Author’s note: There is not much of the story left now (like in only one chapter and the epilogue), so thank you for sticking with me and these characters!

Now my special thanks go to…

BlowPopJ – you guessed right about Jared! Only I couldn’t tell you for fear of spoilers! Still, credit should be given when due!

Anon – I’m sure you’re not the only one in love with Shane!

Jrankcold – I’m happy that you’re happy for them! And they are, too, lol!

1moeannie – I know that my stories can get frustrating sometimes, but without conflicts, trials, and tribulations, they won’t be as exciting (for me, of course) as I want them to be. However, everyone should rest assured that with me, there will always be happy-ends. They’re guaranteed, and that’s a promise! As for your guess… you’ll know about it at just the right moment!

And now, I hope you’ll have a fun read!

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Can You Tell Me A Secret?

“So, your brother is laying it pretty thick. Kids, huh?” Jared tried to sound casual.

“Yeah,” Shane admitted but added nothing.

Jared continued to walk, without saying another word. They had left Coleman at Shane’s place, and now Shane was just walking him home. “I would have no idea what to to do with a kid.” He exhaled, happy to have said at least that.

“Sure you would,” Shane said with conviction.

Jared stopped. It was late in the evening, and only a few people were still out. The velvety warmth of the first days of fall was all around them, and the time was perfect for confessions. “How can you be so sure?”

Shane hooked one arm over his shoulders and began walking, making him move, too. “You’re an awesome guy, Jared. You take care of one million little things every day that I don’t how you do it. You’d be a great dad.”

For a few moments, Jared chose silence. “I would?”

Shane pulled him close. “Yeah, you totally would.”

It was great that one of them had such great confidence. “What about you?”

“I’d be a great dad, too,” Shane said matter-of-factly.

“No, what I meant to say is: have you thought about it? Before?”

“Not in particular. But I grew up in a happy family, so I guess it comes with the territory.” Shane was the one to stop now. He faced Jared and searched his eyes. “Is this too much for you? Nothing’s pressuring us anyway. Don’t mind Coleman -“

“I want to know what you think,” Jared said directly. “What you really think.”

Shane’s face became solemn, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes deeper. “It’s you I want to make happy. We’ll see about other things later.” He must have read something in Jared’s face because he sighed. “I knew Coleman would ruin something, even if not everything, with his big mouth. That’s why I wanted to wait some more.”

Jared smiled and kissed him quickly. “I’m so lucky you weren’t already taken when we met.”

Shane thanked him for the kiss with a hug. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Some of the usual teasing returned to his voice.

“Ah, nothing. But you know what, Shane? I want to make you happy, too.”

Details could wait. And even though Jared hadn’t thought before of children and whatnot, he couldn’t see what would stop them from having a big happy family. He began walking fast, Shane barely keeping up with him.

“Babe, where’s the fire?” Shane drawled.

“I would say something pretty vulgar, but people might overhear us. We don’t have much time.”

“For what?”

“For a little practice according to Coleman’s recommendation,” Jared replied.

“Recommendation? About … ah, I see.”

Great. Now it was hard for him to keep up with Shane and his long legs.

***

“Coffee?”

Adrian blinked away the last bit of sleep hanging from his eyelids and nodded.

Edward offered him a cup and drank from his while leaning against the kitchen counter. He looked good enough to eat, and Adrian didn’t mind skipping breakfast and opt for a more exciting alternative.

A small warning from a cocked eyebrow made him take a seat and sip his coffee. It was interesting how fast they had come to understand each other only from glances. Edward was a professional through and through, and he didn’t indulge in playing before going to work. Otherwise, as soon as he was free of any duties, he didn’t mind jumping Adrian at any moment of the day.

Also, he made great coffee. He had expected Edward to be a little less accustomed with tending for himself, but he was soon chastised and warned that his soon to be husband wasn’t helpless.

“You want to tell me something,” Adrian said, noticing the silence stretching between them.

“We’ve been summoned,” Edward said in a somewhat clipped manner. That could only mean that he wasn’t happy with whatever that summoning meant.

“By your father?”

Edward nodded.

“I’ll be with you. There’s nothing for you to worry about. Also, I secured you as my future husband. He won’t be able to do anything about that.”

“That’s, actually, the least of my problems. İstanbul Escort He won’t do anything, indeed, because he agreed.”

“Wow,” Adrian expressed his surprise. “I thought he would be the kind to hire hitmen to make sure the Hastings line remains pure.”

