25. Colt

Colt

I t's nice seeing Benny without him baring his teeth at me. I mean, he's not exactly all sunshine and roses toward me, and I'm definitely going to have to gain his trust more, but he's pretty happy as he sits with Dallas on the couch with Christian.

"God, he's cute. Look at his little curls," Benny says, making one of the golden curls on Christian's head bounce with his fingers.

Christian giggles away, flapping his hands and having a blast. The kid loves attention.

"I can't believe you're a dad," Benny says fondly as he plays with a few toys with Christian.

"Yeah," Dallas says quietly, and I'm not sure why he looks so uncertain. He's great with Christian. I mean truly great with him. He's patient and gentle. Makes the little boy laugh.

He's a great father, even without a DNA test or his name on the birth certificate.

"You okay?" I ask cautiously as I walk to sit next to him on the couch.

"Yeah," he says softly. "It's just strange. He doesn't feel like mine." His eyes widen as he looks at me and quickly tries to pull it back in. "I mean, I know he is mine. I don't mean that at all. I trust Chloe, it's just..."

I carefully place a finger over his lips and try to silence him gently. "I know you know he's your son. Do you mean he doesn't feel like yours?" I ask, but his cheeks are still flushed, and I can tell he's embarrassed.

"It's nothing. We should take him out on the swing." He stands up, lifting Christian. Benny and I follow, both seeming to silently agree to let him off the hook.

It's chilly today, so we put on our hoodies, including dressing Christian in his little Big Bend Bear hoodie Dallas bought for him. When she saw it, Chloe immediately went out and got him a Kensley hoodie, and gotta say, watching this competition is awfully fun for me.

But today it's Big Bend for little Christian since his mama is at work, and well, they did win the game last night. I can't tell you how damn proud I was to watch him with his old coach last night.

He told me most of the conversation after the game, but he really didn't need to. I could see from his body language that Dallas has found another part of him. I'm so damn proud of him.

After an hour of swinging, because the kid never wants to leave the swing, Benny had to head home to do some work around the farm, and it's just Christian and us until Chloe gets here after work.

We make dinner and settle in at the table, and Christian is happy on Chloe's lap. Even though I know she's exhausted from the day, I don't offer to take him from her. She's clinging to him, and I know she missed him all day.

"Chloe, did you ever want to go to college?" Dallas asks thoughtfully as we start to eat.

Chloe seems a little caught off guard, but then she nods, surprising me because I didn't know that. "I did, but things change."

"What's holding you back?" Dallas asks quietly. I can tell it's been on his mind for a while.

She shrugs, taking a bite of food and then sharing some with Christian. "Money. Time. Someone to watch the kiddo." She grins. "Wanting to spend my free time with him."

My heart aches. I know she didn't always dream about working in a diner, but I didn't know she wanted to go to college. She never talked about it. "Why didn't you tell me?" I have to ask.

She looks down at her plate, pushing the food around before meeting my eyes. "Because I don't want you to fix it," she says bluntly, and I'm taken aback. "I'm sorry, Colt. But I just need to do it on my own, and I knew you'd try to make it better. But I'm fine. I'm happy. I'm saving up, and I will go to college someday."

All I can feel for her is pride right now. "Okay."

"But if you do need help, you know you can come to us, right?" Dallas says, and it makes me love him even more because I didn't have to say it. He said it for us. Us. We are definitely a fucking us .

Chloe smiles at him, shaking her head. "So many overbearing men in my life. I swear to God." But she says it fondly. "Yes. I know if I ever need anything, you and Colt, and Adam and Zach will all come running, but I don't need knights. Okay?"

We both nod our heads in agreement.

"What about dating?" Dallas asks, and holy shit, he's got this big-brother thing down, despite being younger than her.

She rolls her eyes. "Oh my God, please. I'm over love. It's stupid." I frown instantly at that because I don't want her to be like our mom and totally give up.

I'm about to go into the big-brother speech, but again Dallas steps up. "But if the right person comes along... you're open to it, right?"

"Please tell me you aren't going to fix me up," she says with a teasing lilt, and it all feels very normal—despite our very unconventional family.

"No," Dallas says, a smile on his gorgeous face. "I just want to make sure because you deserve to be happy. You deserve to go to college if you want and to have love. Maybe someday..."—he looks over at Christian with so much love in his eyes—"someday, you'll find someone to share this with."

