by Jo Tannah
Not saying a word, Zach turned on his side and propped his head on his arm, looking up intently. Tristan looked down at him before reaching out to gently caress the hip close to his hand.
“In all fairness, Amanda said she knew I was gay from day one, though I never said or did anything. According to her, she also did what was expected of her by her family, to marry well. Meaning me. We decided to tell the kids when they were old enough to understand, however, we never once mentioned divorce. I worked hard after Margaret was born and harder still after the boys. My hours were insane, and that left Amanda alone. It drove her crazy with loneliness and eventually, she drank more and it messed her up.”
“What about Margaret and the boys? Didn’t you think about how it would affect them?”
“I made a lot of mistakes, Zach. Work building up the firm with your father kept the family fed and clothed. For a while I hid behind the job, not wanting to see the marriage was failing. I tried to protect the kids as well as I could. Your mother made things easier, having them over most days and weekends. It’s one of the reasons why I love your parents so much, especially Joanna. Without them, my kids would be just as destroyed.”
“Until the night of our graduation.”
“Until that night. Did Joshua ever tell you he’d caught his mother in bed with three men that day?”
“Three? No, he never mentioned anything.”
“Joshua called me at the office that afternoon after he’d walked in on them. He walked out and told me what he saw, saying he was moving out whether I liked it or not. I told him to go ahead and pack his bags and to tell Mark to do the same. Margaret had already packed hers, as she was moving with you, so I sent Amanda a text message informing her of the children’s decision. I didn’t want to interrupt her orgy, you see. I informed her that the kids and I were moving out the next morning. She never replied. My guess is she eventually saw the message when we were all celebrating.”
“That is so messed up.”
“The kids and I—” Tristan continued as though Zach hadn’t spoken—“we learned early on not to talk about what went on with their mother. I was raised that way by my parents, and I raised my kids the same way. On hindsight, that was a lousy way of doing things. After we’d moved out, I talked to them. I asked them to be always open with me over what they felt and thought and whomever they were going to end up with in the future.”
“Shit. That’s just... Margaret never told me any of this,” Zach said, shaking his head.
“Well, now you know.”
“Do you think Amanda’s going to do something to ruin the wedding?”
“The kids and I are ready for anything, but God knows what goes on in that head of hers. I told Margaret not to get her mother involved with the wedding plans, but she did so anyway and is now regretting it. This whole hotel thing, it’s ridiculous. We could have just as well have had the wedding at the club, but no, it has to be here.”
“I wondered about that. Margaret told me she’s apprehensive about what’s going to happen at the ceremony.”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Why don’t we go to sleep?” Zach raked his nails over Tristan’s stomach, then reached down to the hardening cock nestled in the dark brown curls and gripped it loosely in his hand.
“I want to taste you first,” Zach said, before bending to swallow Tristan’s cock down. Sighs and moans echoed across the room.
It didn’t take long, and soon Tristan felt ready to burst. “I’m coming.”
Zach hummed deep in his throat, making Tristan growl before a cry ripped out. As his orgasm tore through his body, he felt Zach’s mouth work harder to get every last bit of release into his throat. When at long last Tristan lay spent, Zach crawled up and kissed him on the mouth.
“What about you?” Tristan asked when Zach lifted his head.
“I came when you did.” Zach licked his lips.
Tristan wrapped his arms around Zach. “I don’t want this to end, Zach.”
Zach made a fist pump.
“What was that all about?” Tristan said with a laugh.
“Nothing,” Zach said grinning wide but the relief of his face was plain to see and Tristan bent his head to drop another kiss on his mouth.
“We have to tell them,” Zach said, when the kiss ended.
Tristan sighed. “I don’t think they’ll like it. Especially Jon and Joanna.”
“Are you rethinking things?”
“No... yes. No... ” Tristan squirmed uncomfortably then huffed out in frustration. “I guess we’ll just have to be firm with them.”
“Dad may just punch you in the face,” Zach said, settling into Tristan’s chest. He lifted his leg and laid it across Tristan’s legs. He seemed to like using Tristan’s legs like a pillow.
Tristan kissed Zach on the forehead. “I’ll let him have his due, but only once.”
“I don’t want you two fighting,” Zach said, his voice laced with worry.
“You’re worth fighting for.”
The emotion in Tristan’s voice made Zach squeeze his arms tighter around him.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” Zach said in a whisper. “I don’t want to ever lose you now.”
“You have me, hon. You have me.”
Chapter Five
“What the hell? Mom, what have you done?”
Zach winced at Margaret’s shrill voice sighing in resignation. Put those two women together, one a Leo the other a Taurus, and you had chaos.
“Dear lord, is she drunk already?” Joanna said behind him.
“Apparently,” Zach said, turning to his frowning mother who hurried behind him.
Joanna had sent him a text message an hour earlier. He’d been half-asleep, relishing Tristan’s warm body spooning him from behind. When he read that she was on her way up to his room, he’d scrambled up from the bed as fast as he could without managing to wake the still sleeping Tristan. Walking to the adjoining door, he’d pressed the call icon. His mother answered on the second ring and he told her he was still in the shower and would meet her in the lobby in thirty minutes. Thankfully, Joanna didn’t question him and told him she’d meet him for breakfast. They’d been in the middle of their meal when they received the urgent message from Margaret.
