Page 77 of Of Pranks and Passion

“Since when has that ever stopped Easton from doing anything?” Jayden pointed out.

Sierra nodded in agreement. “I don’t think you can fight him on this, Dad. He’s more stubborn than you are.

“And he’s an adult. He doesn’t need your permission,” Arthur finished.

It felt kind of nice to have all my siblings backing me up. But it did make me suspicious about why. They usually sided with my old man because they thought the same way he did.

“Why are you helping me?” I demanded.

“Dude. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Jayden chided. I flipped him off, which only got a cackle out of him. He was such a shit.

“You’re different with Gary than with anyone I’ve ever seen you with,” Arthur answered, ignoring Jayden completely. “If you had been alone, I’m pretty sure you would’ve gotten into that car, weather be damned. You only hesitated when you noticed how scared Gary was.”

Sierra nodded. “You also let him stop you from being an ass. Not even your little friends could get away with that. He covered your mouth to stop your comments, and you didn’t even flinch.”

“I honestly never thought I’d see the day where you put stock in a relationship. I mean, Sierra and I had you pegged as aromantic because you weren’t interested and didn’t give a shit about changing that. You care about Gary. And about your relationship with him. Enough to fight all of us on it, despite how early it is in the relationship. That’s not something to ignore,” Jayden said, patting my shoulder.

I shrugged him off but kept my mouth shut. I still didn’t feel like the romantic relationship type. It was different with Gary. I wanted to keep what we had. The playfulness, the teasing, the sex. He was a live-in best friend with benefits. That was enough for me. And if it ended up being enough for him, then I’d do the relationship thing just to keep it that way.

“You love him, don’t you?”

I looked up at my old man, resisting the urge to wince. What the fuck even was love?

“I care about him. I want him to be happy, because I’m happy when I’m with him. Isn’t that enough?”

It took coaxingfrom my siblings and an adamant refusal to back down from me before the old man caved. He was cautious about it, and tried several times to push a prenup, but I straight up told him no. If this shit fell apart, I wasn’t letting Gary end up broke and struggling again. No matter what happened, he was always my friend, and I’d take care of him.

We agreed to leave it for the night and discuss details again in the morning with Gary present. Pretty sure my old man was planning on benefiting off of Gary’s gentle nature, because he normally liked to keep discussions like this between family. I wasn’t going to let him bully Gary into a prenup, though. I pulled Gary out of the sitting room, where he’d been talking with Evie and Victoria, without a backward glance. He squawked in surprise, but he was smaller than me and didn't have a chance fighting me off. I didn’t stop until we were in my room, and the door was locked behind us.

“Easton?”

“Tomorrow, my dad is going to try to manipulate you into a prenup. Tell him no.”

Gary blanched at the thought, his eyes wide with horror. I knew he’d have trouble with it, which was why I wanted the rest of the night to coach him. I hauled him up over my shoulder, ignoring his protest, and dropped him on the bed. The best way to have stupid discussions was naked in bed. And of course, because Gary’s fucking perfect for me, once he figured out what I wanted, he was quick to cooperate, helping shed my hoodie and unbutton his shirt as I tugged his jeans and boxers down his legs. I had to pause to get his shoes and socks off, but by the time I was finished, he was totally naked and panting.

“You look good enough to eat.”

The suggestion in my tone made his dick twitch and his pupils explode. I crawled on top of him, seriously enjoying the fact that I was still fully dressed while he was laid out beneath me without a stitch of clothing. I dipped my head, getting close enough to let my lips brush over his before backing off again. Withholding the kisses he was so needy for. I didn’t give him what he wanted until he started whining for it.

I always came prepared, and a quickie was a great way to work off the residual frustration from the evening. Gary was a very enthusiastic participant, and I had to cover his mouth to keep his noises muffled. By the time we finished, I was worn out and collapsed on top of him. I stayed that way, enjoying the feeling of Gary’s fingers running through my hair, until he spoke.

“Are we going to clean up, or are you okay with being glued together by morning?”

I snorted, shoving myself off him enough to roll over. “I’m too lazy. If you want to shower, go ahead.”

He snickered and slid off the bed, but I didn’t hear the shower turn on. Instead, the sink ran and a minute later, he came back with a warm cloth, running it over my chest and belly to clean up the mess that had gotten squished between us. I sighed, closing my eyes, enjoying being taken care of for once.

When he crawled back into bed, he was wearing boxers, and I wasn’t happy about that. We ended up in a wrestling match to take them back off, and he was breathless and laughing by the time I won. I held them up in the air, far enough that he couldn’t reach, and spun them on my finger with a victorious grin.

“I should keep these as a souvenir.”

“Oh my god!” He covered his bright red face with his hands, shaking his head. “You’re incorrigible.”

True. And he liked it.

Tossing the boxers off the bed, I pulled the blankets over us to keep him warm before taking my spot again on top of him. I was comfortable before and didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t stay there. He did it all the time.

Gary made a happy noise and snuggled in, his fingers returning to my hair. I shut my eyes and relaxed.

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