by Pandora Pine
“Christ, Nash!” Remington half-yelled. “You’re half an hour late and you look like something the cat dragged in. Don’t you own a mirror?”
Nash snorted, finding his first smile in days. This was the reason he’d agreed to come out tonight when all he wanted to do was stay home. His friends knew him and loved him, warts and all. If anyone could give him good advice, it was Rem and Knox. “Sorry I’m late.” He shrugged, sliding into the booth next to Knox.
“Were you making kissy face with Bronson McKinnon?” Remington’s eyes sparkled in the low light of the restaurant.
“You could have invited him along, you know.” Knox grinned.
Nash loved that his friends were behind his relationship with Bronson and didn’t seem to be jealous of his finding someone. He just hoped what he was about to tell them about Bronson wasn’t going to change their minds about him. “There’s something I need to tell you guys about.”
“Shit, trouble in paradise already? Why don’t we get a drink into you and then you can tell us all about it.” Rem held his hand up to signal the waitress.
After Nash ordered a pink Cosmo, he sat back against the booth and tried to organize his thoughts. The way Bronson left things between them wasn’t going to endear him to Nash’s friends. Once the waitress set the cocktail down in front of him, he took a large gulp and asked her to bring another.
“What you have to say must be pretty bad if you’re sucking down vodka like water. You know the kind of hangovers Cosmo’s give you,” Knox whispered in his ear.
Pushing the fruity tasting drink away from him, Nash took a deep breath. “Bronson’s ex-wife served him with papers this week wanting full custody of Tucker. She’s moving to Connecticut with her rich boyfriend and she wants to take Tucker with her because Bronson’s gay.”
Remington and Knox exchanged uneasy glances with their mouths hanging open. It was obvious neither man knew what to say.
“Bronson came over the other night so we could read the papers and what the ex alleges is her reasoning is just a homophobic rant. She’s bitter that Bronson only used her as a cover to hide his sexuality and is taking Tucker away from him as her revenge.”
Knox cleared his throat. “He used this woman and got her pregnant just to hide the fact that he was gay?”
Bronson sounded like a first-class dick the way Knox laid it out. “Bronson dated her to hide himself and when he couldn’t put off her demands to finally have sex, he gave in at some frat party in college. Alicia got pregnant with Tucker that night. She’s an awful mother.” Nash grabbed his drink and took a long sip, his straw making a sucking sound when the liquid was gone.
“Every ex in a custody battle says that.” Remington waved a hand in the air.
“True, but I’ve seen her in action in my classroom. She’s a cold-hearted bitch. When she picks Tucker up, he runs to her and she never hugs him or is interested in any of the things he wants to show her. Every time I see her, she always seems to be ogling the dads who are picking up their kids.”
“You can’t blame her there,” Knox laughed. “We do the same thing.”
Nash rolled his eyes. It was true, they did that exact thing, but not at the expense of anyone else. “She’s one of those types who is constantly picking men over her son. Half the time she is scheduled to have Tucker, she leaves him with Bronson so she can go off with her rich boyfriend.”
Rem knocked back the rest of his beer and signaled the waitress for another. “So you look like shit because your boyfriend is facing a custody battle?”
This was the part of the story Nash didn’t want to tell. “Not exactly.”
Remington’s easy smile vanished as the principal leaned forward in the booth. “What do you mean not exactly? What happened between you two?”
“I invited him to dinner at my house the other night. Tucker was with his mom, so it was just Bronson and I. He brought me flowers and dessert from Cupcake Heaven and I made steaks on the grill. After we ate, we read the papers together.” Nash sucked in a deep breath. “God, they were awful. Filled with bigoted, homophobic language and claiming that part of the reason Alicia wanted full custody was to get Tucker away from the homosexual men Bronson has in his life.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Remington practically roared as the waitress set down his beer.
Nash shook his head sadly. “After we read the papers, I was going to tell Bronson about your brother, Rem. Offer to make the introduction if he wanted, but…”
“Let me guess, his dick distracted you?” Knox grinned.
