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As I’m reaching for my wine glass on the table next to us, the French door to the back of the house opens and Nathan steps outside.
“Fuck, it’s cold out here,” he says, grimacing. “We need to add heaters.”
That’s Nathan. Any immediate discomfort of any sort, and he’s already coming up with ways to eliminate it.
“Or you could put shoes on,” I say. “And a coat.” He’s barefoot and wearing nothing but loose lounge pants and a T-shirt.
“I could.” But he doesn’t, instead bending over us to kiss Dani before dropping into another chair and taking in the view.
“Wine?” Dani asks him, holding out her glass for him.
“Thanks.” He takes it and swallows a huge sip. “God, this is downright suburban, isn’t it? I’ve seen at least seventeen dogs being walked on our block in the last thirty minutes. We’re not getting a dog, are we? It seems like a requirement to live here.”
“I have no interest in a dog,” I assure him.
Dani shoots me an amused look. We both know Nathan is here under duress. But because he loves Dani enough to give up his penthouse and doorman and be forced to interact with other human beings. This house is mine and Dani’s dream, not his, and I appreciate that he’s compromising, though I worry a little his grumbling is more serious than just general Nathan grumpiness and that he’ll grow to resent this.
Though I do trust Nathan is mature enough to let us know if that’s ever a real issue. Would I move back to a penthouse downtown? I don’t know. If that’s what the other three in our foursome wanted, I would. But then again, it wouldn’t be as good for raising kids.
And yes, I’m thinking about our future kids already.
The back door to the house next door opens, and a man walks out onto his deck with a dog, which means he’s all of five feet away from us, given how narrow these lots are.
Nathan swears under his breath, his shoulders tensing. “Oh God, it’s the neighbor.”
Dani reaches out and laces her fingers through his to calm him down.
“I’ve got this,” I tell him, when it’s obvious the neighbor is waiting for his pug to do its business down in the yard. I shift Dani a little and peel myself out of the lounge chair.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I say, waving to the man as I stand up and move toward the end of our deck.
“Hey, neighbor, great to meet you,” he says, waving in return. “Glad to see the moving trucks were here today. We’ve been wondering when you would be done with renovations.”
Below us, there’s a short iron fence marking the property line, but both decks are off the first floor, not street level, so we’re elevated above the fencing. I can actually reach out and shake the man’s hand, which I do. “Michael Hughes. Pleasure. Yes, we’re finally moved in. Well, our stuff is here, anyway. We should be unpacking, but clearly we’re not. I hope the remodeling wasn’t too much of a disturbance for you.”
“Not at all. Glad to see the property getting spruced up. Mark Acker. Great to meet you.”
“This is Dani,” I say, gesturing behind me. “And Nathan.”
Mark is around forty, with an easy-going smile, a lean but fit build, and a thinning hairline. Like Nathan, he’s in lounge pants and a T-shirt, but he’s also wearing a puffer coat and slides and has a dab pen in his hand, which he takes a hit off of. I smell marijuana. He glances back at the house suddenly, like he’s afraid he’s going to get busted.
“Sorry. I thought I heard my daughter,” he explains. “She has turned bedtime into an hour-long process that I call the Stall Games.” Then he peers over at us again, clearly curious. “Danielle, Nathan, nice to meet you both.”
Dani starts to get up, but Mark waves her off. “Don’t get up. You look comfortable. Moving sucks.”
“It hasn’t been too bad,” she says, the corner of her mouth turning up. “The guys have been doing most of the work.”
I know exactly what our dirty girl is thinking about. How she tried to force Crew into unpacking and ended up tied to our bed, getting her ass spanked hard by Nathan as my dick eased in and out of her mouth. The memory has me clearing my throat.
Mark is clearly too polite to ask about our dynamic. Or maybe he thinks Nathan is her brother. Or uncle. Or maybe he doesn’t give a shit. But at any rate, I’m grateful not to have to explain. It’s not so much that I care what other people think about our relationship, but sometimes it’s a pain in the ass when I want to just have an easy conversation. People are always curious and have lots of questions that we wouldn’t have to deal with if it were just me and Dani in a traditional male-female relationship.
I also hate having to introduce her as my girlfriend. The word feels weak for what we share and for a man my age. I want to be able to say she’s mywife.
The thought isn’t surprising to me. This isn’t the first time I’ve had it. I know I want to marry Dani and spend the rest of my life with her. But the ferocity with which the desire washes over me right now catches me a little off guard.
Damn, I want everyone in the world to understand that Dani is my everything, my it girl, the endgame. I want to be able to introduce her as my forever person. I wantherto know that, to me, she’s perfect, and I want to settle into this house, make babies, buy a lakefront property and grow old together. The whole damn thing.
Nathan is shaking Mark’s hand now, goosebumps on his arm, polite smile in place. A lifetime of training has made Nathan capable of appropriate social behavior, whether he enjoys it or not.
