Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138844 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Before Mr. Leroux had passed, they’d gone through the process of having Lucian emancipated, and now he had a team of lawyers to talk to. It wasn’t fair.
“I, uh…” I scratched the side of my head, wondering how the fuck to say this without sounding like a lame-ass. “Just so you know, if you need anything—I’m here. Okay?”
He swallowed and nodded once. “I appreciate it.”
“I mean it. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. We can rent a bunch of movies and order pizza all the days of the week.”
He chuckled quietly. “I’m sure the coach would love that.”
Fuck the coach. Fuck parties and whatever too. I just wanted to be here with Lucian. For him.
“Lucian!”
“Lucian!”
I sucked in a breath and sat up in bed, disoriented, heart pounding. Had someone screamed—
“Lucian!” It was Noa. This one came out as a whimper, and he scrambled out of bed and darted out of our bedroom. “Uncle Lucian!”
“Freckles?” I coughed to clear my throat from sleep and did my best to follow as fast as I could. I grabbed my cane and grunted as I rose from the bed.
“What’s wrong, Noa?” I heard Lucian ask groggily. “Calm down, sweetheart. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I had a bad dream,” Noa replied, sniffling.
Fuck. I blew out a breath and reached the doorway to Lucian and Cam’s room.
I met Lucian’s sleepy but troubled gaze in the dim light as he comforted our boy on his lap.
Hell, I felt I needed some comfort too. It was possible we had some fears to work through after this week’s clusterfuck.
“Wanna talk about it, baby?” He kissed the side of Noa’s head.
Noa shook his head hesitantly. “No…it was too horrible.”
A heavy unease settled around my heart, and I limped over to the bed and slumped down on the edge. Lucian immediately reached for my hand.
I threaded our fingers together and couldn’t form a word. Though I could guess what Noa’s nightmare had been about—or rather, what outcome reality had been distorted into—I’d had my own dream about Lucian that made me feel discombobulated. Except, mine was a memory of an awful time in both our lives.
Lucian had lost his last parent, and I’d hated going home after school. At seventeen, I’d just started having dreams about guys, and they’d terrified me. Not once had those dreams made me connect the dots in how Lucian and I were the same. Both gay. No, Lucian had been gay, and there’d just been something wrong with me.
As sad as it had been, our tragedies had brought us closer together. We’d chased distractions together at concerts, at the library, at Blockbuster, at the movies… Neither of us had wanted to talk much, but we’d known what was lurking underneath the surface. We’d been each other’s silent support. He’d known I’d despised my parents for many reasons. Their bigotry, their religious fundamentalism, their classism, their arrogance…the list went on.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m okay.” Whether Lucian was saying it to me or to Noa, I didn’t know. I guessed we both needed to hear it. “I think you and Daddy should stay here tonight.”
“Yeah,” Noa whimpered.
No argument from me.
It was a miracle Cam hadn’t woken up, though.
Noa and I got under the covers, and he wanted us to “sandwich me tight,” and that worked for me. The closer I got to Lucian, the better.
“Get some sleep.” He kissed Noa on the forehead, then dropped his head on the pillow, and he glanced at me. “Are you okay?” he mouthed.
Was I?
“Yeah. Just been a rough week.” It was technically true. I could analyze the unease tomorrow.
For now, with all four of us in the same bed, I could take a deep breath and relax.
Between more visitors coming for Lucian, his doctor’s appointment, Noa’s nightmares, Cam recovering from a brief but rough cold, and adjusting to all our changes, the days blurred together until I woke up on Saturday morning and realized it was Saturday morning.
Jesus.
It was the first time in months I didn’t feel like attending an event at Mclean.
At the same time, I believed it would do us good to get out of the house and see our friends.
After I’d completed my workout in the pool, Lucian had woken up too, and he looked to be at war with the coffee machine.
I tightened my towel around my hips. “Here.” I walked over to him, noticing the filter hadn’t been inserted properly. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” he muttered, kissing my jaw. “Mmm, chlorine.”
I smirked and switched on the machine. “Boys still asleep?”
He nodded. “I can’t help but worry about Noa.”
Same here. The nightmares would go away eventually, but I wished he’d talk about them. He’d told us enough that we knew he kept dreaming about Lucian having a heart attack, and it made the boy understandably clingy. The problem was that he kept his fears to himself and wandered aimlessly around the house with zero energy. He’d barely expressed any excitement about today’s Easter Egg Hunt, about seeing his friends, or about the playtime that would follow. I mean, seeing his Daddy go nuts on another Top was one of his biggest fantasies. Even Cam had been quick to say he wanted to watch.