Page 31 of Mayhem
"Mm, I'm sure if he had an issue with it, he'd tell me,"Paetyn responded. "Wouldn't you, Cruz?"
Paetyn pulled away from Erin and turned to the end of the hall, Erin following suit to where Cruz was leaning with his left shoulder against the wall, watching them.
"I would, but I don't have a problem with it, especially the part where I don't have to be on my best behavior," Cruz smirked, and Erin laughed.
Paetyn released her, kissing her forehead. "Get some sleep, Angel."
"Goodnight,"Erin stated, and they watched her walk inside.
Paetyn heard the lock turn before walking down the hall towards Cruz, who raised a brow at him.
"What?" Paetyn questioned.
"You want to give me some of that self-control you tend to have in abundance because I would have had her up against that wall."
Paetyn shook his head, laughing as they headed towards Cruz's car."It wasn't easy not to, but we should take her out before we do."
Yes, they'd taken her out a couple of times while moving her things, but those hadn't counted as dates, and Paetyn wanted to take her on one before things moved further because he wouldn't hold back next time.
8
Cruz turned the water off, stepped out of the shower, and grabbed his towel. After grabbing his lotion, he entered his bedroom and found Paetyn pulling open one of the bedside table drawers. Cruz went to his dresser and grabbed a pair of black boxer briefs.
“Is this the only box of condoms you have?” Paetyn questioned, and Cruz looked over his shoulder.
“No, there’s a box in the other drawer, and I think there’s a box in one of the bathroom drawers.” Cruz returned his attention to his dresser, pulling out a pair of socks.
He removed his towel and dried the remaining water droplets before pulling on his boxers. He grabbed the lotion he’d set down and sat on the ottoman as Paetyn entered his bathroom. Pulling his socks on, he lifted a brow when the other man returned with the half-empty box, tossing it on the bed before looking through the other bedside table drawer. Cruz was pretty sure there was only one condom in that box.
“Where’s your wallet?” Paetyn then asked, and Cruz nodded towards his dresser. Paetyn went through his wallet, pulling out the two condoms inside it. “And these are all you have?” he inquired.
“Along with the box in my playroom, yes,” Cruz responded as he began to rub lotion onto his body. “What are you doing, anyway?”
“I’m replacing them.”
“That’s probably a good idea. I’m sure they’ve expired since I haven’t put my dick in anything in the last nine months.”
Saying it out loud almost felt as if it physically made his dick hurt. Cruz was aware that he could have. It was simply that his dick wouldn’t respond to anyone but the woman they were taking out tonight. It always seemed to happen that way when they got into an exclusive relationship and found a woman they would both be with. Once he’d made up his mind, his dick seemed to get the memo and act accordingly. That was also a bad thing because if she had turned them down, it could take him months before he’d be able to fuck someone.
“They’re not expired,”Paetyn informed him.“Erin has a latex allergy, so I’m replacing them with lambskin. It isn’t severe, but…”he trailed off, leaving the rest of the statement open. He assumed Paetyn learned this when she’d done his tattoo. She would have used gloves without it.
“But we don’t want her uncomfortable in any way,”Cruz finished. “I say we skip the condoms,”he tacked on, only half-joking.
Paetyn shook his head. “You know we don’t make that decision.”
Cruz was aware. They’d always let their partners decide the form of contraception they used. If condoms weren’t their chosen method, they’d all go together, get tested, and go from there. When they were in their poly-monogamous relationship, they didn’t mind if their partner wanted to use a different form of birth control instead. However, that almost backfired on them once.
Cruz chose a cologne, spraying it on as Paetyn gathered the boxes and headed for the door. “We need to leave in less than an hour.”Filtered from the hall back into his bedroom.
Cruz walked into his closet, looking over the clothes for something to wear. They were taking Erin out and decided totake her toThe Pits, one of Paetyn’s restaurants. The laid-back atmosphere would be perfect for her to ask questions. It would give them privacy but still allow them to be around people in case she was uncomfortable.
He pulled a pair of light-washed jeans from their hanger before grabbing a white button-up shirt. Turning to the other side of the closet, Cruz took a pair of sand-colored suede loafers from one of the racks and walked back into his bedroom.
Once he was dressed, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and thetop two buttons were undone; Cruz grabbed his wallet and left his bedroom. He went down the stairs to wait on Paetyn.
He didn’t have to wait long before the other man descended the stairs dressed in a thin gray sweater and dark jeans that he’d rolled to the top of his brown leather boots. They exited the house, got into Paetyn’s car, and headed towards the city.
“When are you and Nik signing the papers for the building?”Cruz questioned when they’d been driving for about fifteen minutes.
