Page 41 of Matteo's Mettle
“Nah,” Chance waves him off. “No harm, no foul. Serves me right for not mentioning it in the chat. It’s not a big thing.”
“Still,” I begin to object, but my words are cut off as Josh interrupts our impromptu pow-wow.
“What are you all standing around here for?” He asks, hefting one end of my tall, oak bookshelf. Spencer’s got the other end and they’re carrying it towards his truck, which is parked on the street just past the driveway to my apartment complex. Despite his leaner, more wiry frame, Spencer doesn’t appear to be struggling under the weight of the timber like I might have expected. He’s obviously stronger than he looks.
“Chance was just telling us to stop slacking off,” I answer smoothly, and Matt hugs me tighter to his side, clearly appreciating my choice to keep Chance’s woes amongst ourselves.
Oblivious, Josh grins at the bearded ginger man. “You caught them making out like teenagers, right? They’ve been doing it all day.”
“We have not,” Matt argues back with a childish lilt.
Letting out a bark of laughter, I tilt my head from side to side and smile at him. “I mean…we kinda’ have, sweetheart.” If I had to make an educated guess, I’d say that the anticipation and joy of officially moving in together has gotten to us both.
He takes his hand in mine and his expression turns almost goofy. “I can’t help it,” he declares after a few moments, “you’re moving in.” His words echo my thoughts as though we’re in sync with each other. “I’m…well, I’m excited, I guess.”
“Me too, baby.” Assuring him comes as natural to me as breathing. I lean in so that my lips brush his earlobe as I whisper, “And I’ll show you how much just as soon as I can get you alone and naked.”
“Mmm,” he murmurs back, turning his head so that his beard rubs my cheek, “do we have to get completely naked? Because I don’t think I have the patience for that.”
“Ugh,” Josh complains good-naturedly, shooting me a wink before he starts backing towards Spencer’s truck, practically dragging the other man along, “get a room.”
“We’re working on it,” Matt sasses back.
“Yeah,” Spencer finally chimes in, shifting the weight of the bookshelf in his grip, “it might even go a bit faster if you actuallyworkedright now.”
Stealing one last kiss in the form of a quick peck of the lips, I chuckle and take a step back from Matt with my hands held in surrender. “Alright, point taken,” I acknowledge, feeling only a little guilty that these guys have been doing the bulk of the heavy lifting for the past few minutes. “I’ll even throw in an extra case of beer tonight as a peace offering.”
“Add extra pizza and all is forgiven,” Chance throws over his shoulder on his way back into my apartment building.
I follow him and clap him on the shoulder. “You drive a hard bargain.”
As a group, we continue to banter while we disassemble the apartment and take it down to the trucks outside. It takes a couple of hours, but it would have taken longer without Matt’s friends, who I have also come to see as my own friends.
It strikes me, as we’re all sprawled out through the living room in Matt’s house (ourhouse now), that I really had been living a pretty lonely existence before Matt.
Sure, I’d been busy, and I’d had surface friendships with guys from college and people I worked with, but outside of Cherie and Kate, I hadn’t really connected properly with anyone. I could psychoanalyze myself for years if I wanted to, but I know that I’d been holding myself back. Until Matt.
Meeting Matt forced me to acknowledge a side of myself I’d pushed aside. He might say that he’s the needy one in our relationship, but, as far as I’m concerned, that goes both ways. I think I needed someone to take care of just as badly as he needed someone to care for him. And, once I opened myself up to him, connecting with other people came easier.
“What’re you thinking about?” Matt asks, nudging me with his shoulder.
Later, I’ll divulge all of my revelations, but right now I just kiss him on the cheek and nuzzle his neck. “Just thinking how lucky I am to have found you, sweetheart.”
“We’re both lucky, Daddy.”
Well, I can’t argue with that.
So I don’t.
Chapter Fifteen – Matteo
The first three months of London’s fly-in, fly-out routine sucked hard. It took us a while to not only get used to not seeing each other every second week, but to also manage the time difference between us. I struggled badly enough during the first month that I earned myself my first genuine disciplinary spanking on London’s second week back in town, because a week without my Daddy and without any intervening little time had manifested in some bratty tantrums I’m not proud of.
But, after some trial and error, we were able to make it work.
On the weeks London’s been across the country, I’ve had little time at Ash and Charlie’s place, much like I did prior to meeting my Daddy. It’s not the same, but it’s enough to take the edge off, and I know that Ash loves having me around for playdates. Josh even joins us occasionally, and some of the other guys are also happy to step in as caregivers when Charlie’s got meetings.
On the weeks where Londonisin town, I try not to monopolize his personal time too much. We live together, so I get him all night every night, and that makes it easier to share him with Cherie and Kate, or even the guys when they drop in to hang out. I’m usually little during these catch ups, wanting to maximize my alone time with London when I’m big.