“Mom’s lost her shit and I’m going to kill her. If you and Tita Jo are not here in ten minutes she’s dead.”
Seven minutes later, there they were. He grimaced when he turned the corner to the wedding reception venue and saw Margaret’s combative stance, arms on hips, stiletto-clad feet apart, face screwed up in disbelief at her mother’s wobbling form.
“Maggie, dear... ” Amanda was saying. She had her tablet out and was not even looking at her daughter as she typed out something on the screen.
“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s Margaret. Not Maggie. Not Meggie. Not baby girl. It’s Margaret.”
“Meggie,” Amanda said, ignoring the fuck bursting out of Margaret when she purposely used the name. “Baby girl, it’s going to be beautiful, trust me.”
“It’s not going to be beautiful, it’s tasteless.” Margaret looked to where Zach stood with Joanna. “Tell her, Zach. Tita Jo, tell Mom her idea’s ridiculous.”
“What is, Margaret?” Joanna said. The use of Margaret’s name brought a wide smile to her face but a frown on Amanda’s.
“She wants me and Giles to walk on this flapping pink thing as we walk down the aisle.”
Zach frowned, unable to come up with an image in his mind. “What?”
“It’s all so delicious, Zach,” Amanda said, gaze still locked on the tablet she held in her hand. “After the ceremony, as Margaret and Giles walk down the aisle, the groomsmen and bridesmaids pick up each end of the light material we’ll place on the ground over the carpet and take turns lifting it up and down to produce a rippling effect. It would be like they’d be walking on water.”
Z
ach’s mouth dropped open. Margaret’s one eyebrow raised as one eye narrowed to a disbelieving squint while Joanna blinked like an owl.
“Do you remember that scene from The King and I? Where Eliza walked on water and the use of the white blanket?” Amanda smiled.
“Oh. My. God. The death scene?”
* * * *
“How did it end?” Tristan said around a mouthful of syrupy pancakes and bacon.
“Luckily, Mom was there and was able to set things right,” Zach said, drinking his fourth cup of coffee for the morning. He sat beside Tristan at the table, not by choice, but by pure chance. Margaret and Giles were sitting beside each other while Joshua and Mark sat opposite them.
“Set things right, my foot. Tita Jo told her that, yes, it was the death scene and not a wedding she was thinking about. That they were clouds, not water,” Margaret said, stabbing a pancake with her fork. Giles laid his hand on hers when the tines scraped on the plate producing a spine tingling, irritating screech.
“Anyway,” Zach said, glaring at Margaret, who pouted her lips but began to eat more slowly without making anyone else wince. “Mom called for the concierge, who took her to the manager’s office. They were able to pull up a copy of the musical and showed her the cloud walking scene.”
“I hope that’s the end of it?” Tristan said, leaning back into his chair sipping on his coffee.
“Yes, that ended it,” Margaret said. She made a face and picked up her glass of orange juice. “I never should’ve allowed Mom to help in the preparations.”
“I don’t want to say it, but it was your decision, so you’ll just have to live with it.”
“I know, I know, it’s just, Dad, Mom’s always been great at planning parties. I don’t know why she’s making these weird decisions now.”
“She’s drunk, is what she is,” Mark said with a snort. Joshua reached out and gently tapped the back of his head. “Ow, what you do that for?”
“Have a little respect, little bro,” Joshua said, popping a bacon bit in his mouth.
“Boys, what did I say about hitting each other?”
Zach hid his smile in his cup when the two Maxfields automatically said their sorry Dads. His smile froze on his lips when he felt Tristan’s hard thigh touch his and stay there. He glanced from beneath his lids and tried to control the shivers down his spine when Tristan spread his legs. Though it was clearly an unconscious move, as though trying to relax pressure on a full stomach after a heavy meal, it still made Zach’s body react in a way it shouldn’t in a public place and while sitting beside Tristan’s children. A surge of anxiety swept over him, not for the first time, and Zach was beginning to hate the feeling. What happened between him and Tristan the night before, it was what they’d both wanted. They were adults. Still, looking at his childhood friends, he couldn’t help feeling he was betraying them. He gripped the cup tighter in an effort to still his unexpectedly trembling hand.
A warm hand landed on his thigh under the tablecloth and he nearly spilled his coffee, startled by the touch. Said hand began a gentle caress the length of his thigh and Zach glanced at Tristan, whose face was turned away from him as he continued to speak to Joshua, acting as if he wasn’t touching Zach. At the continued strokes, Zach willed himself to relax and sighed in relief when, after a few more soothing passes, the hand moved off. He watched as Tristan ran that same hand over his hair before placing it back on the table.
He looked away just in time to catch Margaret watching him closely. Zach met her curious gaze and pretended innocence by shrugging his shoulders in dismissal before turning his attention once more to the conversation. He shook away the dark thoughts and resolved to think positive thoughts that his affair with Tristan—for that was what it was—would work out.
