Reconsider Me Read online

  Joel still wasn’t convinced it’d be that easy. All he could do was trust his boy.

  * * * *

  Poor Joel.

  Fen knew the only way to truly convince him that his family was the polar opposite to Joel’s was to show him.

  Trial by Snoobug.

  George and Onna weren’t there yet when Fen parked in his usual spot behind his mom’s car. His dad’s work car, an unmarked cruiser, was already parked in its spot, so he was home, at least.

  Before getting out, Fen leaned in and kissed Joel. “Deep breaths, Sir. This is okay.”

  He led Joel up the walk and tried the doorknob to see if it was unlocked. About the only time they left it unlocked was when they were expecting them to arrive for family dinners.

  It was.

  He opened it and called out. “Hello, parental units.” He caught Joel’s hand and practically hauled him through the door, closing it behind him. “We’re here.”

  Like a couple of meerkats, his mom’s head popped through the kitchen doorway, while his father’s popped out of the den. He stepped in front of Joel to intercept them for hugs when they hurried in before turning to introduce them.

  “Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend, Joel Burch. Joel, this is Glen and Ivy.” Might as well go there instead of trying to say he’s just a friend.

  Joel was closest to Fen’s dad and reached out to shake with him first. “Mr. White, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting me—”

  His dad grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. “That’s Glen and Ivy, none of that formal crap if you guys are dating. Nice to meet you, son.”

  His mom swooped in for her hug, too. “Why, he’s nearly as tall as George. It’s so nice to meet you, Joel.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Poor Joel still looked like he felt terrified. Fen grabbed him by the hand and followed his mom toward the kitchen. “So what’s for dinner tonight?”

  “Onna shared a recipe on Facebook a couple of weeks ago for a paella recipe I wanted to try.” She turned, looking horrified. “Oh, my gosh! You’re not allergic to fish or shellfish, are you?”

  Joel finally smiled. “No, ma’am. No food allergies.”

  “Whew! I’m so sorry I didn’t think to ask that first.”

  Fen grabbed plates and handed them off to Joel so he could get the utensils out and start setting the dining room table. “Don’t poison him, Mom. Our friends worked really hard to match us up in the first place.”

  “Don’t be silly. I would never poison someone the first time I met them. I’d give them three or four chances first.” She sweetly smiled.

  “I should add my family has a pretty dark sense of humor,” Fen warned.

  He led the way to the dining room and switched on the light. Fen went behind Joel, laying out the flatware. They’d just finished when Fen’s dad walked in and tossed a small notepad and pen onto the table in front of Joel.

  “Name, DOB, all of that—”

  Mortified, Fen wanted to smack his father. “Oh, my god, Dad, seriously?”

  His dad grinned as Joel’s eyes widened.

  His mom swooped in to the rescue, appearing from the kitchen. She snatched them off the table, shoving them at her husband. “Glen White, do not give the poor guy a hard time. Can’t you see how nervous he is? Tonight is not the night to run him through the wringer!”

  Fen held up his hands, dropping into serious mode. “Dad, his family disowned him when someone outed him on purpose. Can we please chill a little on the teasing until he gets to know us better?”

  His dad winced and stuck out his hand. “Sorry, son. We’re pretty laid back around here.”

  Joel shook with him. “It-it’s okay.”

  Fen draped an arm around Joel. “Hey, at least he didn’t do to you what he did to Tom.”

  Fen’s dad snorted. “I still say that was hysterical.”

  His mom looked unimpressed. “He had one of those big 12-volt spotlights you use on a boat hidden under the table by his chair. I didn’t know it. In the middle of dinner, second night Tom ever ate dinner with us, he breaks this damn thing out, shines it in Tom’s face, and starts interrogating him.” She stared up at her husband. “I thought Fen was going to climb over the table and wring his neck. Thank god George was sitting next to him and reached under the table to disconnect the damn car battery he’d hooked it to.”

