Page 45 of Ethan

"The sheets will get full of crumbs if we eat in here."

"I don't care."

"The other pair of panties I brought is a sexy, black little G-string."

I laughed. "Then we're definitely getting up to eat."

Ethan nuzzled against me. "Tell me I'm a good boy."

I hugged him to me and hummed against his hair. "You're the best boy."

Ethan snuggled closer. It wasn't long until he was asleep. I vowed to give him everything he needed from me. It was the least I could do for the man who had changed my life.

I fussed with the salad in Derek's kitchen as best I could while not entirely sure where I was going to find the salad tongs this time around. My son's home had gone from pristine to them holding on for dear life. Having two older children introduced into their home when they had no experience with children had been an adjustment. Lucy and Cara were nine and eleven.

"Lucy," I held out my hand as she raced around the corner. "Tongs?"

She shrugged and carried on, the newest addition to their family, a Golden Retriever puppy chasing after her, it's floppy feet almost tripping it up.

"What are you looking for, Grandad?"

"Tongs, Cara. They're not in the drawer."

"Did you check the dishwasher?" She popped open the door on it, rolled the top tray out, and lifted a glass. Hidden beneath a row of them were the metal tongs. I'd missed them when I looked.

"Maybe your eyes aren't so good anymore," Cara said.

"My eyes are fine. It's my common sense that's failing with age."

"You're not old, Dad." Derek patted my shoulder as he walked past me.

I chuffed out a laugh. If I wasn't old, why had a weekend with Ethan nearly crippled me? Granted, we'd overdone it. Even Ethan had complained about being sore.

The games, the toys—it had been the most seductive weekend of my life.

I attacked the salad, mixing in the dressing. My soul had deflated as I watched Ethan disappear into his apartment building on Sunday with promises of seeing each other again soon.

"You're looking wistful again," Derek's husband, Michael, said to me.

"Yeah, Dad … what's up?"

"I'll tell you after dinner." I'd decided to share some of what was going on in my life with Derek and Michael. Ethan had become precious to me. I wanted my family to know I had found someone special. They worried about me. They didn't like that I was alone.

The atmosphere around the dinner table was boisterous as we ate together. Rufus, the oversized ball of puppy fluff hadn't learned about not begging at the table. And the girls weren't helping in that regard, handing food down to him when their dads weren't looking.

I let them know I was watching them … which made them giggle.

Come 7 pm, the girls were herded up to their rooms for quiet reading time, whereby we adults had a moment to breathe. Derek brought a second bottle of wine into the living room.

I sat in my usual chair near the window, reclining with my feet up.

"Okay," Michael said. "What's up, Daniel?"

I grinned. To be honest, I was giddy to tell them about Ethan.

"I met someone," I started.

"Ah," Derek replied nodding. "Now, it makes sense. All the dreamy looks."

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