“I’ve heard a lot about you too,” Daniel responded.
“Uh-oh.” Monty smiled and ran a hand over the top of his hair. “If it came outta Reed’s mouth, I’m afraid to know.”
“There he is!” Brian said, walking into the living room. He came over and clapped me on the back. “Happy Birthday, kiddo.”
“Thank you.” Blood relation didn’t matter. Brian was like a dad to me, and I loved him like one too. I introduced him to Daniel and smiled when they started chatting like old pals.
“You like football?” Brian asked him.
“Yes, sir,” Daniel answered. “I used to play back in high school, and I watch the games when I can catch them.”
“Oh god,” I groaned. “Here we go again. Another one has been initiated into the cult.”
“I thought you liked football, Reed,” Monty said with a slight frown.
“No, I like checking out the players in their tight pants. There’s a difference.” I took off my coat and draped it over the back of the couch. “Where’s Quinn?”
“Cooking,” Monty answered. “He was cuttin’ up vegetables last I saw him. He threatened to stab me if I didn’t get out of the kitchen, so I hightailed it outta there.”
Laughing, I walked toward the archway that led into the kitchen and found Quinn at the counter, chopping up sweet potatoes on a cutting board.
He’d gotten more in shape over the past three months. Not that he was ever out of shape. But ever since Monty had moved in with him, they’d started working out together, and the results were showing big-time in the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing. His biceps were getting fucking huge.
“Hey,” Quinn said after spotting me. He set down the knife and wiped his hands before walking over. “Happy Birthday.” Then he turned to Daniel and held out his hand. “I’m Quinn Beck. We met last September, but it was brief. It’s nice to officially meet you.”
“Likewise,” Daniel answered, shaking his hand before touching my lower back again. It was like he couldn’t stop touching me.
Was he nervous?
I studied his calm expression and the ease in which he talked to my best friend. He didn’t look nervous. But when I left his side, he stared after me like a lost puppy. I got the impression he hadn’t met a romantic partner’s family in a long time. Maybe not even since that Olivia chick had fucked him over.
Quinn cooked lemon-pepper chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and fancy green beans instead of the ones I normally ate out of a can. Laughs and loud voices filled the dining room as we ate dinner. Daniel fit right in. Gwen sat beside him, and it turned out she knew his mom. They’d gone to school together.
“She was two grades above me,” Gwen said. “Oh, how the boys loved her too.”
“Did you know my father?”
“Yep. I was sad to hear of his passing.” Gwen patted his hand before cutting off a piece of her chicken. “He was one of the cool guys, but he was so nice to everyone. You look a lot like him.”
Daniel smiled and looked at his plate. I grabbed his hand under the table, and he squeezed mine in turn.
After dinner, Monty and Quinn cleaned up the kitchen while the rest of us sat at the table and kept talking. They rejoined us shortly after, and Daniel and Monty started talking about football and what positions they played.
“Two quarterbacks under the same roof,” Quinn said. “Are you guys going to duke it out?”
“You’d like to see that, wouldn’t ya, Specks?” Monty flashed his signature cocky smile.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” Quinn shrugged and took off his glasses to wipe the lenses. “Who wants cake?”
“I want your cake,” Monty muttered under his breath.
Quinn ruffled the top of Monty’s hair as he stood from the table. He then brought over a round cake decorated with white frosting and piped blue and purple flowers. My favorite colors. It looked like a professionally decorated cake from a bakery, but he’d made it himself. He made my cake every year, each one better and better.
“You’ve outdone yourself this time, Beck,” I said, jumping up to hug him. “It looks amazing.”
He smiled and returned the embrace. “I’ve been watching competition baking shows and learned a few things.”
“And I’ve been the taste tester,” Monty said, proud of himself.
“Is that why you look a bit chunkier?” I teased. Because it was a damn lie. He had no fat on him whatsoever.
“You watch that whore mouth,” Monty said, then cringed when he looked at Gwen. “Sorry.”
When we were joking around and having fun, it was hard to remember sometimes that she was his and Quinn’s boss. She just laughed it off like the rest of us.
The cake tasted even more incredible than it looked. Quinn beamed with pride when watching us enjoy it. As we ate, he handed me a card from him and Monty. It had a fifty-dollar gift card to fill my Kindle with more books.
“We also got you this,” Quinn said, standing from the table and leaving the room a moment. He returned with a blue gift bag and a white box and handed them to me.
I opened the box and found a denim jacket tucked inside. It was one I’d wanted for a while. “Thank you.” I hugged it to my chest.
“Now, the bag,” Monty said, grinning.
I dug into the bag and pulled out a new decorative scarf that I fucking adored, plus something… fuzzy. “What in the heck?” I lifted a groundhog plush out of the bag. Daniel choked on a laugh, and Monty gave another shit-eating grin. “A groundhog? Really?”
“It suits you,” Monty said.
“This was your idea, wasn’t it?” I asked, not amused. Okay, maybe I was a little amused. The plushie was super soft and cute, but I wouldn’t say it out loud.
Monty only winked before stuffing more cake into his mouth.
When our bellies were near bursting, Brian stood from the table and gathered everyone’s empty plates before opening the fridge.
“Can I get ya a beer, Dan?” Brian asked, bending to look inside. “Is it okay if I call ya Dan?”
“That’s fine,” Daniel answered. “And sure, I wouldn’t mind a beer.”
I smiled. Dan. It made him sound so… well, normal. Approachable. Like he was one of the humble townsfolk instead of the powerful king ruling over them.
Daniel used to seem larger-than-life. In many ways, he still did. But as I sat beside him at the table, watching him smile and drink a beer with the man who’d unofficially adopted me as his son, I felt a tugging in my chest and a warmth in my belly.
I was happy.
That happiness followed me all through the night and back to Daniel’s house where he laid me on the bed, our naked bodies pressing together, and eased into me. Slow. Deep. He slid his fingers through mine and held our joined hands above my head as he rocked into me.
“Happy Birthday,” he murmured against my ear, fucking me slow and oh so good.
I squeezed his fingers a little tighter and nuzzled his jaw, whimpering as he hit my sweet spot. I felt so connected to him in that moment, and not just because he was inside me. With him close, I breathed easier and felt like I was walking on air.