Page 100 of Boss Level

I leaned more weight into Xander. “I’ll say. What were you thinking?”

“I don’t want you to go home. Or rather, I’d rather you call thishome.”

Oh. Should that terrify me? “Don’t you two need to discuss this first? Before you ask me?” I should hesitate, shouldn’t I? This wasn’t the kind of thing to rush into, because it wasn’t part of any plan I had.

“No,” Dominic said. “At the risk of sounding cheesy, anywhere the two of you are is home.”

I should keep questioning this. Diving into every detail and making sure it was the right decision.

But I knew this was where I wanted to be. Who I wanted to be with. “Okay.”

Xander wrapped an arm tighter around me and kissed my shoulder. Dominic pressed into both of us.

He was right.Thiswas home. Wherever they were. I’d spent so long believing that to rely on anyone completely besides me, to give all my faith to anyone else, made me weak.

But every day I needed the people around me. The people who worked for me. Claire’s friendship. Cole’s.

And Dominic and Xander’s love.

It all made me better. More complete.

There was nowhere else I wanted to be than here, and no one else I wanted to be with than them.

35

dominic

“That coffee smells like heaven.” Judith wandered into the kitchen, wearing one of Xander’s T-shirts and rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Or Christmas. Is that today? Christmas day? Did Santa come?”

I poured her a cup of fresh coffee as she crossed the room. When she reached me, I swiped a kiss from her then handed her the mug. “In order of your questions,” I said, “ Yes, yes it is, and you’d have to ask Mrs. Clause.”

“He said as if I remembered what I asked.” She took a long sip of the drink, eyes half closed, and let out a contented sigh when she was done. “What were we talking about?”

“Were you talking about why my shirt is missing?” Xander joined us. His hair was mussed and his gray sweats hung low on his hips.

Fuck, I loved waking up to the sight of both of them. This was better than any Christmas present.

Judith glanced at him, then returned her attention to her drink. “You have an entire closet full of shirts.”

“So do you. You’re probably the reason I can’t find my phone, too.” The second part of his grumble was soft. He joined us, and refused the coffee I tried to hand him, taking a quick kiss from me instead. He also pressed his lips to the top of Judith’s head.

We’d moved in most of her clothing over the last few days, and we’d spend the next week slowly bringing over anything else she wanted. But today I was making them both celebrate Christmas and pretend they knew how to take a day off.

Judith shrugged. “But I’d argue that this way is really a win for all of us.” This time her gaze lingered on him longer, sweeping up his frame. A smirk played on her lips.

“I should’ve bought you shirts for Christmas.” Xander’s grumbling was light. He took her coffee and took a sip.

Perfect segue. I was trying not to be like a kid on Christmas, waiting for the whole family to wake up, but I’d been waiting on them for almost an hour. It was a good thing none of us tended to sleep in. “Speaking of, we should open presents.”

“That suggestion’s not up for debate,” I said before either of them could come up with a witty reason to be contrary.

Putting the side of her hand to her forehead, Judith gave me a sloppy salute. “Yes, sir.”

Having her here the last few mornings, waking up with her in our bed and not having to send her home at night, had been amazing. It was as if she was always meant to be here. As if all three of us were.

I ushered them into the living room to sit by the tree, then grabbed two shoe box sized packages and handed one to each of them. I’d been tempted to go all-out and buy all the presents, but the three of us agreed those gifts were better served with people who couldn’t buy whatever they wanted.

“Ooh, new Converse?” Judith asked as she slipped a finger under one edge of the paper and carefully pulled it up.

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