40. Blaise

“What do you think they want to talk about?” Cole asks as we pull up outside the house.

Our parents asked us for a ‘meeting’ this afternoon. I’m not worried, but Cole fretted all day. I can see the tension radiating off his stiff shoulders when he tightens his grip on the steering wheel as though he has to hold on to something physically to ground himself. I just wish it was me instead of an irrelevant piece of plastic.

Note to self: Have the car scrapped and invest in a horse and carriage instead. On second thought, he’d probably bond with the horse or, god forbid, the horseman, and then I’d have to find a way to hide a body.

Let’s just stick with this car for now.

Yes, I am jealous of it. I’m growing more possessive of Cole by the day, especially after almost losing him, which made me realize how deep my emotions run. Cole has carved his name on my damn heart.

Ever since we returned from the hospital, the atmosphere in the house has been…tense, for lack of a better word. Dad has yet to comment on my closeness with Cole or the embrace he witnessed in the hospital. In fact, he has kept out of my way as much as possible and is spending more time at the office. Meanwhile, Cole’s mom dotes on her son at every opportunity. We can’t enter the house without her asking to check him over or bringing him food. I think she feels bad for forcing Allie on him all these years. And I know she feels guilt over the shooting.

“What do you think they want to talk about?” Cole asks again, and I tilt my head to study him. His dark hair is longer, falling over his eyes and curling at his nape. I’m sure he’ll cut it soon, but I love this look on him. It makes him look rebellious in the best way.

“Are you not listening to me?” he asks, his lips thinning in disapproval, which somehow makes him even more attractive.

“What?” he asks, uncertain, when I remain silent. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Unclipping my seat belt, I palm the back of his head. His eyes widen and he opens his mouth to say something, but I shut him up with a hard, possessive kiss. He grunts, sending a jolt to my hardening dick, and his stunned surprise is the opening I need to invade his mouth.

“I was thinking,” I whisper, sucking his bottom lip between my teeth and tugging the waistband of his shorts, “about how much I want your taste in my mouth when we face our parents.”

“Are you crazy?” A full-body shudder grips hold of him. “Anyone could see us.”

I free his fat cock and wet my lips in anticipation while stroking the impressive length. “You better hurry up and come down my throat, then.”

“Jesus fuck,” he grunts when I lean down to swallow his cock. His thighs tremble beneath me, and harsh panting breaths gust out of him. I deep throat him the way I know he likes, my own cock straining against my jeans. There’s no hotter sight than Cole in the throes of pleasure, and sometimes, like now, murderous thoughts torment my mind when I remember that his ex has witnessed this look on his face. Next time I see her, I might have to snap her neck, after all. My self-control only extends so far.

He grips the lever on the roof as his gaze flicks from left to right to make sure no one is around. The moment he spots Mrs. Lovejoy across the street, an elderly lady who takes great pride in her rose bushes, he pales and pulls on my hair to make me stop, but I trap his wrists with one of my hands and jack his dick.

“What’s the matter?” I tease, smirking like the cat who caught the canary. “Worried she might see you get a blowjob from your stepbrother?”

“Fuck…she’s waving at us,” he says through clenched teeth, the tips of his ears burning with embarrassment. His heaving breaths gust across my face as he yanks his hand free to wave hello to her with the fakest smile I’ve ever seen.

Amused, I duck out of sight, and he chokes on his own breath when I pay extra attention to a thick vein on his cock. I trace it with my tongue all the way to the tip, where a nice, fat drop of precum waits for me. “What do we have here?” I lick it off, humming with approval before sucking him down again.

Cole bites his knuckles, his thighs tensing as my head bobs in his lap, but I couldn’t care less if the lady across the road can see us. Cole is now too busy chasing his impending orgasm to care about potential witnesses either.

“Fuck, Blaise…” He sucks in a breath, then slams his hand down on my head and forces me to swallow more of his cock.

My gag reflex kicks in, and I choke around his throbbing length, but it only turns me on more to feel his rough fingers dig into my scalp.

“Fuck, that’s it. Choke on it.” His fingers twist, pulling the strands tight, and salty cum shoots down my throat. I swallow every drop, savoring his taste, then straighten up and drag my thumb over my lips to catch anything I might have missed.

Cole watches me for a moment before he looks down at his spent dick. Even soft, it’s big, and I’m already hungry for another taste.

He stuffs himself away and runs a hand through his hair. His nerves are back, making me briefly contemplate fucking him in the backseat until he’s too damn tired to worry about our parents and what they might have to say.

Cole stares out the window with a faraway look before glancing back at me. “What if they refuse to let us be together?”

