinner plates in hand, discussing seating arrangements, that Odie mentioned the babysitting to Austin.
“Give me your phone a sec.” She set her plate down on a nearby table and held out her hand, knowing he wouldn’t mind giving it over to her.
“Why?” he asked, even as he placed the device in her palm, sneaking a little kiss onto her cheek at the same time. “Checking up on me?”
“No, you goof. Your sister wants us to babysit next weekend and I want to make sure you don’t forget.” She pinned him with a serious, do not forget or no sex for a month look, and being the overdramatic fool he was, Aussie crossed his heart then pressed his hands together as if in prayer.
“Forget a night with two of my favorite girls? As if.” He waited until she was done putting the reminder in and then slipped the phone back in his pocket—a movement smooth and practiced and that Odie kind of regretted not taking charge of. “Are you ogling my ass, Odette?”
She nodded. “Absolutely, it’s a nice ass.”
“It really is, I’ll show it to you later if you want.”
“I do. I read a book recently where the hero liked being spanked. Think you’d let me do that?” She wiggled her eyebrows, but couldn’t deny . . . the idea of it was hot.
Like, really fucking hot.
“Garfield, I’d let you do most anything once.”
He said it so sincerely, so easily, that her heart bumped just a little harder, and her stomach dipped in a mix of arousal and awe.
“I love you, Austin.” It was the first time she’d said it to him, she realized, as his face froze for a scant moment, before his hands were on her cheeks, his lips were on her lips, and his body was so close to hers, she didn’t think they’d ever part.
The room was still and silent around them—at least, to Odie that’s how it felt. Like they were alone, not surrounded by family. Like they were the only two people in the entire world, experiencing this moment together.
Except they weren’t, a fact made clear when a balled-up paper napkin was lobbed at them and they were told to get a room.
Austin pulled back, but his eyes never left hers. Over his shoulder, Odie raised her middle finger at the offending party—a too-amused-for-his-own-good Aaron—and whispered again, “I love you.”
So this is what Cloud Nine feels like.
Thought it’d be heavier.
Austin leaned in to brush a softer kiss to Odie’s lips before turning to face their audience, the overwhelming rightness of Odie saying she loved him making the task ahead of him seem easier.
He hadn’t been looking forward to explaining his encounter with his mother to Aaron and Ashton.
In fact, he’d dreaded it all day, hiding away from the group text between him a
nd his siblings. He hadn’t really responded, telling them he was busy even as they chatted back and forth throughout the day. The nagging feeling that what he had to say was going to be capital-B Big for Aaron, at the least, refused to leave him alone.
Until Odie had said those three little words.
Soon, they were all settled on various couches or armchairs, Finn and Kennedy having both dropped off to sleep on the floor—Simon had gently covered Finn with a superhero blanket that Odie had found when shopping and that the little guy had declared his new favorite thing. And Austin, holding his dinner in his lap, decided to just go for it.
“Mom came by The Avenue on Saturday night.”
If he’d said he was in a polyamorous relationship with a Teletubby and the Vice President of the United States, he didn’t think he’d get as big a reaction.
Voices clashed, loud and refusing to listen to one another.
Andrew and Simon were swearing, and had both moved closer to their partners.
Ashton was ranting about “that bitch” being in “her bar”.
And Aaron was asking the same two questions over and over and over.
“What did she want? Did she apologize?”
Louder.
“What did she want? Did she apologize?”
Louder again.
“What did she want? Did she apologize?”
Finally, Aaron was on his feet, yelling.
“What did she want? Did she apologize?”
As quickly as the noise started, it stopped. The kids had slept through it all, and Austin longed to swap places with one or other of them.
No, not swap. Join. Because he really wouldn’t wish this upon anyone, let alone his adorable nephew and sweet niece.
All eyes in the room were on his—sleeping children excepted—and he told them what had happened as quickly as he could.
Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
And when he was done, his brother sat back down and leaned against the back of the sofa, while his sister turned her head into Andrew’s shoulder, and stayed quiet.
Chapter Nineteen
It was obvious to Austin that neither Aaron nor Ashton had any idea what to say.
The truth was, now he’d told them about their mother’s visit, he had no idea what to say either.
“Aaron, I—” Austin began with what he could only assume was a look of pained apology on his face.
Because that’s how he felt. Pained. And apologetic.
Like he could’ve somehow prevented their shitty mother from making them have to deal with this.
Making Aaron have to deal with it most of all.
But Aaron apparently didn’t want or need Austin’s sorry, and he said as much, his voice low, muted, but sure. “Don’t. Don’t say sorry, Tiny. It wasn’t you who did this. Who told me to get out. Who called Sim—”
His words stopped on a disgusted sound, but Austin didn’t need him to continue. He knew what had happened. He’d heard the names that his parents—his mother—had called Simon.
“Aaron.” Simon’s voice broke the silence, but Aaron simply shook his head, his face almost impassive but for his eyes.
Even Austin could see the love his brother had for the man he’d married.
“You know,” Aaron said, turning to look first at Ashton, who was still silent, still processing, and then at Austin. “I always felt kind of sorry for them. I can’t imagine living with that anger, with knowing what it cost me. And I wondered if, maybe, they’d eventually come around.”