  * * * *

  Joel was still trying to get his pulse to slow to an even rhythm. Once Fen’s parents left the room again, Fen grabbed Joel’s hands and squeezed, hard.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I will be.”

  “I forgot to mention my family’s…weird.”

  “Well, you did warn me you were weird.” He managed a smile for Fen because from the look on Fen’s face, he suspected his boy wanted to kill his father right then.

  “Nuts from the same tree.” Fen was about to say something else when they heard the front door open and a man called out.

  “Prepare to worship her royal highness, you miserable peasants.”

  “Snoobug!” Fen released Joel’s hands and darted through another doorway.

  Joel followed him and stood back while Fen and his parents swooped in, surrounding the couple. Joel knew George was a year older than him. The two brothers couldn’t have looked more different if the genes had been deliberately mixed that way.

  Fen had shown him pictures, but with the men together in person, he could see their resemblance to their parents and each other, but the differences were also more striking.

  When the elder Whites had greeted the couple and their daughter and then passed Naris to Fen, Fen walked over to Joel.

  “George, Onna, this is my boyfriend, Joel.”

  Joel shook with the couple. “Nice to meet you both.”

  “He’s going to be with me Saturday while we babysit her majesty.”

  The little girl had George’s blue eyes and a thick head of Onna’s black hair. She was going to be gorgeous when she grew up.

  Joel had limited experience with babies and wasn’t sure what to do. So he held out a finger for her to grab. “Hi, Snoobug. Your uncle’s told me all about you.”

  She’d had one arm draped around Fen’s neck and had been leaning against his chest. She cocked her head at Joel, staring, literally gave him a sniff, then bypassed his outstretched finger and nearly flung herself at him.

  “Whoa!” Fen struggled not to drop her while Joel grabbed her, pulling her in as she continued staring at him.

  The other adults went silent, watching this play out.

  Then the baby grinned, leaning in and blowing a huge, sloppy raspberry against his cheek, laughing after she did, sounding delighted.

  “Dole!”

  Then she promptly laid her head against his shoulder and started sucking her thumb. She kept turning her face toward his neck and he could hear her sniffing him. When Fen tried to take her back, she fussed and pushed away, trying to stay with Joel.

  Fen’s eyes widened. “Um, well, okay then. I guess you just received the Snoobug seal of approval.”

  “Holy shit,” George muttered. “Did you see that?”

  Onna smacked his shoulder. “Language!”

  “But did you see that?” He stared at Fen. “Marry him, bro. Now.”

  * * * *

  Fen even had to swap seats with Joel at the dinner table, because Naris wanted “Dole” to sit next to her through dinner.

  A lesser man might have had his feelings hurt to find himself overthrown.

  Fen considered it a victory worthy of a Super Bowl ring. He didn’t know if Joel understood what a big deal this was. If Naris was in love with Joel, no way would any of his family have a problem with Joel. She’d never reacted to anyone like that before, much less someone Fen had brought to meet his family.

  Okay, then.

  After dinner, when Joel tried to help clean up the dishes, Naris pitched a literal tantrum until Joel picked her up and followed On
na out to the living room.

  Fen’s dad watched that play out, then turned to Fen. “No, seriously, marry him. They say kids and dogs are great judges of character.”

  Fen’s face reddened. “Dad, we’ve known each other less than a week. I would think you’d be telling me to be careful.”

  “You said mutual friends introduced you, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “And you trust them not to introduce you to an asshole?”

  “Yeah?”

  He gently poked Fen in the chest. “You want me to run a background check on him, I will. But unless he acts like an utter tool, give this a chance.”

  * * * *

  By the time they’d left Fen’s parents’ house that evening, Joel had relaxed and had fun. It was hard not to have fun when a playful toddler insisted on monopolizing his time and showing him all the toys in her diaper bag and talking to him for long periods of time in a language that had discernible English words in it, but was also a goodly chunk of scrambled Toddlerese.

