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“Don’t go thinking you don’t deserve it. The finer things in life are for you, too. Especially now that you’re with me.”
Riley smiled shyly, lowering his chin. “I’ll work on wrapping my brain around it. It’s like a stumbled into a dream.”
“This one is real.” I pointed to the food with my fork. “Dig in.” He smiled again, then dug in with gusto, packing his cheeks full with granola the way a squirrel would.Damn, you’re cute.I held back that thought. It was probably too much. However, I wasn’t going to stay in denial of what I was feeling. I felt like a different alpha. As Riley’s scent mingled with the delectable flavors from the food set out in front of us, I honestly couldn’t figure out which made my mouth water more.
I went to work with a new pep in my step, that everyone noticed and commented on. I told anybody who would listen about my new little family, leaving out for now my feelings for Riley. It seemed like everybody already knew.
When I got home that night, Riley and the kids had been moved in with me. Separate bedrooms, but still inside my personal chambers. An apartment within the house, essentially. My room was now attached to his, with other rooms for the kiddos attached on the other side. All had their own bathrooms and were even bigger, big enough to pass for starter houses in California. It was what my little family deserved, after all.
I wanted what I wanted, and I was used to getting what I wanted. At the same time, I was playing a game that could end badly. For me, I rarely felt any consequences of anything in my life. That was what happened when you were a filthy rich white guy. As for Riley, he was vulnerable. I needed to be careful with him. At the same time, I couldn’t get enough, and loved that I could easily start a chat with him from right next door when I got home, and play with the kids. There was an intimacy, a togetherness that I’d been missing. This was what I wanted from a family all this time. A feeling of belonging.
From then on, we had breakfast as a family three times a week, with plans to go up to five, then I’d start coming home for dinner a couple of nights as well. Eventually, I wanted to stop working weekends so we could have big family breakfasts and afternoon outings.
I changed more of Petey’s diapers, although I left the explosions to Riley. We were growing closer, and it was impossible to ignore how my heart screamed “mate,” my mind screamed “mine,” and my manhood screamed “claim.” Riley and I were fated, I was sure of that now. I just needed to tell him that I wanted him. I was sure he wanted me just as much.
I hatched a plan. I would find out soon enough.
Chapter 6
Brennan
Three months was plentyof time. I was sure about how I felt about Riley, and the new family we’d built. He was my mate, and I wanted to take the next step with him. What better way to ask him to be mine than to wine and dine him, Brennan style?
I walked through from my room to his, poking my head through the open door and knocking on the frame. Riley was inside giving Petey a bottle, rocking him and humming a nonsense tune.
“Pack a bag. We’re going on vacation this weekend.”
“Pack a bag?” He echoed, confused.
I waved a hand. “Or don’t. We can buy whatever you need when we get there.”
Riley’s whole body lit up. “We’re going on vacation?”
“Yeah. We deserve a nice family getaway, don’t we?”
“I guess so.” He never felt like he deserved anything, even though he deserved the world. “Where are we going?”
