The Home-wrecker (The Goode Brothers)
The Home-wrecker: Chapter 55

“How are you feeling?” Briar touches my hand as I stare down at the program in my hand. My dad’s smiling face stares back up at me. The picture was taken on his boat when we went fishing one day, not too long ago.

“I’m feeling okay,” I reply. I squeeze her hand and fight the urge to kiss her. There are too many people here, and that’s not a conversation we want to have right now. At least not until later.

“Your eulogy was beautiful, baby,” she replies quietly.

“Thank you.” Briar stands and moves toward the food table in the back to help Sage and Melanie.

Next to me, Abby is coloring on one of the programs. It’s a picture of her on my dad’s lap under a rainbow. There are some unicorns and cats in the picture too.

Leaning over, I softly stroke her head, careful not to mess up her perfectly-styled braids. “That’s a nice picture,” I say, admiring her artwork.

She smiles up at me before climbing onto my lap and finishing her drawing. “I’m sorry your dad died,” she says, and I have to fight a smile.

“Thanks.”

I press my lips to the top of her head. “Done,” she says, showing me the masterpiece.

“I love it.”

“Will you hang it in your apartment?” she asks.

Flatly, I reply, “Obviously.”

As she hops off my lap to run to Caleb, I silently wonder how long I’ll live in that apartment. I’m not ready to move into the house yet. We all know this transition will take time, and if we rush anything, it will only put unnecessary pressure on our relationship.

But at least I’ve accepted the fact that this is a relationship, and I’m not leaving. This is my family. There is no question about that.

Glancing up from my chair, I nod at Caleb, who’s standing with his brothers by the front of the room. It pains me to see them all together and know that Isaac is missing.

Adam immediately offered to hold my father’s funeral at his church. It’s really more of a celebration of life since that’s what my dad would have wanted. Food, music, family.

This was his dream for me. He didn’t want me to be alone, and thanks to these people, I’m not, and I never will be.

Currently, I’m sitting alone at this table, so I decide to stand and make my way toward the front, where the Goode brothers are talking. Immediately, and maybe by habit, Caleb wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side.

Adam’s eyes track the movement first. Meanwhile, Luke has this all-knowing look on his face as if nothing surprises him.

The four of us make small talk together for a moment. Adam brings up the renovations they’re doing at the church, and Luke talks about his new course load at the university and his prospects of reaching tenure.

Meanwhile, I feel Caleb tense beside me. He’s growing restless, and I get a sinking suspicion that he’s thinking about his plan to come out today.

Glancing around the room, I notice that most of the guests have started to trickle out. Some were friends from my dad’s work or nurses from the senior living center.

“I’m ready,” Caleb whispers to me.

Turning toward him, I shrug my shoulders. “I’m ready when you are, but no pressure.”

“Fuck it,” he mutters, squeezing my arm. Then, he looks across the room at Briar. She smiles at him as she sets down a tray of food. “Briar, Dean, and I have an announcement to make,” he says loudly.

The small, quiet conversations in the room quickly come to an end. Suddenly, all eyes are on us.

I watch him in awe of how courageous he is in this moment. There’s not a hint of doubt on his face as his hand squeezes mine.

Abby looks up from where she’s playing with some toys in the corner. She beams at us before going back to what she was doing.

“We understand that this might come as a shock to you all, and it might take some getting used to, but we want you all to know that Dean…” Caleb looks at me, and my heart soars in my chest. To be so loved and wanted is like nothing I ever thought love could be. “Dean is a part of our family now.”

In the corner of my eye, I see everyone glancing around confusedly. But I don’t care about them. I’m still staring at this man that I’ve fallen in love with.

I used to think relationships weren’t for me and that I would never be able to give my all to anyone. Because love was nothing more than a risk. But that was before I found a love worth risking it all for.

Briar joins us, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it tightly as she smiles at Caleb.

“What we mean,” she says, “Is that Caleb and I are in a relationship with Dean. We…love him. And he loves us.”

“And we don’t want to hide it anymore,” Caleb adds.

Silence envelops the room as the three of us share intimate glances.

“I knew it!” a voice out of nowhere shrieks from the back of the room. We turn to find Sage hopping excitedly behind the food tables.

Meanwhile, Caleb’s mother, Melanie, looks as if she’s just been struck by lightning. I sort of figured she’d be the one to take the news with a little more apprehension, but it seems the rest of the Goodes are trying to be as supportive as possible.