Edward offered him a crooked smile. “No, the issue is not with him opposing in any way.”

“Then what’s the problem? There is one, right?”

“It’s about the wedding.”

They had been living together for a couple of weeks now, and Adrian had announced his parents over the phone that an impending wedding had to be arranged. While the date wasn’t yet set in stone, his mother was up in arms about what had to be done.

Therefore, when the unspoken words finally reached his brain, his face fell. “They want to organize it? Is that the issue?”

Edward nodded and sighed. “I am yet to meet your mother, but I have a feeling she won’t take it well.”

“You can bet,” Adrian said with a grimace. “She’s planning something grandiose as we speak. If I tell her ‘no’, she might strangle me. And cry. I don’t know the exact order. Ever since I told her I’m marrying a doctor -“

“Good thing you didn’t tell her about my family,” Edward added. “And it should be something for us to take care of, right?”

“Well, yeah, but good luck with telling that to my mom. And, apparently, to your dad, too.”

“What are we going to do?”

Adrian scratched his head. “Um, talking about being between a rock and a hard place. When are we supposed to go meet your folks?”

“Dad wants us over as soon as possible. It is a bit unusual for him to drop formalities, but it might be that he just wants to talk to us, face to face, minus all the relatives.”

“Will your mom be present? To think that I didn’t meet her although I was there.”

“She must be behind all this,” Edward replied after he pondered for a bit. “She might make most people think she’s invisible, but only she knows how to bring dad around.”

“How come she didn’t intervene when the other guys courted you?”

Edward chuckled and shook his head in mirth. “I believe her words were something like: ‘Dear, if they don’t have the guts to stand up to your father, they don’t deserve the Hastings name’.”

“Wow, your mom is savage,” Adrian said with a snicker. “I wonder what she thinks of me.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll have your chance to find out. Once she gets you alone in the room with her, she’s tell you what she thinks of you.”

“Now I’m getting worried. I thought your dad was the only challenge I had to overcome.”

Edward laughed, seemingly a bit smug over seeing Adrian fret over the upcoming meeting with the Hastings family.

“Ha, ha, funny. I’ll have to call my mom and make her promise that she’ll scare you, too. And that might be a bit difficult since she’s already smitten although she hasn’t met you yet.” Adrian’s eyes narrowed as some of Edward had said finally caught up with him. “The Hastings name? Are you trying to tell me that I’m going to take your name?”

Edward shrugged, but his smile said everything. He was having fun. “Adrian, you chose to marry into royalty,” he declared in a funny voice. “It’s only natural that you get to enjoy the perks.”

“What perks? Changing my name to Hastings?” All right, so that thought was a bit unnerving.

Edward gave him an odd look. Yet, his lips were twisting, fighting a smile, and Adrian knew he had been played. “Once you take the name,” Edward said in a willingly formal manner, “all doors will be open to you. My father wouldn’t allow anyone to take our name in vain, and you’ll be one of ours.”

“You’re laughing at me,” Adrian concluded. He cocked his head and examined Edward head to toes. Okay, so if he were to be pressed hard enough, he would give in. The alternative didn’t exist.

“A little. It’s a bit entertaining to throw you off once in a while. Exciting even.”

“Exciting, huh?” Adrian moved slowly toward Edward. He caught him in a tight embrace and crushed his lips with his. Naughty boys, regardless of age and station in the world, needed to be taught a lesson once in a while.

Edward was breathless by the time they broke the kiss. The look in his eyes was dreamy, and Adrian knew what it meant. Without bothering with formalities, he pushed Edward to his knees and took out his cock, ready for action. He enjoyed slapping that gorgeous mouth with it, as well as the heat growing in the deep pools of green staring at him and never breaking contact.

“Suck it,” he said thickly and licked his lips as a reaction to seeing Edward engulf his cock in one fell swoop into his mouth like it was the best dessert in the universe.

Edward’s fingers were steel as they dug into his thighs, but Adrian didn’t complain. Morning blowjobs; if he were to think about his life before Edward, those hadn’t been on the menu much. His beautiful and kinky lover could run his mouth about perks all he wanted; Adrian had a different way of counting.

Still, Anadolu Yakası Escort the work ethics didn’t leave Edward even now. He was efficient on purpose, but there was no one to complain about that. Adrian placed both hands on the kitchen counter and pressed down as if the piece of furniture had suddenly become sentient and wanted to float toward the ceiling. It took all his willpower not to thrust his hips forward and maybe make Edward hit the counter with the back of his head.

