Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Gage

“Make yourselves at home. Whatever you need, let me know,” I said, swinging the door closed behind me.

My house wasn’t large by any means—comfy enough to house three people and not feel like we were all on top of each other. I’d already made the bed up in Asher’s room, leaving the one next to mine, Greyson’s, empty. Lord knew if we’d need it once Dexter went to bed and Xavier finally got his hands on me.

He probably thought he was being slick with those subtle looks of his that he’d been throwing my way in the car whenever I glanced over at him at a red light. Or the way his hand twitched on his thigh while he was fighting the urge to grab onto mine whenever I switched the gearshift.

Xavier was funny that way—always trying to hold himself back on account of trying to maintain that carefully crafted facade of calm he favored around other people. The most ironic part about all of that—or was it the most beautiful?—was how completely undone he became when we got together.

The way his jaw would go slack just as he was about to come, or how tense his body got while driving himself into me, getting those long strokes inside of me as deep as possible. God, everything about us having sex drove me fucking wild and had my toes curling inside of my shoes.

“Earth to Gage.” Hearing my name being called broke me out of my dirty thoughts instantly.

Putting on a pleasant smile, I waved my hand toward the living room and showed my guests inside. “Here is the rest of the house. Bedrooms are down on the left with fresh sheets tucked nice and neat. Kitchen’s on the right and the fridge is freshly stocked. Bathroom is across from the master and has new towels on the sink up for grabs.”

Xavier’s lip twitched. “You didn’t need to do all of that, you know.”

Winking, I said, “Let me pamper, okay? This house is in need of guests.”

While Xavier breathed out a laugh, Dexter’s gaze wandered around the living room. I hoped he’d find himself comfortable here. Seeing as I was kind of dating his dad pretty seriously, and hoped to for a long time, this little trial visit was a bit make or break.

“You like video games?” I offered, nodding for him to follow me into the living room where I had the entertainment set up.

He was hesitant to follow, but did so after a nod from his dad who soon disappeared down the hall with their bags.

“Uh… yeah. Kind of.”

Grinning, I pulled open the door to all of Asher and Greyson’s consoles to show him. “My brothers are closet nerds. While they’re away, feel free to use whatever. It’s all already hooked up to the Smart system.”

He blinked in surprise. “Where are your brothers?”

That had me blowing out a breath, more out of frustration than anything. “They’re west and east of here, ignoring me. One’s in Texas, the other’s over in Georgia.”

“Oh,” was all Dexter said to that.

Quiet kid.

I remembered how Xavier had said he was worried about his kid’s social life not too long ago. Maybe sometime in the future, if all went well this weekend and I didn’t scare Dexter off completely, he’d warm up to meeting the boys.

Now that would be the true testament to how much chaos Dexter could handle.

“You off from school for long?” I asked, swinging the entertainment unit door shut. “I haven’t kept up with school schedules in a while since my brothers graduated.”

“I’ve got winter break coming up. I already finished my end of semester tests so my mom let me come on this trip with my dad.”

I wondered how true that really was. Not that I doubted Dexter’s sincerity or anything, I just didn’t foresee Xavier’s ex-wife being so… charitable with letting her son go away with his dad for an entire weekend. I’m obviously biased here, sue me. The stories from Xavier about her, though, still got my blood boiling.

“Well, hopefully you like LSU,” I said, plastering on a smile again. “The campus is really nice. I pass it on the way to work every day.”

“My dad said you’re a firefighter.”

“Guilty.”

“So… that’s how you two met, right?”

For some reason, the way he was asking almost sounded like he was fishing for something. Fuck me, I should’ve gotten the full story from Xavier on what he’d told his kid regarding us. All I knew was that he was playing our relationship on the down low to keep Dexter from getting uncomfortable.

Which… sucked.

At the same time, it wasn’t like either Xavier or I could help that he was raised in a strictly religious household and had no idea what kind of beliefs he had. He knew his dad was out and gay, so at least we weren’t going to be running into any problems regarding that topic.

Me on the other hand?

I had no idea what the hell I was supposed to be playing this as.

Friend?

Former coworker?

All of them sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me.

Sometimes even boyfriend did that, too, but what else was I supposed to call Xavier?

Lover sounded like too much and partner made it confusing when half of us at the station referred to each other that way when working.

“Actually, I went to California to train under him for an aerial program and brought back a lot of what I learned to my station,” I said, rubbing my hands together a few times. “I can practically fly fighter jets now.” I let out a chuckle and flashed him a grin.

To my utter surprise, Dexter let out a small snort.

All right, progress.

“We doing okay out here?” Xavier poked his head around the corner, both of his brows pulled together in that nervous way of his.

Just as I was about to give him the big old thumbs up, the sound of my radio flagging from where I had it on the charging dock by the door filtered around the room.

Of all fucking times…

“Damn,” I mumbled. “Well, duty calls.”

“Be safe.” Xavier flashed me a smile, his hand flexing into a fist at his side, clearly fighting himself from grabbing at me like he would’ve any other time.

In response, I clenched my teeth together. Man, I wanted to close the distance between us and peck him on the way out—and judging by his pinched expression, he wanted that, too.

Behave. I told myself. It’s only for a few more hours.

“Have fun today!” I said, and jogged to my bedroom to grab my uniform before heading out.

Never in my life had I ever prayed for some crazy situation to be thrust into when I got to the station, not wanting the bad luck and karma to follow me to my next life.

Today was my exception. Because damn right I was going need all of the distractions in the world that I could possibly get to keep me from jumping Xavier’s bones the second I laid my eyes on him again.

That man was temptation on two legs and I was the stupid moth entranced by his flame.