Reduced to Ashes

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Reduced to Ashes Page 23

by Kay Gordon


  “That I don’t have a concussion, my arm should be healed in about eight weeks, and that I’ll be off my feet for three or four. Fucking sucks. They say I can go home tomorrow with another clear MRI but the department is paying to transport me back.”

  “Want to come stay with me?” I asked but he shook his head.

  “I’ll stay at Dad’s since he doesn’t have stairs and so I don’t starve to death.”

  Both guys laughed and I rolled my eyes while fighting my own laughter.

  The laughter suddenly cut off when someone rushed into the room looking absolutely frantic.

  I stood from my chair and gaped at the newcomer. “Ty.”

  “I didn’t hear until earlier this morning,” he explained as he looked between me and Vincent, the panic obvious in his features. “I got a ride out as soon as I could.”

  “I have no idea how the lines got so crossed that everyone thinks it was me that got hurt.” I let out a small huff of laughter as Evan moved to his feet. “You didn’t have to come, though. I’m okay.”

  “Tori,” Evan murmured quietly, moving so he was standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders. “Tyson isn’t here for you.”

  “What?” I looked at him in confusion before focusing back on the other two men.

  Vincent and Tyson were locked into something that looked like a staring contest. Ty’s face was full of anguish, like he was in pain just seeing my brother. Vincent’s expression was apologetic but relieved and I was so damn confused.

  Until I wasn’t. Everything clicked at once and I gasped, drawing the attention of both of them.

  “You guys…?” I covered my mouth and went to take a step back, but Evan was there and his arms came around me in a steady hold. I pointed at Tyson. “You’re the person he’s been having relationship problems with?”

  Ty’s anguish deepened. “Tor-”

  I didn’t let him continue before I focused my gaze on my brother. “And you’re the guy who refuses to come out of the closet for him? Oh, my god.”

  Pain seared through my chest but not because my brother and one of my best friends were in love. No, that was amazing and beautiful all at the same time. But because two men I adored deeply, including one who was my other half, had been lying to me for months.

  “How could you lie to me?” I asked in a whisper as I looked at my brother. My vision was blurry with tears, something I’d shed more of in the past week than I had in the years before.

  Vincent grabbed his chest, like he could feel my pain, and shook his head quickly. “Vic, we wanted to tell you but-”

  “But nothing. You lied to me.” I glanced between them quickly. “You both lied to me. You know I wouldn’t have cared because I love you guys but yet you…” I looked over my shoulder at Evan. “I need to get out of here.”

  “Okay, baby.” He dropped his arms and took one of my hands instead, leading me out of the hospital room. I heard both men call my name but I ignored them, not bothering to look back.

  We only made it to the waiting room before I stopped and buried my face into Evan’s neck. He held me tight and didn’t say anything. I breathed him in and tried to reconcile what I’d just learned with what I already knew.

  “Vincent’s gay,” I mumbled, pulling away from Evan so I could meet his gaze. “Did you know that?”

  He shook his head and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I had no idea. Does that bother you?”

  “No.” I scoffed and turned to head to the windows that looked out into downtown Hollywood. “Of course not. And he has to know that it wouldn’t bother me. What bothers me is that he kept this huge secret from me.” I looked over my shoulder at my boyfriend. “From me. His twin sister. I’m hurt.”

  “I’m sorry, Tor.” He moved until he was next to me and he rest his hand at the base of my neck. “He knows you love him but he was probably scared that there might be a chance, even the tiniest chance ever, that you’d be disappointed in him. That guy loves you so much that I’m sure that is what kept him from being honest.”

  I swallowed and nodded my head as I stared out at the city. It made sense, honestly, but it still hurt. I trusted both of those guys so much and the fact that they couldn’t trust me was gutting.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Evan

  The two of us stayed in front of the window, just looking out at the city, for about fifteen minutes. When Victoria let out a sigh and straightened her shoulders, I knew she was ready to go back into the room. I dropped my hand from her neck and reached for hers, lacing our fingers together instantly.

  She led me back down the hallway, to Vincent’s doorway, coming to a sudden stop once we were there. I looked inside to see what she did and had to bite back the grin.

  Tyson’s big body was leaning over Vincent’s bed. He had one palm cupping Vincent’s cheek while the other was holding his hand. They were talking quietly and despite how beat up Vincent was, they both looked happy.

  Tyson pressed his lips to Vincent’s in a quick kiss, and I saw Victoria smile. She’d been mildly offended when I asked if her brother being gay bothered her and I could see why. She loved him no matter what.

  Both guys suddenly looked over at us, as if they’d been caught. Vincent blushed and looked away but Tyson locked eyes with Tori, imploring her to understand.

  “You’re one of my best friends,” she started, looking right at Ty. “The second you started anything with my brother, you should have told me.”

  “It’s my fault, Vic,” Vincent said quietly. “I asked him- hell, I begged him not to tell you.”

  “And we’ll get to you.” Her voice was stern and her brother closed his mouth with a nod. “You know me, Ty. I don’t care who loves who. I just want you guys to be happy.”