“And?” It was Andrew who spoke, fists clenched, knuckles white, like he was holding back anger. He was, Austin realized, knowing how much Duncan had seen and helped when Aaron was first kicked out by their parents. Not to mention, Dunk loved Ashton, and if his protective instinct was comparable to the way Aussie felt about Odie, then there was no question in his mind.
Andrew was looking to hit something.
Hard.
“Since Finn, it–it’s more. I feel more sorry for them.” Austin followed Aaron’s gaze down to the sleeping boy, tucked beneath his favorite blankie, his little body turned toward Kennedy—as if he wanted to be close even in sleep. “Or, I did. Now it feels like . . .” He trailed off, but Aussie wondered if what he could see in his brother’s expression was what he himself was also feeling—completely and utterly numb.
With still no idea what to say to that, Aussie waited for Aaron to make a move or keep talking or something.
Eventually, Aaron stood again, and walked to where Austin sat, his hand closed around Odie’s like maybe something would happen if he let go.
He didn’t want to admit how much he feared it would.
He didn’t want to admit how much guilt he felt beyond that numbness—guilt that he’d been the one singled out by their mother, the one that she had wanted to welcome back into the fold while leaving the others still out in the cold.
But, it turned out, he didn’t have to. When he turned his gaze up to meet Aaron’s, and he grabbed his brother’s offered hand, allowing himself to be hauled to his feet, the heavy weight of his guilt eased with Aaron’s words. “I won’t let you take this on, Austin. This isn’t your fault.”
With that, Aaron wrapped his arms around him, for once not finding a joke to make or an innuendo to shock. He simply held on until Austin brought his own arms up and around his brother.
When Ashton joined them a moment later, they widened their arms to bring her into the middle, their up-and-down evening ending on a high note with her quiet but happy announcement.
“By the way, Andrew and I are engaged.”
Chapter Twenty
Odie closed the door to her apartment and walked up behind Austin, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, placing his hand over hers and holding them against his taut stomach. For a few minutes, they were silent, the distant sound of the cars passing occasionally on the street below the only indication that the world moved on around them.
“Let’s go to bed, babe. I’m wrecked.” She turned her head a little to place a kiss between his shoulder blades, adding, “I want to snuggle tonight.”
“You do?” he asked, challenge in his voice. “You going to wake up and tell me you need to not be touched?”
She walked around him so they were face-to-face and shrugged. “Probably. But until then, I’m all yours.”
“You’re always all mine, Garfield.” His hands landed on her hips and before she knew what was happening, he’d pulled her close. “Isn’t that right?”
But she couldn’t answer. Not when his mouth crashed against hers, desperate, warm and welcoming—a kiss that spoke of the tension of their night, of Austin’s need to feel a connection.
She didn’t need him to tell her that’s what he wanted. She knew him better than anyone. She’d watched him embrace his brother and sister, standing with their arms around each other in a moment that was both touching and the kind of emotional that would have made every director of a Lifetime movie proud.
And even though they’d ended the night celebrating Ashton and Andrew’s engagement, proving how resilient they all really were, it didn’t change the fact that much of the evening had been spent feeling heightened, heartbreaking emotion.
But it was a different type of emotion in the air now that Odie and Aussie were alone together. A needy one, as evidenced by the way Austin’s hands slid around to cup her ass, squeezing, kneading the flesh there like he wanted to own it.
He did. He owned everything about her.
Most especially her heart.
“Odie,” he whispered, his hands gentling, his lips still on hers, their every breath mingling. “Please.”
She wouldn’t, couldn’t, deny him. Not when he wanted it so much, not when he’d never given her this side of him.
At least, not in this way.
That Austin was gone, the one who seemed to demand everything when they were together like this. The one who had all the right words, t
he dirty words, the commanding words.
In his place, a softer, needier Austin.
Who she loved just as much. He lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist, but instead of pushing her against walls or nipping her lips, he watched her.
With every step closer to the bedroom, his blue eyes darkened, became more intense. He was watching her, seeing her, and she felt stripped bare but completely in control.
“Austin?” His name from her lips was a rhetorical question—it needed no answer, but hung between them all the same.
All the way to the bed, he watched her and she returned his gaze, their eyes locked together and unable to break apart.
Fine by her. She’d watch him all night if she could.
But not in a creepy way. Shut it, up there, she thought, trying to quiet the part of herself that couldn’t quite keep serious.
“What’s going on in that mind of yours, babe?” Austin asked, finally lowering her back onto her bed and waiting until she’d shuffled herself into the center.
“My mind has jokes, even when the rest of me has something else.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s the rest of you got, huh?”
“An ache.” No hesitation. She did ache. All over.
“What kind?”
“The kind only you can make better,” she confessed in a whisper.
He hovered over her, and in a voice as low as her own, replied, “Same.”
After that, there were no more words to be said. They removed their clothes quickly, until there was nothing between them, and slowly, he notched himself against her entrance and pushed inside.
He controlled the pace, keeping it rhythmically slow, every press of his cock hitting deep within her body, making her back arch up to meet the pleasure. She watched the changes in his face as he moved ever closer to the edge, loving the way he was able to find such good in her, in them, in the way they moved as one.
Loving that with every pump of his hips, the cloud that had seemed to hang around him lifted, until he was smiling down at her, nodding like he knew she was close.