* * * *
After breakfast, they all went back up to their rooms. Joshua and Mark said they were going to hit the pool while Zach pleaded needing another nap to recover from the previous day’s stress. He’d just finished brushing his teeth and was leaning over the sink rinsing his mouth when he heard the door open and close. Peeking out of the bathroom, he saw Tristan standing in front of the wide windows. The view of the beach was beautiful, but from the way he held himself and the white-knuckled clasp of his hands, Tristan didn’t seem to be enjoying it.
“What’s wrong?” Zach said, throwing the hand towel on top of the counter as he walked out of the bathroom.
“I had a call earlier from the planners, and now I have to meet with Amanda before the rehearsal tonight.”
Zach sat down on one of the chairs around a small round table set in front of the window. “What for? I thought the wedding plans were all taken care of... and Margaret didn’t go for that wavy cloud idea earlier.”
Tristan let out a groan of annoyance. “They said Amanda made last minute changes to the original flower arrangements and had no choice but to ask for more money.”
Zach thought over the latest development as he continued to look up at Tristan’s grave face. “How much more?”
“Ten thousand more.”
“Wow,” Zach said, shaking his head in disbelief. “That’s... can you go around it?”
“I’m afraid not,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “It seems that Amanda went over them, called their suppliers two days ago and changed the specifications without ever informing them. They only found out from their suppliers this morning so had no choice but to call me a few minutes ago. They said they felt slighted and embarrassed, and their reputation was on the line.”
“Oh shit,” Zach said, running the palms of his hands over his face. He couldn’t believe Amanda would sink so low. This could change the dynamics of the whole wedding.
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to meet with them, make sure they don’t sue Amanda or one of us, and hand over the check.”
“I’m so sorry, Tris. This is a disaster. Does Margaret know?”
“No. I’ve instructed the planners not to say anything to Margaret—she’s under enough stress as it is. She’s long ago regretted involving her mother and has cried enough tears apologizing to me. I’m not worried about the money, I can afford the additional amount. It’s the principle of the thing that upsets me.”
Zach nodded. “Yes, I know where you’re coming from. What do you want me to do?”
“Divert the kids. Take them out, do whatever you need to do. Just get them out of here where they might find out about their mother’s latest debacle.”
Zach nodded and stood up. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“First,” Tristan said, “come here.”
A smile curved on Zach’s lips. He walked the two steps required to get chest to chest with Tristan, who took Zach’s face in his hands. “Kiss me.”
Breaths mingled, tongues teased each other’s lips before Zach opened his mouth wider, allowing Tristan entrance. Zach sank into the kiss, taking in deep breaths through his nose, willing Tristan’s scent to drown his senses. He groaned low in his throat, the sound decadent, full of need and want. Tristan turned aggressive, sucking on Zach’s tongue until they both had to part to take a gulp of air.
“You tempt me, you know that?” Tristan said, chest heaving.
Zach pressed his lips on Tristan’s neck, taking a nip of the soft flesh there. Tristan moaned in response, pressing his groin against Zach’s, who couldn’t resist rubbing against the hard length he felt there.
“I’ll take care of the gang. You go and settle with the planners and Amanda,” Zach said, not moving from Tristan’s embrace. After a few minutes, Tristan sighed, stepped back and walked out of the room.
Watching the door close behind Tristan, Zach took out his phone and proceeded to send out text messages to Margaret, Giles, Joshua, and Mark. When no one replied after ten minutes, he decided to look for his friends. Margaret answered her door on his third knock.
“Zach, I was just going to take a nap before the rehearsal. What are yo
u doing here?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to go out somewhere. The hotel’s kind of getting cramped.”
“No, but thanks for the invite. You can do me one favor,” she said with a bright smile.
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“Can you grab a cheesecake? I heard there’s a great place just two blocks away that supposedly makes the best around here.”
“Okay, you’re sure? We can go out and relax... ”
“No, I’ll be okay. I’m staying in. Just get me the cheesecake okay?”
“Okay—” The door closed. Zach looked at the white flat surface an inch from his face before stepping away wondering what it was he’d missed. The conversation seemed innocuous enough, but something niggled at the back of his mind. He’d just stepped out of the elevators and was walking toward the hotel exit when he heard his name.
“Hey, Zach, wait up.”
Zach turned and saw Joshua and Mark jog up to him. “Hey, what’s going on? Did you get my message?” Zach said when they caught up with him.
“Errand. What message? I didn’t get anything. Mark, did you get anything from Zach? Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said not giving anyone the chance to answer him. He grabbed Zach by the arm and steered him from the lobby and out to the hotel’s entrance. “Where were you going anyway?”
“Nowhere really, and I was wondering if you wanted to get out of here, it’s beginning to get a little closed in. Also, Margaret wanted to take a nap before the rehearsal and asked me to grab her a cheesecake.”
Joshua and Mark stopped in their tracks. “Funny that, Giles said the same thing not ten minutes ago,” Mark said.
Three pairs of eyes met in confusion. As comprehension dawned on them, the three young men began to snort. All three turned as one to look back toward the hotel. Their eyes met again before the dam burst and they began to laugh uncontrollably.