  Tyson looked at the floor. “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “But you, Vincent Rusty, should never have hidden yourself away, especially not from me.” She cleared her throat and shook her head rapidly. “I love you. Whether you’re straight, gay, asexual… none of it matters to me and I can guarantee it wouldn’t matter to dad, either. If you needed to hide it at work, no one gets that more than me or Ty, but hiding it from your sister? How could you? How long have you been keeping his gigantic secret to yourself?”

  “Ten years,” he confessed, his voice barely audible. Victoria’s chin dropped and pain splashed across her brother’s face. “I hadn’t come to terms with it, Vic, and I couldn’t ask anyone else to accept it until I did. By then, it was already such a big secret. When you introduced me to Ty, I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how.”

  “Tell me now, Vin. Please.”

  Vincent sat up straighter and held up his and Ty’s conjoined hands. “Hey, Victoria? I’m gay and completely in love with your co-worker and friend, Tyson. You cool with that?”

  “My turn,” Tyson said, a small smile on his face. “Tori, I love you like a sister and I’ve fallen in love with your brother. I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

  “God, you’re both so stupid.” Victoria rolled her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she was getting emotional. “You both seriously have my blessing and Ty, you have my thanks. I’m assuming you’re why this dumb shit is moving to New Hope.”

  “I hope so.” Tyson shrugged and looked down at Vincent. “Although, that was before I knew your middle name was Rusty.”

  “Damn it, Vic. I hate you.”

  The four of us burst out laughing and Vincent shook his head rapidly, trying to defend himself.

  “It was our grandpa’s name. It has meaning.”

  “Don’t worry,” Tyson said once his laughter had tapered off, although he was still grinning broadly. “I still love you.”

  The two of them shared another quick kiss and I knew everything was going to be just fine.

  –––

  We stayed in California for one more night, Victoria, Warren, and I sharing that one hotel room. We offered it up to Tyson but
he only went to shower and change and then refused to leave Vincent again.

  When Tori asked if I needed to go back earlier for any reason, I resolutely told her that I wasn’t going anywhere. Thankfully, Dominic was willing to take on the extra work back home. I had my laptop so I could do some things but he was the reason I was able to stay.

  Someone had to be strong for Victoria, even when she didn’t realize it. I made sure she was eating, sleeping, and even took her down to the hotel gym when she was being antsy. I slept in bed with her at night while telling her how much I loved her and it was absolutely perfect.

  At some point on Saturday, her backpack made it from the base camp she’d been staying in on the mountain. Although she didn’t have any clean clothes in it, she did finally have access to her own toiletries and her phone again.

  Captain Stevenson sent word that they would be on site for a few more days but he was anticipating being home by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. He told Tori to relax, spend time with her brother, and be ready to work when they got back.

  Vincent was released the following day, on Sunday, with a wheelchair that he’d be in for a couple of weeks. A patient transport service drove him back to New Hope with their dad riding in the back with him. Tyson ended up going back out to resume working on the fire.

  Warren took the news of his son’s sexual orientation in stride. Like Victoria, he was hurt that Vincent had hidden it for so long but mentioned that he’d had his suspicions. He lectured his son on the importance of trust in the family, grilled Tyson about his intentions, and then offered up his approval just like that.

  Victoria and I drove home in my truck and we made it back to her house a little before four, after stopping by my place so I could get a clean suit for the next day.

  She jumped down from the cab and groaned as she stretched her arms above her head.

  “It feels good to be home.”

  I grinned and followed her up to the front door without saying anything. The silence remained as we climbed the stairs and as we dropped off our bags in Tori’s bedroom. I turned around after hanging my suit in her closet and looked at her with my arms folded across my chest.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking over shoulder with her eyebrows scrunched together

  “You’re still wearing clothes,” I said, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her body flush against mine and allowing her to feel my heavy erection. “And that’s very, very wrong.”

  She moaned when our lips met and gripped my shoulders with her hands. I kissed her long and deep, enjoying the way she tasted like something that was uniquely Victoria.

  I lifted her off her feet and tossed her on the bed, covering her body with my own almost immediately.

  We ripped at each other’s clothes frantically, like it’d been a year rather than a week since we last made love. As soon as we were naked and I had a condom on, I was between her legs and merging my body with hers.

  Some of the urgency drained from both of us almost instantly and I stilled my hips once we were as connected as possible. She had a tender expression on her face when I pressed my lips to hers softly.

  “I love you, Victoria.”

  She smiled and ran her fingers through my hair. “I love you, too, Ev.”

  I had no idea how we’d made it to that point but I was glad we had.

  –––

  Victoria’s company ended up coming home on Tuesday and she had to go back to work on Thursday morning. Until that point, she was spending her days at her dad’s house, helping Vincent and keeping him company while their father was at work. Her nights were spent with me, either at my house or hers.

  Things at work were stressful.

  Clayton Jarvis had been released out on bail despite the charges against him. The second he was out, he ghosted us. The others we arrested from the warehouse that were originally willing to talk were all now lawyered up and refusing to speak.

  And we still hadn’t figured out who Zero was.

