Of Love (9 page)

They moved from the bathroom into the hotel room, and Kent turned back the covers, tucking him in with a kiss. Oh yeah. Totally.

“Rest for me. I’m going to sit here and play Candy Crush,” Kent told him.

Dex started chuckling. Of course candy hound Kent would be a fan of Candy Crush. He was still chuckling as he fell asleep.

“SO ARE
you still dating Dex?” His sister Kari poured him another cup of coffee, her hair dyed a shade darker than his more-blond-than-red hair. Their eyes, though, they were the same weird brown, the color of sherry.

Kent had to wonder if his baby’s eyes would be the same or a darker brown like its mom’s.

“Yeah. He’s a good guy.”

“So he’s on board with the whole baby-daddy thing?” she asked.

“Not even a little bit.” He wasn’t lying to himself; he knew better. Dex never asked about the baby, about Liz. It had been two months, and they never spoke about it. Not even when they’d gone to the big Thanksgiving Triathlon in California together. That had been Dex in training mode, then running, recovering, and two whirlwind days of sightseeing. It had actually been a lot of fun.

“Oh, honey….” He could see her trying to come up with what to say.

“Shh. It’s cool. We’re having a good time. It’s not like we’re going to be a family or anything. He’s a friend with benefits. That’s all.” And that was okay. It really had to be.

She gave him a look. “I saw what your face did when I mentioned him, what it does whenever you talk about him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, you old bitch.”

His phone rang. Dex’s ringtone.

“’Scuse me a sec, honey.” He grabbed his phone and his coffee cup and went to stand on the deck. “Hey, you.” Speak of the devil.

“Hey, sweet.” Dex’s words sounded like a hug.

“What’s up?”

“I was thinking of you and decided I wanted to hear your voice.”

“Oh.” How dear. “I’m having coffee with my silly sister.”

“Do you have one who isn’t silly?”

“Nope. Just this one.”

The girls came into the backyard, waving and carrying Hula-Hoops.

Dex chuckled. “I didn’t think so. You busy tonight? I wanted to take a drive out to the Greenford River, check out their water entry for that race in May. Signup opens tomorrow, and I want a good idea of what I’ll be getting into before putting my name down.”

“I’m not. You want me to pick you up in an hour or so?” That would give him time to say his good-byes, finish his coffee, and they could still hit the river as well as stop somewhere for supper.

“Oh, that’d be perfect. There’s a restaurant out near Greenford I wanted to try, and the timing should work well.”

“Perfect. I’ll be there in a bit.” He felt a happy warmth fill him. Dex made him happy, simple as that.

“Cool. I can’t wait to see you.”

Like they hadn’t had a lazy afternoon in bed together just yesterday. Still, he got what Dex meant. He was in love. Stupid, because this love affair had another five months, tops, and it would be over, but there it was.

“There’s a nice little shopping area there too. Open late now for Christmas shoppers. We could fit the bill, eh?” suggested Dex.

“Sounds like a plan. See you.”

“Bye, sweet. ’Til later.”

Kari was standing outside, leaning against the wall. “You could have put on a coat.”

For some reason—possibly Dex related—Kent didn’t feel the cold at all.

She grinned. “And you’re making that face again.”

“What face?”

“That goofy I’m-in-love face,” she told him.

“Don’t be silly.”

“I’m not. You need to be careful, honey. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“That’s inevitable.” If he’d known Dex before… but he hadn’t, and this was his baby; he wasn’t changing his mind about having it.

She came over and hugged him hard. “You should talk to him, convince him to get on board.”

“Oh, lady, you know better than that. You can’t make someone who doesn’t like kids want one. That’s just a heartache waiting to happen.”

Hell, he needed to make sure Elizabeth was still on for the ultrasound Friday. She said the doctor was insisting that he come, and God knew, he wanted to see his baby. The doctor had had an emergency just before her nine-week appointment, after which he’d been away on business, Elizabeth’s kids had gotten sick. Then she herself had, and so they hadn’t been able to schedule the replacement ultrasound until now.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt, brother.” She sounded fierce.

“Me either.” Still, it was what it was.

She patted his cheeks. “It’s too late anyway. You feel what you feel.”

“I do. Friday is the ultrasound. Expect pictures.”

“I will. I’m ready to see my niece or nephew!”

