“Hey, are you interested in coming over for dinner tonight?”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t—” I began, but I didn’t even get to finish my sentence because Newt had overheard his brother’s question when he’d thrown open the door to the office.
“You have to, Ford!” Newt exclaimed. “Uncle Nolan and Uncle Dallas got me a new racetrack! We’re havin’ a championship race tonight. But instead of the Piston cup, it’s called the… the…” The little boy looked over his shoulder at the large man who entered behind him.
“The Nifty Nail Classic,” Maddox supplied. Loki was right behind him. “Winner gets the Newt “super-special-super-secret” mani-pedi combo,” he added as he shot me a smile, then let his eyes slide to Isaac. The men practically disappeared right before me because they had eyes only for each other. Maddox dropped a soft kiss to Isaac’s mouth that lingered but didn’t deepen. Somehow, it was one of the most intense encounters I’d ever witnessed. I knew I was supposed to be disgusted, but I wasn’t.
I was just so damn envious.
What would it feel like to have someone look at me like that? To be someone’s entire world like that?
Newt popped between the two men long enough to extricate his kitten, Snot, then he was darting out the door with Loki right behind him.
“Newt, gloves!” Isaac yelled after tearing his mouth from his boyfriend’s.
Newt reappeared a moment later and snagged the gloves he’d left on his brother’s desk, then took off again. “See you tonight, Ford, ’kay?” he called as he dashed past me.
Maddox and Isaac were kissing again, this time with a little more fervor. I had to clear my throat when hands started roaming southward.
“Oh crap, sorry, Ford,” Isaac said as he pulled free of Maddox. The younger man was blushing through the little bit of artificial blush on his cheeks. I’d never seen a man wear makeup before, but somehow on Isaac, it just… fit. Of course, it only made him more of a pariah in town, but he didn’t seem to care.
I envied him for that.
And a lot of other things.
Maddox reluctantly released Isaac when the smaller man squirmed free. “I should go see if Nolan needs help getting lunch ready,” Isaac said.
He started to step past Maddox, but Maddox snaked an arm around Isaac’s waist and dropped a kiss to his mouth. “Can you keep Dallas up there for a bit while I talk to Ford?”
My heart dropped out at that. I knew Dallas and Nolan had every right to hate me, but to hear Maddox actually say as much stung.
“So you want me to use my powers of persuasion on him?” Isaac asked. A look passed between the two men that spoke volumes and I was once again sure they’d forgotten I was there.
“Not those particular powers,” Maddox growled. He kissed Isaac hard and let his hand slide down to cup Isaac’s butt before letting him go. Isaac looked dazed. When Maddox grinned at him, Isaac poked his finger into the man’s broad chest.
“Just for that, I’m kicking your butt in the Nifty Nail Classic tonight.” Isaac sauntered past Maddox. There was definitely a little bit of an extra swing in his hips as he did so, but I made sure not to let my eyes linger. Even if I were free to be open like these guys about what I really liked, I wouldn’t risk Maddox separating my spine from my body just for looking at his pretty little boyfriend wrong.
Maddox let out a breath once Isaac was gone, then reached out his hand to me. “Thanks for coming, Ford. And thanks for helping Sawyer out while we were gone. He said you and Cam made things a lot more manageable.”
Damn, Cam’s name again. Why couldn’t I catch a break?
“I’m glad I could help,” I said.
“Come on, I have an idea I want to run past you. It’s in the small animal building.”
I followed Maddox down the path past the barn. I’d run this way only four days earlier after I’d given in to my need to choose to go with Cam rather than ask Sawyer to have him be the one to watch over me that night. I still had no idea what had possessed me to do it, but it’d been a mistake. Just like it’d been a mistake to lose control while Cam had been taking my blood pressure. I hadn’t understood my body’s reaction to Cam at all. Yes, I knew what it meant to be turned on. But I’d never felt that level of want before. Cam could have done anything he’d wanted to in that moment and I would have gladly burned in hell for it.
That was a frightening thought because I’d already been to hell and back when I’d gone through Reverend Page’s counseling.