Harmless(45)

"I'll feed him," Seg offered, simply because he was enjoying holding the little guy. "You know, if that's okay with you." He certainly didn't want to overstep.




 

 

Roan nodded toward the living room, so Seg headed that way, careful to keep Liam close to his body as he sat down. Roan propped a pillow under his arm, and Seg laid Liam down in his lap. Seg was careful to keep his right hand propped on his leg to keep Liam from hitting his finger.

"Keep his head propped up," Roan told him softly.

Seg did as instructed, then took the bottle and, what do you know, Liam's fussiness died instantly as he took the nipple into his mouth.

Part of him had expected Liam to be little more than a bundle of skin and bones. It appeared he already had quite a personality. As Seg fed him, Liam tugged at the bottle with one hand while kicking his left foot repeatedly. They watched each other intently until Liam stopped drinking and grinned. Seg laughed, realizing he was distracting the kid from his task.

"You sure you don't have experience with kids?" Roan asked, sitting down beside him.

"First time to ever hold one," he admitted, still smiling down at Liam.

"I remember the first time I held him," Roan mused, staring down at his hands. "I was terrified that I'd hurt him. He was so tiny when he was born." Roan's gaze lifted. "And sick. He was addicted to drugs like his mother. He was in the hospital for a while, and Cassie didn't want to have much to do with him. So I would go down to the nursery every chance I could. They let me hold him and feed him. Sometimes I would sit there and stare, wondering how in the world anyone could be that small."

Seg could hear the love in Roan's tone. The man was completely in love with the little boy he now called his son. Seg had to admit, he was a little jealous. Of both of them.

It didn't take long for Liam to finish off his late-night snack and fall into dreamland once again.

"What do I do now?" Seg whispered. He hadn't read the baby manual, but he'd watched enough television to know that something came next.

"You need to burp him."

"All right, little guy, don't get mad at me," he said softly, shifting Liam so that he was once again on his shoulder. He patted the little boy's back gently.

"Probably gonna have to add a little more force than that," Roan informed him with a grin. "He's much sturdier than he looks."

Seg patted a little more firmly, not wanting to hurt Liam but taking Roan's instruction as gospel. Within minutes, there was a loud baby belch that made Seg laugh.

"Does he go back to bed now? Until the next time?"

Roan nodded, his eyes wide as he sat there staring at them. Seg liked that he'd surprised Roan. It might be true that Seg didn't know the first thing about Roan, but the opposite could be said as well. A lot of people stereotyped professional athletes, when in truth, most of them were normal guys, seeking normal lives outside of their sport. 

Seg was one of those. At one point in his life, he thought he'd have a brood of kids, a wife, a house in Canada. But he knew underneath it all that some of those dreams weren't his, they were what he felt he was supposed to want. Did he want kids? Absolutely. Did he want a wife? No. He'd come to accept the fact that he was gay. Although he couldn't admit it, feared what that news might do to his career, Seg still accepted it.

But that didn't change the fact that he still wanted a family. Kids, a husband, a house to hold them all.

Pushing to his feet, he carried Liam back to his room. Seg passed him over to Roan and watched carefully as he put him back in the crib.

"No blanket?" Seg whispered, noticing the crib was completely empty.

"Nope."

Well, then. Seg had a lot to learn.

Without a word, he led the way back to the living room, but rather than sit down, Seg turned to face Roan. He wanted to strip the man naked and bury himself in his body, but he knew tonight was a turning point for them. He wasn't about to make this about sex and give Roan an excuse to run and hide again. This was going to take some finesse on Seg's part, he knew.

"Thanks for letting me come inside," Seg told him, stepping closer. "I'm serious about this. About us. I know you're probably skeptical, but I want to see where this goes." He offered a smile. "And I'm pretty relentless in my pursuit of what I want. Truth is, I've never wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you."

Roan didn't respond, but Seg didn't expect him to.

Reaching for Roan, Seg leaned in and kissed him. Slowly at first, then more insistently. He pushed his tongue past Roan's smooth, warm lips, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close. When Roan reached for him, Seg released the pent-up breath he'd been holding for the past couple of hours.