“Of course it is,” I said, reminding myself not to be a dickhead. Especially since my brother had spent several days helping me pack. “It’s… not a big deal. Okay? I’m just grateful for what you’ve done for me.”
Jonny grinned again. It was verging on insufferable, but I begrudgingly supposed I had to let him have this. “It’s averybig deal and I’m telling everyone.”
I sighed and finished sealing up the box, scrawling a label across it with Sharpie. “Here you go. Be useful and take this down to the van.”
“But that’s what the removal men are for. It’s why you hired them,” Jonny said.
“No, we hired them because one of my beloved boyfriends went and fractured his fucking collarbone two weeks ago,” I said. In Hunter’s defence, it hadn’t been his fault. One mistake in the scrum coupled with a sodden, slippery pitch that more closely resembled a swimming pool, and his collarbone had been the unfortunate victim. He’d been pretty good about it—despite his obvious pain and discomfort—and Bailey and I had spent the past few weeks spoiling him rotten and waiting on him hand and foot.
Hunter had clearly struggled with not being able to do much, especially since it was his right collarbone and he was right-handed, and sitting around at home wasn’t helping. So I’d ended up taking him to work with me and teaching him how to pack cookies, which he could do sat down with one hand.
It had been a good way to keep him busy and spend some time together, although I did feel bad for Bailey. My plan for the new year was to make sure I had some alone time with him as well. Unless he managed to get injured before then.
Considering how often the pair of them came home with bumps, bruises, and broken bones, it was pretty much a toss-up.
“I heard my name,” Hunter said, appearing in the doorway behind Devon, his arm still in a sling. He had to wear it for another week, and in the last few days he’d started whining about how annoying it was. Bailey had been sweet enough to distract him with kisses and blow jobs while I’d reminded Hunter to say thank you every time.
He’d have to wait another few weeks to get railed, and I couldn’t wait to completely wring him out on my cock.
“Not really, but the fact you answer to beloved boyfriend says a lot,” Devon said, shooting him an amused smile. Hunter had eventually had a conversation with him about sex, but since I hadn’t been present and I hadn’t asked for details, I didn’t know what they’d talked about. He and Devon had definitely gotten closer, and I was glad Hunter had someone to talk to if he ever needed advice.
“Duh, it means I’m loved,” Hunter said.
“You are,” I said, walking over to him and standing on my tiptoes to kiss him quickly before the flat became overrun with removal men. “Are the guys here yet?”
“Yeah, they’re just on their break.”
“Any problems getting shit out your flat?”
“No, although we found three random odd socks, that black T-shirt I was sure I’d lost, two balls of yarn, and one-twenty in loose change.”
“Jesus, how long had that been kicking around? None of us carry cash.”
“No idea. Bailey thinks the universe accumulates it under your furniture when you’ve lived somewhere for a certain length of time,” Hunter said. He glanced over his shoulder, like he was trying to be sneaky, then added under his breath, “By the way, we put all our fun stuff in a separate suitcase. Then nobody will stumble across anything accidentally. We put the living room one in there too.”
“Good thinking. Bailey can make it the first thing we put out when we start unpacking.”
“Don’t joke, you know he’ll do it.”
“True, but it’ll make it feel like home.” I stole another quick kiss, ignoring the fact Jonny and Devon were watching us. We’d debated me moving into Hunter and Bailey’s flat, but it had felt like the perfect opportunity for us to find a place together that suited all our needs. The house we’d found was in a small villageon the outskirts of Lincoln, with large bedrooms, a spacious living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, and plenty of privacy.
It was a purchase rather than a rental, and one that Hunter and Bailey were sharing between them. I’d been against it at first, but they’d insisted because buying gave us so many more options. We’d had to have a lot of long talks about it, and I’d also leant on Bacon and Jonny, both of whom had understood my worries but helped mitigate them.
The whole thing still felt very weird, but then again I’d never really planned to move in with anyone. The last year and a half had changed a lot of my expectations for my life, and sometimes they still threw me for a loop. They were all changes for the better, though, and I’d never been happier.
“Is there a reason you’re all stood around up here?” Bailey asked, opening the front door of the flat and sticking his head inside. “It’s like trying to herd a gaggle of chickens.”
I laughed and slipped past Hunter, walking up to Bailey and making chicken noises. He snorted. “Sorry, I was shoving the last few things in a box. Then Jonny distracted me.”
“Hey! I just found out you named yourself after me! That’s not a distraction,” Jonny said from the living room.
“See? He’s terrible. I can’t get anything done.”
Bailey laughed. “I’ll tell the guys they’re fine to come up and grab everything. Should be all moved in by mid-afternoon.”
“Perfect. Me and Hunter’ll stop by a supermarket on the way over and get stuff for dinner.” I gave him a quick kiss, because it was impossible not to, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you smoke?”
“No. But some of the guys were. I thought about it, with the stress, but decided against it.”
