Page 125 of The Husband Game

But it wasn’t the same.

And it had never been that way with anyone else.

Dustin had arranged for the team to have some dinners out, booked a couple of hours of laser tag, and spent time playing cards on the plane.

It was the perfect opportunity for the team to bond and Dustin enjoyed his time with the boys.

But he was happy to come home to Charlie. It was the first time he’d ever stepped into his bedroom and crawled into a warm bed and gotten a sleepy kiss and a “welcome home” hug.

He buried his face in the crook of Charlie’s neck and breathed him in for a moment, feeling so damn lucky this was his life.

But the morning following one of their away games, Dustin woke to an empty bed.

He’d slept in a little since he had a full day off. He went in search of Charlie and found him coming up the stairs from the basement, sweaty from his workout.

“Hey, you’ve been exercising a lot too this week, huh?” Dustin asked, the flicker of concern he’d been feeling on and off flaring to life again.

Charlie had been ramping up the intensity of his workouts and combined with how little he usually ate, it set off alarm bells.

“Yep.” Charlie dabbed at his face with the towel he had slung around his neck. He was glowing, pink-cheeked and glistening with sweat. The flush covered his bare chest and shoulders too and he tugged at his athletic shorts, which were so low they looked practically indecent.

Dustin eyed the sight of his tight six pack appreciatively for a moment before he frowned.

Charlie hadn’t looked quite so carved before. Sure, it could be a bit of dehydration from his workout and with his slight build, every fluctuation in weight probably made his muscles more prominent, but another flare of unease worked at Dustin’s brain.

Dustin hesitated. He wanted to let Charlie know he had some concerns but he wasn’t sure if he should voice them. Things were good between them and Dustin didn’t want to disturb that equilibrium.

“Hey, you want to go out and do something fun this morning, kitten?” Dustin asked instead.

“I can’t. I have to go into work.”

Dustin blinked. “On a Sunday?”

“Gah. I’m sorry. I have so much on my plate. I need to put in some extra time so I don’t get behind. Besides, the new client I’m meeting with only has this afternoon free before she heads out of town and I don’t want to push it back, you know?” Charlie babbled.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Dustin said soothingly. “That’s a bummer but I understand. Just don’t forget Natasha and Jordan are coming over for dinner tonight.”

“Shit.” Charlie smacked his forehead. “I did forget. Uhh, crap. What are we going to do? My meeting is at three. They’re coming over at seven, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I doubt I’ll be home before six thirty. That’s not enough time to get dinner ready. And I haven’t even bought groceries yet. Shit.” He squeezed his eyes shut, clearly upset.

“Hey, no need to stress out about this. I can handle it,” Dustin assured him.

Charlie gave him a skeptical look. “Uhh, no shade to you, darling, but you aren’t exactly the most skilled cook out there.”

“I can call someone to help,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Charlie bit his lip. “I mean, maybe I can reschedule.”

“Kitten, no,” Dustin said, gently grabbing his upper arms. “I don’t expect you to neglect your work so we can have a few people over. If anything, we could reschedule with Jordan and Natasha. They would understand.”

“No, don’t do that.” Charlie gave him a searching look. “You’re sure you can handle this though?”

“I’m sure,” he said firmly. “I will call in reinforcements.”

“Okay. I will try to get home as soon as I can though, I promise.”

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