“Yeah and when it was my turn to, uh, return the favor, Bronson lost his shit.” God, he hated having to tell his friends this part of the story. He needed Rainier’s help and wasn’t likely to get it if Rem ended up hating Bronson.
“What do you mean? Did he hurt you?” Rem looked ready to breathe fire.
“Not physically. He stopped doing what he was doing and told me that he was about to lose his son because he was gay and there he was…”
“Sucking your dick?” Knox asked with no humor in his voice.
Nash nodded miserably.
“Jesus Christ.” Remington blew out a harsh breath. “Let me guess, you haven’t heard back from him since?”
“Right. I wanted to give him time to get his head straight, but it’s been three days and his parents have been dropping off and picking up Tucker.”
It was Remington’s turn to nod. “And you want Rainier to help him?”
“I do, Rem. I know you probably want to stomp Bronson into next week, but he needs a bulldog like your brother who will fight to keep him and Tucker together.” Nash shook his head. “You should see them together. I’ve never seen a father show so much love and devotion to a child than Bronson.”
“I know. I have seen them together, coming into the building and on the way out. Tucker is always smiling and happy. I’ve gotten a few emails from parents of the kids in your classroom letting me know what a good friend Tucker is and how thankful they are that their kids are in class with him.”
It made Nash think of the day Gabby’s mother took the time to thank Bronson for raising Tucker to be the kind of boy who made everyone welcome in his life. “I’m not surprised.”
“So let me get this straight, you want Rainier to help Bronson even though he was a complete shit to you?” Rem raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Nash turned to Knox to gauge his response.
“I’m with Rem. This guy hurt you and in return you want to help him?”
“I know neither of you know him very well, but he’s an amazing man. I think he’s the one.” Nash could feel a blush rising up his neck to bloom over his face. He’d only recently admitted the truth about his feelings for Bronson to himself. It wasn’t easy telling his friends how he felt, especially in light of the story he’d just told about Bronson.
Rem and Knox exchanged a wordless look. “Okay, I’ll call my brother in the morning and explain the situation, but if Bronson keeps being such a prick to you, I’m asking Rainier to charge double!”
“That sounds reasonable.” Nash grinned and picked up his menu. “Are you guys hungry? I’m so hungry I could eat a whole elephant.”
“Son of a motherfucking bitch!” Remington whispered angrily.
“What? What’s wrong? Did the price of hot wings go up?” Knox laughed.
“It’s fucking Declan,” Rem gritted out between clenched teeth.
Nash could see a muscle in his friend’s jaw fluttering as Remington ground his teeth together. Declan O’Toole was Remington’s ex and a private speech pathologist who was sometimes brought in to work with the kids at Little Wonders. The relationship between the two men had ended when Rem caught his lover cheating on him. “Shit!” Nash grimaced when he saw Declan kissing some guy and groping his ass with both hands.
“Christ, he’s all class.” Knox looked away from the salacious scene. “I bet he’s doing it on purpose to piss you off.”
“Yeah, well
, it’s working.” Rem appeared to be studying the man his ex was publicly mauling. “That fucker probably charges extra for the boyfriend experience. Now, who’s hungry?”
XX
“NO!” Tucker shouted, throwing himself on the floor of Bronson’s living room and kicking his sneakered feet against the couch. Pounding his hands in concert with his feet he kept yelling.
Bronson had never seen his son act like this before. Tucker had tantrums just like any other kid, but this was beyond a tantrum. Sighing, Bronson got down on the floor with his flailing son and started whispering to him, knowing that if Tucker wanted to hear what he was saying, he’d have to stop screaming first.
It took about five minutes for Bronson’s plan to work. The minute Tucker stopped pounding his arms and feet against the floor, Bronson scooped him up and held him against his chest. He could feel his son’s heart pounding like a hummingbird’s. Whatever was wrong must be pretty big for the little boy to act like this. “Daddy loves you, Tucker.”
“Love…you…more…dinosaur.” Tucker panted against Bronson’s chest.