“That won’t happen.” My voice is deadpan.

Cole’s lips twitch for the briefest of seconds, and then he blows out a shaky breath. “I don’t know…”

“Well, I do. I won’t let anyone get between us.”

I go to kiss him again, but he moves back, fingers pressed to my lips to stop me from claiming his mouth again. “We can’t keep them waiting forever.”

Gripping his wrist, I slide his hand from my lips and place it over my rock-hard erection. “See what you do to me? How fucking crazy I am about you? Do you think I care about our parents? The only person I care about is you. Besides, my dick is in agreement with me for once and says we should skip this ‘meeting’ and drive somewhere quiet so I can stick my dick in your hot ass and fill you up with my cum.”

A low chuckle leaves his lips, the sound teasing my balls, and then he escapes the car before I can grab him again.

I fall back against the seat with a tortured groan. Why does he have to care so much about others? I know he loves his mom, and it’s because he loves her that I also have to respect her. They’ve reconnected since the kidnapping, and while that makes me happy, I don’t like that I have to share him. Even if it’s family.

“Fuck me,” I whine, then glare down at my throbbing cock. I swear it’s laughing at me for being such a whipped fucker. “What the fuck is so amusing? You’re the one with blue balls.”

I throw the door open and exit the car while grumbling under my breath at the unfairness of it all. The only consolation is Cole’s taste on my tongue. But even that is like only eating one Pringle, when we all know that once you pop, you can’t fucking stop. And that’s the fucking truth. It doesn’t matter how many times I fuck him and claim him as mine; I still want more.

Is it too late to tie him to my bed in a country far away, preferably on a distant planet or, better yet, a different galaxy, where no one but me can have access to him?

Okay, maybe I need help. But in my defense, I thought I’d lost him.

“Try to smile,” Cole says, pulling on the corners of my lips with his forefingers. He tilts his head, his nose scrunching up. “Maybe not. You look like Joker with that psychotic smile.”

I follow behind like a kicked puppy as he walks up the drive and jogs up the stairs. His shorts show the strong muscles in his thighs from training, bunching with each step. If we didn’t have to play nice with our parents, those shorts would be around his ankles now.

He turns and rubs his neck while I ascend the last two steps like a lazy cat. “Just…don’t run your mouth in there, okay?”

“Run my mouth?”

His Adam’s apple bobs on a swallow. “If your dad is against…” He lowers his hand and gestures between us. “…this. If he’s against us. I know you can be protective and⁠—”

“Damn right.” I fist his T-shirt and pull him to me with such force, he crashes against me. “If he says a single bad thing about you, I won’t hesitate to acquaint him with my fist.”

“Blaise,” he chuckles, uncertain. “He’s your dad.”

“I don’t fucking care. I almost lost you. You were bleeding all over me and…” I drift off, needing a moment to rein in my emotions. My heart always aches whenever I think of his pale, blood-smeared face and broken body that day. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again, and that includes words.”

“I can stand up for myself⁠—”

One moment, he’s giving me his old spiel about how he doesn’t need or want me to defend him, and the next, I have him trapped against the railing with my hand clamped over his mouth to shut him up. “I know you can stand up for yourself, but that’s beside the point. I’m your boyfriend, Cole. Your man. Your battles are my fucking battles. Don’t you dare try to fight alone! Not anymore. Not over my dead body. I love you, for fuck’s sake. You don’t ever have to stand up for yourself anymore, not when I’m here.” I shove away, my body trembling with rage.

Rage at the world for not accepting all types of love, no matter age, race, or gender. I fucking hate that Cole has to worry about our parents’ opinion of us. They wouldn’t bat an eyelid about our union if I were a girl. But I have a dick, and therefore, he spent the day fearing their rejection, and that makes me want to break shit.

I don’t deal well with these emotions. It fucking pains me to witness Cole’s anxiety. Who the fuck cares what our parents think? Fuck them.

Cole cares. He cares a lot.

I rub my eyes vigorously before dropping my hands and meeting my stepbrother’s worried gaze. “C’mon. Let’s see what they have to say.”

He doesn’t object when I reach for his hand, and that makes me feel like I’ve won a trophy. For the past week, Cole has kept his distance from me around my parents, only kissing me or touching me behind closed doors.

I squeeze his damp palm as I pull open the door and enter the house. The rich smell of steak and peppercorn sauce is the first thing that greets us.

Exchanging a look with Cole, we find his mother in the kitchen. The table has been set, and a fresh vase of flowers sits in the middle.

