We didn’t have a dealer, so we assigned Adrian that duty.
“I’m keeping a close eye on you so that there’s no funny business,” the man said.
The three of us nodded and I gave a look to Adrian to let him know not to pull anything stupid.
We didn’t need any tricks up our sleeves to win. We were going to do it fair, like true gentlemen of this game.
But we were going to give it all we got. I wasn’t going to get out of there without winning.
We divided the chips that were still on the table and Adrian shuffled the deck and dealt the cards.
The game was on.
Since working so closely with Sawyer, I was able to read and understand him better. Without speaking to each other, it was almost like I could read his mind.
I was trying to read our opponent. But it was as if he had a layer of fog over his eyes. They were glazed over as if he was on some kind of drug. Was he high?
I had no idea because he wasn’t the least bit paranoid or anxious. He was confident, unwavering.
For the first time, this game meant something. I was fighting not only for myself but for someone I really cared about, alongside someone who I’d grown close to again.
Things weren’t going to be easy between the three of us, I was certain of it.
But was I willing to fight for us?
I’d hardly ever been in any kind of relationship in the past and there I was dating two people at the same time. One of them was twenty years younger than me, the other was my former stepbrother who I hadn’t spoken to in so long.
What would our parents have said if they were still alive?
I was dealt my hand.
It was a good one, but nothing to be cocky about. I looked over at Sawyer who seemed like he had something as well from the way he possessively put both his hands over his cards. He held his cards the way he’d hold Adrian.
In the past little while, I had been less jealous over the bond that existed between them. I knew it was a healthy kind of love and Sawyer was able to provide a kind of support that I couldn’t.
His love and tenderness stood in contrast to my roughness. His book smarts rivaled my streets smarts.
If we were going to show Adrian what it took to be a well-rounded gentleman, it would require the work of both of us.
I glanced over at Adrian who was trying to be as small as possible. He obviously knew that he’d made a mistake.
Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll save you. But when I get you home, you’ll know how bad you’ve been once I get you in the bedroom.
Round after round, I was dealt bad hands and judging from the look on Sawyer’s face, he didn’t have much either. Our chips were dwindling down, and our opponent’s stack was growing quickly.
The man sat higher in his chair, signaling his dominance as his lead grew. I was pissed off.
How was he winning?
When I came here I was expecting to win, quickly too. He didn’t look like he was an amateur but I didn’t expect him to be that good.
He was nearly impossible to read.
For the first time, I felt a bit scared that my plan wasn’t going to work out.
I was dealt one card, King of Hearts. My favorite one in the deck. It was one that had never failed me in over twenty years of poker. My little good luck charm. I was dealt another. It was his faithful brother, King of Spades. Beauty combo. I stared at the cards as if they were angels who had my back.
It was my time.
I raised the pot, trying to gauge how the man played. When I did, he checked modestly, which was scary because it meant that he may have had something.
Or was it a bluff?
I couldn’t tell.
Sawyer checked my raise as well and Adrian dealt three cards.
I had nothing. I was ready to go all the way, come off strong to show my dominance. I wasn’t going to let a man claim my baby boy like that, I needed to win Adrian back.
“All in,” I said, pushing all my chips in the middle
Sawyer looked at me, wondering if I made a mistake. But I never made any mistakes.
“Fo-fold,” Sawyer said.
He cocked his brows wondering if I was crazy.
I knew I was going in strong early but I didn’t want it to drag out. Plus, I had Sawyer to fall back on if I lost. Poker was a game of patience, but a move like that could shock our opponent if he wasn’t prepared.
The man across from the table looked at me, and I had a crooked grin on my face. He wasn’t going to be able to break me like how he probably did to Adrian.
I watched as his pupils dilated ever so slightly. Enough to know that I had him by the balls.
“Call,” he said.
Fuck. I flipped my cards over to flash my two Kings.
“It’s gonna be a good night for me,” the man said.
He flipped his cards over to reveal an Ace and a ten. He had two pairs. I was in trouble. I’d need another king to beat him.
I bit my lip, breaking my stoic facade for the first time.
Another card was flipped over. It was a four of clubs and it helped neither of us.
There was one last card in the deck. One more king. Give it to me.
I stood up, waiting for what was to come. The man crossed his arms acting as if he’d won.
In my head, I calculated that I had roughly a two percent chance of winning. They were slim, I knew that.
Adrian flipped over the last card. Everyone in the room was silent.
I did it.
We’d done it.
One of the Kings, in all its glory, laid on the table as the last card. The king of diamonds.
I felt like royalty. A king myself, saving my prince and taking him home with my other king, Sawyer, in my arms.
When I first got the cards, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that it was going to be a winner. And I was right.
The man stood up, his gaze met mine, and he reached out his hand. “Good game,” he said.
“Likewise,” I said, reaching out to shake it. I looked over at Adrian, who had a smile and color that returned to his face. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go home.”
