Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Hoo, his definition of forever needed work.
“Not even a twenty-two-year-old can consider 2015 forever ago,” Luke pointed out.
“Thank you—” I started saying, but then Luke had to ruin it.
“You have to remember, Kit,” he went on, “that you’re dating someone who was born just a few short years after the Stonewall riots. Not me—I’m not that old—but that corn-fed lone star right there.” He nodded at me.
I stopped what I was doing and stared incredulously at the bastard.
Kit all but collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Luke could not look more pleased with himself.
“Hey, pretty boy, at least I don’t omit my age.” I cocked a brow, daring him to deny it. “Somewhere along the line, you started shavin’ a year or two off our relationship when someone asks how old you were when we met.”
I was very comfortable with my forty-five. Luke, however, liked to indicate that he was over thirty-five, to gloss over the fact that he was thirty-eight.
“What?” Kit laughed. “He hasn’t lied about his age. Daddy’s thirty-seven.”
Ha! Case in point.
Luke scowled at me before he averted his gaze and cleared his throat.
“Daddy’s thirty-eight,” I corrected Kit. “It’s such a dumb thing to be vague about too. It ain’t like his birthday cake won’t say thirty-nine next year.”
“Oh, Daddy, you’re so silly!” Kit laughed some more and hugged Luke’s bicep. “This is like when Colt said he was six-foot-five when he’s actually six-foot-four.”
Well, now. That was entirely different. When I’d said that, I’d been focused on impressing Kit. And Luke had called me out in two seconds.
“But don’t distract me!” Kit switched gears. “We were discussing why you can’t get married. Which you can.”
Right, since forever ago.
Deep breath.
Luke and I exchanged a wry little grin and buried the hatchet.
“We know we can, sweetheart,” he answered patiently. “But the whole point of us staying engaged was because we dreamed of including you in our relationship one day. An engagement is something we can be part of, all three of us. That’s why Daddy and I are talking about a symbolic ceremony.”
Kit scrunched his nose. “Um, I will die of happiness if I can be engaged with y’all, but isn’t it weird to have everything on equal ground? Like, we didn’t start our relationship with a clean slate. You know? Cuz you two have been together forever—”
“There’s that word again.” I smirked and dropped two handfuls of sliced potatoes into the bowl. Only a million potatoes to go.
Kit grinned goofily but continued right away. “I’m serious. Our commitment as a triad wouldn’t be any less real if you two got married, I think. I won’t feel left out if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I frowned.
“I guess, in a way… I don’t know how to explain it…” He knitted his brows together and pinched his lips. “Okay, it’s like this. When I saw Lucas’s Insta post today about your date, I was kind of relieved. I’ve been telling you to do more stuff together as Daddies ’cause, guess what, I need my Daddies happy and united. Just like an actual kid wants their parents happy—and parents have to take time to nurture their relationship too, right? Right. I know I’m right. And even though our dynamic is obviously different—for starters, we’re consenting adults—the principle is the same, and I’m your responsibility within our lifestyle. Know what I mean?”
I was sure as fuck no longer frowning, that was for certain. I loved every glimpse I got into his brain, his logic, how he made sense of things.
“I’m with you, little darlin’.” I nodded.
“Good boy,” he replied. I lifted a brow but let it slide. “Bottom line, I can’t think of any better gesture than marriage to encapsulate the significance of your personal relationship—the one you’ve shared for eight or nine or two thousand years before you met me.”
“Eight,” Luke said.
I rolled my eyes. “Nine.” For chrissakes, we’d been together nearly a year before I became the last founding member of our community.
He puckered his lips at me in a kiss, then wrapped his arms around our boy. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
We could agree on that point.
“You’re damn sweet too, Kit, but I don’t know.” It didn’t sit right with me. “Everythin’ you said, I agree with. The part where our commitment wouldn’t be less real—you’re right. It wouldn’t. But—”
“Oh my gosh, why do you have to ruin it, Daddy?” Kit grated out.
Both my eyebrows flew up at that.
“I see why you decided to go with an engagement instead of marriage,” he stated. “You were hoping to include a third partner one day, and you did. But I don’t want our triad to be this flat relationship where everything is equal—because that’s not our lifestyle anyway. Our commitment to one another covers the equality. I want to spend my whole life with you, so you better get at least one hundred years old. Remember when I asked your mom how old your grandparents became? That’s why.”