Richard kissed Matthew's fingers. “Okay. I like the idea of you taking some time off, though. Get yourself used to the classes. But don't be afraid. You'll do great.”
“Thanks.” He sat back. “I guess after Jake, I'm afraid I'll lose my focus.”
Richard glared at Matthew. His eyebrows drew together to form one line across his forehead.
I put a hand on Matthew's knee. “You learned from the experience. This is important to you. You're taking it seriously. You're letting Richard help you. You're taking it slow instead of piling a bunch of shit on top of yourself. There's no way you're gonna mess up.”
He gripped my hand. “Thanks.”
“The only thing we'll have to monitor is the sex. You know, Richard can be pretty demanding, and you'll have a lot of studying to do. I'll be glad to keep him occupied for you at any time.”
Matthew rolled his eyes and smacked my arm.
Richard snorted. “Me? He's the one who's years younger than us. He's insatiable.”
The incredulous expression on Matthew's face had me laughing. I kissed him and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. “So, tell us.”
“Tell you what?” He grabbed my fork and ate a bite off my plate.
“Matthew. What are you going to study at school?”
He looked off into the kitchen. “You'll think it's stupid.”
“No, we won't.”
“I want to be a vet technician.”
Richard leaned forward and grinned. “It was the puppies you rescued when you were a kid, wasn't it? The little beasts got to you.”
Matthew's gaze returned, lighthearted and happy.
“Hey, I ordered Chinese,” Richard said as he came into the living room. “Should be here any minute.”
I was sitting on the floor against the couch with my laptop open on the coffee table. Matthew had gone to his mom's for dinner, and Richard had been working in his office for the past couple of hours.
The doorbell rang.
“Great timing,” I said.
“What can I say? I'm organized.” He answered the door.
“Organized is not what I'd call you.”
Richard paid for the food and came back in with two bags of takeout in hand. “What would you call me?” He dropped the bags on the table and flopped onto the floor, stretching out on his side.
“Well, since Matthew hates Chinese, and I love it, I'd say someone who's trying to get lucky.”
“Could be.” He winked and ran his hand up my inner thigh.
Even through the jeans, his hand sent a fire racing through my body, building need and want where thoughts of work had been a moment before.
He lightly passed over my dick and moved down my other leg. I closed my eyes and enjoyed his touch.
“I was thinking about Matthew,” he said, still exploring me.
“Wish he was here.”
“Me too. But I had an idea. We should get him a laptop as a good luck gift for school. He'll need it for all the papers and research and shit.”
I opened my eyes and smiled at him. “Good idea.”
“Great. You can pick it out if you don't mind. You'll know more about what to get than I would. Just let me know what you decide on and the cost.” He removed his hand from my leg and settled on his back, his arms folded behind his head. “He's telling his mom he's going back to school.”
“That's good.”
“Yeah, but I think he's afraid of what she'll think about me paying for it.”
“You mean about you loaning him the money?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Right.”
“He's not gonna accept you paying for it. You know that, right?”
“That's why I said it was a loan.”
“That's not what you meant.” I swung my legs around and lay beside him. I tickled his underarm. He smirked and returned the playful touches until we were rolling around on the floor.
He gripped my wrists and stilled me. “Let's let him get through school first, and then we'll discuss the money. Okay?”
I leaned over him. “Have I ever thanked you?”
“For what?”
“Asking two strangers to live with you.”
He reached up and stroked the side of my face with the back of his fingers.
My breath quickened at the soft caress. I'd fucked a lot of men in my life, but I'd never known such affection. Not even Tim had shown his love for me with his hands the way Richard did. Now... I needed more than the slamming together of bodies. I needed a caress. A touch to my cheek. A hand in my own.
He dropped his hand to his chest. “It was the best decision of my life.”
“Knowing what you do now, you'd do it again?” A part of me needed to hear his answer after all my father had done.
“Hell, yes. I'd have asked the first night if I'd known it'd be like this.” He smirked. “But you'd never have said yes.”
“It was better you got me addicted to your dick first.”
He laughed and kissed me with his warm lips. He gripped my ass with one hand, fanned the other across my back, and tugged me in tight. “I remember how you thanked me when you left at the end of our first night.”
“I thought I'd lost my mind. You were like no men