Sawyer went over to Adrian and hugged him, and I did the same. The three of us embraced in the basement of a laundromat.
I didn’t care if there was someone else in the room. In that moment, I knew that I had something special with me. Something that I wouldn’t dream of having with anyone else in a million years.
It was the reason why I wanted to be a better person, it was because of both of them. I knew that both guys would help me along the way.
I was excited for our future.
I was looking forward to seeing Adrian grow to be big and strong like Sawyer and me. I had a family, and that was something I couldn’t ever say in the past.
A lone wolf. I’d always called myself that.
But I now realized that a pack of wolves is much stronger than any single one.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sawyer
“Why’d you do it?” I asked.
Dominic was carrying Adrian over his shoulder. Adrian was slung over his right side like he was a sack of potatoes.
I had the duffle bag in my hand. Because we’d won, we didn’t have to give him any money. We called it even and left.
Adrian looked at me upside down. “I did it for you guys,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Do you even know how much trouble you could have gotten in?” Dominic asked. “That guy could have taken you hostage and made you his bitch. Locked you away in his home if he wanted to.”
I punched Dominic in his arm, giving him a look.
“What?” Dominic said. “It’s true, there are some fucked up people in this world.”
“I did it because I wanted to take you guys on a trip,” Adrian finally uttered.
Dominic opened the door to his car and carefully threw Adrian in the backseat.
I got in the passenger
side and Dominic hopped in the driver’s seat.
“A trip?” I asked.
“Yeah. I saw how hard you guys have been working recently to get the research project finished,” Adrian said. “And I wanted to plan something for you guys as a little reward at the end of it. I didn’t know it was going to end up like this. I fucked up. I’m sorry.”
Dominic and I glanced over at each other, warmed by the only thing he could have said to redeem himself.
Dominic turned around to look at him. “Really?”
“Yeah, it was going to be to Hawaii,” Adrian said. “Get away from the cold. But I ruined it and now I can’t even plan it.”
“Why wouldn’t you just tell us?” I asked. “We could have just bought the tickets.”
“Because then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Adrian said, in a snarky tone.
“Well, that’s just the sweetest damn reason why you would’ve done such a stupid thing, in my opinion,” Dominic said. “I guess I don’t have to spank you when we get home as I had planned.”
“Spank me anyways, daddy,” Adrian said, with a grin on his face.
I shook my head at their antics.
We drove back to my house.
By the time we got home it was almost morning and we were all exhausted. Dominic and Adrian climbed into my bed and passed out immediately.
By the time I got out of the shower they were both snoring like pigs. Their limbs were tangled together.
I was a lucky man to have them in my life.
I wasn’t tired for some reason. Well, I was, but I knew I’d have a hard time falling asleep. For the past few days, I’d been so worried about the upcoming deadline for the Fields Medal that it was keeping me up.
I went into the studio to look at all the work that the three of us had accomplished so far. Without them, I wouldn’t have finished. Then, I thought of Sarah. I wondered how different my life would have been had she still been alive.
In my daze, I hadn’t realized that Dominic had walked in. He was shirtless, wearing nothing except a pair of Calvin Klein briefs that showed off his bulge. I gave him a smile as he walked over to me and held me in his arms.
“You gonna go to bed, daddy?” he asked, before giving me a kiss on the forehead.
Dominic had started to call me that. He got it from Adrian and I didn’t mind it. I thought it was sexy, especially in bed.
“Don’t think I can tonight. I’m pretty wired after that game, on top of that, I’ve been thinking a lot about Sarah recently.”
“Yeah?” He said, pulling back to look me in the eyes.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve been spending so much time working on this, but she did help me start this project.”
“She was a good woman. She was lucky to have had you in her life. I’m sure you helped her out in a lot of ways too.”
“When she passed away in the car accident, I thought my life would have been over,” I said. “I had no idea that the two of you would come in unannounced and make it feel so special.”
Dominic smirked in a way that I’d hated when we were growing up, but it had slowly grown on me since spending so much time with him recently.
“I’m glad. When my mom passed from cancer, and your dad from a broken heart, I never thought I’d see you again,” Dominic said. “What we had together was so broken and irreparable that I would never imagine for us to be back together, especially in this way.”
“I thought the same thing. I’ve come to realize that we were pitted against each other by our parents all the time.”
“I realized the same thing. I wonder why they did it.”
“It was to create competition between us. They saw potential in us and they wanted to unleash the fire in both of us to be the best people we could be.”
“Do you think they succeeded?” Dominic asked. “Do you think they’d be proud of us?”
“Look at us, Dominic. Look at you. You’re a year shy of forty and you’re the CEO of one of the biggest car companies in the world.”
He looked at me, eyes wide, and that was the first time I saw a hint of vulnerability in him. He needed that reassurance. Even though he acted strong and powerful, there was a part of him that needed to hear something that our parents had never said to us.
