Nineteen

Kye

The chicken Parmesan had been fucking delicious. Genesis was getting really good at this cooking thing. Bowie hadn’t said much about his vegan meal she’d made, and it pissed me off. If he didn’t like it, then he needed to lie about it or eat real meat. There was only so much she could do to make tofu edible. I’d made sure to rave about my own meal.

When Genesis had told me Bowie was coming, I’d assured her I could stay in my room, alone with Jagger. She and Bowie could take my mom’s old room. Not that I liked that idea at fucking all, but I’d wanted him here. To see us together. The three of us.

Maybe it was unfair, and part of it was selfish of me, but Genesis had no business marrying at twenty. Not to Bowie. Not to anyone. If I could make him call off the wedding, she’d be hurt, yes. But I’d be here for her. I would make sure she got over it quickly. I was the better man for her anyway.

Honestly, the past few nights, I’d come real damn close to stepping over a line and showing her how I could meet those other needs of hers too. If I wasn’t terrified of losing her, I would. It had been weeks since I’d fucked, and that was a record. And it wasn’t because I hadn’t had the chance.

It was because since I’d been sleeping in bed with Genesis—smelling her and feeling her warm, soft body against mine—I hadn’t been able to be with someone else. It had been frustrating at first, but I was starting to embrace it.

Her sleeping down the hall in bed with Bowie though was about more than I could fucking handle. Apparently, she wasn’t having the same issues I was.

If I heard them having sex, I might lose my shit. Closing my eyes, I tried like hell to go to sleep. It wasn’t happening. Glancing at Jagger, all wrapped up and peaceful, I eased out of bed and headed for the kitchen. I tried to ignore the closed bedroom door taunting me just a few feet away.

The light from the kitchen spilled from the doorway, and at first, I thought I’d forgotten to turn it off when I went to bed since I had been the last one up. However, when I walked into the room, I found Genesis drinking a glass of milk, leaning up against the bar, staring straight ahead.

Her eyes swung to mine, and she straightened. “Is everything okay?” she asked, looking worried.

This was her first night not sleeping in the room with Jagger. I hadn’t thought about how that would affect her. Damn if I didn’t like that she missed us … him.

“Jag is all good. I couldn’t sleep. Missed my bed buddy,” I said quietly in case dickhead was still awake.

She rolled her eyes, but there was a grin tugging at her lips. I wanted to kiss that fucking beauty mark so damn bad. My eyes dropped to stare at it. Why that spot got to me so bad, I didn’t know, but it did.

“I’m sure you will survive without me,” she replied.

My eyes shot back up to hers. “I’m not so sure.”

For a moment, we stood there in silence, staring at each other. I was waiting on her to break the eye contact. Get all awkward and rush off to the bedroom. She didn’t though. Her eyes dropped to my lips, and my cock was instantly hard.

“Baby Doll,” I warned, taking a step toward her.

She swallowed hard, and her eyes lifted to meet mine. She wanted me. It was all there in her gaze. The pulse in her neck that gave her away was drawing me closer. Bowie was down the hallway. She was engaged to him. But, dammit, she belonged to me.

Just before I reached her, she set the glass down and rushed past me. I closed my eyes and sighed as her footsteps faded down the hallway. Gripping the edge of the sink, I hung my head. I wanted my best friend. I wanted her naked and underneath me. Fuck, I wanted to bend her over this sink or put her on the bar and spread her legs. Wincing as my cock throbbed in my sweatpants, I wasn’t sure what the fuck I was gonna do. She had wanted me. I could see it all over her face, but she’d run. She was a good girl. She wasn’t about to cheat on her fiancé.

I reached for the milk she’d left behind and drank it down, then rinsed the glass and loaded it into the dishwasher.

Heading back down the hall, I felt a heaviness in my chest. I hated that door up ahead. I hated that she was in there with him. She belonged with me, but it had taken me too long to accept the truth. What if I was too late to change her mind? What if she wanted to marry Bowie because she did love him in a way she didn’t love me?

I stepped back into my bedroom and stared down at my son, made sure he was breathing, took off my sweatpants, then climbed back into my empty bed.

When the first hungry cry woke me, I was surprised I’d fallen asleep. Sitting up, I glanced at my phone to see the time. It was after two. Right on schedule. I started to get up when Genesis opened the door.

“I’ll get the bottle,” she told me, then turned and headed down the hallway.

Reaching into the bed, I picked up Jagger. “Hey, little man,” I said, then yawned. “Baby Doll is getting the bottle. It’s okay.”

When he continued to wail, I stood up with him and did that swaying thing that I’d seen Genesis do with him. That seemed to work. He stopped crying, and his eyes went wide. Maybe I was swaying too hard. I slowed it down, and then he started crying again. Okay, hard it is.

“Here I am,” Genesis said as she walked back into the room. I reached for the bottle, and she frowned. “It’s my feeding time.”

I nodded toward the door. “You have company. I’ll handle it.”

I tried to take the bottle, and she snatched it back.

“I’ll do it. Bowie is asleep. Go back to bed.”

I wanted to argue with her, but the more time she spent out of that bed with Bowie, the better. She held her arms out for Jagger. I moved to ease him into her hold when a shadow appeared at the door. I looked over Genesis’s head to see Bowie standing there. He wasn’t happy. I didn’t give a shit. He could go home.

Genesis raised her eyes to me when I didn’t hand over Jagger.

“Bowie,” I said simply, then tilted my head in the direction of the door.

She turned to see him standing there, looking pissed off. “Hey, it’s my feeding time. I’ll be back to the room soon.”

Bowie didn’t say anything. Genesis reached for Jagger again, and I figured, what the hell? She wanted him, and if she was going to choose him over Bowie, I couldn’t stop her. This wasn’t my fault.

“Hey, buddy,” she cooed. “I’m gonna feed you.”

I watched her as she put the nipple in his mouth, then glanced back at Bowie, who hadn’t moved. His eyes locked on her feeding my son.

“Let’s go to the living room,” she told him then.

Bowie stepped back and let her walk out of the room, and I expected him to follow her. He didn’t. Instead, he watched her walk away, then finally looked back at me.

“He’s your kid,” Bowie said accusingly.

“Yeah, he is. Glad you figured that one out,” I replied sarcastically.

I watched as he clenched his teeth.

“Do you always dress like that in front of her at night?” he asked.

I was in my boxers. Only my boxers. I wanted to say, I sleep with her, dressed like this at night, but I wasn’t about to hurt her that way.

“Do you have a problem with it?” I asked him. “She’s never complained.”

He stayed there, glaring at me for a moment longer, then spun around and stormed back to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

I smirked as I stared at it. He felt threatened. Good. Maybe he’d go back to where he had come from and leave us alone.