Page 58 of Wolf Reborn
Gavin held out Miles’s London fog, perfect as always, and leaned over to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Your warm milk, sweetheart.”
“Just how I like it.”
Lyndon hopped in frustration, so Gavin turned to him, a lazy grin on his face. “Got something there, bud?”
“Gaaaa-vin,” the boy whined, shoving the envelope at him. “Miles said it was addressed to you, so I couldn’t open it because that’s illegal.”
“You wouldn’t want to break the law, would you?” Miles asked, for probably the third time since Lyndon had seen the envelope. He very much did want that, in this case.
Gavin only hesitated a moment before giving in and picking the metal tabs, then sliding a finger under the flap.
Lyndon put out his hands. “Can I? I want to read them.” Gavin handed over the sheaf of papers inside, and Lyndon stared at them, scanning the words. He wasn’t the fastest reader, but Miles could tell when he found the ones he wanted. He hopped in place again. “It says custody. Full custody.”
“It sure better,” Gavin agreed. “Could get bloody if they only agreed to give us half of you.”
He said it as a joke, but Miles knew the truth of the matter. For a fraction of a moment, the boy’s father had tried to step forward, to pretend he cared about someone else asking to take care of his son. Not because he wanted him, the Martingale omega had told them firmly, but because someone else had shown interest, and he thought he could get something out of it.
So Gavin had taken the man aside and told him precisely what he would get out of causing trouble. Miles didn’t know—or want to know—what he’d said, but Lyndon’s father hadn’t pretended interest in his son again. It was hurtful, but the boy had clearly been used to it; he’d been much more uncomfortable when his father had hugged him than when he’d disappeared from the room without a word.
Lyndon giggled like a nine-year-old should, a sound that was becoming more and more familiar as the months passed. He pulled himself up on the counter and threw his arms around Gavin. “Should I call you Dad?”
Gavin’s green eyes went wide with shock, and before he could say a word, a highly amused Dez came up behind him. “You definitely should.”
The boy giggled again and shoved Dez’s shoulder, but fell back in and hugged them both, whispering, “I can stay.”
“Forever and ever,” Gavin agreed.
Ten minutes later, Lyndon had a huge mug of hot chocolate and a double chocolate muffin half the size of his head, and he was sitting in Gavin’s chair in the back, slogging his way through the enormous words in the custody agreement.
Miles was leaning against Gavin, sipping on his tea. “He’s getting the hang of school. His teacher says he’s a borderline genius. Should be caught up in no time.”
“It would take a borderline genius to live through the January he had,” Dez pointed out from a few feet away.
Gavin shrugged. “He’s a Kismet wolf. We’re a hardy lot. Sometimes it takes us a while to figure out what we’re doing, but we don’t give up till we get there.”
Dez turned to him, eyebrow raised. “That right?”
“You gonna make me get down on one knee?” Gavin asked him, and Miles... had no idea what they were on about. Gavin proposing to Dez? They’d kill each other inside a week, two toppy alphas like them.
Dez shrugged and leaned against the espresso machine. “I’m just saying, Miles isn’t gonna make you. But he deserves things.”
If it had been anyone but Dez, Miles would have gotten his back up on Gavin’s behalf.
In this case, Gavin just gave his best friend a good-natured smile and turned to Miles, and melodramatically, swept himself down onto one knee. “Miles, sweetheart. We’ve been living in sin for six months, but I think it’s time we get married. If nothing else, for poor Lyndon’s sake. We don’t want him born a bastard.”
“That’s a bad word,” Lyndon said around his muffin. “And I’m already born.”
Gavin turned and put a finger to his lips conspiratorially, so Lyndon pretended to zip his own, shoulders shaking as he watched them.
Finally, Gavin turned back to him. “You’re part of me, Em. The best part. I came back from Afghanistan lost, and I didn’t even know it, not really. You helped me find me. So, you know, marry me. Stay. Forever and ever.”
Miles leaned down to press his forehead to Gavin’s. “That sounds like a pretty good idea. I see where Lyndon gets his brains.”
Dez sighed, shook his head, and muttered, “Least romantic proposal ever,” as he wandered into the kitchen.
“He’s gonna have to throw a black-tie affair when he asks Sawyer to marry him,” Gavin whispered, and Miles had to choke back laughter. Dez would, in a second, if he thought Sawyer wanted that. “Can I get up now?”
“Seems like a good idea,” Miles agreed. “We have a family gathering to get to this evening. Wouldn’t want you to miss it.”
“Not as long as you’re there,” Gavin promised.
Almost a year and a half dating, and they were still dancing. Now, though, when Gavin took three steps back, there was no question of Miles following him. Miles would follow him anywhere. He was worth it. They were worth it.
He’d lived his whole life in Kismet, but he hadn’t really understood destiny until it had brought him Gavin Lloyd.