Then she turned to shout, “Girls! Come say good-bye to your uncle Kent!”

“Bye!” They waved, but they were busy playing, talking about snow and dolls and gymnastics.

Chuckling, Kari gave him a kiss and sent him on his way.

Kent headed off, looking at the sky. Yeah, it did look like snow. Very cool. That could lead to a romantic walk. Did fuck buddies do romance? Well, they must, because he and Dex had romance in spades.

Maybe this was supposed to hold him until the baby was old enough for him to date again. Maybe they were just supposed to be friends, like genuinely friends, forever. That worked okay. It wasn’t great, but it didn’t suck.

When he pulled up in front of Dex’s place, Dex was right there, bounding out of his building and climbing in. “Hey, sweet. Mmm, you’re looking edible.”

“Hey, you. How goes it?” He admired Dex. Fine fucking man.

“Great. Especially now.”

Kent leaned over the console for a kiss. “Let’s go check out your entrance.” That had come out sounding perverse.

Dex obviously thought so too, dissolving into laughter. Kent rolled his eyes, cackling along with Dex, tickled as all get out.

“So how’s your sister?” Dex asked when their laughter had died down.

“Fine. She’s happy, busy. Just like always.”

“Cool. You spending Christmas with them?” The words were super casual.

“We do Christmas Eve with the whole family, and then Christmas is quiet. Do you have plans?”
Would you maybe like to come?

“Nope. I was hoping to maybe spend time with you.”

“Well, then. You’re welcome to spend the evening with the crazy folks and then come home with me.” Kent would love that, even if it meant he was digging himself in deeper.

“Yeah? I wouldn’t be intruding?” Dex asked.

“At my folks’? Nah. They’re neat.” And utterly desperate to meet Dex.

“Yeah? Okay, cool. You’re going to have to tell me who all will be there and what they’d like.”

“Sure. We have time.” He needed to get a little tree for his place if Dex was coming over. Put it up and buy some decorations. Maybe he’d just hire someone.

“Yeah. I don’t usually do much for the holidays. It’ll be nice to do something different, more holiday-ish.”

“You don’t hang with your mom?” He knew Dex and his mom weren’t that close, but it was Christmas after all.

“We’re bigger on New Year’s than Christmas. Back to that no money thing, you know? Like my birthday, it was just easier to downplay it.”

“Ah, right.” He didn’t get it, but whatever. They’d never been poor. Not rich, just comfortable. Now that he was wealthy, it was way more fun.

“We could start our own traditions,” Dex suggested.

Could it be a tradition for only one year? “We totally could.”

“Excellent.” Dex plugged something into the GPS. “Okay, this should get us exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

“Rock on.” Kent found something easy on the radio and took off.

“So who all is going to be at this family Christmas thing?” Dex asked.

“My sister and her husband and their kids, Mom, Dad. My aunt Harriet and her partner Bessie.”

“So that’s eight plus us?”

“Yep. Lots of goodies, singing, silly cartoons, board games.” His folks were big kids, still.

“Sound like a fun time.”

“It should be.” His family wasn’t the big blowout at Christmas type. It was about getting together with the ones you loved.

“Good, good. And then we get to have Christmas morning together.” Dex waggled his eyebrows.

“All day long.” He chuckled softly, then made a turn, led by the GPS.

“Yeah. Mmm. Long.” Dex chuckled. “Sorry, I’m feeling horny.”

“Had a good day, did you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“Excellent.” Kent headed away from the traffic, the city.

“We could maybe find a place near the lake for the night…,” Dex suggested.

“Somewhere with room service?” He could handle that. Totally.

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Room service, a huge tub, and those fluffy bathrobes.”

“Get on your phone, stud. Find us somewhere.”

“Yes, boss.” Grinning, Dex began going through his phone.

“Good man.” He couldn’t stop smiling; hell, he didn’t even try.

Dex stopped midchuckle, pointing at his phone. “Oh. Oh, this place is perfect!”

“Yeah? Book it. I trust you.”

“Excellent. This place has everything we’re looking for and….” Dex tapped at his phone. “And we’re in.”

“Woo-hoo!” Kent let himself be excited, let himself feel young and tickled.

Laughing, Dex put a hand on his thigh, just resting it there.

“We’re close, honey. Do you know what you’re looking for?” he asked.

