Page 70 of Ballads of Lines Blurred

I was able to dry myself when we got out of the shower. The faster we were done, the sooner we could get into bed together.

Milo climbed in first with Slater and me bracketing him, curling our bodies around his. He sighed wistfully, his arms around us.

Earlier today, I was worried. Milo was pulling away, but Slater went there, talked to him, and brought us back on track. My mind was at ease. My body was blissfully sated. I was right where I was supposed to be.

Love was a crazy, wild emotion that had the power to lift me high into the sky or crash me down on the ground so hard I wondered if I’d ever get up. These two had double the effect on me. There would be no others like them, and I never wanted there to be. They were mine. I was wholly theirs.

32

SLATER

“Oh my god, what’s that smell?” Cody asked, lifting his head from the pillow.

Now, that could have been taken multiple ways. However, I knew exactly what he was talking about. The room smelled like bacon, sausage, and some sort of sugary pastry, which meant one thing. My parents arrived during the night and all three of us were passed out from a round of sex and heard nothing.

It had been weeks since the first time we got to be inside Cody. Weeks of nonstop sex. Whenever we were together, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Our schedules were all over the place but fortunately, we always ended up in the same place at night—this bed. Cody and Milo had keys to my house, but I hadn’t formally asked them to move in yet.

We did work out they were going on tour with me. Cody was in the process of onboarding another person at the gym, someone who came with management experience, so Xaiden had more breathing room. Cody also wanted to be sure he wouldn’t be replaced. He fully intended on coming back here between our domestic and international tour to work at the gym. Xaiden assured him the place was his. He wouldn’t work forever and had planned on Cody taking over eventually, especially given the added responsibility Xaiden had with the family businesses.

His parents had fully retired in the past month, passing along their businesses to Xaiden and Dexen. But Xaiden made sure to tell Cody that just because the gym would be his someday, it didn’t mean it had to rule his life. Xaiden was big on living life for all he could and wanted the same for Cody and Olivia. Life shouldn’t be all about work when it didn’t need to be.

Milo spoke with Dexen about taking a leave. Dexen was a bit hesitant at first, worried about losing him and filling the role. However, Milo assured him when the tour was done or on a break, Milo would work. He’d started training the member of the club who showed interest in what he did.

Everything was on track for them to tour with me. We even had a new bus being customized. Milo and I put money into it, telling the label not to worry about it. We wanted to be able to use it when we weren’t traveling with the band. The idea of going around the country on it when not on tour was Cody’s. We were lying in bed one night and he was talking about all the places he’d like to see. His family didn’t have much money growing up. After he went to live with Xaiden, he didn’t want to ask for more than he needed. Sure, they went on vacation, but it was different with Milo and me. Cody protested about not putting money toward the bus. Milo and I had more than we knew what to do with, so we compromised. We handled the bus and when the time came for the three of us to travel outside of a tour, Cody could arrange it and even pay for our accommodations as needed. We’d have to park the bus somewhere. Maybe we’d want nights in hotels to break up the long hours inside the bus.

My parents were set to arrive anytime today. They must have driven through the night to get here. My mom loved making big breakfasts for us on the weekends when Dash and I were growing up.

The sound of pots clanging reached us, thanks to the open hallway in my house. A second later, a loud, “Morning!” startled me to sit up. Dash filled the doorway to my bedroom. I quickly looked to make sure we were covered from the waist down. While Dash had no interest in my men, I still didn’t want him seeing their dicks.

“You could have knocked,” I grumbled.

“Could have, should have, didn’t. Get up before I start bouncing on the bed to make you. You know Mom won’t let us eat until everyone is down there.”

“Who’s everyone?” How many people came into my house while we slept?

“Romeo, Tris, Cas, Reed, and El.”

“Jesus,” I muttered.

“We fucked each other into oblivion,” Milo said from beneath the pillow that partially covered his head.

“That’s my cue,” Dash said and exited the room.

“Milo,” I nudged him with my bare foot. “There’s bacon downstairs and what might be cinnamon rolls.”

His head lifted, the pillow falling to the side. His hair was bright yellow, still shaved on the sides in a long mohawk. He’d also gotten a new piercing in his eyebrow. “Why am I still lying here?”

“Because you have to meet my parents.”

“Okay, so maybe I’m a bit hesitant. What if they don’t like me?”

“They’re going to love you.”

Cody threw the covers back, baring himself to the room. “We should get dressed before someone else comes up here.”

“Good point,” I said. I didn’t need my mom looking for us if the scent of food didn’t bring us downstairs.

We each dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. Had it been just the three of us, we wouldn’t have bothered with shirts, especially given how damn hot it was outside. The August heat was no joke this year, blazing down on us, working the central air-conditioning overtime.

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