Page 43 of Love in Unexpected Places

“What do you mean?” I turn to look at him, finding him gazing down at me.

“Just sex. Between us.” He maneuvers us until we’re both on our sides. “I enjoyed that very much. But I don’t want it to be all we have.” After he blows out a deep breath, Keith says, “Derek, I want more.”

chapter eight

KEITH

Derek’s eyes pop wide and I wish I could swallow the words. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. I thought expressing what I wanted wouldn’t be a big deal. I almost hoped he would appreciate it. Looks like I was wrong on that account.

Trying to salvage things, I say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”

His lips press firmly against mine and he pastes himself to my front. Derek’s hands glide through my hair and he pulls me close, his mouth attacking mine. I try to keep up, holding him close.

When he’s had his fill of attacking my lips, he draws away and places his forehead against mine. “Keith, that’s what I want. More than anything.” With a jerk, he moves back and glances down at me. “But what about Evan?”

With a heavy sigh, I slide us up the bed so we can talk. “I love my son. More than anything. But I deserve to be happy, too. His mother and I were a good match, but after a while, we became just friends. She’s important to me, but I haven’t been happy like this for a long time. It’s only been a week of us getting to know each other, but I look forwardto every day you come over. When you leave, I can’t wait to see you again. Evan will just have to understand that you’re the man that makes me happy.”

He rests his head on my pec, rubbing his fingers through the sparse hair on my belly. I really love how he pays attention to it. While Sheila didn’t say I was gaining too much weight, she dropped hints sometimes. But as I told her: I’m healthy, and my doctor isn’t worried about my weight affecting my life, so I was good.

After a brief pause, Derek murmurs, “Evan is my best friend. I don’t want to lose you, but most importantly, I don’t want you two to lose each other. If he can’t accept us and asks you to choose, I’ll bow out.”

I open my mouth to argue, but know it’s a losing battle. So I just nod and kiss the top of his head.

What can I say? I can’t force him to be with me. Honestly, I admire that he’d put my and Evan’s happiness before his, but I don’t want that to be the case. I want us to work it out if Evan does find out. I’m not sure when that will be, but I think I want to keep it a secret for a while yet.

As if reading my mind, Derek says, “Maybe we should keep it to ourselves for a while. We can talk about how to tell Evan soon. Let’s enjoy each other to make sure this is what we want before we go possibly blowing up our lives.”

“I can work with that.”

Instead of lying around and going to sleep like I want, Derek urges us to clean up so we can get the last few boxes unpacked. It doesn’t take long and we’re back in bed in no time. After we’re done, I go to the dresser drawer and pull out some pajamas. I give Derek the top and slide the bottoms on. I don’t miss his surprised smile and my chest warms because I could do something so simple and make him happy.

Then we curl up and fall asleep.

The next few weeks are great. I split my time exploring the city, seeing Derek almost every night, and hanging out with Evan when he’s free. Our relationship, while it was never bad, seems to be getting stronger in the few short weeks since I’ve moved.

A few days before his exams start, Evan and I decide to go out to lunch. He seems addicted to that panini restaurant, so we go there. After ordering our food, we have a seat and chat about nothing and everything.

As we’re digging in, Evan tells me, “I’m going to see Mom after exams. I haven’t been home in a few months. Want to go?”

I wipe my mouth with a napkin and shake my head. “Nah. I just moved away from there. I don’t think I want to visit anytime soon. But Sheila is always welcome here. I have that spare room. If you ever want us to all visit together, let me know and I’ll get in contact with her to set it up.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

A mocking voice sounds behind me and Evan sits up straight, eyes narrowed. “This is your dad? He looks too young to have an adult son.”

I turn to the young man standing at my back and assess him. He’s good looking, but in a superficial way. He’s way too tan for it to be natural, has bleached-blond hair and piercing blue eyes that look to be contacts. His body is lean, but you can see he’s muscular, and he has no problem showing off his body—he’s in workout clothes with a ribbed tank top that hugs his body and a pair of short shorts that show off his thighs and calves. He’s what aKendoll would look like if he suddenly came to life. No hate to Ken, of course.

Evan grits his teeth and says, “Atlas. Yes, this is my dad.”

Atlas is a weird name, but it strangely fits. “Good to meet you,” I say, holding out my hand. He gives me a limp shake, making me frown.

“You, too.” Atlas assesses me, then looks at Evan. “Where’s your other half?”

“None of your fucking business,” Evan snarls with more venom than I’ve ever heard from him. Evan may curse around me on occasion, but never the f-bomb. I look at him with a raised eyebrow, but his eyes are firmly on this Atlas. I wonder what the kid did to him.

Atlas takes Evan’s attitude in stride. He shrugs. “When you see him, tell him to answer his phone. I’d like to talk to him.”

“Hopefully, he took my advice and blocked you.” Evan’s teeth are clenched, like he wants to say more than he did, but being in public, he’s holding his tongue.

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