  “So…that went well,” Fen finally said. “Snoobug is trying to steal you away from me, but I think I can deal with my jealousy.” He flashed Joel a smile.

  “I thought you said she hates people.”

  “She does! Seriously, did you see how stunned everyone was, including me? That’s usually how she acts around me.”

  “She was sniffing me.”

  “She does that to me, too. She loves the scent of the stuff I use.”

  “Maybe that’s why she liked me so much.”

  Then again, maybe it didn’t matter. He’d had fun in a way he hadn’t had fun in…years.

  He’d felt like part of a family again, and until that night he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed that feeling.

  And that night, he’d slept more soundly than ever cuddled with Fen in his bed. Thursday night they slept over at Joel’s, and Friday night back at Fen’s, where Joel would spend the whole weekend with him.

  This was starting to become a habit he didn’t want to break.

  Come Saturday afternoon, Fen drove them over to George and Onna’s house. They lived in a two-bedroom townhouse in a newer development near the Gulf Gate Estates area. Joel wondered if Naris would still like him, but as soon as she saw him, she was throwing her arms out at him, trying to reach him and happily screaming his name.

  “Dole!”

  When Fen snorted, Joel arched an eyebrow at him. “No fruit jokes.”

  “Aww.”

  Joel had wondered why Fen wanted to pick her up instead of letting George and Onna drop her off like they’d offered, until he realized the man had a mission. They went to Sephora, where Fen introduced Joel to Toni, his favorite sales clerk, while Joel carried Naris because she wouldn’t let Fen carry her.

  Apparently Naris had met Toni before.

  “She’s getting so big!”

  While Naris would let Toni touch her, it was obvious the toddler wasn’t going to let anyone but Joel hold her.

  So Fen carried a hand basket and Joel, now totally amused, trailed behind with Naris.

  This literally was a new experience for him.

  A few times, Fen let Joel sniff things—which meant Naris insisted on sniffing them, too—and give his opinion. By the time they left there, Fen had dropped over a hundred dollars, including buying a small bottle of strawberry bubble bath for Naris.

  “George insists he’s going to teach her how to work on cars,” Fen said as they headed out to his. “Which is fine. But her Uncle Fen’s going to remind her it’s okay to work on cars and smell good and have great skin and hair at the same time.” Fen blew a raspberry against her cheek and Joel felt his heart slide completely into the “in love” slot and firmly wedge itself there.

  But only seven days in, he wasn’t going to say it yet and jinx this. Because he knew he had to make sure they built themselves a solid foundation that was going to last for life.

  And he’d fight however hard he had to to convince Fen he wanted to be there for life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Over the next six weeks, there was rarely a day they didn’t at least see each other and eat dinner together. Most nights they spent together, at one place or the other, and Joel frequently spent weekends at Fen’s because his apartment was closer to the club and Sigalo’s.

  They also went to the club every weekend. The Frightful Five had added another notch to their riding crop in terms of success.

  And the men talked.

  A lot.

  They’d talked more over the first couple of weeks of their relationship than Fen had talked with Tom during their entire three months together.

  Another reason Fen was sure this was right, because it was like the Universe’s Magic 8-Ball had finally landed on All signs point to YES and stayed stuck there.

  One thing they hadn’t done yet was tell each other “I love you.” Fen resisted saying it because he didn’t want to jinx things, even though he damn sure felt that between them and was reasonably certain from Joel’s words and actions that he felt it, too.

  And every week, during their family dinners, Snoobug made a beeline for “Unca Dole” as soon as they arrived.

  This Friday night, Fen was spending it at Joel’s only because Joel wanted to run by work for a little while on Saturday morning, and he’d had to help one of his neighbors earlier in the evening with a small plumbing repair. They’d spend the rest of the weekend at Fen’s.

  And Joel had teased Fen that he had a surprise for him tonight.

  A big surprise.