"Are you worried I'm going to like come at you for money or something?" Chloe asks, suspicion and fear in her voice, and I hate that she can't truly trust the world. She knows better, but she has to learn she can trust Dallas. "Because I'm not even making you take a DNA test. I haven't asked for anything."

"Chlo—" I try to calm her.

"No," Dallas says quickly. "That's not what I mean. I'm happy to help with money as soon as I graduate and get a job. I don't want to go to college," he says firmly, like he's been thinking about this for a while. "I'll help with money and things he needs. I'll be in his life as much as you and he want me to be. I'm just saying, I want you to have a partner. If you want one."

I smile because I know what he's saying. I want that for her too, if she wants it, because there's nothing like watching Christian and Dallas together. And having him tag in when I need a minute and vice versa. She deserves a true partner. Something our mother never had.

"Yeah well, I'm not hunting for a father for Christian," she says defiantly, and I can't help but laugh, tossing a dinner roll at her and making Christian giggle with delight.

"He's not saying you need you a man ," I say in my best hick accent. She rolls her eyes and tosses a roll at me, hitting me right in the face.

We finish dinner on a pretty light note before she and Christian head out, and it's just Dallas and me on the couch. I never tire of the times it's just us. I just wish I could have it even more.

I'm a greedy bastard. What can I say?

We start something on Netflix, but I couldn't tell you what it is because soon enough, we're naked and writhing together on the couch. "You know it feels kind of wrong doing this here, where we were just reading to Christian."

I groan at his words, letting my forehead touch his. "Really? Talk about a boner killer."

He reaches between us and grabs my hard dick. "Doesn't feel like I killed it." He raises his brow at me, and I chuckle. Goddamn, I love this playful side of him. "Bedroom?"

I nod my head and scramble off him, practically pulling him to my room, where I waste no time grabbing the lube, pouring it into my hand, and stroking my cock. Watching him come apart using his own hand was beautiful, but I can't not have my hands on him every chance I get.

"On the bed," I command, and he doesn't argue one bit, climbing onto the bed on his back and spreading his legs for me. "Now, who's bossy?"

"Need you," I say unapologetically.

I get myself nice and wet before moving a lubed finger between us, circling his hole while I lick into his mouth. "Need you too," he says breathlessly. "Don't waste too much time. I'm ready."

I grin against his lips, getting him ready with one and then two fingers before I slide into him with one quick stroke. His firm ass swallows my cock, and I have to slam my eyes shut, trying to think about anything else so I don't come right away. It's so warm and tight, his ass squeezing around me as he spreads his legs even further and coaxes me to go deeper using his hands on my ass, pulling me into him.

"Fuck. You feel so damn good."

His hand moves over my heart, and he looks up at me with so much damn awe, it's almost too much for me to comprehend. "I love you."

I smile, holding my weight off him with both hands and feeling his hand over my heart, my cock fully seated right at home inside him. "I love you too. I can't wait until this is every night. Here, together."

"You really want me to move in with you? I'll be in your space all the time."

I grin, giving him a little thrust, making his head fall back and his eyes close. Lost in pleasure for a moment. "Yes. I want that. I want everything with you. I want to know that you're safe and loved every second of every day."

I watch his Adam's apple move in his throat as he swallows, and I lean down and lick over the pronounced vein in his throat, making him squeeze tightly around me and making me groan deeply. He answers with a deep rumbling of his own that I feel under my tongue.

"I want that too. So badly."

"You can have it, baby. Any time." I lean down and kiss him so he doesn't feel like he needs to give me an answer. Then I pull back until I'm nearly all the way out of his ass and slam home, over and over again.

He wraps his legs around me, holding me tightly to him as his hand flies to his cock, shuttling up and down, chasing his orgasm.

"That's it." I'm torn between watching his face and his hand working his cock.

Soon, it's all too much, and we let go at nearly the same time. He leans up and kisses me hard as cum sprays between our bodies, making a gloriously sticky mess, and I unleash deep inside him.

I stroke in and out of him, milking every last drop as he falls back and lets his legs drop back to the bed. I collapse onto him, and then he wraps his arms around me.

Hell yes, I want this.

I want this always. I just hope he's ready to take this step because I can feel how ready he is for it. He just has to let himself have it.