“Oh, uh…” He glanced at Early, then back at Mike. “Well, we haven’t talked about that.” He wanted more—a couple more even—and he had a feeling Early would be on board, but adopt? Maybe. Maybe a surrogate. A bigger family had been on his mind a lot in those long hours alone in Denver.
“Son, that’s a family talk, okay? If you want to talk about it later, we will.”
Jayden nodded at him, grinned. “I wouldn’t mind a little brother.”
“You could get a little sister.” Mike pointed at his wife, who was chatting with some friends a few feet away.
“A girl? Congratulations.” A girl would be great. Maybe they could have this conversation later.
“Oh…” Jayden seemed so disappointed, but Jaxson bounced.
“Girls are okay. They are pretty, but we want puppies first!”
Jayden’s eyes lit up. “Right!”
“Oh, that is definitely a family conversation.” Mike laughed and waved to the boys. “Come on, let’s get those sno-cones. Go enjoy your time off, guys.”
“We’ll be home tomorrow, Dad.” Jayden offered him a grin and a wave, and Jaxson hugged him hard, then they were gone.
Boom.
“It’s weird, huh?” Early said, eyes following them as they walked off.
“Yeah.” He nodded, also watching the boys go. “But good weird.”
“It is.” Early grabbed his hand. “Come on. You want a fancy coffee before we go home?”
“Fancy coffee—yes please.” He followed Early toward the parking lot. “We get to hold hands? Aren’t we going to scandalize people?” He was joking…mostly.
Early shot him a wide-eyed look. “I’ve been out for a long time. I’m not living somewhere I can’t be your husband, and I won’t raise our boys somewhere we have to hide.”
He rolled his eyes, indulgently. “Well, don’t look at me like that. When I met you, you didn’t do anything but look hot as fuck in public. How do I know how things work here?”
“You know how I work. You ought to know that I wouldn’t make you feel less than, even for the ranch.”
He did, of course. Maybe he just needed his feathers smoothed out some. A little validation. It wasn’t like him to feel insecure. “I know. But thank you for reminding me anyway.” He squeezed Early’s fingers as they got to the sidewalk.
“Come on. We could both use something sweet and cold and caffeinated.” They headed down toward the train station, the little coffee shop waiting at the corner. It smelled like hazelnut and caramel and coffee and chocolate.
“Oh, it smells like civilization in here,” he teased. “What a cute place.” It wasn’t anything special, it was just a cute, tiny little place for tourists, but it felt cozy and smelled amazing.
“Right? I want an iced caramel latte with whipped cream.” Early grinned at Connor. “And a brownie.”
His man was so fucking cute sometimes. “Oh, we’re going there are we? Then I’m having the same with an extra shot, and an oatmeal raisin cookie.”
“Oh, I like you two!” A young woman with colorful locs smiled at him. “I have a great apple turnover too.”
“Tempting.” He nodded. “Next time.” It did sound good though. “I love all your color.”
“Thanks. Jen at Shear Perfection did it. You could totally rock this look.”
Oh, no. He couldn’t imagine. “Ha. Thank you. I don’t know that I have that in me.”
“See how you feel when you’re caffeinated.” She was making their drinks while she talked, looking every bit as practiced as his city barista, but much more relaxed.
“Oh, anything could happen with enough caffeine.”
Early’s eyes were as big as saucers, but the laughter was just barely held in.