Page 14 of Liberating Love

“Delicious?” Drix’s quirks his brow at his boyfriend with mock-irritation, but the smile playing across his face belies any real jealousy.

“That’s right. You heard me. A’s hot, Drix. As his friend, I must make sure he knows these things.”

Hendrix groans, then says, “You do knowI’myour boyfriend, right?”

Gav pats Drix’s cheek in such a patronizing way I snicker. That’s all it takes for Drix to act like an over-sized kid, tickling Gav until he runs out of my room squealing. Drix yells, “Don’t worry, A. I have your back and Gavin will pay for embarrassing you.”

Since they all run out, I adjust my dick, then drop my head to my chest and breathe in through my nose, out through my mouth, slowing my heartbeat and demanding my body to calm down. I can’t be near that magnificently freckled body without my cock reacting. But as attracted as I am to Aiden, he’s made his stance clear. He needs his friends, and I don’t want to interfere with relationships that are obviously so important to him. But I want him. There’s no question about that. I’ve stroked him and felt that tight heat, and I want more. After years—starting way before prison—of denying myself what I want, I’d come home promising to be true to myself. It figures the first person I’m interested in I’m cock-blocked by my own sons and they don’t even know it. Maybe that’s best, he’s at least twenty years younger than me, if not more. It’s possible Aiden’s the one making the mature decision here, and I should embrace it.

The rest of the day goes well. Spending more time with my sons is all I prayed for in prison, but their friends are like a refreshing balm to my soul. Their generous affection for the people they love is healing—the fact they’re so easily including me in that mix is humbling. Aiden only manages to avoid me because I give him his space. I know it can’t have been easy for him to voluntarily come over and help me get moved in and set up, but a part of me hopes it’s because he wanted to be able to picture me in my space.

The downstairs is set up and all the boxes are unloaded before I order subs for the crew and feed them all for helping. Gavin and Holds disappear upstairs as soon as they shove the last bite of food into their mouths. When they call for me to come up, Jovany, Drix, Jameson, and Aiden—begrudgingly—run upstairs with me to see what they’ve been up to. When I walk in the bedroom, I’m blown away. There’s a new darker teal bedspread with a multitude of decorative pillows on the bed. On the dresser I’d found are three white pillar candles, the flames flickering invitingly. The bedside tables have small matching lamps that cast a nice, soft glow around the room. In the corner is the coolest small rock fountain. It’s sitting on its own teal, gray, and red glass mini-table, and within sixty seconds, I know the bubbling sounds of the water tinkling into the bottom of the fountain will soothe me to sleep.

“Wow. Guys, I don’t even know what to say.”

“You wanted an oasis, so… we wanted to give you one. Is it okay?” Holds asks anxiously, him and Gavin standing with their arms linked.

“It’s better than okay. It’s perfect.” I stride across the room and pull them both into a bear hug. They both fit easily and I smoosh them together until they’re both squealing and giggling to let them out.

“Dad, seriously, you’re huge now. They probably can’t breathe,” Jovany says, amusement in his tone.

I let them go, giving them both a kiss on the forehead before circling around to take it all in. We hang out in there for a few more minutes as they show me the bathroom set they found to match and where they put the extra linens. “You thought of everything.” I’m impressed with the effort they put in.

Gavin laughs. “I really can’t believe you didn’t wonder where Holds, A, and I were while these guys helped you paint.”

“They said…” I look at my son who shrugs, a playful smile on his face. “Then where were you?” I ask Drix.

He rolls his eyes. “Playing chauffeur to them. Holds wanted you guys to have father-son bonding time. Believe me, I would’ve much rather been here painting. I couldn’t even talk Aiden into doing something else with me and letting the two amigos go at it alone.”

“Thank you, all,” I say to the room at large, but my eyes are zeroed in on Aiden. His gaze bounces around as he leans nonchalantly against the bedroom wall, but his foot taps insistently on the floor.

“We didn’t do anything about the other two rooms, though. We weren’t sure if you were making a guest room or an office and using the other one for storage or what,” Holds says.

Gav adds, “Plus, the small one is really small. I vote storage.”

I wave them off. “I have no idea myself. The extra boxes are in there for now, and I’ll figure it out as I go.”

It’s been a long day and Jovany suggests they all get going so I can settle in. As they’re all making their way to the door to leave, I say, “Oh crap. There was one more piece of furniture I forgot to pick up.”

Jovany stops mid-step. “I’ll stay, Dad. We can run and get it.”

“Didn’t you say you have lunch with Mom’s family tomorrow?” Jameson asks.

His eyes shift guiltily toward his brother as his mouth tightens and he gives one jerk of his head. “I didn’t mean for you to hear me tell Dad that.”

Jameson lopes an arm over his brother’s shoulders. “It’s okay.” He squeezes him in tighter. “Really.”

Before anyone can volunteer—and against my earlier decision to be mature about this—I say, “Hey, Aiden. You didn’t drive, right? If you stay and help me, I’ll give you a ride home after.”Damn, do I want to give him a ride.

Instead of the nervous reaction I expect, he throws me a heated glare, but in his normal tone he says, “That sounds good, then no one else has to go out of their way.”

“Great.” The anger in the twist of his lips excites me. At this point, I’ll argue with him all night long, as long as I get a little more time with him—alone.

My sons—since they’re all calling meDadnow—hug and congratulate me as they walk out the door. The minute the last tail light disappears, Aiden huffs and stomps toward me. “Well, let’s get this over with.” I shut the door and lock it. “What are you doing?” he demands.

Grabbing his biceps like I’ve wanted to all day as they bulge with each move of furniture, teasing and taunting me, I back him into the door. “Tell me no.”

“There’s nothing else to pick up, is there?” His voice comes out breathy and harsh, like he’s run around the block a couple of times in the freezing cold.

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