by A. T Brennan
We were close to the same size. He was about an inch taller and I was a little broader, but I’d borrowed a few of his shirts when we’d been too lazy to do laundry and they’d fit fine so I assumed his pants would be okay too.
“Here.”
I looked at the shirt and pants he’d selected, reaching out to run my hands over the soft material of the slacks. They were butter soft even though they still held the crease from being pressed.
The shirt was a light baby blue, so light that it was almost white with a blueish hue to it, and the pants were black. It was simple but still looked nice when he held them together.
“Let me guess, there’s no polyester in these.” I grinned at him and dropped my hand.
“Only organic blends touch this body.”
“Can clothes be organic? That seems like a way to charge a lot more for something by adding a useless label to it.”
He laughed and handed me the pants.
“I guess I should have said natural blends.”
“That makes more sense.”
“As much as I’d love to keep you in only your underwear all day so I can stare at that ass, put them on and then pick a tie.”
“A tie? I have to wear a tie?”
“It’s a cocktail party.” He winked and pulled a shirt almost exactly like the one he’d picked for me, only it had a slight green hue to it, off the rung.
“And that means ties?”
I pulled the pants on and did them up. They seemed to fit. It was true they were a bit tight in the legs, but I figured that was just the style since all of Galen’s pants fit him the same way.
“That means ties.” He nodded solemnly.
“I don’t think I like this boyfriend stuff anymore. We’re going to have to break up.”
“Really? Damn. Too bad. I kinda like you.”
“Yeah. Sucks. I kinda like you too.” I pulled the shirt on and marvelled at how soft and light it felt against my skin.
“How about you put on the tie, and then tonight you can use it to tie me up?”
“I have to work tonight,” I pointed out.
“We’ll be home by six, you don’t work until eight...” he looked up from buttoning his shirt.
“Less than two hours? I don’t know if that’s enough time.”
“How about you use my tie too, like you did that night in your apartment.”
My adrenaline surged at the memory of blindfolding Galen while I teased him on my futon.
“Great, give me a stiffy when we can’t do anything about it.” I rolled my eyes teasingly as I tried to get my dick to calm the fuck down.
“So, is that a yes?”
“That’s a hell yes.”
Galen grinned and went to his overly-full tie rack and spun it around a few times. After a moment he pulled a black and a dark blue tie off the rack. He handed me the black one, and as I looked at it I saw it was actually black on black with a striped, almost plaid pattern inlaid in a slightly muted shade.
I watched Galen slip his tie around his neck and quickly tie it up so it sat at his throat in a slender knot.
“I had a cheater tie for church,” I admitted as I held up the tie. “Already done up.”
“I’ve got it.” Galen smiled and came to stand in front of me.
Up close I could see his tie was actually black and had small, closely spaced blue dots that made it look blue from far away and patterned close up.
“So, are we matching for a reason?” I asked as he looped the tie around my neck and set to doing it up for me.
“You caught that, huh.” He grinned and looked up from what he was doing. “It’s stupid, but I thought it would be fun.”
“It’s not stupid.” I caught his hands, holding them still for a moment so I could lean in for a kiss. “It’s sweet.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. I do.”
He gave me another quick kiss before pulling away so he could finish with my tie.
“There. All set.”
“How do I look?” I had yet to turn around and look in his full length mirror, so at this point I hoped I didn’t look as awkward as I felt.
“Incredible. You’ll be the hottest guy there.”
“Nah, I think that’ll be you.”
Galen put his arm around my waist and turned us so we could look in the mirror.
“Well fuck me,” I muttered as I stared at our reflection.
Galen looked incredible, mind you he always did whether he was in a suit or a pair of sweats, but I looked pretty good too. The color of the shirt set off my eyes and made them look greener than usual, and it contrasted well with my hair. The material was thick enough to cover my tattoos, and the tie pulled it all together. We made a pretty handsome couple.
“After work.” Galen gave my ass a quick slap, breaking my concentration. “After the party, you’re fucking me. Remember?”
“I couldn’t forget if I wanted to.”
“Good, because I sure as hell won’t.” He gave me one last kiss and pulled me away from the mirror.
“Do you think I should pull my hair back?” I asked as I slipped on a pair of his dress shoes. Galen and I weren’t exactly the same shoe size so they were a bit tight on me, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Why? I’ve never seen you do it before.”
“I don’t know. To look more respectable?”
“Just be yourself, babe. If you want to have a braid or a man-bun, or whatever you’re thinking, do it because you want to.”
“Yeah, not a braid kind of guy.” I laughed.
“Man-bun?”
“I have on occasion.”
“Ponytail?”
“When I need to keep my hair back for something.” I nodded.
“Hairband?”
“If you tell anyone, I’ll withhold sex for at least two weeks, but yes. I have worn a hairband in the past when I needed to.”
“I think it’s kinda sexy.” Galen stepped closer to me.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. Now is it one of those cloth ones with a big flower on it? Or maybe a sparkly one with a bow?”
