Our Hearts Collided (MxM)

Chapter 29

"Whatever."

"Little time to date, either?" I added.

"What?"

"You heard me."

He narrowed his eyes. "I have to set an alarm to remind myself about dinner half the time; of course, I don't have time for dating."

I raised the glass of water to my lips. "But you have time to invite Sam over?"

He blinked, his mouth gaping like a fish before clamping them down. Flustered, he said, "I—I mean for pack business, yes. He's been incredibly helpful with the Rogue Center; you know this."

"Is it really just pack business at this point?"

Xavier gripped the edge of the counter. The whites of his eyes showed, his cheeks tinged pink. "Why are you bringing him up?"

"Well, you're seeing him, right?"

"No," he said a little too quickly. "Definitely not."

I held in a laugh. "What's so wrong about seeing him?"

"Nothing," he admitted. "It's—it's complicated."

"What's so complicated?" I raised a brow. "You both like each other, right?"

"I—I think?"

I gave him a knowing look. "You think?"

"It's not like we don't like each other." He held his hand up in the air. "It would just be weird if we dated."

"How so?"

He ignored my question, mumbling, "then again, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've done together." Xavier held a hand over his mouth as if he had accidentally spilled a secret.

I narrowed my eyes. "Did you two..."

He blinked. "No! No, no, no."

"You did go upstairs together that one night. It's okay if you—"

"Pack business, remember?" His voice rose, evidently a lie. He gulped before holding his hands up in surrender. "Okay, we might've cuddled—but that's it! I swear. I was just feeling stressed and—"

I hummed incredulously, letting him ease his nerves for just a second. "Big spoon or little?"

His cheeks pinked. "Obviously little. Haven't you seen how tall he is?"

"There's nothing wrong with shorter people being the big spoon. Simon's been the big spoon multiple times."

He rolled his eyes. "That's different; you'd let Simon do anything to you. He could ask to step on you, and you'd do drop to the floor in a second."

"Well..." I looked at him weirdly. "Maybe not anything. That's beside the point; regardless of whether you're the big or little spoon, what makes being with Sam complicated?"

"Jonah and Lilah."

"The kids like him."

"They love him."

"Exactly; I don't see the problem."

Xavier leaned his upper body over the counter as if bracing himself. "It wouldn't be fair if I spend time around him more than I need to. I'm their father first."

"That doesn't mean you can't enjoy time to yourself or with him."

"It's just," his voice wavered. "I don't want them to have to experience what we went through."

He didn't elaborate, probably couldn't at that moment as his hands shook at his side. He could barely look above my chest.

"They won't," I said.