Page 90 of Finding You

It would take time for him to trust, to lay down his cards because it had been far too long since he’d been around people who were genuinely good, but he could immediately tell they were safe. It had been like that with Dani. The moment they’d met, he knew she’d be special to him.

He just hadn’t realized how.

He’d been on a cross-country flight all day, and he was exhausted, but coming home to find Dallas at the house with Flora, cooking dinner and singing songs from their upcoming kindergarten choir performance, Kylen realized this was it.

This was entirely it.

This was home. This was his family. His happily ever after.

He waited until Flora was down for the night, and then he’d found Dallas in the kitchen doing dishes, and the words had slipped out. “Can we talk?”

Dallas looked like he wanted to throw up.

“Before you panic, I love you,” Kylen added.

Dallas’s shoulders sagged. “Don’t do that to me.”

Kylen couldn’t help a laugh as he snagged Dallas by the waist and pulled him close. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I do want to talk, but it’s not bad. Well, I don’t think it’s bad. I hope it’s not bad.”

Dallas took in a breath. “Can you just rip the Band-Aid off because I’m freaking out here.”

Kylen met his gaze and was surprised at how steady his voice was. “I want to move in together.”

Dallas was silent. Which he was expecting, so he didn’t worry. But then the quiet dragged on, and the little voice inside his head that second-guessed everything started getting louder. You fucked up. He doesn’t want you like that. You’re moving too fast.

Dallas cleared his throat. “Here with you or in my place? Because mine is kind of small, and I don’t want Flora to lose everything she’s comfortable with, and…”

“Here. With me,” Kylen said. “We can take it slow. I know it hasn’t been long, and I don’t want you to give up your house or anything. I’m a realist. I know sometimes things go sour. But I’m madly in love with you, and…I don’t know. I don’t feel like playing on someone else’s timeline. This is our life.” He touched the edge of Dallas’s jaw, then kissed him. “No one gets to decide what’s right except us.”

“When are you thinking?”

“Well, your brother’s coming to live here, so maybe he could take your place, and you and Audra could be here with me. That way, he doesn’t have to scramble to house-hunt while also starting up his practice again. And that means when I reach for you in the middle of the night, you’ll be there.”

Kylen watched Dallas’s face journey. His eyes widened, lips parted on a soft breath, cheeks pink, brows raised, then lowered. He ducked his head after a moment and asked, “I won’t be too much?”

Kylen almost laughed, but he knew the question was genuine. He knew Dallas would always fight with himself over whether or not he’d be enough, or too much, or worth it. Their relationship would be different from anything Kylen had ever pictured, but that was the beauty of it.

That’s what made it perfect.

“You will never be too much,” Kylen said. “Now, kiss me like you mean it.”

Dallas was glowing when he leaned in, cradled Kylen’s face, and did as much as he was asked. And then a little more than that. His tongue slipped against Kylen’s, hot and wet, both of them needy and possessive. He backed Kylen into the wall and rocked against him. Kylen’s breath left him when he realized Dallas was hard.

“Now? Tonight?”

Dallas broke the kiss and looked at him. “If you want.”

He wanted. Oh, he wanted. It had been a long, long while since they’d been intimate with each other. Not just for sex, but at all. There had been distance every time they curled up together, and they’d spent more nights apart than wrapped in each other’s arms.

But Kylen wanted to change that. He needed to change that.

“I want. Please.”

Dallas groaned softly as he stepped back, pulling Kylen with him. It was a short walk to the bedroom, and they were both profoundly aware of how little time they had before Flora was up and searching for them both. It would have to be quick, and Kylen hated that a little because Dallas deserved more.

But he didn’t seem to be in the mood to drag it out. Not with the way he was pulling at Kylen’s clothes, and the way he couldn’t stop kissing him, and the way he was still rock hard and trembling with need.

Kylen wanted to get fucked—desperately. He wanted to be filled. But first, he wanted to taste. He helped Dallas with his shirt, then worked the button on his jeans, then the zipper. Soon enough, he was naked, his cock thick and hard, a little wet at the tip. Kylen gave him a single stroke and watched him shudder.

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