“Stealing clothes, baby?” I teased. We had clothes in each other’s rooms, but that never stopped him from wearing my clothes, and honestly, I didn’t mind. I liked seeing him in my clothes. Sated the possessive side of me to see him wearing something that was mine.
He just shot me a smirk, and it eased some of the anxiety that’d been settling in my chest. He was going to be okay, and whatever insecurities and concerns he had left, Richard and I would work together to wipe them from his brain.
“Come on.” I held my hand out to him, and when he slid his palm in mine, I curled my fingers around his hand. “Let’s go deal with this so we can get to Richard’s.”
The guys were all sitting in the living room when we emerged from the hall our room was down. The TV was on mute, but it was still on the channel the talk show had been on, though it’d switched to something else now that the show was over. All four of our friends tracked us like wolves as we made our way to the recliner. Silently, I sat, then tugged Kalin down on my lap, wrapping my arms around him and forcing him to lean back into me.
“Just going to be silent?” Salem finally asked, looking unimpressed. He lifted his leg to rest his ankle on his knee, then laid his arm out on the back of the couch, his fingers playing along Tor’s shoulder, who was sitting right next to him, his legs curled beneath him.
“What do you want us to say?” I asked, unimpressed by his attitude. Salem had always been a dick. That would never change, but I was used to it by now. We all were.
“Could start by explaining what we saw on the TV a few minutes ago and him not only having a key to our house but waiting on you two last night,” Dalton suggested. “You two are with Richard?”
Kalin nodded in answer.
“For how long?” Jesse asked.
“A little over a year,” I answered. “He wanted it kept under wraps?—”
“Fucking bullshit,” Salem muttered in disgust. I shot him an annoyed look, but he just rolled his eyes at me. While Salem was a dick, he was protective of all of us.
“He was trying to protect us,” I further explained. Salem scoffed in disbelief. “He’s worried about what the three of us being together will do to our reputations. And he has a company to protect, as well as other artists.”
“So what changed his mind?” Tor asked softly, the only person in the room who didn’t seem irritated that we’d kept our relationship with Richard hidden.
“I did,” Kalin said softly. “I got tired of hiding and was a dick to him. I started ignoring his texts and calls, and when we did talk, we just fought. Or, well, I snapped at him and became irrational, and he just… took it. But I guess when I went three days without responding to him, he grew tired of my silence and did something about it.”
“Which is why he showed up here last night?” Jesse asked.
Kalin and I both nodded. “He was afraid he was losing us,” Kalin whispered. “I just wanted to stop hiding. No statement had to be made. No grand gestures. I just wanted us to have what Spike and I have always had. But he went and did… this.” He waved his hand toward the TV.
The room was quiet for a moment as everyone worked through their own feelings on our relationship.
“Are you happy?” Dalton finally asked.
Kalin nodded. “I’m worried about what his public declaration means for not just him but for our family and our careers, but yeah… I’m happy.”
I squeezed my arms around him and kissed his jaw in support.
“Then you being happy is all that matters. Fuck the rest of the world,” Salem said as if it was as simple as that. And for him, I was sure it was that simple. Salem simply just didn’t care about anything outside of his marriage to Tor and the tight knit little family we’d all formed.
“It’s not that easy,” Kalin told him.
Salem snorted. “It is that easy, bro. You’re making it complicated.” With that, he stood. “I’m going to smoke.” He paused on his way to the door, then spun back around to face us. “Just know whatever the media or the haters have to say, the four of us always have your backs. Your happiness is all that matters. We’ve all been through enough fucking bullshit. Be selfish for once, Kalin.”
With that, he pushed open the back door. Tor smiled softly at us. “Glad you two found your happiness.” Then, he followed Salem.
“You two are good with this?” I asked Dalton and Jesse.
Dalton wrapped his arm around Jesse’s waist. “There will probably be backlash, but Salem is right,” Dalton said.
“Be happy… whatever that happiness may look like,” Jesse agreed. “We love you guys. And we’ll all go to war for you two and what you want.”
10
Kalin
I blew out a nervous breath as the elevator slowly took me and Spike up the numerous floors to Richard’s penthouse. He’d spent millions on this place, and according to the papers, he’d had to fight hard to get it. It’d been featured in numerous architectural magazines. The moment it’d gone on the market, several billionaires had scrambled for it. And honestly, the place was so beautiful, I could see why they had. Richard was lucky to own such a gorgeous home with an amazing view of the city.