YOURS // Les Twins {Sequel to MINE}

3 - Trust Me

As he finished loading the dishwasher, Larry heard the front door open and close, soon followed by Shai's loud-ass voice calling out.

"Where you at, Hoover?" she yelled.

"Kitchen," he called back. A moment later she stepped into the room and he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Hoover? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to be more politically correct. You know, you being the boss's new wife and all," she grinned.

Larry rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Shai, you might be the least PC person I know, but you make it work somehow."

"Why, thank you," she replied with a nod, her afro bouncing around her head. She stood there, gorgeous as ever in what equated to skin-tight pants and a bra...still way too much black leather for the remnants of summer. She always looked like a badass though, whether on duty or not.

Rounding the kitchen island, she threw her arms around his neck in a bear hug which he returned just as eagerly. It was the first time they'd had a chance to get together in person since New York, and he'd missed her crazy ass more than he'd thought possible.

"So what's goin' on? I thought everything was good, but you sounded off last night," Shai noted. At this point, she could read Larry almost as well as Laurent did.

"Yeah, let's go sit," he answered, grabbing a few snacks and drinks, and they made their way to the living room.

"What's up?" Shai asked, plopping down on the couch and snagging a bag of chips.

Larry's stomach was in knots as she waited not so patiently for him to explain, so he found himself just blurting, "We might be adopting."

Slapping his hand over his mouth, Larry watched as Shai's eyes went wide. She wasn't exactly the motherly type, at least not at this stage of her life, so he had no idea how she would feel about this little development.

Shai stared at Larry for a long moment before her mouth slowly curled into a huge, nose-crinkling grin, and if he didn't know better, he would have sworn her eyes grew glassy.

"Well fuck...you two do everything at warp speed, don't you?" she laughed. "I bet you get road rash in bed, you kinky muhfucker."

"Shai! Jesus, does everything have to relate to our sex life?" Larry asked. He couldn't help but laugh, though.

"Pretty much. You might be just about the only best friend I've ever had, and he might be my boss, but y'all still some sexy muhfuckers. Don't judge me," she winked.

Larry pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, grinning so hard his tongue peeked through his teeth as he tried to suppress the idea of Shai fantasizing about them. He'd be absolutely creeped out if it were anyone but Shai. Somehow, though, she had a talent for taking something inappropriate and making it hilariously acceptable. It was disturbing...but funny as hell. And mostly because he knew she was only half serious.

"I'm not judging," he laughed, "but I think you kinda missed the point."

"Nah, for real," she said, her expression turning thoughtful, "I think that's amazing. If it's what you both want, I'm all for it." Then with a slight tilt of her head, Shai studied his face carefully and asked, "Is it? What you want, I mean?"

A sense of relief washed over Larry, much more so than he'd expected. It wasn't that he needed Shai's approval. But she'd become such a big part of his life and one of the very few people he trusted completely. She'd saved both his and Laurent's lives in more ways than one. Right, wrong, or indifferent, her opinion mattered to him. She was family...

"I never told you this," Larry said with a wistful smile, "but Lau unofficially asked me to marry him before we even went to New York. One night, we were up late talking, and I told him I understood why he'd never wanted to get close to anyone...never wanted a relationship or a family...after I learned everything he'd been through as a kid. I didn't know if he would ever want marriage and a family." Larry's smile grew as he blinked furiously against the sting in his eyes, staring down into his lap while he toyed with his rings. "He told me he didn't know how much of that was his past and how much was that he just didn't want those things with anyone but me. Then he said he would 'marry me tomorrow and adopt a dozen babies from Guatemala' if that was what I wanted."