Adam claps me on the back. “We’re happy for you all. This is excellent news.”

“Yeah,” Luke adds. “I haven’t seen Caleb this happy in a while, so you must be doing something right.”

“Don’t make it weird,” Caleb says to him, which makes everyone laugh.

“How am I making it weird?” he argues.

And for the most part…that’s it. It’s only slightly awkward. People are still obviously curious, and I’m sure they have a ton of questions. We have a very long road ahead of us, but at least we don’t have to face it alone.

Briar is stacking dishes in the dishwasher as I come behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. Leaning against her, I press my lips to her neck, and she hums, letting her head fall to the side.

“I love being able to do this whenever we want now,” I murmur against her skin.

“Me too,” she replies.

“Let’s go to bed.” I moan, skating my lips up to her ear.

She gasps when my hand slides around and slips between her legs. “The sooner we get these dishes done, the sooner we can go to bed,” she replies sweetly.

I let out a groan.

But she ignores my complaints and hands me a towel. “Here. You dry.”

Disgruntled, I snatch the towel away and start drying the pots and pans on the counter. She’s wearing a smug grin.

“You’re a tease,” I mutter, which makes her laugh.

“This is domestic life, my love. You’ll learn to love it.” Standing on her tiptoes, she reaches up and plants a kiss on my lips.

Smiling to myself, I reply, “I already do.”

Once the dishes are done, Briar jogs up to our bedroom, and I go in search of Caleb. Slipping down the hallway to Abby’s room, I hear a gentle lullaby playing and a soft blue light coming from her room. Peering around the corner, I lean against the doorframe and take in the sight of him, engulfing her tiny bed with her snoring lightly on his chest.

Moments like this, I wonder if I’m dreaming. How did I end up here, with a sexy man and a sexy woman and the greatest kid on earth? And how on earth did I come to love this so much?

If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be here and this life would make me so fucking happy, I’d tell them they were out of their mind.

“Hey,” he whispers from across the room.

“Hey,” I reply softly.

Very slowly and carefully, Caleb maneuvers Abby off his chest and tucks her into her bed before slipping out of the room. When he reaches the doorway, he stands in front of me.

“Do you ever just stand here and watch her for hours?” I ask, unable to take my eyes off the little girl across the room.

“It’s tempting,” he replies lightly.

I’m not surprised how quickly I fell in love with Caleb and Briar, but I am absolutely shocked at how quickly I fell head over heels for that little girl. It feels like a piece of my heart is constantly outside my body, and she’s not even technically my kid.

But in every way that matters, I guess she is my kid now. I’ll love her like mine until the day I die, no matter what happens. That’s for sure.

I still don’t like kids. They’re gross and rude and so much fucking work.

But I would die for this one.

“Come on,” Caleb whispers, pulling me from the doorway. “There’s something even better waiting for us in our bedroom.”

My interest is piqued as I turn away from Abby’s room, gently closing the door before following Caleb across the house.

When I enter the room, I stop in the doorway and gawk at the woman in front of me. Briar is on her knees, staring at the floor with a light-pink collar clasped around her neck.

“Call it a welcome gift,” Caleb whispers in my ear from my side.

“For me?” I ask with a sly grin as I take a menacing step toward the prize on the floor.

I tug at the buttons of my shirt as my mouth waters. Stopping in front of Briar, I touch her chin and force her to look up at me. Her gaze is soft and loving.

Leaning down, I press my lips to her forehead.

“You want to please me, angel?” I mutter darkly.

“Yes, I do,” she replies.

“How bad do you want it?” I ask.

Caleb stands just on the other side of her, watching her with lust in his eyes.

“I want it so bad,” she replies sweetly.

“But your husband is watching,” I say, adding a little more role-playing to this already sexy-as-fuck situation.

Briar tugs her bottom lip between her teeth as if she’s ashamed.

“That’s okay,” Caleb growls as he buries his hand in her hair and forces her head back. “If you want to please him so bad, then do it. But I’m going to watch.”

She whimpers in response as I begin to unbuckle my pants, eager to free my aching cock.

Caleb moves to the chair in the corner, dropping into it and watching us with carnal interest.

Looking down at the woman in front of me, I can’t help but smile.

Seriously, how the fuck did I get so lucky?

“This is a very dirty little wife you have, Caleb,” I say as I ease my cock toward her mouth.

She gives me one last smile as Caleb replies, “Yes, I do. And she’s all ours.”