Page 117 of For Your Heart
Declan and I were most concerned about Zarek. Even after the conversation four months ago in the kitchen that we witnessed but couldn’t hear, he was easily jealous if Declan touched Simon for too long. The conversation settled something in him. We no longer feel like he's pulling away. But it didn’t change the fact that on some level, he feels threatened.
However, the two get along really well. They are friends. There is no doubt about that.
Zarek rests a hand on Simon’s shoulder until Simon looks at him with a smile. Everyone knows that Simon’s love language is affection. He needs to feel seen and wanted.
Zarek pulls him in for a hug, and, for a minute, I just watch. Smiling. My brother steps next to me and sighs. “Thank fuck they get along,” he mutters, leaning his shoulder into mine. I wrap my arm around him and sigh.
Then, to make it even better, Sage walks in with a box. As soon as he sets it down, he joins them, wrapping his big arms around both and lifting their feet off the ground. Simon laughs, letting his head fall back on Sage’s shoulder. Zarek rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t try to hide his smile.
“This is nice,” Stommer says as he steps up on Declan’s other side.
I glance his way and frown. “You look like hell,” I say. He does. Stommer’s department is expanding again now that summer’s here. He’s spending a stupid amount of time on campus recently.
“Can’t leave contractors there alone while there are other people wandering around that part of campus. I argued that they’re used to people around but.” He shrugs. “Those damn fuckers like to get there at the crack ass of dawn though their lazy asses never start work until eight.”
“You can’t put a stop to it?” I ask.
He shrugs again and yawns. “I tried. Hopefully it doesn’t last too much longer.”
Raising a brow, Declan shakes his head. “You know they get paid hourly, right? The longer they draw that shit out, the more they get paid.”
Stommer scowls. It’s the first time I’ve really seen that look on him. There was the time that he stormed into our condo and yelled at us. But this is different. I almost smile.
“Go take a nap. We’ll have Simon get you when we’re ready to eat,” I say.
He nods, but doesn’t move as the three of us continue to watch our three lovers. Actually, two lovers and a husband.
Sage’s house sold right away. He received a stupid amount of offers and then handed them to me with wide, anxious eyes. So I went through them with his realtor and we chose one based on some shit that I still don’t understand; but it came down to cash versus credit and the amount of profit Sage would get.
Once the check cleared, we got married in Zarek’s backyard. The six of us, my parents, and Sage’s friends gathered to witness. Then we commandeered the condo, kicking my brother out to stay with Zarek for a couple days while I kept my man tied up or otherwise occupied with something in his ass as he begged me to let him come.
After three days of torturing him—I mean loving him on my own—Zarek and Declan returned, and we fucked together for another two days. If I do say so, it was a fantastic honeymoon. Though I never stopped reaching for Simon.
After we got the newlywed sexcapades out of the way, we went about changing his name. When the paperwork came back, we took on the monumental task of changingeverythinginto his new name. Sage Dorian Rossi is now Jonathan Sagen Whitaker, though we still call him Sage. He wanted to keep Sage in his name, but added the ‘N’ to it. When I asked about it, he just shrugged.
Aside from the necessary and obvious things like credit cards and loans, car registration, and whatever, we took a few steps further. He closed his bank account and changed banks. We canceled his phone, and he joined the family plan with Declan, Simon, and I.
Then we started the bigger tasks. The rest of us selling our homes and searching for a new one. Together. When our condo and Stommer’s sold almost immediately, Zarek pulled his from the market so we all had somewhere to live. It was a little tense because he had so many people crashing his space, but I think it actually did the group of us a lot of good.
There’s a sense of harmony between us now. We move around each other instead of running into each other. There’s a natural flow.
It also solidified some things we were looking for in a house. Definitely four bedrooms. As many bathrooms—although sinks were more important than the actual bathroom itself. It’s difficult for six men to get ready in the morning and only have three sinks between them.
We didn’t have an actual area we were looking to live in, but we knew we were moving out of Glensdale to get Sage away from his mother. We likely would have left the state entirely, except three of us haven’t held our jobs for a year yet, and we didn’t want that to reflect negatively on our resumes. Besides, Stommer is a big man on campus. He’s probably not going to get the opportunity he has now anywhere else for a while. Not until this project has been up, running, and successful for some time.
When Sage told our boss that he needed to quit and why (my big sappy puppy was teary), our boss did one better. He told Sage he’d been looking to expand, but it always felt too big for him to do on his own. So he asked Sage to take on the project. He’d make sure that when Sage Rossi left our gym, no one would know that the same man under a different name was actually heading up the second gym.
Sage was elated. Though he agreed that he’d definitely help set up the gym, he didn’t want to run it. He loved being a physical trainer, and that’s what he wanted to be. So he’d help our boss get it built, things set up, everyone hired and trained, and oversee everything until they were both comfortable with him stepping back into his preferred role.
I am so stupidly proud of him. He’s been at it for three months now and he comes home loving what he’s a part of. His smile never leaves his lips.
The house we found is in the suburbs of Sun Haven, which is a town northwest of Glensdale. It’s close-ish to campus where half of us work and only a slightly longer commute for Simon and me. We still get to enjoy the city of Glensdale, though we’re careful about being out. Once we get settled, I know we’ll explore our new home, so we have less of a chance of running into Sage’s mother or Sammy.
Sun Haven isn’t as big or populated as Glensdale, but it’s not a sleepy, quiet town either. The new gym is on the border of Sun Haven and Marlin Yard so it attracts both populations. The communities’ demographics skew slightly older, but since we’re settling down now, it’s not a big deal.
I muse about that. Settling down. I’m married!
Declan kisses my jaw and leans his head against me, reveling in all the warm, squishy, and sickly sappy feelings inside me. “We’re really doing this,” he says. “Look at the future we built together.”
