Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Okay, yes, he also wanted all the fun and toe-curling things that happened before they fell asleep at night. But aside from sex, he missed Kai’s smile and his laugh and his glare when he thought Dev was being too stubborn.
One of the other fathers he knew—Sean—lifted his hand and waved at him with a broad smile. He was standing with a couple of other parents. Dev managed a small smile and lifted a hand in greeting, then promptly dropped his gaze to the water bottle in his other hand. He knew Sean was expecting him to wander over and engage in some friendly small talk, but he just didn’t have it in him.
When Jake showed up, he would be genuinely excited to see his son. He’d hug him and gladly listen to endless stories of all the things he’d done at camp. But he would hide away his pain from his son. He didn’t need to know about his dad’s adventure while he was away at camp.
It didn’t help that his brain instantly shifted from thoughts of Kai to thoughts of Adam. They’d been friends prior to becoming lovers and then husbands. If Adam were still alive, he would have wrapped an arm around Dev’s shoulders and told him that if Kai didn’t want to be with him, he was a complete fool and wasn’t worthy of Dev in the first place. Which helped to stroke Dev’s ego a little but not to mend his heart. That still wanted Kai whether he was worthy or not.
Of course, his heart still wanted Adam too. He missed his friend.
A soft sigh slipped from Dev and he mentally shook his head at his thoughts. He was so very unlucky in love.
Well, maybe not. He’d been lucky enough to love two wonderful men in his lifetime. It was only that they seemed to come and go so very fast.
He really hoped he didn’t have to do this a third time. His heart couldn’t handle losing someone else.
The hum of conversation suddenly died down and picked up again with a different tone. Dev looked up to see what had caught the attention of all the other parents, and his heart tumbled over itself in his chest to knock clumsily against his ribs.
Kai.
Well, a slightly different-looking Kai.
This one looked kind of nerdy and a lot sweet. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, but the collar was not popped. His hair was cut differently, much shorter than it had been. Dark-rimmed glasses were balanced on his nose, giving him something of a Clark Kent feel. Oh God, was he in disguise?
But this couldn’t be about a new threat because he was carrying roses and smiling a little sheepishly as he walked straight toward Dev.
“Hi,” Kai said a bit breathlessly.
“Hi. I…what are you doing here?” Dev asked suddenly. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from him. He looked good. Adorable. Sexy. Fuck, he was so sexy. Even the attempt at a mild-mannered appearance didn’t hide his muscular form or the precise way he moved. Dev knew he was a lethal creature under all the humdrum appearance. He wanted to pull him in close and never stop kissing him.
“I was wondering if you might be free this week for dinner.”
“What?”
Kai’s smile became more fragile and hesitant. “You see, I just moved into an apartment the other day. Near a cute little suburb not too far from here.” He motioned over his shoulder with the flowers in his hand and blinked at them as if he suddenly realized what he was holding. “Oh! Here. These are for you.”
Dev blindly accepted the flowers because his brain was still trying to catch up with everything he was saying and even who was saying it. Kai was here. Kai brought him flowers and was smiling so sweetly. He wanted dinner. A date. He had an apartment.
“You have an apartment? Here?” His heart was pounding so loudly in his ears he was sure that he wasn’t hearing Kai correctly. Or maybe he’d passed out and this was all a wonderful dream.
“Yes. Just moved in.” Kai’s smile became slightly more confident. “I was hoping that you might be able to show me around town. Help me get settled. If you wanted, of course.”
Of course he fucking wanted to! That was the silliest idea, but Dev still couldn’t move, couldn’t even begin to wrap his brain around what was happening.
“But what about…what about everything else? Your life? Everything?”
Kai took a small step closer. His right hand lifted, fingers outstretched to touch Dev’s hand, but he withdrew again at the last second, his fingers curling into a tight fight. “It took a little doing and some help from some mutual friends of ours.” His voice dipped lower, and he leaned in to whisper, “It might have resulted in the death of this guy named Kai, but we can talk about that later if you’d like.”