and pressed against the counter, and the repeated words were pressed into his skin behind kisses over every inch they could reach.
Eventually, Sebastion took him by the face, his fingers a little rough, but Xan adored it. He stared at him for long enough that Xan felt his face heat, then he smiled. “I love you. I have loved you for a long while.”
The grin that stretched across his face felt like the easiest thing he had ever done. “I know. Thank you for being patient.”
They fucked on the kitchen floor that night and ate batter instead of dinner, and Luca made them a pile of bacon in the morning. He wasn’t living there yet, but the rest of their forever felt absolutely inevitable.
Now, starting at one of the loves of his life, Xan simply felt home. Luca urged Ivy off the sofa and stretched out, tucking Xan in close and kissing the back of his neck. “Bas had another shitty day. Some patient filed a complaint, and he’s already been advised it’s not going to go anywhere. She didn’t follow the post-exam instructions, but I think he’s a little shaken.”
Xan winced. Most of the time, Sebastion’s job was easy. But sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes it was cruel and unfair. “Comfort food?”
“I was thinking spanakopita. I have his mom’s old recipe tucked away, and I’ve been quietly working on it. I have no idea if it’s right, but he always says it’s the thing he misses most about her.”
Xan turned in his arms and smiled at him. “He’ll love it.”
“As much as you love me?”
Xan laughed and kissed him. “Doubt it. But probably close.”
That was how Sebastion found them an hour and a half later. They were in the kitchen drinking wine and waiting on the timer when he trudged through the door. It took four seconds for Luca to set his glass down and envelope him close, and he jerked his head at Xan to come in for the hug.
Xan was always a little more reluctant, not quite sure where or how he’d be needed in moments like this, because Sebastion had years of routine with Luca. But he let out a quiet sigh that sounded more content than anything as Xan wrapped his arms around his middle and pressed a kiss to the center of his back.
“You want to go egg her house?” Luca asked, and Sebastion let out a small snort.
“It’s a start.”
“Sugar in the gas tank?” Luca offered.
“Ding-dong ditch?” Xan said.
“We could use shaving cream and write liar in huge letters on the window of her car. I have it on good authority that shit does not come off,” Luca said.
Sebastion was chuckling by the time he was done, and he lifted his head, looking over his shoulder at Xan first, then at Luca. “I’d like a long shower and dinner on the sofa and to forget she exists for a little while. I have a meeting with my attorney tomorrow.”
“Then tonight we get this,” Luca said. He tipped Sebastion’s chin up with his finger and kissed him slow, with enough tongue it made Xan a little hard in his jeans. “Xan, why don’t you go help him wash up.”
Xan swallowed thickly and nodded. He got plenty of time with Luca alone, more than with Sebastion, though it never felt lacking. He understood why Sebastion kept him a little bit apart—and he had a feeling if their positions were reversed, he’d do the same thing
So, he braced himself for Sebastion to brush him off, but instead the older man turned to him and laced their fingers together. “Want to scrub my back, little conqueror?”
Xan laughed and let himself be tugged along into the bedroom, past their massive bed, and into the bathroom. The tiles weren’t heated now, so he flicked the switch, then started to undress quietly as Sebastion started the water going.
The moment felt a little bit intense, and a lot of it was his nerves, which he had a feeling Sebastion could tell. It was the way he kept glancing over at him, the way he held himself stiffly.
“You don’t have to…” Sebastion started, then shook his head. He stripped down to his briefs, then crossed the distance between them and cupped Xan’s cheeks. “I know the last time I had a bad day like this I hurt you, so I understand if you don’t want to do this. But I promise it won’t happen like that again.”