Page 10

Chapter Ten

Elias

Caleb filled Elias in on the details of his conversation with Aaron during the ride home. By the time he was pulling the car into the garage, he regretted it. It was exceptionally hard to pretend everything was fine as they picked up Parker from Birdie—especially since Theo was still actively avoiding them. Elias tried, but unfortunately, Theo wasn't ready. He couldn't blame him. It was a huge blow. The fact that the risks were piling higher every day made Theo’s reaction even more understandable and he didn't even know the half of it.

The afternoon dragged on for ages. Sweet Parker, oblivious to Elias’ inner turmoil, chatted them up about anything and everything. It was exhausting and left him conflicted and confused. And yes, more than a little angry. There wasn't much they could do about it all except hope for the best and plan for the worst. The first step in that planning was to bring their friend group on board. He only felt somewhat assuaged of his worries as confirmation texts began hitting his phone around dinner time. They’d have a full house the next day. Theo’s response was absent, but Connor privately assured them that the surly man would be there—Elias said a prayer and kept his fingers crossed. Maybe he did have a smidgen of faith after all.

At long last, the marathon of a day was over. Elias collapsed face-first into the mattress with a groan. His heart ached, his chest ached, his head ached. Pressure like this was not sustainable. Caleb’s grunt of disapproval was barely audible as he entered the room and shut the harsh overhead lighting off.

“Make the damn appointment, El.” The mattress dipped right before a firm hand landed between his shoulder blades. “It's not just indigestion. You're starting to worry me.”

Elias rolled onto his back with a beleaguered sigh. “Fine. I'll call on Monday.”

“Tell me what is going on.” Caleb leveled him with a stern expression. “Honestly, this time.”

“I think it might be anxiety. You'd think after all these years of helping Theo and Parker manage their anxiety, I'd be a little more self-aware.” Elias exhaled and pressed his fingertips to his sternum. “I guess it's easy to say the right things in practice, but experiencing it firsthand is a mind fuck.”

“Talk me through it.” Caleb shifted his weight, throwing a leg over Elias’ body to settle on his lap. Button by button, he worked the shirt open before slowly spreading his palms over Elias’ bare chest.

Elias’ eyelids fluttered closed as he basked in the gentle sweeping motions. “My chest feels like a vice sometimes. My heart rate increases. Breathing gets hard. Headaches, body aches, dizziness. And then I’m just exhausted.”

“What does the Health app say?” Caleb continued to massage the planes of Elias’ chest with deft, firm movements.

“Nothing alarming. No arrhythmia, nothing too high or too low. I write it off as indigestion because the burning sensation is like a bad case of heartburn.”

“And is this why your showers are getting longer and longer?”

Elias cracked one eyelid open with a grin. “Why do I get the impression you have a time stamped report of my deteriorating condition in your Notes app?”

“It's labeled Craft Store Shopping List to throw you off the scent trail, boss man.” Caleb’s face lit up with his adorable crooked smile as color rose on his cheeks. “Needless to say, I'd like to join you in the office for your appointment.”

“Mm. Please.” Elias let his eyes close again with a squirm. “I like when you take care of me.”

The weight shifted and disappeared as warm breath coasted over his lips. “My favorite thing in the world is taking care of you, baby doll. And I plan to do it for a very, very long time.”

“For always.” Elias’ hands slipped under the hem of Caleb’s t-shirt and followed the smooth sweep of his body. “You do it so well.”

“I'm nothing if not a professional,” Caleb murmured, his lips brushing over Elias’ before capturing them in a sensual, slow kiss that had his heart beating faster for all together different reasons. The seductive roll of Cay’s hips had his pulse jumping erratically in no time flat. The dance of lips, hips, hands, and tongues became a smoldering thing that left him breathless enough to demand he break the kiss. The groan that followed was unintentional and embarrassing for how loud it was.

“Cay, babe.”

“Use your words, baby doll.” Caleb's teeth nipped at the line of Elias’ jaw as his weight settled more firmly against the swell of his erection. Another moan escaped before he could stifle himself.

“Need you.” Elias arched his back and bucked his hips, fingers digging into the supple curve of Caleb’s ass. “Want you. Make me come, babe. Please?”

“Like this?” The undulations of his body pulled another animal sound of desperate need from deep within Elias’ chest.

“Please?” He was not above whimpering when Caleb taunted him like this.

“Such a good boy,” Caleb mewled, readjusting his position to roughly shove the waistband of Elias’ lounge pants out of the way. Hot fingertips met hotter flesh and the sensation was enough to make him gasp.

“Together. Please? Need you,” Elias begged without hesitation.

“Always together, El.” More shimmying and shifting and the softest of grunts filled the air before finally, finally, the world around them melted away to leave only sensation in its wake. A firm grip, the careful alignment of their cocks, and the sheer bliss of that first stroke lit up Elias’ body like an inferno as the tunnel of Caleb’s hand turned Elias’ foreskin into the most divine taunt of skin against skin.

