Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 30353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 152(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
But things didn't go as expected; all of the cleaning that we'd done the day prior was completely reversed. The house was a disaster zone again, and Ant's roommates were passed out on the couch once more.
What was worse, a note from the inspector was taped to the television, stating that the conditions for the home had not been met, and if the situation was not corrected within three days, it would result in eviction.
I don’t know how those men wrecked the house so quickly, but I had never wanted revenge so badly in my life, especially when I saw how stressed it made Ant. I wanted to evict them right out the window, but Felix told me it wasn’t fair or moral to attack people who were unconscious. The goody two shoes.
I also wanted to soothe Ant by telling him that he didn’t have to worry about that place; that he had a home with Felix and me. But my brother thought that it might be too much on him, especially since he was dead set on making it to work on time.
So, Felix and I took Ant to work (we couldn’t stand to be apart from him if he drove himself). We sat in a booth inside the restaurant for a while, but the temptation to talk to Ant was too great, and he was trying to do his job. We ended up taking a drive to a local store to buy our mate more gifts, and then spent the rest of the time sitting in the parking lot waiting.
“There he is,” Felix said, sitting up straighter and nodding toward the windshield. Our man looked so adorable in his red pants and white and red striped work shirt.
When Ant neared, I stepped out and scooped him into a tight hug. He smelled so naturally sweet that even the scent of fish and grease couldn’t mask it. After I got a good squeeze, I lifted him into the truck between Felix and me. By the time I climbed up, my brother had him wrapped in his arms.
“How was work?” Felix asked, and Ant sighed while he pulled away.
“Not so great.”
Every cell went on edge. “What happened?”
“I guess I was distracted by the inspector’s note,” he shrugged sadly. “I had trouble concentrating. I left a batch of fries in the grease too long and overcooked them. My boss yelled at me for wasting food when I had to throw them away.”
“I’ll waste his boss,” I grumbled in a whisper, receiving a warning look from Felix. He didn’t have to speak a word for me to know he was right; Ant needed sympathy, not revenge.
Our sweet boy continued, “Then I messed up again later. I wasn’t paying close enough attention and bumped my arm into the fryer. It burned and when I jerked, I knocked over another batch of fries into the floor. My boss was very unhappy, and said he was taking the cost of the food I’d ruined out of my pay.”
“You got burned?” Felix asked with worry in his eyes. He took Ant’s hand and flipped his arm over, revealing a large red mark with bubbled blisters. “Our poor, sweet baby. Does it hurt?”
“It did at first, but it just kind of aches now.”
I took his hand and placed kisses all around the burn; I didn’t want to hurt the skin by touching it. I was furious with his boss for not only yelling at Ant, but fining him instead of tending to his injuries. But more than that, I was worried about my mate. “What can we do to help?”
“It’ll be okay,” he insisted with another shrug, but Felix and I were having none of it.
My brother told him, “It will be, because your Daddies are going to get you home and take care of you. Are you ready to be spoiled?”
Ant smiled sweetly and nodded. “I definitely need some Daddy time.” It made my heart swell to know that when he had a hard day, he trusted us to make it better. He knew that we would take care of him.
The whole drive home, we each kept a hand on his thigh, and told him jokes to make him smile. When we reached the lodge, I helped Ant out of the truck and took his hand while Felix grabbed the bag of new goodies.
We walked inside and found an empty living room. It was late evening, so I assumed that everyone was either settled in their rooms for the night, or perhaps out on the town with their mates. I was happy for it; I didn’t want any distractions from my time with Ant.
We led him through the house, Felix’s bedroom, and into the bathroom. We worked together, with me starting the tub faucet while Felix unbuttoned Ant’s shirt as he told him, “Daddy and Poppa are going to wash away this icky day and get you nice and relaxed.”