The Commonalities of Silk and Leather

Forty Six

The holiday was suddenly tomorrow and I updated Ivy on the change of timeline. She didn't mind. If anything, it gave us time to make things even better. My father was not as understanding. He and Harris did not get along and I was beginning to worry since I hadn't heard anything other than complaints.

When I went to check the mail, there was a yellow Chevy out front. Lawrence honked and I couldn't really see him behind Lucas, who was wearing a polo that he looked rather nice in, but I heard him. "Check your fucking phone!"

I pulled it out of my pocket. "Oh god," I mumbled. Father invited seemingly all of us to golf. "Park and come in. We're not ready." I turned on my heel and went back inside when the headlights turned off and one of the doors opened. I glanced outside when I didn't hear them walk up. Lucas wasn't getting out. I heard myself ask, "Everything okay?"

"Um..." He leaned down and stuck his head into the vehicle for a second. I think he was speaking Italian. I couldn't understand a word until he looked at me again and asked if Haydn could come down. While I knew he was dead asleep in his collar and hood, having run laps until he couldn't this morning, I said yes. Haydn would be able to deal with whatever was wrong with Lucas better than either of us.

Of course, that required Haydn, and currently Needle was the one here. I needed the tailor shop dom and right now he was a puppy. At least he was in bed. "Dn?" I shook his shoulder. He whined and rolled over, still asleep. I made my voice a bit firmer. "Haydn."

He bolted up. "Sir?"

I held onto one of his neoprene ears and kissed the side of his face. " I'm really sorry to wake you, but my brother is here with Lucas and they need you outside for a minute."

"Whaa?" He processed for a minute, then yanked off his hood going, "Oh! Can you get my collar for me?" I fished the key out of my pocket. "Lu can't come in without permission." Since when did he call him-Never mind. It's not that serious. He literally tore his room apart a couple of weeks ago. He got up and threw on the first pair of pants he saw and walked out shirtless as he fixed his hair. I followed. Lawrence was in our living room but stood when he saw us. Haydn chuckled. "At ease, soldier."

Lawrence giggled and sat back down. "Sorry, force of habit. I got him out of the car. He's at the door."

Haydn asked me to stay with Lawrence. I decided to get him and Lucas water. I was going to have to get this whole house-husband thing down. A year was plenty of time to practice. Maybe we could host parties. Maybe I could ask Lawrence for tips. This was his arena now, wasn't it?

The front door opened when I sat down on the other end of the couch and turned on the TV. My brother asked if it was okay for him to kneel since Lucas, his Signore, would have wanted him to. I had to admit, that wasn't a horrible title. I didn't mind so he slid down as Haydn said good morning to "Lu."

"Good morning, Roscoe. I'm not intruding, am I?"

Yes. "Not really. I was just sleeping. Wanna come in?"

"Not particularly. Is the den shut?"

I think he glanced over his shoulder. "No, but it's different from when you were last here and I don't want you in there anyway. Your boy's in my living room so you might as well step in. What brought you by?"

"A car," he said. Lawrence and I tried to keep our laughter as quiet as possible. I don't know how Haydn kept a straight face. "Oh, you meant why I'm here. You should have said that."

He chuckled. "You're right. I apologize."

"The chairman and your father have invited the four of us to golf in... an hour and forty-two minutes. Mr. Whitacre didn't answer the text so Lawrence insisted we come over. I assume you didn't know, given you're half-naked."