Stay

Page 32

Just as his stomach growled, his phone rang. Braden lit up the screen. He hit talk. “Hey. Everything okay?”
“The Squirt is apparently dying of hunger. It just might kill her if she has to wait for you. She told me. And according to her, you’ll be pissed at me if I let her starve.”
“You said a bad word, Braden!” Jessie screeched in the background.
“Pissed is a bad word?” Braden asked.
“You said it again!”
“I was confirming!”
Wes’s car swerved a little he was laughing so hard. “Okay, kids, time to stop fighting,” Wes told them. Sometimes he wondered how the man could be almost thirty years old and still act like a kid. But then he went and said things like what he had the other night, for Wes to remember that Chelle wanted him to have Jessie, and he thought Braden had his shit together more than Wes did.
“Can I feed her? It will save you some time so you don’t have to stop and she’s right, I really don’t want to risk pissing you off.”
“Braden!” Jessie screamed.
Before they could get into it again, Wes interrupted, “If you want to, feel free. It’s not a big deal for me to stop though.” It’s not like the man didn’t do way more for Wes than he should.
“Nah, I got it. I’ll make you guys something. Be careful. The weather’s shitty out there.”
Wes wasn’t sure why that made him pause a second. “Yeah...yeah, I will. Thanks.” It was cool of Braden to say that.
He hung up the phone, grateful that Braden decided to cook because he did pick something up most Wednesdays. It was much easier than cooking so late, and he wasn’t the best cook, anyway.
The rest of the drive home went fairly quickly. When he walked in, Jock came running at him, his nose landing right in Wes’s crotch. “Good to see you, too.” He playfully pushed the dog’s head away before Jock ran back over and laid on the floor under the table, probably waiting for Jessie to drop food for him.
The scent of bacon hit him, both Braden and Jessie turning to look at him. “Hey.” He gave Braden a quick glance and the bastard winked at him. Wes rolled his eyes before planting a kiss on Jessie’s forehead. “What ya eating?”
“BTL’s.”
“BLT’s?” Wes confirmed.
“That’s what I said, silly.”
“Of course you did.”
“There’s food in the kitchen for you. All the stuffs there, you just gotta make your plate,” Braden told him before taking another bite of his food.
“Thanks.” Wes went into the kitchen and made his food. A few times, he glanced over his shoulder, to watch Braden and Jessie interact. She always laughed when Braden was around, laughed or scolded him for cursing, which was pretty hilarious when he thought about it.
Conflicting emotions tried to jerk him in too many different directions. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t cut off thoughts of the other night. Like Braden and he talked about. It was just sex. He could handle sex. But what would he do if they somehow caused problems for Jess? If he screwed it up like he often did, and Jessie lost someone who’d quickly become important to her? He wasn’t sure he could risk that.
Wes gave them another quick glance as he finished making his sandwich. Jessie threw a Cheetos at Braden, and damned if the man didn’t open his mouth and catch it.
“That’s not fair!” Jessie crossed her arms before Braden ruffled her curls.
“Want me to teach you how to do it?”
Of course she said yes, and of course Braden tossed Cheetos at her, trying to land them in her mouth. When Jessie missed, Jock didn’t.
Wes turned, leaning against the counter, and ate as he watched them play. No, he wouldn’t let something screw this up. Like Braden said, they were both adults. Braden knew Wes couldn’t deal with a relationship, and he doubted Braden would want one anyway. Why would he? He’d known from the first night he went home with Braden that what they did was a regular occurrence for him.
He turned to the sink to rinse his plate.
“You’re thinking too damn hard over here. Stop it before I spank you,” Braden whispered in his ear before moving away.
Wes’s skin warmed, remembering just how good the man was with his mouth. “Good luck trying that.”
Jessie asked if Braden could stay awhile, so he did. They played a couple games of Go Fish before Wes got Jessie ready for bed. She went easily, like she always did, and when he came out, Braden was finishing up the dishes.
Jesus, who the hell was this guy? He’d never known anyone like him before. “You didn’t have to do that.”