A hand left his thigh to grab his balls, and he was done for. His cock throbbed, and Edward went deep in one go, keeping him there and giving him what he wanted.

He was shaking slightly when Edward released him from his mouth. His breathing was hard, but he was on cloud nine already. The tongue gently cleaning his cock made him shudder a few more times in the aftermath.

“I think you’ll love being called Mr. Hastings,” Edward whispered against his lips when he got to his feet.

Adrian’s eyes snapped open. “Are you sure, Mr. Rossi?”

Edward’s greens flashed. Ah, Adrian knew what that was.

“I take thee to be my lawfully wedded -“

Edward rolled his eyes and slapped his cheek playfully. “Save it for the wedding.”

“Which is a matter of parents and much grief for us in the future, the way I see it now.”

“I’ll find a way to make it work,” Edward promised. “Of course, in the meantime, I will have to convince you to obediently receive my name.”

Adrian smirked. “Funny how you think you can make claims with a mouth full of my cum.”

The smirk was returned. “Funny you think you’re in charge. My mouth full of your cum just proves you wrong.”

Adrian caught Edward by the waist and kissed him again. He relished in tasting himself from his lover’s mouth. There was something raw and wild he wanted to experience again and again.

Edward pushed him away and grabbed his shirt. Their eyes met. “I need to get to work.”

“What if I don’t want to let you go?” Adrian tightened his hold.

“And leave my patients waiting?”

“Fair enough. Just one more kiss, then.” Edward obliged, and Adrian placed a possessive hand on his ass. “Now shoo, Mr. Rossi.”

“Of course, Mr. Hastings. No rest for the wicked.”

They would play at this for a long time, the way Adrian saw it. But he had both time and patience, and he would win, as usual.

***

“What do you think?” Ryan threw a critical look at the table arrangement.

“They’re not that kind of fancy guys,” Mike protested. Ryan had wanted to know what each of his friends drank and liked as favorite food, and Mike had even had to call and ask about Edward’s and Shane’s preferences. “They would eat and drink everything.”

“But Adrian’s boyfriend is sophisticated, you told me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he would scoff at beer and chips,” Mike retorted. “I did nothing all day,” he complained. “You just took care of everything.”

“But I enjoy doing it,” Ryan replied and grabbed Mike by the shoulders, squeezing out some of the tension accumulated in them. “You spend too much time at the computer.”

“Are you going to be the nagging wife?” Mike wondered. “Not that you have something of a wife in you or anything,” he hurried to ask.

Everything was amazing. Ryan made love to him every night, and there was nothing Mike could complain about. There was always food, he played with Bran, and he was already negotiating his next employment with a new tech startup that didn’t pay a lot, but had great perspectives.

But Ryan did everything, and Mike felt a little like … like a guest. Plus, he hadn’t yet gathered the courage to tell Ryan about his fantasy of topping him for a change. That could be a game-breaker, he feared, so breaching the subject had been postponed indefinitely for now.

“I wear the apron,” Ryan whispered in his ear, making goosebumps rise on every inch of his skin. “What else do I need to do to prove I’m the wife in this house?”

Mike had a reply to that, but it was way too vulgar to be said out loud. Ryan embraced him from behind. “I won’t spare anything to make a good impression on your friends.”

“They will be impressed,” Mike replied, and he really meant it. One look at that table, and he knew it to be true.

***

“I only have one question for you, Ryan,” Adrian said, “are you spoiling our Mike here with great food like this every day?”

“I’m trying,” Ryan confirmed.

“How come you don’t ever gain weight?” Adrian asked Mike directly.

Mike touched his belly, happy that his movement couldn’t be noticed. Actually, that was starting to show, but Ryan seemed happy with him getting a little bit of meat on his bones. When he looked in the mirror, he had to admit that he no longer looked like his usual scrawny self. But that didn’t mean he would indulge in dessert every day. However, Ryan made some amazing desserts. Maybe he could skip a course to indulge in them, anyway.

“Don’t tease him, Adrian,” İstanbul Escort Jared smacked his friend’s arm. “Mike, you’re great just the way you are.”

“That’s exactly what I keep telling him, too,” Ryan said.

Mike grinned, feeling goofy over being so loved. Ryan’s idea to throw a little get-together hadn’t been bad at all. Adrian and Edward looked great together, their eyes all shiny. As for Jared and Shane, they … actually looked pretty much just like that.

