Our Hearts Collided (MxM)

Chapter 29

A/N: it's been a while, whoops, I went on vacay to a friend's wedding, drank too much wine, then came back to a leaking water line in the house, and a coworker hurt her back at work. How fun, but I'm back to writing lol. 

Vince's POV 

Simon stayed at Aspen's house to chat; it took some convincing that I was not "running away" from them, as Aspen kindly joked. While being around Aspen was a little less nerve-wracking, I was certain there were things they wanted to catch up on. They insisted I could stay, but there was one pressing issue I wanted to address. Well, issue was an exaggeration; it was more of an opportunity to interrogate Xavier about Sam. The more I thought about it, Simon was correct in assuming something was happening between them.

Simon would've enjoyed being there for it but double-teaming the interrogation seemed excessive. That, and I hardly ever got to spend time with him alone now that I had Simon here. The last time we talked in private was probably when our mom passed.

I pulled out my phone to check my messages, ensuring he was at home instead of the office. Xavier responded to my text with a curt I'm home, just across the street from Aspen and Sarah's place.

Though I knew where his spare keys were—obviously in a ridiculous place that anyone could easily find: in the hands of a silly garden gnome he had bought on impulse right under the doorbell—I knocked on his front door. I had warned him about the key placement more times than I count, but at this point, it was useless reminding him about it.

I could hear his footsteps approach the door before swinging it open. A silly grin was plastered on his face. "Hey, that was quick."

"I was just at Aspen's."

"By yourself?" He made a face. "And you live?"

"Simon was with me." I rolled my eyes. "They're catching up."

"Well, come in," he said, stepping away from the door to let me in. "The kids are with Grant and Dwaine for a couple of hours. Just needed some time to wind down after today's meeting. I might take a nap before I pick them up. Anyway, how are you?"

"Good, and you?"

Xavier raised a brow. "Me? The usual. Definitely got to get used to the kids growing up and expressing their opinions. Even Jonah is getting picky with things. He refuses to eat anything green these days. He was fine with it last week, so I have no clue. Water?"

I nodded, pulling up a seat at the counter. A few toys and empty dishes were lying around on the counter and floor. "And being alpha?"

"Stressful," he said before handing me a glass. "I don't know how you did it for almost two decades."

A grimace worked its way to my face. Though it's wild to think I had done it for that long, we both knew that I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I was sworn in as this pack's alpha many years ago.

"You know," I hesitated. "If you ever need help, I've got you."

Xavier tilted his head.

"With the pack," I added. "I know being the alpha is hard, but raising Jonah and Lilah is important too. You're doing fine, but I'm here if you want a break from these pack meetings."

"I think I can manage both," he said. "Eventually. Just need to balance my time—just an impossible task, no biggie."

I shook my head. "While Simon and I don't mind babysitting them, It'd be nice to take a break from work now and then to spend more time with them."

Xavier had a pained expression. "I know; it definitely feels awful having people babysit them all the time. I barely have time to sleep some nights."

"Or clean?" I pointed at the pile of dishes behind him. He glanced at it before sticking his tongue out at me.