“Oh, fuck!” Elias’ eyes sprang open in wonder and awe. “Jesus Christ…”

“Mmm, not Jesus. But I'll help you find God, Mr. Holy-Roller.” Caleb's smirk was pure mischief as he gave their cocks another slow tug. Precum from both of their dicks lubricated the movement as Elias’ foreskin encased the head of Caleb's length in a velveteen vice of overly sensitive skin. A groan fell from Elias’ lips as the sensual, seductive slide of Caleb's fist became a torment of push and pull and too much, the sensitivity of his foreskin amplifying his touch until fireworks started racing up and down his spine.

“Oh, fuck yes.”

“So pretty like this, baby doll.” Caleb rose higher on his knees, changing the angle and quickening his movements as his lips brushed over Elias’ and their panting breaths mingled between them. “Give me your cum, El. Give it to me. It's mine.”

Elias’ hands scrambled for purchase on Caleb’s lithe body, gripping and clawing anywhere and everywhere as he writhed against the mattress. It was utterly divine. The barrage of emotions and sensations brought a prickle of tears to his eyes as the man of his dreams turned him into putty with a deft twist of his wrist. There was no conceivable way for him to formulate a full sentence, so Elias simply spoke in gasps and groans, hands and lips, hips and legs, matching Caleb’s movements in a perfectly synchronized dance borne of their profound intimacy and undeniable chemistry.

Capturing Elias’ mouth in a searing kiss, Caleb robbed him of his breath in more ways than one as the intensity soared. So close… he was so fucking close and the torture of it was something he never wanted to end. Thighs trembling and stomach muscles taut, Elias arched from the cushion of the mattress with a guttural groan as his orgasm tore from within his core with such power, his vision went dark at the edges and stars twinkled over his sight. Wave after wave of pure bliss coursed through him as Caleb continued the torment, heaving breaths and tightened grip prolonging the nirvana as Elias’ overwrought nerve endings sang praises to the man above him.

“Good boy. My perfect baby doll,” Caleb panted, his voice wavering as his jaw clenched. Elias was a wreck of writhing, sweat-soaked limbs but by some miracle, he managed to cry out.

“Come! Come all over me. Please?”

“Fuck,” Caleb gasped, his dominant side faltering as awe and need left his words ragged and raw around the edges. Mere milliseconds passed before Caleb’s body grew taut, his grip tightened, and his cock pulsed before he shuddered from head to toe, the first burst of his cum rushing out to flood the tight confines of Elias’ foreskin before overflowing, mingling with Elias’ and coating their joined dicks in a proliferance of their combined release.

Unwilling, unable to let go, Elias coiled his limbs tight around Caleb’s quaking body, pulling him down to blanket his body as they struggled to regain control over their breathing. Time shifted into an amorphous afterthought, an inconsequential construct that held no bearing on them as they existed in this intimate bubble of safety and serenity. When Caleb tried to pull away, a whimper of protest slipped from Elias’ throat.

“Baby doll, let me clean you up—”

“No. Stay.” To make his point, he hugged Caleb even closer.

“That's filthy. I love it.”

“Mn. Stay. We can shower in the morning.”

“I like you covered in my cum. Careful, you'll tempt me to keep you slathered in it twenty-four-seven.” Caleb nuzzled into the curve of Elias’ neck before nipping gently at the skin.

“Works for me, babe.” Elias exhaled a sated sigh and let his eyelids close again. “Love you.”

“Not nearly as much as I love you, El.”

Afternoon sunshine glinted off the granite countertops of Elias’ kitchen, giving the space a warm, ambient glow that typically brought him comfort. Freshly brewed coffee and the aroma of summery linen candles Caleb had strategically placed around the house perfumed the air. The only sounds were the clink of ceramic mugs against the surface of the island and the occasional susurrous swish of bodies shifting in place. Everyone was there. The heart of the home pulsed with life and bowed under the visceral tension hanging heavy around them. Their gatherings were usually boisterous affairs, filled with laughter and joy, but not today. Today, Elias was suffocating on the unspoken words that filled every nook and cranny of his beloved home.

“I suppose this is news to no one, but I owe you all a direct confirmation.” Elias’ eyes swept over the faces gathered around and flinched as his gaze met Theo’s stony scowl. It was warm, but the baggy sweatshirt hung from his lean frame like a barrier, his hands hidden in the sleeves and the damp curls of his hair framing his face from beneath the hood. He snorted aloud at Elias’ meager words.

“I think this is a good move. It makes sense.” Abriella, dressed casually in a floral sundress with her auburn waves neatly arranged around her shoulders, shrugged and twisted her coffee mug to and fro between her palms. “Completely loco, but also, logical.”

Silent nods from Lily and Luke and Connor were a slight balm for Elias’ nerves, but the outliers simply glared. Taz was damn near a mirror image of Theo as they squared off across the island, occasionally aiming their icy gazes at him. Both of them hand their arms crossed, hidden in the folds of sweatshirts too big for their bodies, with light-haired protectors flanking them in stolid support. Nostalgia hit like a freight train—was it really only eight years ago that he, Taz, and Theo had stood around this same island in a stare-off as he’d played mediator for their first fight as a teenage couple? If only their concerns were so simple now. He would much rather be navigating the hormonal woes of two young men unable to properly voice their needs and boundaries. Instead, he fought the rising nausea brought on by the fact that everything was about to change forever.

