didn’t like unexpected attention.
But speaking about Leo was something he’d been practicing for.
Ricky stepped forward and held up a card with a lot of writing on. He cleared his throat. “Things I like about Leo Caldwell. Leo is very kind. He makes me laugh and smile.” He squinted at his words. “A lot. Leo has helped me make new friends. He helps me out.” He looked at Leo, his eyes lighting with mischief. “And he gives my principal a hard time.”
Leo laughed at the same time as swiping at his eyes, whisking away any rogue tears before anyone else saw them. He walked over to Ricky and pulled him into a quick hug.
“Thanks, little dude,” he said.
When he glanced back toward me, I was standing in my place, holding my cards. “Hey,” I said.
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Hey back.”
“I like Leo Caldwell because—” I paused and winked in his direction, and he chuckled. “He inspires me to be a better man every day. He has a beautiful heart. He knows what family means.” I paused and slid a glance at the kids. “He has really, really big muscles.”
They laughed like I hoped they would.
“He makes really good bacon.”
Leo shook his head and laughed before stepping forward, but I held my hand out.
“And he has an answer for every question.”
Leo quirked an eyebrow at me as my heart rate increased and I slid the last four cards out one at a time for everyone to see.
“Will. You. Marry. Me?”
Leo’s mouth dropped open, and he didn’t move at all, not even to breathe.
Just as I opened my mouth to awkwardly joke that I’d just killed Leo, in front of his brother, on his birthday, he sprang toward me and caught me in a huge hug, pressing his face to the side of my neck and kissing my skin.
When he stepped away, his eyes shone and he swiped at them again. “Yes,” he whispered.
“What did you say?” Rick’s question was a holler.
“Yes,” Leo shouted, and laughter and cheers filled the air from the group around us as Kairo lowered the camera and flashed me a quick thumbs-up.
I wrapped an arm around Leo’s waist. “Right, now you all can play soccer,” I said.
“I had other plans,” he murmured against my ear.
I grinned but took the camera bag Kairo offered me. “We have other commitments right now. But…” I tilted my head. “Rain check?”
Leo sighed and nodded before running off. “Come on, Ricky. Let’s win this thing so we can go home.”
I chuckled as I adjusted my camera, zooming in on Leo’s face. It was the least enthusiastic I’d ever seen him about exercise.
Leo squeezed my thigh as I drove us back to my place. “I got tested,” he said. “Everything is all clear.”
A spike of adrenaline hit me. “Me too. No more condoms?”
He shook his head. “Nope. No more condoms.”
I glanced down at his hand as it wandered dangerously close to my cock. “I knew I should have made you jog.”
He chuckled. “Am I distracting you?”
I flashed him a quick grin. “Not yet.” Then I held my breath as I waited for him to try a little harder.
But he didn’t. Instead, he withdrew his hand and turned his attention out of the window. “Oh.”
I glanced at him. “Lee? Are you serious? Hey, Lee?” Oh, shit. I’d offended him on his birthday.
But he turned to me, his grin wide. “Gotcha.” Then he shrugged. “I’m just going to distract you when you least expect it.” He turned the conversation to his birthday cake, which I had lurking on a shelf in the pantry, not that he knew that, then segued to wedding cake and chatted nonstop all the way home.
I pulled into my driveway and we were having a good-natured argument over whether all known superheroes were truly super or if they needed categories of their own, and I climbed out before going to the trunk and getting my bags. I grabbed them in one hand, the grip awkward and setting me off balance, as I slipped my keys into my pocket in an automatic movement.
“Hey, can you get my house keys out?” I jutted my hip toward Leo.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t get to choose your own moment of distraction, you know.”
I shrugged. “I can try though, right?”
Leo shot me a wicked grin as he slid a hand into my pocket, and I shuddered as excitement fizzed through me, sending heat to the base of my cock as