Page 41 of Forged

“I hope so,” Callum answered, like Bax had been talking to him. “I’m determined to convince you to join the coven, after all.”

Bax laughed, but Nick could see in his eyes that he didn’t really find it funny. “Later,” he said, brushing Nick’s arm.

Bax winked as he turned to go. Nick caught himself sighing, half because he was head over heels in love and half because everything seemed so much harder than it should have been between them. If it wasn’t the kids, it was his class. And now Callum had thrown his spanner in the works. But wasn’t that just the way of everything in his life right now? Kids, Teaching, Art, and Bax.

“Right, let’s get started,” Callum said. “I can’t wait to learn how to wield the element of fire like a pro. Then maybe I’ll snag the attention of a man like Bax, too.”

Nick dragged his focus to Callum in time to have Callum wink at him, like the two of them were coconspirators in the art of love.

Or maybe like Callum was acknowledging his competition where Bax was concerned.

Either way, uneasiness rippled down Nick’s spine. It was going to be a long spring.

THIRTEEN

Nick felt threatened by Callum.Bax had picked up on that during his visit to that first forging class. It had been subtle then, but as the week wore on, Nick’s tension in the morning when he would be teaching his Intro to Blacksmithing class was palpable. Bax tried to do whatever he could to alleviate Nick’s worries, from being cuddly to deliberately not mentioning Callum in conversation, but he wasn’t sure it was doing any good.

He got where Nick was coming from, to a certain point. Despite being in his early thirties, Nick was a brand new gay. Well, he was new to having a gay relationship. He probably looked at Callum the way Callum would look at him if he’d suddenly been asked to put together a sculpture rivaling Nick’s unicorn for a metalworking competition after just one class.

Then again, with Callum, he would probably face the challenge of creating a larger-than-life metal sculpture after one metalworking lesson with a smile, and then accidentally create a masterpiece that the Tate Modern wanted for their collection.

Which was the heart of the problem, really.

Bax couldn’t do anything to change their circumstances or work on Nick’s self-esteem issues for him. All he could do was love Nick as close to the way Nick needed to be loved as he could. He was still figuring out what that meant, but he was in the early days of infatuation, when his heart was still on fire and his whole world seemed to revolve around making his big bear of a man happy.

Honestly, he was ready to move past the silly, squirrely, early days of love to build a more solid, natural relationship with Nick. He didn’t mind doing things like deliberately not asking Callum for referrals to people he knew who might need an accountant, but he really could have used that resource. The Brotherhood was an excellent place for him to start building a client list on his way to forming a thriving company, but a lot of its members already had accountants they were happy with.

By the end of the week, Nick was still showing signs of strain.

“Your new classes are going well, though,” Bax said as he sat on one of the benches in the forge in the middle of Friday afternoon, watching Nick polishing the unicorn with some sort of electric polishing thing to make particular patterns in the metal of its body. “Nobody has complained to Uncle Robert, at least.”

Nick huffed a laugh and glanced up at Bax. How the man could look so sexy wearing plastic safety goggles was beyond Bax. “It’s too early for complaints,” he said. “They’ll be keeping it all inside right now and grumbling to each other for another week still.”

“Oh, come on,” Bax said, grinning. “You’re an amazing teacher. Every time I’ve snuck down here to see what you’re doing, everyone looks happy and engaged.”

Nick tensed despite the compliment, and Bax wondered if he was thinking about Callum. It was barmy, but with the mood Nick had been in all week, his darker thoughts were probablywhispering that Bax had dropped by the forge briefly that morning to check Callum out instead of to bring Nick coffee and make sure he was okay.

“You’re a good teacher, Nick,” Bax said, sliding off his stool and moving across the forge so he could throw his arms around Nick’s shoulders once he put his tools down. “A very good teacher. And you’re a good father, too,” he said, knowing that was another point of stress for his sweetheart.

Nick let out a breath and circled his arms around Bax, bringing him close enough to kiss. “Thanks.”

Bax kissed him back, letting the moment between them linger and pulse with warmth. Nick responded with enthusiasm, which had even more sparks flying between them.

Good. That was the way it should be. Nick deserved a little adult time to explore himself.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Bax said, grinning as he rocked back, keeping his arms around Nick.

“Oh yeah?” Nick smiled, relaxing more by the second.

“Mmm hmm. I called your mother this morning and asked if she could take the kids overnight tonight,” Bax said.

“You did?” Nick’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You called my mum?” When Bax nodded, Nick said, “The two of you hate each other.”

“I don’t hate your mum,” Bax said. “I’m just unwilling to wither under her disapproving glare because I’m not a woman and can’t give her more grandchildren.”

Nick chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Sorry about her.”

“Good or bad, she said she’d take the kids tonight,” Bax went on. “Which means you and I can have a leisurely, romantic evening together that can last all night.”

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