The pets adjusted quickly and Chaz officially moved in the following week. I fucking loved having him under the same roof and knew I’d love it more when he wasn’t stretching himself too thin between the salon, his writing career, and finding time to spend with me. I suspected it was the stress of trying to be what everyone else needed that was the source of his frustrations rather than Drew going rogue on him.
“That damn Drew,” I said, pulling his attention to me. Chaz’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment like they always did when I caught him talking to himself, his characters, or sometimes his cat. Who the hell was I to question his methods? “What’s he done this time?”
Chaz blew out a frustrated breath and said, “He’s rushing the damn storyline again. If he keeps this up, the book will be four or five chapters shorter than I planned.”
“Maybe he’ll take you to new places and reveal new plot points,” I replied, sounding like I knew what the hell I was talking about.
“It seems that way, but I don’t like it,” Chaz said. “I prefer he just follow the damn script.”
I wanted to kiss the cute pout off his lips, but it would deter me from the reason I searched him out in the first place. The surprise baby shower was his idea after all. Gabe and Josh thought everyone was coming over for chili and football playoffs, or “the next biggest sporting event,” as Josh called it. Still, what would one little kiss hurt?
The doorbell rang before I could put my plan into action. “It would seem that our guests are starting to arrive.”
“Perfect timing because this book has gone to hell in a handbasket. These characters will be the death of me.” Chaz pushed his chair back from his desk and stood up. “The only thing keeping Drew from falling down an elevator shaft in a freak workplace accident is his damn dimples.”
“Dimples do come in handy,” I agreed.
“When have you used them to get out of trouble?” Chaz asked, following me down the stairs.
“I was thinking more along the lines of snagging a guy.”
“What guy?” Chaz asked fiercely.
I stopped on the steps and turned to face him. “You.”
“Oh, in that case…”
I shook my head and continued down the stairs. “I think you’ve been hanging around Gabe too long,” I announced. “You’re starting to drag your knuckles around like he does whenever he sees a guy get too close to Josh.”
“You should see him keeping an eye on things at the salon now that Wren works there. He didn’t drop by this often to see Josh when they lived above the salon,” Chaz said. “Of course, you’re not much better.”
“Me?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t bust your ass getting to the salon to buy styling crap for your hair after we returned from New York.”
“Do you say ‘styling crap’ when you talk to the clients?” I asked, changing the subject.
The sneering smile said he knew what I did there, but he didn’t call me out on it because I opened the door to greet our first guests. We gave them an arrival time that was thirty minutes earlier than the one we gave Josh and Gabe. Luckily everyone was punctual, so I could stash them down in the basement where we set up the party.
Even though Josh and Gabe expected our friends to be there, they didn’t expect them to yell, “Surprise!” when they walked down the steps.
“What’s all this?” Josh asked, looking around the room in surprise. I thought the pink and blue balloons, cupcakes, and decorations were pretty obvious, but that ginormous stork that Chaz bought for a centerpiece should’ve been a dead giveaway.
“Oh wow,” Gabe said in awe. “You guys didn’t have to do all this for us.”
“Like there’s any way in hell we’d let this occasion pass without a celebration,” Mere said. “Those little angels will be here before you know it.”
“Probably sooner than we planned,” Josh told us. “The doctor put Renee on complete bedrest to try and delay labor for another week or two.”
“Is it too soon? Will they be okay?” I asked.
“It’s more of a preference and precaution than a necessity,” Josh said. “Their weight is good, and they’re healthy, but the doc wants them to bake as long as possible.”
“Of course, he uses baking terms,” Chaz teased.
“We’ll be heading to Florida the day after tomorrow, and we’re going to stay there until after the babies are born.”
“Are we ever going to learn their names?” Harley asked. “Or are we going to keep calling them Baby Girl and Baby Boy like they refer to them on the ultrasound pictures?”
“We’re keeping it a surprise,” Josh said.
“Bonnie and Clyde,” Adrian suggested. “Perfect names for a lawman’s kids.”
“Very funny, partner,” Gabe said. “Not even close.”
“Beavis and Butthead,” someone else suggested.
It went downhill from there, and we shared big laughs at the things people came up with until Chaz said, “I’d bet big money that you name your son Dylan to honor Gabe’s brother.”
Josh and Gabe smiled sappily at one another. “Dylan James,” they said at the same time.
“You’ll never guess our daughter’s name though,” Josh said. Of course, we wouldn’t let that challenge go untested. We tossed out every name we could think of—some sweet and some ridiculous—but Josh and Gabe kept shaking their heads.
“I think we have to tell them,” Josh said to Gabe. “It feels like we’re playing favorites with our kids otherwise.”
Gabe nodded his head. “I agree. Her name is…”
“Destiny,” Emory said with a huge smile on his face.
“Destiny Renee,” Josh and Gabe said at the same time.
“That’s so beautiful,” Meredith said.
“Is it me or does anyone else find Emory’s psychic timing suspect?” Adrian asked. “What else are you keeping to yourself?” Gabe’s partner studied the man through narrowed eyes. Emory stiffened, but I couldn’t tell if he was shocked or irritated.
