the microwave and placed it on the counter in front of Riggs. “It’s a stew. Mrs. Robinson brought it over after I had her ask Viv to make us some ready-to-eat options.”
Riggs really didn’t care who had made it. It smelled amazing. “Mind if I take this to the table?” Riggs asked, knowing it would be a disaster to try to manage a wriggling Gus and a steaming bowl of stew.
“Of course not. I’ll carry it. From the way Gus is eyeing it, you’ll be sharing your dinner.”
Riggs grinned. “I don’t mind.”
Gus eagerly accepted every other bite from Riggs’s fork, letting out a lusty sigh of happiness and patting his little round belly after they finished.
Victor had a smile on his face too, and brought over a damp cloth to clean Gus up. “I think it’s time for little boys to be asleep,” Victor said gently.
“Big boys too,” Riggs said. He couldn’t hold back his yawn.
“Big boys too,” he added softly.
The tone sent a shiver up Riggs’s spine. He handed over Gus and pushed to his feet. “Let’s go tuck him in.”
Riggs followed Victor into the bathroom, where they used the tiniest toothbrush Riggs had ever seen to brush Gus’s equally tiny teeth. Then they went into his room and found Gus’s teddy bear and night-light already in place. They tucked him beneath the blankets, both grinning when Gus buried his face in Riggs’s pillow and wiggled around to sink deeper into the sheets. He wrapped his arm firmly around his teddy bear and closed his eyes.
“I thought this was supposed to be hard,” Riggs whispered as he bent over and kissed Gus’s forehead.
“It is. Of course, he’s really tired. It’s way past his bedtime, but no way was he going to sleep until he got to see his bear. He kept looking at the door and then at me, clearly wanting to know what was taking you so long.”
Riggs grinned and dropped his arm over Victor’s shoulders. “If I’d known you were waiting, I would have come home sooner.”
Victor scowled. “Gus. Not me. Gus was waiting.”
Riggs didn’t argue. Instead, he guided Victor out of the room and into the master bedroom. “Get ready for bed. I’ll go straighten up.”
“You don’t—”
“Victor, just go get yourself ready for bed.”
“Fine.”
Everything was an argument. Riggs grinned and went into the living room. He piled all the blocks into the back of the truck and pushed it out of the way to prevent any early-morning catastrophes. Then he went into the kitchen and washed up the few dishes in the sink. By the time he made it into the bedroom, Victor was already in bed, scrolling through something on his phone with that serious look he usually had on his face when he was working.
“Time for bed,” Riggs rumbled. He turned off the light and climbed into bed beside Victor. He stole a glance at Victor’s phone and found him not examining some random stock market graph but child-sized bedroom sets. “Victor…”
“I know. I’m not getting one. I just thought… perhaps I could get him one for his new home. A g-going-away present.”
Riggs pretended he didn’t hear the hitch in Victor’s voice. “His new parents will probably want to pick out his bedroom set, don’t you think?”
“Of course.”
“But maybe we can offer, yeah?”
“Of course.”
Victor closed his phone and placed it on the bedside table. Riggs rolled onto his side and tugged Victor close, moving Victor until he was spooned into Riggs’s larger body.
“You do enjoy manhandling me,” Victor huffed.
“Is that a complaint? I can move—”
Victor grabbed his hand and kept it firmly in place around his waist. “Don’t.”
Riggs ran his hand slowly up and down Victor’s chest, slipping beneath the buttoned-up, silky pajama shirt and running calloused fingers over smooth, sleek skin.
He hadn’t intended on starting anything, but Victor’s low moan was too much to resist.
“What do you want, Victor?”
“You. Dammit. You.”
Riggs tweaked his nipple, drawing a soft whimper from Victor’s parted lips. “You sure? You don’t seem to like being manhandled.”
Victor grabbed Riggs’s hand and pushed it down until it covered his rapidly thickening cock. “I apparently like being manhandled quite a bit.”
“Hmm,” Riggs said. He nibbled a spot on Victor’s neck, then traced his tongue up to Victor’s ear. He teased the lobe with his tongue before whispering in his ear. “That’s my kind of proof.”
Victor groaned when Riggs began gently massaging his cock through the layers of fabric. “I’m always in control. I always make decisions. Except with you.”
The confession sent