“We’ve filed all the paperwork, so it's official. I—”

“Would have been nice to hear it from you first.” Theo’s ragged voice cut through the air with the efficiency of a dagger straight to the heart. Elias pressed the pads of his fingers to his sternum to ease the ache.

“I know, and I’m sorry—”

“I already said I'm fucking sorry, dude.” Taz cut off Elias’ apology with one of his own. His narrowed eyes and angry tone stood in stark contrast to his hunched shoulders and antsy shifting. “Get the fuck over yourself, T.”

“Fuck all the way off, Timmy .” Theo’s hand appeared from within the folds of the sweatshirt as he flipped Taz off across the island. “Your fucking snooping is what led to the fucking security breach, so I really don't want to hear it.”

Elias opened his mouth to intervene, but Caleb's hand against the small of his back gave him pause. Taz looked crushed. Devastation played over his face as his eyes glittered with unshed tears.

“Theodore,” Luke warned in a low tone, resulting in the predictable bristle of Connor’s protective instincts. He somehow managed to add an extra few inches to his height as he squared his shoulders and shot Luke a stern glance. This was turning into a nightmare.

“Guys, listen.” Elias pressed his palms to the cool granite in an attempt to ground himself. “I should have said something sooner. I know. Please forgive me. But what's done is done, and I need your help to do this.”

“Now he needs our help.” Theo’s eyes rolled clear around their sockets, the hazel color sparking green and gold with the intensity of his hurt and anger. “Whatever, Eli. You know where to find me when you need me.”

Another blow. Elias tensed as Theo stepped back from the island and pivoted with a soft squeak of his Converse on the hardwood. Without a doubt, Theo would help when asked. Everyone knew that. Guilt surged in Elias’ chest as he watched the man he thought of as his son storm out of the room. A collective flinch rippled through the kitchen as the front door to the house opened and then slammed shut with enough force to rattle the windows in their frames.

“I’ll w-wait in the…” Taz made a feeble gesture with his shaking hand before creeping out of the room on swift footsteps. Luke moved to follow him, but Bella stopped him in place with a palm pressed to the center of his chest.

“Let them cool off, loves.” Caleb poached Elias’ coffee from the counter and took a gulp before continuing. “You can't always reason with someone when they aren't working with a fully developed prefrontal cortex.”

“Hey, now!” Connor’s temper flared as he turned his scowl on Caleb. Luke’s expression was nearly identical.

Caleb grinned and shrugged. “Please tell me I’m wrong. I love them to death, but let’s be honest—they're twenty-two and twenty-three, respectively. I’m actually delighted to see them both acting their age for once. I think therapists call this a breakthrough moment. Let them work through all their big feelings and learn from it the way nature intended instead of expecting the same unhealthy levels of maturity they've both been conditioned to embrace.”

Uncomfortable quiet blanketed them as the truth of Caleb’s words hit home. Elias, in particular, struggled with the weight of the truth. It had been all too easy for him to unintentionally take advantage of Theo over the years. Granted, they were inconsequential infractions when compared to the burdens Adelaide had placed on his shoulders, but all the same, he'd unwittingly played a small role in perpetuating the same. Countless instances of asking Theo to babysit, attend parent meetings at the school, or listen to his venting rattled through his mind. Expecting him to take the news of his intention to run for President well was not only unfair, but exceptionally unrealistic. Especially when he took stock of how horrifically his mother’s presidency had impacted—and nearly ended—his life.

“I'll talk to him,” Lily volunteered in a soft, serene voice. “He needs someone to talk to that isn't so close to this.”

All Elias could do was nod before dropping his gaze to stare into the rapidly cooling coffee in his mug. The sigh that escaped his chest felt ominous.

“Reckon it's all gonna work out. Y’know he loves ya, Eli. Ain’t nothing gonna change that. He’ll come around.” Connor leaned forward to brace his hands on the edge of the counter. “In the meantime, we can run through the safety measures. I requested the job. I got the paperwork with me.”

Caleb squeaked and did a little happy dance beside Elias, lightening the mood just enough to inspire a chuckle in Elias. “Excellent! I was hoping you would. I adore the twins, but that chaotic energy is just a bit too much to handle in large doses”

Luke’s laugh was reluctant and rough around the edges, his head shaking side to side before his gaze snuck toward the front of the house. “Keep me posted, O’Brien.”

“Wilco.” Connor hesitated for a moment before jerking his head in the direction Luke’s gaze had traveled. “G’on. Git. I know you’re eager to kiss it all better.”

Soft snickers and quiet giggles eased a little more of the tension, postures relaxing with a collective sigh that only somewhat soothed them all. It wasn't perfect, but it was perhaps, hopefully, a step in the right direction. All Elias could do was hope. Hope he was making the right decision, hope that they'd find a way to reconcile, and hope that this wouldn't result in disaster. He didn't think any of them could handle more disasters. That thread of hope strained to keep his heart from shattering. A silent appeal to a God he'd rarely prayed to invaded his mind as he blanketed Caleb’s hand on the counter. Please, please let this work.