Releasing my hand, Cole walks up to his mom and kisses her cheek. “It smells lovely.”

A pink hue touches her cheeks, and she peers past him at me. “I hope you’re hungry, Blaise.”

Smelling a trap, I walk deeper into the room. What’s with the meal? I expected a much more arctic atmosphere than this. It’s almost as if…his mom is trying to distract us.

“Sit down,” she offers just as my dad enters the room, looking tired. He pulls out the chair beside mine, barely sparing me a glance, and Cole’s mom plops down next to her son.

Red flags. Red fucking flags everywhere.

I pick up my fork and knife for something to occupy my hands with while Dad cuts into his steak without a preamble. Silence falls over the table, and I try to catch Cole’s eyes, but he looks anywhere but at me. I kick him under the table, and he gulps his glass of water.

My teeth gnash.

There’s nothing I hate more than to be ignored. Especially by Cole. It always makes me want to choke him, but since our parents are here, acting weirder than usual, I can’t exactly launch myself across the table, steaks be damned, and choke the daylights out of him to drive home the point not to shut me out.

Instead, I cut a perfectly symmetrical square of steak and eat it like a normal person who isn’t occupied with murderous thoughts. I can do this. I can be normal.

I’m so fucking normal.

Normal. Normal. Normal.

“Gavin and I are divorcing,” Cole’s mom blurts, making me choke on the steak.

Across from me, Cole pales while I hack up a lung. I reach for my glass of water, then down it in one. While I expected this to be an intense talk, I didn’t expect them to announce their divorce.

When I can finally breathe again, Cole asks, “Is it because…?”

“No,” she replies in a soft, reassuring voice. “Not at all. It’s not about you, boys. Gavin and I… Well…”

My father blots his mouth with a napkin. “We talked and decided it’s for the best.”

“But why?” my boyfriend asks.

I love calling him that. My boyfriend.

Mine.

Cole’s mom fidgets, mulling over her words. “Ever since your dad, I’ve existed in survival mode. You’re grown up now, and well…” She lifts a shoulder and lets it fall. “I think I need some time alone to find myself again.”

“And you’re okay with this?” I ask my dad, who is unusually quiet beside me. I would even go as far as to say he looks contemplative.

Tapping his forefinger on the table, he nods. “Yes, I think it’s for the best, too.” He lifts his gaze and looks at Cole. “I love your mom but haven’t been a good husband. I realize that now. I think that…maybe we married for the wrong reasons. And your mom is right. She deserves space away and freedom to find herself again.”

I look over at Cole’s mom, seeing tears cling to her lashes, but she looks…happy.

“What about money?” Cole asks.

“That’s already taken care of. I wouldn’t leave her penniless.”

Silence falls on the table. I wait for someone to mention the elephant. No one does.

I meet Cole’s eyes and address the room. “Cole is my boyfriend. I love him. I have loved him for a very long time. Probably from the first day I met him, even when he was stubborn and decided from day one that he hated me.”

“I love you, too,” he mouths, and we share a small, nervous smile.

“Are you gay?” Dad asks me.

“No, I’m not gay.”

Cole narrows his eyes, like he always does, and a smidgeon of jealousy creeps into his gaze. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell him that he doesn’t need to worry about women. Or men. I only have eyes for him.

“I’m bisexual,” I explain.

Dad rises from his seat, walks up to the fridge, and pulls out a bottle of vodka. Cole’s mom offers me a smile while my dad pours a large glass and takes a sip, studying me from across the kitchen.

“You like both genders?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I only want Cole. I only have eyes for one person, and that’s your son.” The last part is directed to Cole’s mom. “I promise I’ll always look after him.”

Dad drinks his vodka like it’s soda, then blurts, “Fuck,” when he spills some down his shirt.

I rise from the chair and round the table. “Talk to me, Dad.”

He glances at the back of Cole’s head, making me stiffen, but then he puts his empty glass down and slides his hand over his tie. I wouldn’t say he looks happy about the prospect of Cole and me, but he doesn’t look at my boyfriend like he wants to murder him anymore either, and that’s a start.

My boyfriend.

My heart does a little jolt.

Dad puts his hand on my shoulder. It’s awkward at best. He pats me once, twice. “It will…” He clears his throat. “It will take me some time to get used to.”

Clenching my jaw, I look down. I guess that’s all I can expect from him, but a part of me still feels disappointed. The idea that anyone could be against us or find the idea of us difficult to swallow leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but that’s the reality we live in.

“I understand.”

His fingers dig into my shoulder briefly, and then he pulls me to him and wraps his big arms around me. “I want to be a better dad to you, and that starts with accepting you for who you are and who you love.”

