Page 2 of Roll With The Punches
Especially not when Stuart lived over a thousand miles away from the guy, and the rest of his family.
He had a new family. He had Brandon, Jeff, Emma, and their growing band of friends from Venture and the Suncoast Society. A few times already they’d attended family-friendly Suncoast Society cookouts with Emma.
Being with this group of people felt more like a “family” than Stuart had ever felt growing up surrounded by people related through birth and blood.
Damn sure more pleasant to be around.
“You want breakfast, Sir?” Jeff asked.
“That’d be nice, thank you.”
Stuart set to helping him fix it when Brandon spoke again. “Another thing we need to handle is setting up a joint bank account for the three of us.”
That made both him and Jeff turn, stereo again.
“Sir?”
Brandon’s handsome, sleepy smile curved his lips. “You keep up the stereo act, I’m going to want to fuck you both this morning, and I don’t have time for that.” He took another sip of coffee “Bank account. Joint account. The three of us. I don’t understand what’s so complicated about that?”
“Um, why?” Stuart asked.
“For us to deposit our monthly share of expenses, and the grocery expenses. Instead of you both handing money to me. That just creates more work for me. We can each have an ATM card for it. I’ll set up our household bills to auto-pay from that account for simplicity. Which brings me to another point—I need to get both of you added to the utilities.”
Stuart didn’t understand why his pulse started racing. “Utilities?”
“Yeah. If something happens to me, you both need to be able to access all of that. I’m going to talk to Ed about what we need to set up in terms of a trust for all of us for powers of attorney, things along those lines. He’s an expert in all of that.”
Jeff patted Stuart on the back. “Why do you look terrified, buddy? This is a good thing.”
“I know. That’s why I’m terrified.” Stuart stared up into Jeff’s hazel eyes. Both men were taller than Stuart’s five nine. Jeff was six feet, and Brandon six two. “This is…real. This ishappening. It’s the good kind of terror. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Brandon set his coffee mug on the counter, stood, and rounded the end of it to engulf both men in a hug. “It’s okay, buddy. We’re not going anywhere. We love you. I know Emma loves you guys. I’m kind of scared, too.”
“Me, too,” Jeff said.
“I don’t think we’d be human if we weren’t at least a little scared,” Brandon added. “This is a big step for all of us, but I feel it’s the right one. If you need us to slow down—”
Stuart vigorously shook his head. “No, Sir. I don’t want to slow down. I want to be with you both.”
“Okay, then.” He smiled. “Somebody better get breakfast started, before they earn a bad kind of spanking.”
Stuart grinned. “Yes, Sir!”
* * * *
Jeff understood. Stuart was younger than him and Brandon. He’d just turned twenty-six a couple of months earlier. This was a huge step for him. His family were assholes, and he hadn’t even come out to them before he’d left Iowa and moved to Florida.
Hell, the first time he’d truly lived on his “own” had been the short stint he’d spent in the extended-stay hotel after his arrival in Florida, before moving in as Jeff’s roommate.
It was his and Brandon’s good luck that all three of them met at the same time.
After breakfast and showers, they kissed good-bye and headed out to their respective jobs. Stuart was an electrician, working for a guy who, ironically, was the former father-in-law of one of their friends from the Suncoast Society group. Even more ironically, that wasn’t how Stuart ended up meeting Jeff and Brandon. The poor guy had been catfished by a woman, using a picture of Brandon they’d e-mailed Stuart.
A bad-luck incident that immediately turned into good luck for all three of them.
Jeff was halfway to work when his cell phone rang from where he’d left it on the passenger seat.
His sister’s custom ring tone.
