Page 82 of Love Unlimited

After that first unexpected date night, the two of them had declared a group movie night and maneuvered Zhong and Dustin to the middle of the couch while they each took the edges. The next week, Landon had firmly told him that he needed to pick something special to do with Zhong and kept hounding him about it until he planned a special cooking night while Landon had a board meeting. And he was pretty certain that his beloved brat had picked this particular game tonight for exactly the same reason.

Not that he was complaining at all.

What had really shaken through his subconscious fears about Landon and Ash’s potential jealousy was Landon’s pictures. Every time he caught Dustin and Zhong together, he sent a picture on their group chat. There were a lot of heart emojis from Ash every time. If Zhong pulled out his phone, he would get a dopey grin on his face.

Dustin figured he looked pretty silly, too. Because he still couldn’t quite get over the idea that Zhong was, well, his again. His... partner, maybe? Or whatever you wanted to call it.

Ash and Landon lowered the box lid.

Pirates, Ash fingerspelled. Three words.

Dustin looked over the cards, then consulted with Zhong. Three words was a lot. OK, definitely Long John Silver. Yacht? I thought that yachts were fancy boats with motors.

No, you can have yachts with sails. I think it has to do with how long the boat is or maybe if it has sleeping cabins. Let’s try those two and then we can figure out the last one.

Dustin tapped both cards and successfully got a secret agent on both. Now what the hell was the third one? Shell? he asked Zhong. That seemed related.

I was thinking plank. Like walking the plank. Zhong showed his raised index finger stepping off the platform of his other hand.

Oh yeah. Much better. This was why Zhong was on his team. Go for it.

Zhong tapped the card and both of their opponents sighed with relief. So shell must have been one of the forbidden cards that would set off a bomb and end the game.

Zhong held up the box lid for their side, but he already had a word picked out, so there wasn’t much to discuss. In a couple minutes, the game was over and they had collectively triumphed.

Dustin stretched. I think I’m going to read a book. You guys can play one of those horrid games with all the rules. He touched his twisted fingers to the top and bottom of his other palm to show rules on a chart, and then kept going all the way down his forearm until he flopped over on the couch with exhaustion.

That got everyone to laugh, but he wasn’t kidding at all.

Mage Knight? Ash asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Yep and Definitely were the two responses.

It seemed to be a crazy combination of deck-building, RPG, armies, conquering cities, finding items, and all sorts of things that Dustin wasn’t going to touch with a ten-foot pole.

Do you guys want to play competitively or cooperatively this time? Zhong asked, leaning forward on the couch.

There were choices? Yeah. Sooooo not Dustin’s game. He stood up, trying to remember where he’d left his current paperback.

Daddy, stay here? Landon asked sweetly.

Of course. I was just going to find my book. Now that Ash and Zhong were staying over most nights when Ash didn’t have shifts on adjacent days, he didn’t feel like he needed to play every game just to spend time with them. Reading in the same room would actually be better, just letting him soak in their presence.

He walked around the table and stroked Landon’s cheek, letting him nuzzle up to his knee. It was interesting seeing him with Ash. He’d become softer, in a way. More open. He ran fingers through Landon’s flowing blond hair until Ash bounced over with the next game.

Does anyone want anything from the kitchen?

Water for me, Zhong requested. Thank you.

Ash looked up at Dustin with begging eyes. Ice cream? Pleeeeese?

Dustin laughed. Ask your Daddy. God, Ash was cute. Today they were wearing a paisley bow tie and green suspenders over a striped collared shirt and teeny tiny shorts. It was more masculine than their usual attire, and therefore flamboyantly gay.

Ash turned those wide adorable eyes Zhong’s way. Ice cream please, Daddy?

Yeah, sometimes Ash was so cute he just wanted to gobble them up.

He still thought they were sexy, of course. It was like once he and Landon had started considering Ash for something sexual and kinky, he couldn’t just turn that attraction off.