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But after breakfast with his family, the lazy Sunday turned into competitive board games around the dining room table, and then movie night with butter and cheese popcorn, in which Neko made from scratch, because of course he did. It was late and while Reo and George headed home to ‘sleep in their own bed, thank you very much,’ the twins crashed upstairs in the guest bedroom and Echo took the couch.

“Remember to have a camera rolling if you two are going to have sex.” Echo said.

“Why would we do that?” I asked.

“It will make it easier to break into porn if you have an audition tape.”

“Uh-huh. Because I want a reason for people to see Neko naked. We’ll get right on that.”

“I won’t mention how jealous you sounded right then. Does the sarcasm suggest I won’t be watching you two have sexy times soon?”

I shrugged and turned to see Neko snoring softly. Even with his neck bent in a weird and uncomfortable position as he leaned against the arm of the couch, I thought him beautiful.

“Time for bed, sweetheart.”

Neko blinked awake long enough to stand and stagger one step, before he sagged against me.

I lifted him in my arms and planned on carrying him up to his room and leaving soon after. But standing there while he brushed his teeth and performed his moisturizing routine, an act mesmerizing when he explained his step-by-step process, left all thoughts of tucking him into bed with a kiss on his forehead before I’d head to my rental, alone, in serious doubt.

“There’s a new toothbrush in the cabinet,” Neko said as I stood there, leaning against the door.

“I was going to brush when I got back home.”

“Oh.”

There was an exorbitant amount of disappointment in his abbreviated response, along with the pout, and then the tears welling up in his eyes. Okay, that last one didn’t happen, but it would’ve played along with his ploy to get me to stay. Hell, he could’ve nodded toward the bed and I would have stripped and climbed in without hesitation.

With a sigh, forced exaggeration, I pushed off the door and headed closer, seeing him brighten with each step. I opened the cabinet and snagged a blue toothbrush and brushed my teeth after he’d finished.

We stripped down to our boxer briefs, sank into the obscenely comfortable mattress, and moved into the same position we woke in earlier that morning.

“Why the hell would we sleep on the couch instead of in this bed?”

“I fell asleep, and you didn’t want to carry my deadweight upstairs. Or something like that.”

“Yeah.”

With whispered goodnights, we drifted off. The energy spent keeping two fourteen-year-olds entertained all day exhausted us. Not to mention Neko brought out a competitive side of me I hadn’t realized I possessed.

Over the next few weeks, we developed a routine. Monday through Friday, Neko cooked breakfast after we dragged ourselves out of bed. I cleaned the dishes as he headed upstairs to record for the day. After I finished, I’d snag another cup of coffee and head over to my house for whatever meetings I had scheduled. Neko’d given me a key after breakfast and also downloaded the security system app on my phone.

“For you to come and go as you please,” he purred before he winked at me.

My eyes narrowed. “It’s strange you said it in that way. But I know you gave me permission to enter your home because you don’t want to climb back upstairs more than once or twice a day. It’s not for my convenience.”

“Damn, you caught me.” His fingers walked up my chest until he reached my beard and gave it a gentle tug.

At that point, I didn’t care if the house was on fire, as long as he didn’t stop touching me. And when I growled, he stood on his tiptoes and kissed my cheek.

A chuckle escaped his throat as he pulled back and said, “Have a good day, love.”

After staring at his ass climbing the stairs, cutting off my view when he disappeared around the corner, I made my way back to the kitchen. I shook my head, gawking at his lovely bubble butt was not my proudest moment.

I stopped any hesitation about invading Neko’s home whenever I finished for the day, too excited to see him. We cooked together, talked about our lives, even mine, because he drew it out of me despite my arguments my life was boring. He told me more about how thrilled he was when his mom announced she was pregnant after trying for years, and how his dad fainted in the doctor’s office when his mom informed him they were having twins.

It was hard not to smile the next time I saw George. Then Neko acted out the scene, putting the back of his hand against his forehead and dropped onto the couch, while I left the room when I couldn’t contain my laughter.

My mind kicked into gear when I realized in a few hours, he’d needed to be awake to host a charity livestream.