“That’s it, no sex for you.” I playfully pushed away from him and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Awww, come on now.” He stepped right up to me and grabbed me around the waist. “I think you’d look sexy in one of those bandana things, maybe in a bright pink.”
“Fuck you. I’d totally rock a pink bandana.” I slung my arms over his shoulders and pulled him so we were almost nose to nose.
“Yeah. You would,” he agreed, and I could feel his cock getting hard against mine.
“You think that would be sexy? Me in a pink bandana?”
“As long as it’s all you’re wearing, then it would be sexy as hell.”
“Fuck,” I moaned against his lips as he kissed me, my cock going from half-hard to rock solid the moment he slid his tongue between my lips. “You’re getting me all excited.”
“To be continued.” He gave me one last nipping kiss and stepped back.
“Tease.”
“You love it.” He grinned over his shoulder and winked before heading out of his room.
“Yeah, I do,” I said softly before following him.
* * * * *
I was nervous the entire drive to his parents’ house. It was only half an hour away, but it felt like the drive had both flown and crawled by. Galen kept up a steady stream of meaningless chatter, and I was grateful for the distraction.
When we pulled up in front of the house I was stunned. I’d known he came from money, but I hadn’t realized just how much.
We’d had to drive through an open gate and up a long double driveway to get to the house, which sat on a hill surrounded by perfectly manicured land. There was a full-sized fountain about one hundred yards from the house that broke the driveway up and made it circular, so you could drive up on one side and down on the other.
The house itself was massive. It was kind of p
lantation style, but had three full floors and multiple balconies. The pillars outside looked like they were made of marble and the entire house looked freshly painted.
It was by far the biggest house I’d ever seen in person, and to say I was intimidated was a fucking understatement.
I’d grown up in a decent sized house on a pretty nice plot of land, but it looked like a shoebox compared to Galen’s parents’ place.
We stopped behind a small lineup of cars, all as expensive and flashy as Galen’s convertible, and my jaw dropped when I saw a team of valets taking keys and driving the cars away as the owners went into the party.
“Valets? At a party?”
“It’s to keep things moving, and so people don’t have to walk up the property.”
“Where are they parking them?” I asked as I looked around. If his family had their own parking lot I was going to shit myself.
“The neighbors’ driveways. They trade off like that whenever someone is having a lot of guests over.”
“And you grew up here?”
“Yup. My room was on the third floor, in the western wing.” He pointed to the left side of the house. “Right in the corner there.”
“Your house had wings?”
“Just two.” He grinned, but when he turned and saw my expression, which I assumed looked horrified, he reached over and put his hand over mine. “Hey, relax. Okay? It’s a lot to take in at once, I know. But it’ll be fine.”
I nodded, unable to say anything. He kept his hand on mine as we made our way up the line until it was our turn to step out and give the car keys to a very young looking valet.
“Ready?” Galen whispered as he came around the car to meet me.
“As I’ll ever be.” I nodded.
I expected us to walk in side by side. The other people I’d seen had all walked the same way— with the woman holding onto the man’s arm as he led her into the house. That definitely wasn’t our style, plus I figured Galen wouldn’t want to draw attention to us right away.
I’d been wrong. As we’d started walking Galen had slipped his hand into mine and linked our fingers together as we made our way to the door.
“Name?” a man in an elegant suit asked when we reached the door.
“Galen Wells, and guest.”
“Welcome, Mr. Wells.” The man didn’t even blink as he checked something off on his clipboard and Galen tugged me inside.
“A bouncer?”
“More like an attendant. It’s to make sure everyone who comes is listed so my brother can send them a thank you for attending.”
“Wow. There really is a way to do everything, isn’t there.”
“There is. It’s all about etiquette and doing what you’re supposed to.”
I didn’t miss the way Galen’s voice dropped a little when he said that, and when I glanced at him I could see he was trying to fight off a wave of sadness.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. “We’ve got this.”
Galen smiled, all trace of whatever had hit him gone. “Come on, let’s go find my brother so I can say congratulations.”
As we made our way through the house I tried not to stare. Everything matched and looked incredibly expensive. The entire house looked like it had been staged for a magazine shoot, and I there was no way I could miss the way people were looking at us.
I was no stranger to being stared at. I was a six-foot tall guy with tattoos and long hair so I stood out pretty much everywhere I went. I looked completely out of place with all the perfectly coiffed people around us, so that was most likely part of why they were staring.
The other part was definitely because Galen was still holding my hand.
Because I was openly gay I’d decided long ago that I would never hide who I was, consequences be damned. It was a policy that had almost gotten me killed a few times, but I wasn’t about to change it now, and I was glad Galen was being so open about our relationship.
We were stopped a few times by people who wanted to say hello to Galen, and he always introduced me as his boyfriend. A few of the couples had smiled and shaken my hand before asking Galen something about his job or his life, and a few of them had flat out refused to acknowledge I was even standing there.