Now all he needed to do was figure out what made Tucker so upset in the first place. “Are you mad at me?”
Tucker shook his head no, but stayed silent.
“Well that’s a relief! Phew!” Bronson laughed and held Tucker closer. If the boy wasn’t mad at him, maybe something had gone wrong at school? “Are you mad at Mr. Spencer or someone at school?”
Tucker shook his head again. “I love Mr. Spencer and all my friends and the lizards.”
“Of course you do, buddy.” So, if Tucker wasn’t mad at him and everything was all right at school, that left only one option. Right before Tucker’s epic meltdown, he’d told the boy he was off to spend the weekend with his mother and Ashton.
Alicia was already on his shit list thanks to her little stunt with serving the court papers in front of Tucker. He hadn’t said a word about what was in the envelope to Tucker and had been careful all week to say nice things about his ex-wife whenever the little shrew’s name came up. If Tucker was unhappy about going to see Alicia and her lap dog, it wasn’t because of anything Bronson said. “Are you upset at going to see your mom and Ashton?”
“I hate Ashton!” Tucker pulled his angry face away from Bronson’s shirt. The look in his eyes almost seemed to be daring Bronson to yell at him for using the “H” word.
Bronson bit his lip so the smile and bark of laughter he was holding back wouldn’t escape. Although he’d taught Tucker what the word hate meant, he didn’t like his son using it. He knew it was him living in his own little dream world because in his reality, hate was something he faced on a daily basis. “Why do you hate Ashton?”
“Because he’s mean to me.” Tucker crossed his arms over his chest as if his words explained everything.
“What kind of mean? Does he hit you?” Jesus fucking Christ, if that man laid so much as a finger on Tucker, he’d rip him limb from limb.
Instead of answering, Tucker burrowed into Bronson’s chest.
Frowning over Tucker’s non-answer, he took a deep breath. “Does he yell at you?”
Tucker nodded. “He wants Mommy, not me.”
That didn’t surprise Bronson one bit. Alicia was a selfish person. It made all the sense in the world that she’d attract a man with the same nauseating qualities she possessed. “Let’s go pack your T-Rex suitcase, okay?” It killed Bronson to say it, but he couldn’t refuse Alicia her time with their son just because her boyfriend yelled at Tucker.
Tucker took a deep breath like he was going to start yelling again, but just let the breath out slowly.
It was that simple act of resignation that broke Bronson’s heart more than his son’s earlier tears and theatrics.
11
Bronson was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling on Sunday morning. He hadn’t slept well since he’d dropped Tucker off with Alicia on Friday night. He had too much on his mind to fall asleep. Instead of worrying what was going on with his son, Bronson had gotten to work researching lawyers in the Greater Newburyport area who specialized in custody law.
He’d visited websites and read reviews of satisfied clients who’d won their cases. Some of the sites were filled with pictures of the victorious parent and their kids smiling big for the camera. Bronson couldn’t help but notice there were no pictures of the losing parents crying while their children were ripped out of their arms.
Before he’d tumbled into bed last night, Bronson had managed to narrow the choices down to three qualified attorneys. He’d sent off quick emails to each one explaining his case and asking if they could help him.
Now that he’d done what he could about his most pressing problem, thoughts of Nash and the crushed look on his face when he’d left the house the other night flooded Bronson’s mind. Everything he’d done from the moment he pushed away from Nash had been bush-league. He was an asshole, no doubt about it.
In his defense, he had no idea what to say to Nash. He’d freaked out over the thought of losing his son and instead of talking to Nash about that, he’d physically shoved him away and avoided him for the rest of the week. “God, I’m a giant fucking five year old.”
The question now was how to get Nash to listen to an apology. Nash was a bigger man than Bronson was. Hell, he was a better man than Bronson was. He had no doubt Nash would at least listen. Whether or not he’d be willing to get their relationship back on track was another matter.