“Yeah, there’s a beach, supposedly. How much of one is what I’m trying to figure out.”

“Keep your eyes peeled. It’s hard to see with the cloud cover,” he noted.

“There! To the right as soon as you can. That’s got to be it.”

“Good deal.” They pulled in, and he put the car in Park. “Ta-da.”

“It’s kinda chilly, so you don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to.” Dex pulled his zipper up and put on a pair of thin gloves.

“Well, you’re not going in the water, right?” Kent asked.

“Nope, not a chance.”

“Cool.” Kent grabbed his knitted hat and the keys. “Let’s look.”

They got out, and Dex grabbed his hand, holding on as they walked down to the little beach. “Okay, this is going to be pretty crowded, so I’m going to want to get ahead of the pack,” Dex noted.

God, this whole triathlon thing was vastly more technical than Kent could have imagined. He honestly thought it was just running, swimming, and biking. “So you don’t get bottlenecked?”

“Exactly.” Dex gave him a smile and squeezed his hand. “You’ve learned way more about racing than you ever wanted to know, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know if I’d say that, but I learned more than I knew there was to learn.”

Dex stopped and tugged him around, holding on to him. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He snuggled right in, leaned hard.

“Being here. Embracing my racing.”

“You love racing. I love you. It’s easy.” Wait. Wait, had he just said that out loud?

The smile that bloomed across Dex’s face said that he had indeed said it out loud.

“Yeah? Because me too,” Dex told him.

Oh, that made it almost worse, almost sadder. But it was also amazing. Truly fucking stunning. “Yeah,” he whispered.

Dex took his mouth, and they shared a long kiss, the cold air blowing over them from the lake. The connection between them wasn’t cold at all. It warmed him from the inside out and made him step closer. Dex hugged him tight and kept kissing him, their tongues sliding back and forth into each other’s mouths.

He pushed his bare hands up under Dex’s jacket to warm them. Dex shrieked, the sound followed by laughter.

Kent went for innocent. “You okay?”

“Butthead,” Dex accused, still laughing.

“That’s me.”

God, Dex’s tight little belly was warm.

“Love your touch.” Dex kissed him again. “Even if your hands are like icicles.”

“You know what they say: cold hands, warm heart.”

“I have heard that. Your heart must be on fire.” Still grinning, Dex took yet another kiss from him.

God, Dex’s lips fascinated Kent. They pressed against his, then withdrew, then pressed against his again in the most delicious dance.

His butt was beginning to freeze, though, and his nose hairs were going to fall out, he knew it.

Dex shivered in his arms. “Okay. We’ve seen the space, and I’ll sign up, start my plan. But I’m freezing to death right now. Let’s go find that hot tub.”

“Works for me. You want to navigate or drive?”

“Oh, I’ll navigate. It’s your beast.” Dex always teased him about the SUV.

“Yeah. It’s an indulgence, but she’s a good size.”

“My little smart car makes up for it anyway.” Dex gave him a wink.

“Yeah, yeah.” He was going to have a car seat to deal with in six months. That wouldn’t fit in a smart car.

“The resort is on the lake,” Dex told him as they climbed in. “You want to take the first right we come to.”

“Oh, so it’s close.” Kent got the car started, the heater blasting.

“Yeah, it is. We should skip the shopping in town until tomorrow morning. That work for you?”

“Totally. Especially if the hotel has a laundry service.”

“I didn’t check that. You can do your smalls in the bathroom sink if they don’t,” Dex teased.

“If it’s a good hotel, they will. No worries.”

“I’m not. I’m thinking watching you clean your undies in the sink while you’re naked could be a little kinky,” Dex said.

Kent looked at Dex, and they both cracked up, started giggling madly. God, he could laugh with this man.

Dex directed him to the hotel, and they got out, then headed into the lobby to register and pick up the key. The place was nice, classy.

“We’ll need laundry service, if possible,” Kent told the clerk at the front desk.

“Of course. I’ll put a note on your account, but if you put your stuff in the bag provided and leave it on the door, we’ll get it taken care of.” She handed over the key. “Have a pleasant stay.”

“Thank you.”

They headed to the elevator, and he goosed Dex on the way. Dex squealed again and, once they were on the elevator, tried to take revenge. They were still dancing around the space when the doors opened, two older people staring disapprovingly.