Psychic? I looked around the room and I was the only one who looked surprised to hear that Emory had psychic abilities. Not even the club owner, Jonathon Silver, was shocked by the revelation. Hell, Emory couldn’t stand that guy, but he somehow knew Emory’s secret before me. Of course, I thought that Emory only wanted us to think he didn’t like Jonathon Silver. I had seen him checking out the dark-haired, blue-eyed man when he didn’t think the guy was looking, which wasn’t often. Jonathon Silver seemed to know where Emory was every second that they shared the same room.
“Do you really want to know?” Emory asked with a hint of sinister in his voice.
Adrian swallowed hard then shook his head. “No, thanks, buddy. That takes the fun right out of life.”
“That’s good because I honestly don’t do parlor tricks,” Emory replied with a hesitant smile. “Besides, it was a lucky guess, not a vision.”
Everyone laughed at Emory’s comment, but there was something about his tone of voice that had me questioning if he’d just said that to make people more comfortable. Or, maybe he was sorry that he said anything at all.
“Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” Chaz said, “then you guys can open your presents.”
The food was the catalyst to get people’s minds off of the nearly awkward exchange between Adrian and Emory. I saw Adrian seek Emory out and have a private conversation with him. I figured Adrian had picked up on Emory’s discomfort and tried to make the man feel more comfortable.
I enjoyed the party with our friends, especially seeing how happy and excited the expectant fathers were when they opened their gifts. Even so, the exchange between Adrian and Emory stayed on my mind long after the party ended and everyone went home. I was able to ignore them while I made love to Chaz, but they returned full force once we lay cuddled together in bed afterward.
“I can tell you’re rolling something around in your beautiful brain,” Chaz commented. “What’s on your mind?”
Instead of getting mad, Chaz laughed. “Oh my God! I’ve infected you with the same virus that makes me say the worst things at the worst time. Baby, I’m so sorry. I had no idea my affliction was contagious.”
I was lucky that Chaz didn’t take that the wrong way. “I was thinking about Emory’s psychic ability, nothing sexual,” I said to clarify. I gave Chaz a sharp look and added, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about his psychic abilities.”
Chaz shrugged and said, “It wasn’t my story to tell.”
“I keep asking myself the same questions. Would I want to know in advance how my life turns out or would that ruin the journey? Wouldn’t I have missed little nuances if he had told me that I would fall in love with you and we’d build a life together? I would’ve taken it for granted instead of working for something that I so badly wanted.”
“I think it would be like opening a book to the last page and reading it first,” Chaz remarked. “Where’s the fun in that? You miss the buildup, the twists and turns, and the thrill of discovering love if you already know it happens. No,” Chaz said, shaking his head. “I’ll take the unscripted love.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “Maybe that’s how Drew feels. He’s trying to go off script to forge his path and find the love of his choosing.”
“But Aiden is perfect for him,” Chaz replied, but I could tell he was giving my words serious consideration. “Oh! Dimples, I think you might be onto something.”
“I was on it a few minutes ago,” I replied, earning a playful slap for my bawdy remark.
“It’s been Travis all along,” Chaz said in awe. “Damn, I have a lot of work to fix this hot mess of a manuscript.”
I pulled Chaz tighter to me and said, “It doesn’t have to be tonight.”
“You’re right.”
“Would you like me to go get your laptop for you or do you plan on sneaking up to your office as soon as I fall asleep?” I asked because I knew damn well he wasn’t going to bed until he figured out the changes to his plot.
“I don’t know,” Chaz replied. “How long do you think that will be?”
“I was thinking about one more round of ‘research,’” I told him. I broke out the air quotes that he loved so much.
“Okay then,” Chaz said, eagerly rolling to his back. “Do me, Dr. Dimples.”
“New Year’s Eve in Vegas was a brilliant idea,” I told Kyle through the microphone attached to my headset, even if I was nervous about some of the festivities he planned.
“Two birds with one stone: your first helicopter ride and amazing advantage point to see the fireworks.”
Kyle surprised me with the trip to ring in the new year. It reminded me of our trip to New York because I had a surprise of my own tucked inside my jacket pocket—one that made me more nauseous than when the helicopter lifted off.
At the stroke of midnight, choreographed fireworks boomed in the sky over the hotels on the strip. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life and reminded me of our first kiss beneath the much smaller firework display in our hometown just six months prior. Kyle kissed me, but there was no running from the things he made me feel.
The colorful explosions were still blasting in the sky all around us when I pulled back from our kiss and pulled Kyle’s gift from my pocket. He threw his head back and laughed when I handed the stuffed lobster to him. I knew he’d get the Friends reference immediately and waited not-so-patiently for him to notice the shiny, circular item tied to its neck. Kyle’s eyes widened when he saw it.
“I know it might seem a little soon, but I’ve decided to go off script here,” I told him. “I don’t see a reason to wait another minute to tell you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have children, grandchildren, and matching rocking chairs on our front porch. I want us to fight over who is the worst at playing World of Warcraft then I want to kiss and make up. I want to spend the rest of my days being your lobster.”