In the wee hours of the morning, Bronson had decided he didn’t want to lose Nash. His lover had been dead on when he’d said that Alicia would use any excuse she could find for taking Tucker away from him. He’d be damned if he let her take away the man he was falling in love with too.
Throwing back the covers, Bronson got out of bed and headed for the shower. If he was going to get down on his knees and beg Nash to forgive him, he needed to be clean. He was ripping his tee shirt over his head when his door buzzer screeched.
He shrugged back into his shirt and walked out of the bedroom toward the front door. He had no doubt it was Alicia bringing Tucker back early. They could go grab breakfast at Pony Express. Maybe he’d shoot a text to Nash inviting him to join them.
Hitting the door buzzer, Bronson crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath trying to find his Zen. Seeing his ex-wife always seemed to bring out the worst in him and he didn’t want Tucker to see that side of him.
A quiet knock sounded on the door and Bronson unlocked it and pulled it open, all the while pasting a fake smile on his face. He wasn’t prepared to see the person standing on his doorstep. “Nash?”
“Good morning. I, uh, thought you might be hungry. I brought breakfast.” Nash held up a bakery bag in one hand, in the other was a drink caddy with two hot drinks.
Bronson was stunned. He’d been a world-class asshole to Nash and now here he was with breakfast. “Come in. I’ll grab plates.” He pointed toward the small dining room table while he went to get paper plates for them to eat from. He set one in front of Nash and kept the other for himself.
“Dinosaurs?” Nash held up the plate decorated with a snarling T-Rex.
Bronson laughed. “They’re Tucker’s favorite. My mom buys them by the metric ton.”
“She’s a great lady. I had a bit of a chance to talk to her this week when she picked up Tucker. I could tell she was not a fan of the classroom dragons, but she cooed over them like she loved them as much as Tucker.”
That was his mom to a tee. She always loved what he and Tucker loved, just because they loved it. “She’s one of a kind.” Now that Nash was here, Bronson had no idea what to say. He’d rehearsed what he wanted to say a hundred times since he’d woken up this morning but now those words felt all wrong. “Nash, I…”
Instead of looking at Bronson, Nash opened the pastry bag and brought out two huge croissants. He set one on each of their plates. “I hope you like croissants. They’re my favorite.”
“They’re my favorite t
oo. How do you like yours? Toasted? Butter or jelly?” Bronson took Nash’s cue. He’d stick to the subject of breakfast for now. Actually, what he’d do was wait Nash out. It was obvious his lover had come here for a reason, what he needed to do was shut up and let Nash explain in his own good time.
Nash looked up at Bronson, his blue eyes looking dull. “Toasted with butter would be great. I also got us hot chocolates. I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so…”
“Hot chocolate is perfect. I love the way they make it at Holy Cannoli. Everything there is delicious. Tucker loves the chocolate glazed donuts. Of course he ends up wearing more of the chocolate glaze than he manages to eat, but that’s half the fun.” Bronson turned from Nash and busied himself with slicing the pastries and popping the cut halves in the toaster.
While the croissants were heating up, Bronson went to the fridge and grabbed the butter and grape jelly. He loved to slather the buttery treat in more butter and then add a layer of jelly.
A few minutes later, breakfast was on the table. Bronson watched as Nash lightly buttered his croissant and took a sip from the steaming hot cup of chocolate. “Perfect,” he sighed happily.
Bronson studied the man sitting across from him. The man he was helplessly falling in love with. He was perfect sitting there with a blissed-out look on his face. Now that it wasn’t the right time to apologize, he knew exactly what he wanted to say to Nash. He’d bide his time though and wait until Nash said what he came here to say. Bronson just hoped those words would bring them closer together rather than pushing them further apart.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” Nash said without preamble.
Grabbing for a napkin, Bronson finished chewing his mouthful of buttery French goodness and sat up straighter in his chair. “Okay.” His heart started hammering in his chest. What Nash said next could have serious repercussions on where things with them were heading.
“You’ve met Remington James, the principal of Little Wonders, right?” Nash’s face held no sign of emotion.