Room at the Edge by Jane Davitt, Alexa Snow Page A

can’t.” Liam sounded firm. “Not on my account. Go on. I’ll give Austin a ride home.”
    A few simple words, but they had Austin’s stomach clenching in worry again. Did Liam want to talk to him alone? And if so, why? It couldn’t be good.
    He hugged Jay at the front door, clinging to him longer than was reasonable, only letting go when he realized he was upsetting Jay. He was doing that too much to everyone around him, and he knew it.
    Striving to sound casual, he said, “I’ll see you tonight. Stir-fry okay?”
    “With cashews?”
    Austin couldn’t help grinning. Whenever he added them to a dish, they all seemed to end up on Jay’s plate. “Sure.”
    Liam stood behind him, watching them say good-bye in silence, his expression unreadable. Jay patted Austin’s face, the touch comforting, then took the few steps needed to bring him close to Liam. Austin expected Jay to hug Liam too, but Jay went to his knees and bowed his head. “Good-bye, Sir. Thank you for taking care of me.”
    Austin watched Liam’s face soften, a rigidity fading from it that had made him look older. “It was my pleasure. It always is. Don’t forget the lines you owe me.”
    Jay glanced up, his eyes widening in surprise. “You really want me to do them?”
    Liam arched his eyebrows, and Jay sighed resignedly and got to his feet.
    “One hundred lines. Yes, Sir.”
    Liam put his finger under Jay’s chin and tilted it up, dropping a kiss on Jay’s mouth. “They’ll make wonderful bedtime reading for me, I’m sure.”
    When Jay had driven off, Austin turned to Liam. “Sir—”
    “No,” Liam said. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, stop.”
    Right, like it was that simple.
    “Come with me.” Liam gestured, and Austin followed. He was expecting to be led into the den, but instead Liam opened the door to the basement and went downstairs. “I’m not sure how you feel about all this carpet. It might not be ideal. At the time I bought the house, I liked the thought of the basement being finished but didn’t really imagine what I’d do with it.” He walked out into the open space. “What do you think?”
    “It’s nice.” Austin’s heart was still thudding away, though it was considering slowing a bit. “Um. Empty.”
    The space was unfurnished, though as Liam had said, there was carpeting in a shade of cocoa brown on the floors, and the walls were painted off-white. Along one wall were a few boxes, and an alcove housed the hot water heater and other systems. “We could put up a wall for a bedroom, maybe down the end here?” Liam said. “And a small kitchen—you’d be free to use the upstairs one whenever you liked, of course. And a bathroom, and then you could have a living area that opened onto the garden.”
    Austin went down to the double sliding glass doors and looked out into the yard. “Could Jay plant some stuff?”
    “I assume the end of that question is ‘as long as I don’t mind that it will certainly die?’ Yes, of course. I do see a fair number of groundhogs and rabbits, though, so they may beat him to the punch when it comes to killing the plants.”
    “That would be good,” Austin said. The expanse of lawn was green and had been cut recently, probably for the last time now that fall was here. He jumped when he felt Liam come up behind him and wrap an arm around him, then sighed and relaxed, leaning against Liam’s solid body.
    “I hate seeing you so unhappy,” Liam murmured. “I promise we’ll sort this out.”
    “I know. I’m not unhappy, just…unsettled.”
    “And that bothers you. Jay likes change, sees it as a challenge, but you prefer life to stay the same, I think.”
    “I want some things to change,” Austin told him. “I want us all to be more to each other. I go home with Jay and we leave you here and it feels…wrong.”
    Liam was quiet for a moment, his hand caressing Austin’s arm. “If it helps, I’ve always accepted the fact that I’m part of what you and Jay have at