I tentatively slide my arms around him and hug him back, my nose buried in his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“I haven’t forgotten what you asked of me.”

Easing back, I look at him questioningly, but he’s no longer focused on me.

His sole attention is on Cole.

Leaving my side, he puts his hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder. “I want to apologize for how I’ve treated you all these years. It wasn’t fair on you or your mom. I know it’s a little too late, but I hope with time, you’ll accept my apology.”

“Thanks,” Cole replies, his eyes sliding in my direction, brimming with emotions.

“And I will always love you, no matter what,” his mom says, stroking the back of his head. “All I’ve ever wanted for you is to be away from your father’s shadow.”

“He’s gone now,” Cole says in a choked voice. “That monster will never hurt us again.”

He looks at me then, and it takes all my willpower not to drag him upstairs like a caveman.

Cole shuts the bedroom door,his eyes taking me in with an intensity I feel to my core, but for once, I don’t have sex on my brain.

Well, that’s a lie.

I always want to fuck, but I actually have something else in mind.

“What are you doing?” Cole asks when I hold my hand out.

“Don’t you trust me?”

He flips the lock, the sound whispering filth to my dick, and then he walks up to me where I wait by his bed with slow, purposeful steps. “That’s a very loaded question.”

I drop my gaze to the outline of his hard dick inside his shorts. “It’s a yes or no question. Don’t overthink it.”

He smirks, hiking a brow. “It depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you have in mind.”

“Take my hand and you’ll see.”

Slowing to a stop in front of me, he slides his hand from his pocket and lets it hover above mine.

“What scares you, Cole?”

He finally trails his calloused finger across my palm, tracing the lines with his warm touch before entwining them with mine. “Nothing anymore.”

A smile spreads across my lips, and I kiss his knuckles.

“What are you doing?” he asks when I release him and disappear beneath his bed. His socked feet shuffle closer, and then he kneels and peeks at me.

“Join me.”

The corners of his lips twitch. “Why are you under my bed?”

“Stop asking questions and join me.”

“Fine…” he grumbles. “Bossy.”

I scoot over to make room for him when he slides underneath the slats. There’s almost no space for two grown men, but I doubt Cole cares. I know I don’t.

“This is the first place you let me in.”

Cole stares up at the slats before he turns his head and searches my face. “What are you scared of, Blaise?”

I ease up his T-shirt and trace his scarring with a featherlight touch. “I’m scared to wake up and learn that our happy ending was only a dream.” My fingers brush through his happy trail, and I smile when he shivers.

A sharp V points the way to Cole’s cock, like a dangling carrot. While I’m not a reindeer, I still deserve a fucking medal for resisting the strong urge to pull out his cock and suck the soul from his body.

“Do you think Jackson will leave us alone now?” I ask.

Cole’s brow furrows. “You don’t have to worry about him. That shit is over.”

“And Allie?”

“Are you jealous?” he asks teasingly, looking pleased and a little smug. It takes a Herculean effort not to take the bait. Instead, I shift over onto my side, cursing the small space. My shoulder squishes against the slats, which is fucking uncomfortable, but it’s worth it to be here in Cole’s safe space.

I stroke his cheek. “I’ll always be possessive of you.”

“You’re very territorial.”

“And you’re not?”

Cole scoffs, a smile teasing his lips. “I’m above petty jealousy.”

“Is that so?” I hum, tracing his dark brow. “It didn’t seem like it when Tiago stood too close the other day and you threatened his existence.”

“Threatened his existence?” Cole has the audacity to sound offended. “I would never⁠—”

“You said, and I quote, stand that close to him again, and I’ll string you up by your balls.”

A blush colors his cheeks before he can stop it. “I didn’t say it quite like that.”

“I’m pretty sure those were your exact words. Want me to phone Tiago and Ronnie to confirm?” My hand falls away from his cheek when he shifts onto his side.

We stare at each other in the semi-darkness, and then he drops his eyes to my mouth and licks his lips. My heart beats harder in response. Cole always has that effect on me.

“I’ve seen him kiss you, Blaise. Short of bleaching my eyes, I can’t eradicate that image from my mind.”

“Trust me…” I kiss his lips. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re the only one I see. Besides, Tiago is as straight as they come.”

When I lie back down, Cole does the same. He takes my hand as I cushion my head with my arm. The feeling of his fingers entwined with mine is all I can focus on. That, and the soothing sensation of his thumb stroking the back of my hand.

Exhaling a content breath, I close my eyes.

For once in my life, I’m where I need to be.

I’m home.