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His hands slid over the bare curve of her ass inside her plaid flannel pajama pants and he suggestively waggled his brows. “Mm…you are very, very warm.”
She playfully swatted him and giggled. “In the oven.”
“What’s for breakfast?”
“I made your favorites.”
He kissed her.
“That mushroom, spinach, and ricotta frittata you like.”
He kissed her again.
“Pancakes.”
And again.
“That sounds amazing, babe.” He scooped her up and carried her to the sofa. “But I’d much rather have you.” He pulled the plaid flannel down her legs. “First.”
And so they spent the morning making love in between cooking and prepping and everything else. Then he loved her again in the shower. Jesse packed up the food to take to Linnea’s while Chloe got ready. Taylor came in through the front door as Chloe came out of the bedroom. His loves. Yes, he had so much to be thankful for.
“I spoke to the attorneys for Hugh Brantley again last night,” Dillon informed them in between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes during dinner. “Not only have they accepted our offer, but Hugh needs a quick close. I told them that wouldn’t be a problem. So, we should own the properties within the next couple of weeks and then we can get started on renovations.”
It was all they’d been talking about since Dillon came to them the day before with the real estate deal of a lifetime. No one was saying how or why, but Hugh Brantley had to file for bankruptcy and liquidate his real estate holdings. Apparently that’s what he’d wanted to talk to Dillon about the night of the Halloween ball. After negotiations with Hugh’s attorneys they were buying an entire block off Third Avenue for less than half of its market value.
Park Place. Ten vintage three-flat buildings on a private street that dead-ended at Coventry Park. Beautiful turn-of-the-century greystones and red bricks. At first, Dillon’s thought was just to update the units and lease them or convert them to condos and sell them at a profit, but Jesse had a much better idea. Convert each building into a single-family residence instead. Each of them could have a home there. Every member of Venery could too.
They all wanted in.
A family compound in the middle of the city, and in the very neighborhood where they all grew up together—who gets to do that? And what could be more perfect than raising children of their own there some day? Sharing their lives. Staying close to each other. It was more than Jesse could have ever possibly wished for. More than any of them had ever even dreamed of.
After dinner, they all congregated in Linnea’s living room. Some of them lounged on her pale-turquoise sofa and others stretched out on the floor. The football game was on, but no one paid any attention to it. Everyone excitedly pored over photos and property details for Park Place. They discussed gating, security, and which building each of them wanted. An architect, Kyan could customize the plans for each home. Renovation was his thing—he’d designed the reno for Charley’s, the Red Door, and many other gentrification projects in their urban neighborhood.
Taylor and Jesse sat side by side on one end of Linnea’s sofa. Chloe sat between them on the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her. She hugged his leg and her head rested on his thigh. Taylor combed his fingers through her hair and announced to the room, “Jesse, Chloe, and me…we love each other, so we just need one house for the three of us. That leaves you an extra.” He chuckled. “We were planning to go house-hunting after the tour.”
Chloe lifted her head from his thigh.
Of course, no one was really surprised.
Sloan looked up from the pile of photos of the red brick building he’d claimed for himself. He appeared to be almost happy. It was the most content Jesse had seen him in a while anyway. “I’m glad for you, man.” His gaze shifted to Chloe and then to him. “For all of you.”
Jesse caught Linnea’s light green eyes dart between Kyan and Dillon before they settled on Chloe. She subtly tilted her head toward the stairs and got up. Chloe followed her. Something was going on here and he had a pretty good idea what that something was. He stood up from his seat on the sofa. “I’m heading to the kitchen for a refill. Anyone else need one?”
And just like he thought he would, Dillon followed him down the hall to Linnea’s kitchen.
He sat on a stool at the island. “So…wow. You and Taylor and Chloe. How does that even work, man?”
“It just does.” Jesse smiled. He knew this was a difficult conversation for his cousin to have.
“Not the sex.” Dillon pulled his fingers through the blond strands on top of his head. “The rest of it. Like are you going to marry her and make babies? How do you do that—take turns or something?”
“Yeah, I want to marry her and have a family.” He hadn’t given much thought to the practicalities of it. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Does Taylor?”
Did he want children some day?
“He loves her, Dillon.”
