Page 2 of Played
Luke’s excited squeals echo around the den, making Maddox and me laugh. I guide our nephew to the sofa, my hands around his waist as I make the sounds of an engine stalling. I jerk him, making him the plane that’s about to crash-land, and his shrieks grow louder.
“Now, Unca Mase, now!”
I bring us both crashing to the sofa, and his resulting giggles are loud and infectious.
“Mel is going to kick your ass getting him this worked up before bedtime,” Nathan says, eyeing me and his son with amusement. He’s already dressed in his tux for the second stage of Drake’s wedding celebrations this evening. Like our two oldest brothers and their wives, Drake and Amelia decided to get married at our family home in an intimate ceremony. Now they’re on a brief hiatus to decompress—which we all know is code for fucking—while an army of caterers and people with checklists on clipboards get the house ready for over two hundred guests.
Mel is Nathan’s wife and the only person in the entire world he’s afraid of. Much like Drake and Amelia, the two of them are sickeningly in love, and I’m sickeningly happy for all of them.Mel and Amelia are amazing women, and they keep my pain-in-the-ass older brothers on their toes. Safe to say I love them almost as much as I love my brothers.
“Again! Again!” Luke demands, already a pint-sized tyrant—he definitely gets the tyrant part from his dad.
“Can’t help it if I’m the fun uncle,”I tell Nathan with a shrug. “Besides, it’s a special occasion. Surely he can stay up a little later?”
“Yeah!” Luke proclaims, not understanding what he’s agreeing to given that he’s not yet two, but I admire his loyalty.
“Wrong, buddy.” Nathan picks up his overactive toddler, and my nephew protests loudly for a few seconds, but then Nathan chucks him beneath his chin, and Luke cuddles into his dad’s shoulder. “Special occasion or not, bedtime is nonnegotiable unless we want to deal with some epic overtired toddler tantrums.”
Having looked after Luke overnight on a number of occasions, I can confirm that him becoming overtired is no fun at all. I learned that lesson the hard way and haven’t strayed from his bedtime routine again. Nathan expertly manages his excitable son while Luke kisses Maddox and me goodnight.
The sounds of the wedding party being set up and our family in various stages of getting ready for tonight’s event filter through the house, and I sit on the sofa, wishing Luke could have hung around a little longer. I feel Maddox’s eyes on me, and when I glance at him, he’s staring at me with a curious look on his face.
“What?” I ask him.
“You’re really good with kids” is all he says, but it seems like he’s saying something more.
“Why, because I’m on their wavelength?” I default to our usual brotherly teasing, trying to avoid the deep conversation it feels like he wants to have. Maddox gets that look on his facewhen he’s about to say something profound. Where he’s deep as the Pacific, my emotional range is more akin to a puddle.
He shakes his head. “No, you’re just really good with Luke.”
That’s because he’s fucking adorable. I could sit and listen to Luke’s chatter all day. For a little guy with incredibly limited communication skills, he’s a whole lot of fun. I shrug. “I’m his uncle.”
“Yeah, but it’s just…” He rubs a hand through this thick beard. “You instinctively know what to do and how to make him calm, or laugh until he bursts.”
“Same as you, Drake, and Elijah can,” I remind him.
“Of course we can. But I’m not talking about being a good uncle. I’m talking about something more.”
I have no idea what he’s trying to say, but I’m ready to be done with the conversation. “Well, that’s because I’m the fun one, remember?”
“You’re so much more than that, Mase.” His intense brown eyes are locked on my face, and I can’t look away. “You ever thought about having kids?”
Damn, I wish I had a drink. “Are you fucking serious? Me? Kids?”
He leans forward in his chair, hands clasped between his thighs. “Why wouldn’t I be? You love kids. You’re amazing with them.”
I snort. “I’m also severely allergic to commitment.”
“That could change though. With the right circumstances. And technically, you don’t need to be in a relationship to have kids. Especially?—”
I interrupt. “Because I’m gay?”
He frowns. “Especially in the times we live in, and with the support and resources available to you, asswipe.”
I never should have made the gay comment, and I honestly don’t know where that came from. “What about you? Have you ever thought about having kids?”
He nods. “All the time, especially since Nathan and Mel had Luke, and then when she got pregnant with their second. Today made me think about whether I’d ever get married. It’s only natural to reevaluate your life choices when people close to you go through a huge life change.”
“Kind of hard to have kids when you’re celibate.”