  Word on the streets was that Sludge wasn’t in supply, though, and that made me feel confident that Dom and I had wiped out their only production site. If we didn’t get Zero in our hooks, though, it wouldn’t be too long before Sludge was produced elsewhere.

  A week following the accident in California, Victoria drove us to Simon and Megan Owens house. It was just a few days before Halloween and the house we pulled in front of was decorated to the max with fake headstones, spider webs, fabric ghosts, and carved pumpkins.

  Other cars were already parked in front and the back gate was open, inviting party goers to go directly into the backyard.

  “I can’t believe I wore this,” Tori mumbled, tugging at the red and black spandex bottoms she was wearing. They were actually about the same length or longer than the shorts she was wearing nowadays, falling about halfway down her thighs. What bothered her was that they were really tight, a view I’d appreciated when she put them on.

  She was wearing a black tank top that was also tight and showed off a strip of skin on her stomach. Covering the tank top was a black silk robe with red trim and a hood. She had red boxing gloves on her hands and black combat boots on her feet.

  No make-up had been necessary to complete her faux-boxer look thanks to the injuries she’d sustained in California. The black eye was the only reason she’d entertained dressing up, saying she didn’t want to scare the kids from our team.

  She asked me to dress up with her so I was wearing something similar, except my robe and shorts were blue and black and I didn’t have a shirt. My blue boxing gloves were tied together and hung around my neck and I had a fake butterfly strip above one eye.

  “You look beautiful,” I told her honestly, stopping her before we went through the gate. The hood of her robe was up, covering the beautiful blonde hair she’d left down and hiding her face. I brushed my lips against hers and offered her a grin. “You know, we could always roleplay tonight.”

  She used one hand to lightly punch me in the stomach. “You’re such a dork.”

  With her shoulders back and a determined look on her face, we stepped through the gate and walked into the backyard.

  It looked like Halloween had exploded. There were games, a small dance floor, a buffet table, a bounce house, and more among the Halloween decorations and fake fog.

  “Tori!” We both turned to find Kelly Christos heading towards us with a grin on her face. She was dressed in a Wonder Woman costume that showed more skin than it hid. Her body wasn’t quite as toned or firm as Victoria’s but it was obvious she took good care of it.

  Nick Christos was behind her, wearing dress pants, a dress shirt, suspenders, and fake glasses. The dress shirt was open, revealing a Superman shirt underneath. The little baby he was holding was in a full on Superman costume, complete with a tiny cape. I’d even admit that their coordination was kind of adorable.

  “Holy shit, you look amazing.” Kelly wrapped Victoria up in a hug and shook her head when they pulled back. “I like this look on you.”

  Nick laughed at his wife and wrapped Tori in a side hug before shaking my hand. “Good to see you guys here.”

  Before we could even reply, Megan and Simon, both in Star Wars costumes, walked up to greet us. It didn’t stop from there. Parents and kids from the team came over, along with Victoria’s co-workers, and it was almost thirty minutes before we were free to go grab drinks.

  “You should have worn a shirt,” my girlfriend grumbled as she handed me a bottle of beer, both of our boxing gloves long since abandoned. “I think Christina’s mom is going to choke on her drool.”

  I laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. “Melinda’s father is going to end up choking on my fist if he doesn’t keep his eyes off you.”

  “We’re quite the pair.” She leaned into my side and I wrapped my arm around her waist. We stood there, just watching the crowd for a few minutes, and only moved when Dominic showed up with his family.

>   Grace tackled both Victoria and me, causing a glitter explosion to happen from her princess costume. The second she was back on her feet, she ran off to find Kendra.

  Jade, who was dressed as a zombie, ended up in my arms while Dom, Becca, Tori, and I stood around talking. Becca obviously loved my girlfriend because the two of them dominated the conversation.

  “Anyone want another drink?” I asked when my beer was gone and Jade had long since run off. Dom and Victoria nodded and she grabbed the belt on my robe before I could step away.

  “Make sure Christina’s mom keeps her hands to herself.”

  I chuckled and pressed my lips to the corner of her mouth. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Ev.”

  Megan and Kelly intercepted me on the way to the drink table, letting me know they approved of me without the interrogation. Megan noted the positive changes she’d seen in Victoria since the fire but I wasn’t willing to take the credit. She’d done that all herself- I was just happy to be in the wings supporting her.

  As the night went on, I stayed close to my girlfriend. Not for her sake but for mine. The soccer dads were very interested in her costume and didn’t even try to hide their appreciative gazes. At one point, I considered asking her to tie her robe but managed to bite back the words.

  We also played with the kids until they had all gone home. They absolutely adored Tori and she wasn’t afraid to get down to their level and play. Once they were gone, she and I took advantage of the fact that neither of us worked the next morning and had a few more beers.

  The alcohol lowered her inhibitions just enough that I was able to talk her into dancing with me. We swayed on the dance floor to Frank Sinatra’s “Witchcraft” and I loved the way she laughed so freely when I twirled her under my arm.

  “I’ve never danced with anyone like this, not really.” She pressed her cheek against my shoulder. “I mean, I danced at Kelly and Megan’s weddings but it was stiff and formal and only done because it was expected. This is fun.”

 

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