“Since it walks into my house and steals my son.”
She laughs and wraps her arm around mine then leans her head on my shoulder. “You’re such a papa bear. Just be happy that Bran found someone who cares about him like Nikolai does. You heard the part he hates, right? That’s exactly what we struggle with, and not only has he picked up on it, but he chose it as the only thing he dislikes. You know how closed off and inward Bran can be, so we should be celebrating the fact that he’s letting someone close, not be babies about it.”
I release a grumble.
“Levi, come on. Have you ever seen Bran smile so much?”
I groan. So she noticed that, too. Of course she did. And I hate to admit it, but she’s definitely right. I’ve never seen him as happy as he was this morning.
Fucking hell.
“I know you’re also glad deep down.” She kisses my cheek. “You better not cause Nikolai trouble.”
“So you’re Team Nikolai now?”
“I’m Team Bran and he loves that man. Besides, he’s a real lad.”
“A real lad? Seriously, Princess?”
“He gets my stamp of approval.” She kisses me again. “Want to sleep some more since you called in sick?”
“You know I won’t say no to that.”
After we go to the bedroom and Astrid slips in for a quick shower, I open my group chat with my cousin and friends.
Levi
I think I’m depressed.
Aiden
Midlife crisis? Is that why you called in sick?
More like theft-of-my-children crisis. No one told me they’d slip away one by one.
Xander
Tell me about it, Captain. I still can’t believe my baby bee has some lizard boyfriend.
Ronan
An actual lizard? Bloody hell, Xan. What happened to baby Cecy?
Xander
He’s a person, but I’d rather think of him as a lizard so he doesn’t grow on me.
I like that idea. Dehumanization won’t allow them to grow on me. Though I really doubt it with this one. Why can’t we invent a time machine so they’ll stay young forever?
Cole
Don’t even remind me of that, Captain. I get nightmares about the day my babies will introduce me to some fuckers.
Aiden
Pretty sure you know at least one of them, if not two.
Cole
What are you insinuating?
Aiden
You might want to sit down for this.
Cole
Sit down for what?
Aiden
One day, my Eli will marry your Ava and we’ll be in-laws.
Xander
Jesus. Is that a script for a horror film?
Aiden
A reality show.
Cole
I’ll kill him first, Aiden. You know that.
Aiden
Good luck trying to stop my son. We King men always get what we want.
He’s right. It’s not only about him, me, or Uncle. The younger generation is the same as well. Bran included.
I saw it in his eyes earlier. He wants to be with Nikolai and he’ll do it no matter what it takes.
He’ll be with him even if the whole world is against him.
I guess Astrid is right. It’s better to be happy for him than trying to sabotage Nikolai’s existence.
And he is much more well-behaved than Killian, so there’s that silver lining.
“Still thinking about your precious baby?” Astrid walks out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and steps between my legs. It doesn’t matter how old we get, she’ll always be the woman who does my head in. In every exciting sense of the word.
“Not anymore.” I wrap my arms around her waist. “Let me help you sleep better, Princess.”
“I love you so much.” She kisses me, and I’m done for.
I’ll think about everything else later. Now, I need to be there for the love of my life.
My wife.
My forever.
33
BRANDON
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” Nikolai pauses as soon as we cross my room’s threshold.
Leather jacket in hand, he rubs his nape, causing the white T-shirt to ride up his inked abs.
His jeans hang low on his hips, stretching over his muscular thighs, giving him a lethally attractive edge. His whole look is. From the leather jacket to his hair that’s unfortunately held up now.
His bicep flexes, drawing my attention to the tattoos on his full sleeves, stretching to the backs of his hands. I never thought so many tattoos could be so sexy until Nikolai.
But then again, it might be because the tattoos are on him.
I seem to be irrevocably drawn to everything about him.
If he hadn’t come today, I have no doubt that I would’ve somehow, someway, gravitated toward him again. I would have tried to stay away and failed.
I would’ve pretended to have pride, then crushed it to pieces and sprinted toward him.
He’s beginning to have this undeniable effect on me and that frightens me. Not because of him, but because of me.
Though beginning is a massive lie. He’s had it for a long time, but I just refused to admit it.
Nikolai lets his arm drop to his side, putting a halt to my shameless ogling session.
“I think it’s better if I stay in a guest room,” he says in a careful tone. “I don’t want to give your dad more reason to hate me.”
I can’t help the smile that tugs on my lips. He’s so fucking adorable. He’s been acting like this respectful gentleman in front of my parents, and I could tell he took the entire thing very seriously.
“Don’t smile like that, baby. I’m barely stopping myself from jumping your fucking bones. You know I have no self-control when it comes to you.”
I stand in front of him and lean over so I’m speaking against his tempting lips. “Why start now, then?”
Hot breaths expel out of his mouth and dance along my jaw, drawing goosebumps over the skin.
I swear he’s about to kiss me, but then he steps back with visible difficulty. “Your dad, remember? I don’t want to be on his shit list more than I already am.”
Disappointment tugs on my insides, but I shake my head as I close my bedroom door. “He doesn’t really hate you. He’s just overprotective. If you think that was hate, you should’ve seen the King envoy he dispatched when Killian visited.”
A splash of hope blossoms on his face. “Kill had it worse?”
“Absolutely. You’re much less antagonistic than he is, so Dad was really just giving you a hard time on principle. He’ll eventually warm up to you.”
“Even if he doesn’t, it’s my mission to make him like me.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because he’s your dad and you obviously care about him,” he says as if it’s a given, and I smile again.
I can’t seem to keep control over my jaw muscles today.
“Just don’t come on too strong. He’s very British, so in-your-face emotions are extremely frowned upon. The same applies to both of my grandfathers, by the way.”
“You’re taking me to see your grandads? You must really like me, huh?”
Ah, shit. “I mean one day. If you want. We’re kind of close, so I thought…forget it. And stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” He grins like a damn idiot as he watches me closely.