I saw the answer in Kyle’s eyes before he spoke the words. “Okay then.” He pulled me to him for another long kiss before he broke it off just as quickly. “You know what they have a lot of in Vegas?” The answers to that question were endless. “Wedding chapels,” Kyle answered excitedly.
My mouth gaped open in surprise. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? You said it yourself a few minutes ago. Why wait another minute when we know we want to spend the rest of our lives together? We can plan a ceremony for our friends and family when we get back home, but tonight is just for us. What do you say? Will you marry me tonight with Elvis as our witness?”
How could a guy pass up an offer like that? “Okay then.”
The End!
Keep turning for bonus chapters from Josh and Gabe!
“We’re home, Dylan and Destiny,” Gabe softly said when he pushed the button to shut off the engine. “There’s a lot of people waiting inside our house to meet you.”
I turned and looked into the back seat of my snazzy, dark red Land Rover I affectionately called Duchess. Our sleeping newborns weren’t paying a bit of attention to what their daddy said. I traded in my convertible Mini Cooper once we found out the babies were going to be a reality. I couldn’t fit two car seats in the back of Princess, so changes were required. I loved the luxuriousness and sleekness of my new ride, so I was hardly complaining. “You didn’t just get two dads; you got an entire village of people who will love you,” I told my babies.
“Can we go inside now? I can’t wait to show my babies off,” my mom asked.
My new snazzy ride came with third-row seating, which happened to be filled with two proud grandmothers who came home with us from Florida.
“Got that straight, Bertie,” Martina said. “I can’t wait to sleep in a real bed.”
We’d spent two days on the road driving home from Florida, and everyone was ready to feel a sense of normalcy. Well, the babies were too busy sleeping to notice much of anything. We had spent the previous night at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Gabe’s birth mother, Bonita, and his three sisters, Selena, Marisol, and Arianna, joined us for dinner and hung out back in our room so they could fuss over Dylan and Destiny.
“Our hotel room had a real bed in it,” Gabe remarked. “Yours didn’t?”
“Stop being a wise ass, Gabriel,” Martina said. “You know damn well those hotels don’t provide beds and sheets as nice as the ones Josh does.” Martina knew who was responsible for making the in-law suites so comfy.
“I hope you know they’re never going to leave now,” Gabe whispered in mock-horror to me. Then he looked at his doting mother and said, “You should watch your mouth around the babies.”
“You need to be more worried about your birds,” my mother countered. She wasn’t wrong either.
The garage door to the house flew open, and the excited faces of our friends filled the frame. It wasn’t that long ago that I lived above the salon, had no love to speak of, and didn’t know half of the people who waited eagerly to welcome our children home.
“The ladies are looking a little impatient,” I said when I saw Meredith, Sally Ann, and Deanna’s faces.
“Not as impatient as the ones cramped in the third row of this SUV,” Martina said.
I knew we needed to get out and show off our babies, but this felt like the last minutes that the babies would be just ours. Gabe and I had stayed in a suite with them for a few days at the hospital since they were born a little early. Neither of us wanted to close our eyes and sleep because we didn’t want to miss a second. They were our little miracles and the precious little pieces that made our family complete. We knew we needed to share, but for that brief time, we wanted to be selfish and hold them against our chests and just breathe them in. Sitting in the garage felt like that too. Our babies would never lack love and affection with the amazing group of friends that we shared our lives with every day.
Su
ddenly, there was a stir in the middle of the group, and the bodies started shifting. I smiled when I saw Mama Richmond elbow her way to the front of the gathering. She still wore her Sunday finest complete with an ornate hat. “Boy, are you going to come out on your own or do I need to snatch you out by your hair?”
Gabe and I pointed at one another. “She’s talking to you,” we said simultaneously.
Neither of us was willing to take a chance and unbuckled our seatbelts. Gabe and I each grabbed a car seat and assisted our mothers out. As soon as they were free, they grabbed the car seats from us and headed inside.
“Grab our suitcases, Gabe,” Martina said.
“Don’t forget the diaper bags,” my mother added.
Gabe and I stood in the garage looking at one another as everyone followed our mothers into the house. “Hey, you want to?” Gabe asked. “First minute we’ve had alone since the babies were born.”
“Get used to it,” John said from the doorway. I hadn’t seen or heard him come back. “I haven’t had sex in three years.”
“Want to make it three more?” Deanna asked her husband.
“Damn, she hears everything,” he mumbled then turned to go inside.
We were once again alone, and Gabe took advantage of the moment to back me up against the SUV. “Do you have any idea how happy you’ve made me?” He cupped my face in his big hands just the way I liked. The only thing that made me melt even more inside was when his strong hands cradled our babies safely against him.
“It sounded like you were complaining about the lack of sex a minute ago.” I looped my arms around Gabe’s neck and rose on my tiptoes. “I’ll settle for one of your toe-curling kisses for the time being,” I whispered against his lips.
Gabe lowered his head to close the tiny distance between us and kissed me just the way I liked. Slow and tender at first followed by hot, wet, and hard as our passion built. If I wasn’t careful, something else was going to get wet and hard, and we had a house full of people to contend with before we could even think about sex. Still, I didn’t want to let go of the moment, so I kissed him until someone cleared their throat to remind us that we weren’t alone.
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