“Do you guys have something to tell us?” Mike asked, looking at Jared, and then at Shane.

There was a small exchange between them, and then they both broke into a smile. Mike grinned. So, after all, Jared had finally managed to see Shane for what he was, aka his boyfriend. That was great to know.

“We do,” Jared said after throwing another loving look at his partner. “Well, I guess we can always blame Adrian -“

“Blame me? Why?”

“For giving us the marriage bug,” Jared said promptly.

Mike’s eyes grew wide. Adrian began laughing. “You’re marrying your friend with benefits?”

Jared made a sour face. “I know all about your talking behind my back and having fun. You are both,” he pointed the finger at Mike, then Adrian, “in trouble.”

“I’m shaking,” Adrian said with a shrug.

“I’m sure,” Jared said as he squared his pretty eyes on him. “But I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll bring a stripper to jump out of the cake at your wedding.”

Adrian guffawed and slapped his thighs. “I bet Mr. Hastings Sr. will have something close to a heart attack. Please, J, have mercy on my future father-in-law.”

“I can assure you that my father is worldly enough to have seen a stripper before,” Edward said as he looked at his boyfriend with tenderness in his eyes.

“J is planning revenge. Aren’t we going to stop him?” Adrian replied.

“Guys, guys,” Mike intervened, “aren’t we straying from the main topic here? Jared, Shane, are you guys going to marry? For real?”

Jared scratched his head and offered a small embarrassed smile. “We realized that we love each other and -“

“Well, it’s pretty much a shotgun wedding,” Shane intervened. “We were found by my family, so,” he added with a raise of his shoulders.

Jared shook his head, laughed, and then found a way to nudge his boyfriend in the ribs if the grimace on Shane’s face was any indication.

“Congratulations are in order, then,” Ryan said and raised the glass. “Are you thinking about coordinating your weddings?”

There were exchanges between Jared and Adrian, and then between them and their soon to be husbands.

Adrian was the first to speak. “Damn, that’s actually brilliant! I mean, your dad, Edward, won’t be able to call the shots as much as he wants, right, if we organize a double wedding!”

“That doesn’t sound so bad, and I agree,” Edward confirmed. “Plus, since we’re bringing all our friends together, anyway, it should be double the fun.”

Mike looked at his friends, listened to their happy chatter, and then risked a look in Ryan’s direction. Unlike him, Ryan didn’t look at the group; instead, he looked at him, and there was something hard to read in his dark eyes.

***

“Were you surprised?” Ryan asked later that night while they were getting ready for bed.

Which meant that here came the moment Mike waited with trepidation every evening. Without fail, Ryan had offered him all his love, regardless of how early he needed to get up in the morning the next day. It was routine, but one Mike liked to the moon and back.

“By Shane and Jared’s decision? A bit, yeah,” he admitted. “I mean, days ago, Jared didn’t want to hear about having Shane as his boyfriend.”

“Although they were having sex.”

“Yes, it was kind of a friends with benefits thing. I mean, Jared thought that. Shane didn’t. He actually wanted to convince Jared they were good together. It looks like he succeeded.”

“Are you a bit jealous?” Ryan came behind him, and Mike inhaled, enjoying his lover’s smell. They were both naked already, so they could feel each other’s body heat.

“Jealous?” Mike felt confused. His heart was already beating faster, as much in anticipation of what would follow, like the rest of his body. “Of Jared?”

“Of everyone.” Ryan blew hot air over his ear. “They’re getting married.”

“No, I’m not jealous.” Mike closed his eyes and relished the sensation of having Ryan’s hard body mold to his. A certain hard thing was already poking at his back.

“Is it okay if I admit that I am?” Ryan said.

Mike fought hard to open his eyes and turn to face his lover. “Are you jealous? Why?”

Ryan shrugged. “I’m a bit of a coward. All right, I’m afraid.”

Mike blinked a few times. “Of what?”

“I’m taking you too fast. I do notice that you still feel a bit estranged here, and I know that I must do more so that you feel completely at home.”

“I do feel at home.”

Ryan sat on the bed. He linked his fingers, letting his hands balance between his legs. Mike fought hard the temptation to grab his hands and tell him not to be afraid. But he had a feeling that whatever would follow was important enough to require no interruptions. “Feel free to laugh at me, but I’m a bit smitten, Mike. What am I saying? I’m completely smitten. And I’m not sure if I’m doing enough or too much.”