Julien sat up beside Robbie and took one of his hands. “I find it impossible to believe that we wouldn’t love the family you came from,” Julien said. “You’re bright, happy, beautiful inside and out, and if for some unimaginable reason we don’t get along, Priest and I are adults. We know how to behave and play well with others.”
Robbie sighed. “It’s not like it really matters now anyway. I already told her we were coming to visit.”
“You did?” Julien said, and Robbie grimaced. Maybe he should’ve checked with them first?
“I did. But if you can’t get free, then we can just—”
“We can,” Priest said.
“You don’t even know when it is. What if you have to work?”
Priest sat up until he could kiss Robbie’s lips. “Too bad. This is more important.”
“More important than your job?” Robbie said, but a grin was tugging at his mouth. “Your clients might disagree. So might your partners.”
“Ask me if I care.”
Robbie didn’t bother. He stood no chance when Priest got like this. What did Julien call him? A charming salopard? He was so right.
“Okay, so we’re going to visit,” Julien said. “When did you tell her we could come?”
“Um, in, uh, two weeks?”
“Très bien. Then we have two weeks to practice being on our best behavior.”
“Oh please,” Robbie said. “You two are always on your best behavior. You’re all French and gorgeous, and Priest is all smart and charming. My mother is already halfway in love, and my pa— Oh God. Who am I kidding? I have no idea how they’re going to react to this.” Robbie dropped his face into his hands. “What if the two groups of people I love the most can’t stand each other?”
“I don’t believe that will happen,” Julien said, and pulled Robbie’s hands away from his face. “But we aren’t going to find out by avoiding them, are we?”
“I guess not.” Robbie blew out a breath. “Then there’s my sisters and the party…”
“The party?” Priest said, and Robbie groaned.
“You sound more worried about that than meeting my parents.”
“I am. I didn’t know there was going to be a party,” Priest said, and Robbie glared at him.
“Well, now you know. Ma wants to have the family over. That includes aunts, uncles, cousins… Basically every Italian in Oshkosh.” Julien laughed, and Robbie shook his head. “This has disaster written all over it. I can already see it, and it’s not pretty. There’ll be drinking, dancing, karaoke—”
“God help us,” Priest said, and slid down into the bed.
“I know. Trust me.” Robbie shook his head. “I’m already trying to think of an out for you.” Priest aimed his eyes at Robbie, and he looked so appalled that Robbie finally lost it and laughed. “Seriously, though. Maybe we should just call and cancel?”
“Non,” Julien said. “We are not cancelling on your mother now that she’s specifically invited us. Let’s sleep on it. Maybe we can come up with a way to make this easier somehow. Less stressful.”
Robbie scoffed. “Good luck with that.”
As Julien moved down under the covers, Priest tugged Robbie down between them. Once he was fully beneath the sheets, Priest rolled the two of them over to face Julien and said in Robbie’s ear, “Want me to sing you a lullaby? It might help you fall asleep.”
“Or induce nightmares,” Robbie said.
“Brat,” Priest growled. “Remind me again why we put up with your sassy mouth?”
Robbie let out a dreamy sigh as Julien moved in so the three of them were entwined with one another. “Because you love me?”
“Mmm. That might be it,” Priest said, and ran his hand down to rest it over Julien’s where it lay on Robbie’s hip. “What do you think, mon cœur?”
Julien kissed Robbie’s lips and whispered, “I think that’s definitely it.”
“You know,” Robbie said into the shadow-filled room, “sometimes I wish we had gone with a queen-sized bed.”
“We wouldn’t all fit in a queen-sized bed,” Priest said.
“We would too. With some careful leg placement,” Robbie said. “But if we had a queen-sized bed, then we could sleep this close, always.”
“I don’t know much about sleeping, princesse. The problem with being this close to you is I never want to leave, and I always want to touch.”
“That’s a problem?” Robbie asked.
“No,” Priest said, and kissed the back of Robbie’s neck. “But being half-asleep during the day because we spent all night inside you each night might be.”
“Hmm, maybe.” Robbie squirmed between them, making sure to rub himself up against all the warm, naked skin touching him. “I still think I’d like it.”
Priest groaned, and then said to Julien, “Yet he tells us he needs rest now that he’s a thirty-year-old—”
“Ugh,” Robbie said. “That just sounds wrong.”
“Joyeux anniversaire,” Julien said. “Now sleep. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.”
Chapter Seven
Most people don’t understand us.
But they don’t need to. We understand.
We have from the moment we met ~ Julien