  Fen wasn’t sure what Joel had in mind for tonight. Joel had asked only that Fen trust him. So far, nothing the man had done over the past six weeks had violated his trust. Other than the detailed conversation they’d had in the beginning on why Fen needed that particular limit in terms of sex, Joel had certainly seemed happy to abide by that one…bit of minutiae.

  Both in bed and in the dungeon, Joel seemed absolutely perfect, and Fen couldn’t help but hope this was for life.

  Fen suspected that, for tonight, anything loud and noisy wouldn’t be on the menu, given the paper-thin walls of Joel’s condo building. Maybe his neighbors were heavy on the hearing-impaired side due to their age, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t hear a heavy-duty spanking going on.

  When he arrived, he texted Joel he was there before he let himself into the building with his key. Fen tried to control his nerves on the elevator ride up. He had a change of clothes for in the morning stashed in his laptop bag, but he could travel light since he now kept stuff to take a shower with there at Joel’s so he didn’t have to schlep it back and forth.

  Likewise, Joel had started keeping stuff at Fen’s.

  Tom had never kept anything at Fen’s. In fact, he’d rarely wanted to sleep there. Had said he didn’t like the “vibe” of the place itself, not Fen’s decor, which had still hurt Fen’s feelings at the time. He also realized, in retrospect, it should have been another honking red flag.

  Joel stood waiting in the open doorway when Fen stepped off the elevator. It took every ounce of control Fen had in his body not to run down the hall and jump into his arms.

  Why’d he have to have blue eyes?

  Fen stopped at the doorway and rose up onto his toes to kiss him hello. The man reached around, grabbed Fen’s ass in both hands, and squeezed, hard. A soft mewl of pleasure burst free, and Joel’s gaze narrowed even as his lips curled.

  “Ready to play, baby?” he whispered.

  Fen eagerly nodded. “Yes, Sir!”

  His cock was on board with that idea, too.

  Joel caught him by the hand and led him inside, closing and locking the door behind them. Then he took Fen’s bag from him and gently—Fen noticed—set it on the counter before pulling Fen into his arms again.

  “Rule one tonight—no matter what, I swear to you I will not violate your hard limits. But I need you to trust me because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Can you do that?”

  Fen nodded
. “Yes, Sir.”

  Dammit, why’d it have to feel so fucking right calling him that from the very first night?

  “Rule two—you shut your brain off. Period. No trying to guess ahead or overthink this. I want you to enjoy yourself, stay in the moment, and be totally honest with me when I ask you stuff. Got it?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Soooo fucking right calling him that.

  “Go use the bathroom and clean up if you need to, then come back out here.”

  Fen hurried to do it. When he rejoined Joel in the living room, Fen realized Joel had thrown a sheet over the couch. And his rope bag was out.

  He’d added more rope to his personal inventory over the past couple of weeks, and they’d had a lot of fun with rope bondage.

  Joel caught him by the hands and backed toward the couch. “Strip, baby,” he whispered before releasing his hands.

  Fen kicked off his shoes and pulled his socks off. Then, with trembling hands, Fen unbuttoned his shirt. Joel held out a hand for it, and Fen didn’t miss he also neatly folded that before setting it aside. His jeans and briefs followed, and Joel pointed at Fen’s glasses and held out his hand.

  Fen handed them over.

  Joel pulled him into his arms and Fen felt Joel’s hard cock rubbing against him through Joel’s shorts. His own cock was already hard, aching.

  With a scorching pair of sexy lips that were hot enough to have been forged in the fires of Mt. Doom, Joel explored and teased, tasted, took his time nibbling and loving on him, until Fen was ready to drop to his knees and blow him to earn some relief for himself.

  But what he had Fen do first was put on a blindfold. Fen smelled fresh leather, and it felt a little stiff but not uncomfortably so.

  “Bought this especially for you, baby,” Joel whispered, nibbling a hot trail across the nape of his neck. “No one’s worn it but you.”