Page 53 of Sunrises & Salvation

“You don’t even want to know.” Trent laughs and claps me on the back. “But definitely more than the park you bought for your boyfriend.”

“Sorry that not all of us can inherit millions of dollars,” Trent snarks, but he has a smile on his face.

“It was billions, actually. If you want to talk shit, you at least have to get your information correct.” Trent’s laugh is loud, and I let out a chuckle of my own.

“So sorry, I'll do better next time.”

I’m exhausted, and so is Hunter, if the way he’s snoring is any indication.

His head is propped on a towel on the hull of the boat, snoring softly while I guide it back to shore.

Kian isn’t any better, except his head is in Trent’s lap as Trent runs his fingers absentmindedly through his sleeping boyfriend’s hair.

“Are you staying the night?” I ask quietly, not wanting to disrupt the two sleeping men. I don’t know how Kian is when he wakes up, but sometimes with Hunter, his attitude equates to the devil’s incarnate.

Trent ponders, and I know he doesn’t want to be a bother, so I do the friendly thing, the thing Hunter would expect me to do. Even if I would rather have the house alone with Hunter.

“Stay the night, it’s already getting late. And Hunter wanted to do hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire tonight.” I look down at the man in question, his face pressed against the towel, making his lips poke out in a slight pout. He’s so beautiful, sleeping and all.

“Only if you’re sure, we already intruded today.

I kept telling Ki that you two wanted time for yourselves, but he was adamant that Hunter invited us and we couldn’t tell him no.

I don’t know if I was more worried about pissing you off or pissing Kian off.

But as you can see.” He waves his hand, and I know what he means.

I can deal with Trent’s attitude, or even Kian’s, but I never want to push Hunter like that.

I cut the engine and let the boat drift close to the dock.

Trent gently scoots his legs out from under Kian’s head, taking extra care not to jostle him, and jumps off to tie it off to keep it from floating away.

Neither Hunter nor Kian moves from their sleeping positions, but their snores are synchronized as I start to unload all the items off the boat and deflate the tube that they used all afternoon.

It was entertaining trying to throw them off of it, especially since I had Trent keeping an eye on them.

I enjoyed it more than I expected to, and maybe having Trent and Kian here wasn’t so bad.

When we have the boat unloaded, I look at Trent, and he looks at me. “Should we just carry them inside?” I take in Hunter, he’s not much smaller than I am, but I do work out quite a bit more, so I could carry him to the cabin. I just hope it doesn’t make him feel emasculated.

“We’re gonna have to,” I tell him, stepping back onto the boat and squatting down to bundle Hunter in my arms. Lifting him from the ground causes a twinge of pain in my back and my ass, but when he nuzzles his face into my neck and exhales sleepily with his eyes still closed, I don’t mind.

Trent follows me up the path, careful to avoid the loose rocks, because heaven forbid one of us trips. I would definitely laugh if it were him, though.

I carefully push the door open with my shoulder, being careful not to hit any part of Hunter against the door frame. I hold the door open with my foot so Trent can come in as well.

“Where should I put him?” Trent asks quietly, trying not to disturb the sleeping man in his arms.

“Just on one of the couches, I’ll put Hunter on the other one.

” The three couches make a box around the TV and fireplace, and I place Hunter on the one that faces it, tucking a pillow under his head and covering him up with a blanket off the back of the couch.

I don’t know if he’ll be cold or not after spending all day out in the sun, but he can always kick it off if he gets too hot.

My sunglasses are propped haphazardly on his head, and I pull them off and tuck them into the pocket of my swim trunks.

I kiss the crown of his head, smelling his coconut and honey scent mixed with the freshwater smell from the lake.

His rosy cheeks are more flushed than usual, and I kiss both of his cheeks and the scar on his upper lip before I back away.

Trent deposits Kian on the other couch and kisses him on the forehead.

I go into the kitchen to grab some water and wait for Trent so we can talk without fear of devil one and two.

“What’s up?” he asks when I hand him the water.

“I told Hunter I love him last night.” The sip of water that Trent was taking is spit promptly back out, covering the marble flooring in his saliva. I level him with an unimpressed look.

“That was my bad, but seriously! You can’t just spring that on me. What the fuck did he say?”

“He said it back,” I say proudly.

“Of course he did, he said he loved you in college. I’m sure those feelings never went away.” No, they didn’t go away. He buried them, and when he let me back in his life, I made it my life’s mission to uncover every part of him, the old stuff and the new.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

We stand in silence, my back resting against the island while Trent stares down at his water bottle.

“So, what now?” I quirk a brow at him.

“What do you mean?”

“What are you going to do now?” I consider it.

What am I going to do? Am I going to keep working with Trent, or should I help Hunter with his bookstore?

I see it growing a lot in the future, and by the way Kian was talking today, his schedule is about to start picking up with the modeling shoots he’s been scheduling.

“I guess… I’m going to keep doing what we’re doing now. Why? Do you want out so you can travel with Kian?” If he wanted to do that, I would make sure that he’s still taken care of. What good is my money if I can’t take care of the people I care for?

“No, not at all. I just didn’t know if you wanted out. I mean, you’re rich. You got the guy. What else do you need?” I don’t say anything, because I don’t know what to say. He’s right, though. What else do I need? What future do I see for me and Hunter?

There are still some things we haven’t talked about that need to be discussed, but I want to wait until it’s just the two of us. I’m not going to do it while we’re away on vacation.

“You’re good for him, don’t fuck it up.”

“You don’t care that I’m dating your ex-boyfriend?” Even if he did care, I’m not going to change anything.

“Technically, he was yours first,” Trent says, taking a long swig of his water and crushing the bottle. I extend my hand and grab it from him to throw in the trash can. He’s right, Hunter was mine first.

I peek my head out of the kitchen to check on Hunter. He’s still sleeping soundly, with the blanket tucked up to his chin, while his quiet snores reach my ears.

Trent diverts the conversation, telling me about the new project offers while I scavenge for the aloe vera so I can put it on Hunter’s cheeks to help his sunburn.

It’s crazy to think that this is my life now, with a loving boyfriend, friends, and future in-laws who have always accepted me as their own. Life is pretty fucking awesome.