held up his signed jersey for his uncles.
Leaving him to it, Dakota turned to Tay. “Hey, you.”
The smile Tay gave him was pure happiness. “Hi.”
Cupping his face, Dakota kissed him, soft and sure, uncaring of their audience. “Do you know how sexy it is watching you play live?”
“Really?” Tay moved in a step closer. “Tell me more.”
“Almost as sexy as you in this suit.”
“Do you know how badly I wanted to peel you out of yours at the Foundation’s celebration party?”
Smirking, Dakota kissed him again. “You weren’t subtle about it.”
“Kas,” Owen muttered behind him. “Now he’s kissing the enemy.”
“Guys,” Dakota said, turning to Owen and Kas. Calder and Andy’s voices came from the kitchen. “This is my boyfriend, Tay.”
Owen shook his head, mock dismay on his face. “Sleeping with the enemy. I feel betrayed.” He turned to Kas. “Don’t you feel betrayed?”
Kas sniffed the air. “I smell food.” He followed his nose to the kitchen.
“Check the chicken pot pie while you’re in there,” Dakota called after him.
“Ooh, chicken pot pie.” Tay followed in Kas’s footsteps.
Chuckling, Dakota nudged Owen in the kitchen’s direction.
“I’m guessing that’s the guy you told me about a few weeks ago?” Owen bumped their shoulders. “How come you didn’t tell me it had gotten serious? Or that you were dating the enemy?”
Dakota ignored that last bit, knowing Owen was kidding. “Time sort of got away from me, to be honest.” They paused outside of the kitchen, where laughter and Andy’s chatter drifted out to them. “Should I even ask if you’ve—”
“No,” Owen grumbled. Sighing, he leaned his head back against the doorjamb. “I keep freaking out about messing up the status quo. What if he doesn’t actually want to—” With a glance into the kitchen, he mouthed get married in Dakota’s direction. “And what if that causes a rift between us that we can’t come back from?”
“If you’re really that worried about it, Owen, maybe you shouldn’t ask him.”
Blowing out a breath, Owen shook his head, a downward cast to his lips. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Dakota squeezed his shoulder. “Chicken pot pie?”
“Chicken pot pie.”
It was chaos in the kitchen. The cheese tray had been half demolished already and someone had dished out the pie. Instead of grabbing chairs at the dining room table, they all leaned back against the counter, holding plates as they chatted and caught up while Andy ran between them all to tell this or that story or show off this or that item.
Dakota got caught up in a conversation with Calder and Kas, but he kept an eye on Owen and Tay on the other side of the kitchen. Whatever they were talking about, Owen was doing a lot of talking and Tay was doing a lot of listening with his serious face on.
Andy barreled into his legs. “Daddy, can I have a cookie?”
“Just one, okay?” Running his hand over Andy’s head, he took in his son’s drooping eyelids. “And then it’s bedtime.”
“But I still need to help Uncle Owen ask Uncle Kas to marry him.”
Instant silence settled over the kitchen. The color drained from Owen’s face and his eyes went huge.
Dakota fumbled. “Uh . . .”
Oblivious to the awkward tension in the room, Andy opened the pantry and grabbed the container of homemade cookies on the bottom shelf. “Uncle Kas, you wanna marry Uncle Owen, don’t you?”
“I do.” Kas shot Owen the kind of smile that spoke of love and unity. “I’ve just been waiting for him to ask me.”
“You—What?” Straightening, Owen blinked at his boyfriend.
“You think I didn’t figure out what’s been bugging you the last few weeks? Especially when you not so subtly mentioned that the Maldives would make a great honeymoon spot?”
Dakota shared a glance with Calder that had them both swallowing a laugh.
Shuffling on his feet, Owen muttered, “I was just gauging your reaction.”
Kas extended a leg and nudged Owen’s foot. “And did I say or do something to make you think I didn’t want to marry you?”
“I . . .” Trailing off, a shy smile lifted Owen’s lips. “You actually do?”
Kas left his plate on the counter and stepped up to Owen, arms going around his waist. Dakota’s heart was racing so fast. He could only imagine what Owen’s was like. The way he clutched the front of Kas’s shirt said a lot.
“Ask me,” Kas whispered, eyes only for Owen.
A grin nearly split Owen’s face. “Marry me?”
“Yes, baby.” Large hands came up to gently cage Owen’s cheeks. “Yes.”
“Well, damn,” Dakota mumbled as Owen kissed