One woman had actually stepped back from me like I had some sort of flu she would catch from being within a few feet of me, and one man had looked me up and down before making a noise of disgust and turning away from both of us.
I was used to that kind of crap, but Galen wasn’t and I worried how it was affecting him. He seemed cool and unflustered, but I had to wonder how much of that was an act.
We also got a few of the requisite ‘I know a gay person too!’ responses. The ones where someone would tell us about their gay co-worker, or neighbor or cousin.
I didn’t mind those reactions so much because at least people were trying to relate to us and put us at ease, but they were always awkward as fuck because I never knew what to say.
“Having fun yet?” Galen grabbed a champagne flute from a waiter walking past us with a full tray and took a sip. “I think we can find water or something around here.”
“I’m not thirsty, it’s fine,” I assured him. “Have you seen your brother?”
“No, but my sister Lauren is over there.” He pointed to our left.
I followed his finger and saw an attractive woman with the same dark hair as him standing next to a relatively handsome man. He was older than her by what looked like ten or fifteen years, and while he was talking to the group of men around him, she was standing and staring at some spot on the wall looking bored as all hell.
“Is that her husband?”
“Christopher. He’s an orthopedic surgeon.”
“A what now?”
“He’s a bone surgeon.”
“Oh. Like the ones who fix bad breaks?”
“The very ones.” He nodded and took a sip of his champagne.
“Should we say hi?” I asked. His sister looked like she could use a distraction.
“We will. We just need to find Devon first.”
“Etiquette?”
“Etiquette.” He nodded. “There’s my other sister, Jessica.”
I looked to where he was pointing and saw a tall, blonde woman standing next to a rail thin man with greying hair. They weren’t talking to anyone or even looking at each other.
“And her husband?”
“Kenneth. He’s a neurologist.”
“Brain doctor?”
Galen nodded.
“Is it just me, or do neither of your sisters look very happy to be here.”
“It’s not just you. Like I told you before. They did what they were supposed to do and married doctors. I don’t think either one of them is happy in the marriage, but it’s all about appearances.”
“Wow.”
“Oh, there’s Devon.” Galen shifted his drink to his left hand and reached down with his right to take mine before leading me through the crowd.
We stopped in front of an attractive couple and waited as they finished talking to the small group in front of them. The momentary pause gave me a chance to subtly check them out.
Devon didn’t look anything like Galen. He was taller, at least six-four, and blond. He was husky while Galen was lean, and he had a baby face that made it hard to place his age, but Galen had told me he was thirty-nine. The woman standing next to him was very pretty with long blonde hair, a petite frame and big blue eyes. She also didn’t look old enough to be drinking the champagne she was holding.
When Devon looked up and saw Galen, his eyes flicked to me for a moment, and he couldn’t hide the look of shock that passed through them.
“Devon, congratulations.” Galen stepped forward, his hand out.
“Thank you, Galen.” Devon shook his hand and nodded.
The entire thing seemed really formal, but hey, what did I know about etiquette.
“I’d like to introduce you to my fian
cée, Charisma.”
“Charisma, nice to meet you.” Galen turned to the woman and politely shook her hand. “And congratulations.”
“You too, and thank you.” She smiled prettily and looked at me expectantly.
“I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Blaze. Blaze, this is my brother Devon, and his fiancée.”
“Hi.” I shook Devon’s hand, feeling like a prize cow being appraised as he swept his eyes over me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Blaze,” he said cordially.
Charisma, on the other hand, wasn’t so subtle.
“You never told me your brother was gay. That’s so awesome!” She nudged Devon and eagerly shook my hand.
“I didn’t know he was,” Devon answered, his voice cool and collected as he stared at Galen.
“We’ll let you boys chat.” Charisma took my arm and pulled me to the side a bit. “I can’t tell you how awesome it is that you’re here. I’ve been trying to get Devon on board with helping with the wedding, but he’s all business all the time. It’s so nice to have someone to talk flowers and décor with!”
Great. This also wasn’t new to me. While it was nice to be welcomed and have someone be so friendly with me, I hated being pegged into stereotypes. Just because I was gay didn’t mean I knew the first thing about flowers or color schemes, and I had absolutely no interest in either.
“Oh, um. That’s not really my thing,” I said carefully before she could launch into some sort of discussion about what was the ‘in’ flower or color.
“Really? What about fashion? What’s hot in wedding dresses right now?”
“No idea. Sorry. I’m not really interested in fashion either.”
“Oh. Well, what are you interested in?”
“Music?”
“Perfect! I’m having the hardest time finding just the right song for our first dance. It needs to be romantic and pretty like the wedding, but still kind of edgy and fun. What would you pick?”
I sighed and glanced at Galen as he was deep in conversation with his brother. I had a feeling my kind of music wouldn’t be welcome at Charisma’s romantic and pretty wedding, and I racked my brain for a song that I could suggest that might fit.
Chapter Eighteen