Page 107 of More than Need

“Oh. It’s Dawson.”

She smiled, and his heart seized up. He hadn’t expected someone sosweetto have raised Riley, who embodied surly and reticent. She was nothing like he’d imagined, given Riley’s personality.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Dawson. We’ve never met one of Riley’s boyfriends before,” she said happily. The plate of toast she put in front of him had the perfect ratio of Vegemite and butter, all melted and gooey.

“He’s neverhada boyfriend before,” Lucas pointed out. “Can robots date?”

“I think it would depend on how advanced his technology is. If he has prime upgrades, he might be able to turn that feature on?”

“Robots aren’t allowed to find love?” Theresa asked primly.

“Did you just agree that Riley is a robot?” Lucas asked.

“I did not. Eat your breakfast.”

Peyton took a bite out of his own toast, still wearing that shit-eating grin.

“So,” Lucas said, leaning back in his chair. He pulled a corner of his toast off. “How long have you and my brother been doing the horizontal tango?”

“Lucas!” Theresa scolded.

“What?” Lucas protested. “It’s a legitimate question! We just found the dude having a sleepover. I didn’t even know Rydidsleepovers. I’m a little curious.”

“They could have been doing the standing tango.”

“The point is, a tango happened.”

Peyton nodded sagely.

They were like watching a ping-pong match. Dawson didn’t know where to look, or whether he should just put his head down and ignore them until they went away. That was a ruder approach, but it was one that meant he could avoid all the things.

“I’m very sorry about them, Dawson. I tried to instil manners, but as you can see, I wasn’t successful, and there’s no hope for them.” Theresa sat at the last available seat with a mug cradled in her hands. “We’re very sorry for barging in like this. All the times I’ve come in here to feed Riley, there’s never been anyone else. Oh, there was that one time.”

“That one time?” Lucas asked. “You can’t say that and not elaborate. We need all the details.”

Did they? Dawson didn’t want the details. Had no desire to know who had come before him and Gideon. Not jealousy, exactly, just… no willingness to acknowledge that Riley had ever been naked with anyone else.

“Oh.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Quinn was here once.”

Peyton deflated. “I was hoping for juicy gossip, Mum.”

“Your boyfriend sleeping at your brother’s placewith only one bedisn’t juicy gossip?” Lucas asked.

Dawson flinched when someone kicked him. Lucas burst out laughing, and Peyton looked chagrined.

“Sorry,” Peyton apologised. “That was meant for him.”

“S’okay.” Honestly, getting kicked didn’t even register on the “oh shit” scale that morning.

The shower shut off, and the piece of toast in Dawon’s throat lodged there uncomfortably. He swallowed around the dryness and tried not to let the sheer panic beating rapidly in his chest show on his face.

He should warn them that there were people out here. Could they hear? Did they already know? They should have come up with some sort of discreet signal.

For what? When parents show up at your house while you’re naked in your lover’s bed?It seemed like too specific a thing to need a warning for. They could have created a generic one for all occasions. Too little, too late.

A laugh echoed through. One that was definitely not Riley’s. Then the murmur of voices, a low moan. All three faces turned to look at Dawson, a mix of confusion, concern, and curiosity on them. Dawson closed his eyes in horror. How did he make this all go away?

The door opened, steam pouring out. Riley came out first, one hand towelling his hair. Thankfully, he was wearing slacks and an open shirt. More presentable than Dawson had been. He stopped in the doorway the second he noticed them, hand pausing. That answered the question as to whether they’d heard anything. Dawson should have made a bird sound.

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