“I’m proud of you, Dominic,” I said.
His eyes softened and his lips turned into a smile.
“I’m proud of you, too,” he said.
I leaned in to kiss him on the lips. The taste of his musk was as delicious as Adrian’s sweetness.
“You know, even though what Adrian did tonight was batshit crazy,” Dominic said. “I was a bit happy at the fact that his intentions were good. He wanted to plan something special for us and had he pulled it off, it would’ve been a pretty nice trip.”
“You can’t blame the kid for trying,” I said. “I was pretty happy too when I found out the true reason why he was doing something so stupid. I think he gets it from you.”
“From me? No way, I’m way too tough on him for him to get it from me.”
“That’s the thing, maybe you should lighten up on him and just love him.”
“I do love him. Just in a different way. It’s your job to be sweet, I’ll be spicy.”
I smirked. “Let’s get to bed. I’m glad we had this chat. I’m feeling like we should go cuddle our little troublemaker.”
“You read my mind,” Dominic smiled.
*****
One Month Later
I finished the research and submitted it. I had managed to meet the deadline and the stress of it looming over me had finally dissipated. It almost felt weird that I no longer had to worry about it, because it had been such a big part of my life for so long.
Dominic, Adrian, and I had flown to New York City. We were at the gala for the announcement of the winner of the Fields Medal Prize.
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. We were at the fancy banquet hall in the heart of the city.
Though there was only enough space for invited guests to bring a plus one, I was able to sneak both guys in. No one seemed to notice.
We were in a room of the most brilliant mathematicians in the world.
I had never been great in social settings. Words had never been my thing, I was much better at communicating with numbers.
So instead of going around making small talk with strangers, I spent the majority of the evening watching Adrian.
I walked up to join a conversation Adrian was having with an older gentleman who was wearing circular framed glasses.
“Who’d you come with?” The man asked Adrian.
“With my two partners,” he said, turning to me when he noticed me approaching.
“Ah, partner? Do you guys work together?” He asked.
“Oh well, by partners I meant boyfriends.”
It was the first time I’d heard him say those words. But they felt right. Boyfriends. I could get used to it.
The man gave him a weird look but then nodded once he understood what Adrian was talking about. “You’re lucky. Most people find it hard to find one person to love, but you’ve found two.”
“I’m the lucky one,” I said.
The man smiled and reached out to shake his hand. “My partner is here with me tonight as well. Let me bring him over to introduce him to you guys. He was saying how there seems to be a lack of gay men in the math world. He’ll be surprised.”
He walked away in search of him.
I turned to Adrian, and I reached out to straighten his bow tie.
“You look handsome tonight,” I said.
“Thanks, you do too. How do you feel?” Adrian asked.
“Pretty nervous, but it’s out of my hands now.”
“You’ll do fine. Either way, it’s an honor to even be recognized for the award. Think how many people you beat to even be nominated.”
“Thanks,” I said, winking. Adrian had a way with words that always made me feel good inside. “Have you seen Dominic?�
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“Yeah, I saw him ten minutes ago, talking to some guy who was really interested in the new car he’s designing.”
“Of course,” I smiled.
The man returned with his husband, I knew because they both had wedding bands on their fingers. We exchanged handshakes and talked a bit about my research on solar efficiency. He mentioned that he was a nominee as well.
Though what he had to say was interesting, I couldn’t help but think about marriage. It’d been two years since being widowed, and the thought of getting married was on my mind.
I was a traditional man in some ways. I loved the idea of monogamy, even if it was with two other men.
After I’d worked on this project with them, I realized how perfect it would be to be married to them both. But I hadn’t talked to them about it.
Adrian was barely twenty years old. I wondered if it was too soon. And Dominic? Well, there was always a thought in the back of my mind that people would judge us because we were former stepbrothers.
I didn’t care though. If people judged us then that was their problem.
Because why should I care if it made me happy? Wasn’t that the most important thing in life? The only thing that mattered?
The lights dimmed, and that was our cue to find our seats at the round table, in preparation for the announcement of the winner. I wished the other nominee good luck and I went to my table with Adrian.
Dominic joined us moments later. I was sitting between them and I felt Dominic’s hand on my lap. He leaned in close and whispered in my ear.
“No matter what happens tonight, I’m hella fucking proud of you,” he said. “I love you.”
“Thanks, baby,” I said, putting on a tight smile. “I love you too.”
His hands inched to my lap, and pulled my hand towards him, interlacing his fingers into mine. I reached over to Adrian’s and did the same.
I could barely breathe, I felt like I was underwater. No poker game in the past could prepare me for how anxious I felt.
Both Dominic and I were turning forty within the next month. This prize which I’d been working on for so long was my last chance to win. To prove to myself that I was capable.
Kings of Hearts (An M/M/M Romance Novel) Page 16