Encouraged, Miles gave him another soft peck, enjoying the way Ian’s stubble felt against his clean-shaven chin. Fuck, how could such an innocent kiss feel so good?

“My!”

Wide-eyed, Miles flinched away from Ian and whirled around.

Liam was peeking into the bathroom, his blue eyes wide and wary as they flickered between Miles and Ian. “My mine,” the little boy mumbled, his thumb in his mouth.

Miles felt a grin split his face. It was the first time he’d actually heard Liam talk since their first meeting. He hadn’t even been sure Liam knew how to talk. Hearing the boy actually form sentences, no matter how grammatically incorrect, was beyond encouraging. It was also very encouraging that Liam didn’t seem to mistake him for his mother anymore and knew his name. At least Miles assumed that “My” meant “Miles.”

He looked back at Ian, wanting to see Ian’s reaction, but Ian’s expression was absolutely inscrutable. He wasn’t even looking at his son. He was looking at Miles.

Miles felt his face become warm.

Um. Right. The kiss.

Finally, Ian glanced at his watch and said, “I have to go. I’m already late.” He strode past Miles, raking his hand through Liam’s dark hair as he passed him. “Goodbye, son. You can have Miles all to yourself until I’m back.”

The little boy glared at his father’s back before rushing to Miles’s side and grabbing his hand in a distinctly possessive manner. It would be ridiculously adorable if it weren’t a little disturbing.

“Your dad wasn’t hurting me,” Miles said gently, sinking to his knees to look the boy in the eye. “We’re friends, and friends touch each other. Okay?”

Liam looked at him skeptically and said nothing.

“Now I know you can talk, so you will talk, mate,” Miles said, leaning in to kiss the boy’s nose before thinking better of it. He’d just sucked a cock—the boy’s father’s cock—and he should really wash his mouth first.

“In the future, when the adults are… talking in another room, I want you to knock, okay?”

Liam tugged at his hand. “Play!”

Sighing and figuring that it had been too much to hope that the boy would understand what he was saying, Miles let Liam tug him out of the bathroom.

At least Liam was talking again.

That was the important part, not what had happened before it.

Chapter 10

Miles spent the day in something of a daze, his stomach in knots. Would Ian be angry? Annoyed with him? After all, it was one thing to let a guy suck his cock, and completely another when that guy started giving him unsolicited kisses.

Miles still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to kiss Ian. He could only vaguely remember it feeling right at the time. Now, away from Ian and his blue eyes, it felt surreal. He couldn’t believe he’d done it.

So he was kind of dreading Ian’s return home. His stomach felt funny, his palms were clammy, and he flinched at every sound. It was as nerve-wracking as it was ridiculous. Just a short while ago, he had thought that he might be asexual. Now he was a total wreck over a man. It would be hilarious if it weren’t stressing him out so much.

Obviously Miles had worked himself up so much that when Ian actually returned home, it was almost anticlimactic.

Ian had his eyes only on his son as he entered Liam’s playroom. He didn’t even seem to notice Miles as he picked Liam up and asked him about his day. As usual, Liam just shook his head or nodded at his father’s questions, his gaze downcast. He didn’t make a sound.

If the kiss hadn’t happened, Miles would have definitely tried to make the kid talk to his dad—he’d been pretty talkative with Miles all day—but as things stood, he felt too self-conscious to attempt that.

So he silently picked up Liam’s toys, putting them back into the huge box in the corner of the room.

He felt more than heard Ian approach.

“How was he after I left?” Ian said. “Did he talk more?”

“Yeah, he did,” Miles said, dropping Liam’s favorite toy car to the floor and quickly picking it up. He put it in the box, acutely aware of the man behind him. Fuck, were his hands trembling? “His sentences are obviously not correct, but I could understand him, for the most part.”

A hand on his arm made Miles go still.

“You’re avoiding looking at me,” Ian said.

Moistening his lips with his tongue, Miles turned and met his gaze steadily. “Not at all.”

Ian gave him a look, the corner of his mouth twitching. “You’re nervous.”

Miles crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. “Why would I be?”

Ian smiled, an amused, arrogant smile that had no right to be so bloody attractive. “Because you have a bit of a crush on me, and now you’re being ridiculous over it.”

Miles wanted to wipe that smirk off Ian’s lips with his own mouth.

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