Page 39 of Just in Time

At Blaze’s words, German smiled. God, he was beautiful. “I love you too. Are you still disappointed about that night? If not, you should be.” German laughed. “I don’t think I’ve come that fast since I was twelve and stuck in a wet dream. Just let me regain my strength. I’ll never let you down again.”

“What?” Blaze growled. “I never said I was disappointed or let down. That night was fucking awesome. I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterward.”

German’s laughter stopped his tirade. “I’m only fucking with you. You should know that. I couldn’t stop thinking about it either.” He turned serious. “Is it possible to fall in love in an instant and not even realize it?”

Goddamn. German always knew what to say.

The bedroom door opened. “There’s a monster outside my window.” The words were so matter-of-fact that Blaze almost laughed.

They shared a smile and rolled from the bed at the same time.

German swept Ben from the floor as he headed for the door. “Let's go take care of that. We paid good money for a monster-free room on this trip.”

Blaze stayed on German’s heels. He gave Ben a sharp nod. “Ain’t no monster a match for your dad. Look at how big he is?”

Ben laughed, but he still clung to German like he was scared.

About three weeks after Christmas, Ben had accidentally called German Daddy. German didn’t correct him. Blaze knew he wanted to be whoever Ben needed. Ben didn’t stop. The next time they spoke with Dara, she reinforced the name change after Ben referred to German as Daddy. Since then, anytime she mentioned German in their phone calls, she called him Daddy. So, that was who they were now: Uncle Justin and Daddy. They hadn’t wanted to confuse him by using Blaze. It really was whatever. Blaze answered to both.

In Ben’s assigned room for the trip, they froze inside the doorway. There really was something moving around outside. German passed Ben to Blaze. They were on vacation, and there was a narrow-connected balcony outside all the suite’s bedrooms. They were also low enough for anyone to climb up and break in. Blaze hadn’t considered that before now.

“We should get the security team.” Blaze’s suggestion came too late. German swept aside the sheer curtain. He laughed and pulled the curtains all the way open.

Ben squealed. “It’s a fucking giraffe.”

Blaze covered his eyes at Ben’s shout. He fought not to laugh, and it was turning into a losing battle, especially when German muttered under his breath, “I really need to watch my language.”

Blaze set Ben on the floor, and Ben ran for the window. German picked him up and opened the sliding glass door. There was a container of large leaves to feed the giraffes, since this was part of the selling points of the hotel. Blaze had completely forgotten about it since they hadn’t seen a single animal before now. He had honestly been a little irritated about that. They had only chosen this room because Ben had found a love for animals after German had taken him to meet Jathan Dexter. Since he was Blaze’s favorite basketball star, retired or not, the trip had been meant as a surprise for Blaze. However, Jathan lived on a working ranch full of horses. Ben had been thrilled. He hadn’t shown an ounce of fear when Jathan’s husband had put him on a sweet-tempered mare.

German helped Ben feed the giraffe while speaking in low tones. Blaze couldn’t hear what was said over the breeze whipping through the room. But he couldn’t look away. There was a contentment in his chest that he couldn’t describe. That was his husband acting the dad to a nephew Blaze fell in love with more every day. Blaze hadn’t known life could feel like this. He had lived riding a high of adrenaline and stardom for so many years. Then this sexy as fuck guy had held his stare while Blaze stroked himself. A romantic meet-cute if Blaze ever heard one. Now here Blaze was, absolutely addicted to his life. A story as old as time.

Keep an eye out for the next Steel Security, Boy Toy Not Included.