Be Loved (At Last, The Beloved Series Book 3)

by Stella Starling

  “Me asking for it isn’t excuse enough?” Clayton teased him, opening the wine with some kind of high-tech device that looked more like a NASA probe than a corkscrew.

  David waved him off, turning to grab a gorgeous tray of appetizers that made Shane’s mouth water. It was the first time he and Brandon were actually socializing as a couple, and even though it was just dinner with friends, Shane was filled with a sort of giddy happiness that made him want to pinch himself just to make sure it was real.

  Once he’d broken the news to his friends that he and Brandon had, as Gabe had so eloquently put it the other day, “finally gotten their heads out of their asses,” David and Clayton had immediately insisted that they get together. They’d actually invited them out to dinner at Alinea, a trendy foodie restaurant they’d been raving about, but Brandon hadn’t thought it was a good idea.

  Shane shivered, his pleasure in the evening dampened at the thought.

  “Cold?” Clayton asked him, handing him a glass of wine.

  “No, sorry, I’m fine,” Shane said. It was the thought of Peter that still gave him chills, not the house.

  Brandon had told him about the confrontation they’d had earlier in the week, and even though Shane had been able to tell that Brandon had chosen his words carefully in an attempt not to scare him, the truth had come through loud and clear.

  Brandon thought Peter was dangerous.

  The fact that Peter had this twisted idea that Shane was still in love with him was keeping Shane safe from him for now, but Brandon suspected that if Peter got wind of the two of them as a couple, that might change. And the bitch of it was, Shane thought Brandon was right.

  Peter had always been a possessive boyfriend, prone to jealousy and quick to seek revenge for any perceived wrong against him. It was all too easy to picture his cloying, obsessive “love” flipping into something more sinister, and, given his vengeful nature and his hacking skills, it wasn’t a stretch at all to imagine Peter tracking Shane’s every move. Keeping tabs on him. Watching him.

  Spying on him, for example, if he were to go out to dinner with friends.

  Luckily, David and Clayton had been more than happy to switch venues from the upscale restaurant to their home. David in particular seemed to get a kick out of the idea that they were outwitting Peter, but when he’d promised to bring out his inner Jason Bourne for the occasion, Shane hadn’t quite realized it would extend to code phrases and…

  “Oh my God, you’re joking,” Shane said, laughing as he accepted a canapé.

  David grinned, rotating the platter to let Shane admire his handiwork. He’d topped crackers and sliced cucumbers with delicious-looking meats, vegetables, and cheeses… but, somehow, he’d managed to make each one look distinctly secret agent related. Little guns and silhouetted, trench coat-clad figures, magnifying glasses, and—

  “What is that?”

  “A drone. See?” David tilted it. “You have no idea how much time I spent with my vegetable grater and a toothpick this afternoon.”

  “You’re insane,” Shane said, picking up the tiny cracker and admiring the ridiculous amount of detail. Was it… salmon? Olives? And… something green? He had no idea. “I feel bad eating this. It’s art.”

  David preened.

  “Eat them,” Clayton urged, laughing as he snuck one off the tray and popped it into his mouth. “You know he’ll just whine about it later if he thinks you didn’t appreciate his efforts.”

  Brandon grinned, wrapping an arm around Shane’s waist and taking one himself.

  “You guys are so cute I can’t stand it,” David said, eyeing the two of them. “But it took you goddamn long enough, that’s for sure.”

  “Well, if I’d known being with Shane meant that I’d be eating this well…” Brandon joked.

  “Exactly why I put up with David,” Clayton teased as he finished filling three more wine glasses and passed them around.

  “Shut up, you,” David said, poking him in the ribs. “You know you only stay with me for the sex.”

  “Guilty as charged,” Clayton lied, stealing a kiss from his man before turning back to Shane. “But I’m much more interested in hearing about this new development.”

  “I’m totally not sharing the details of my sex life with you, Clayton,” Shane said. “Sorry.”

  “Spoilsport,” David said, winking as he turned away to check something that smelled delicious in the oven. Brandon had always loved mushrooms, but he didn’t seem able to do much more than the basics in the kitchen. Shane would definitely have to get the recipe from David and try it at home sometime.

  “Okay, so you might be able to bribe me into one or two details if that tastes as good as it smells,” Shane said, making Brandon laugh.

  The tips of his ears went that adorable shade of red, but before he could defend the privacy of their sex life, his phone chimed from his back pocket.

  “Sorry,” he said, pulling it out. “Thought I had it on vibrate.”

  “Tell me more,” David said lasciviously. “I do like to hear about new uses for toys.”

  Brandon laughed, turning even redder, but instead of a comeback, he set his wineglass down on the counter and shook his head. “Sorry, it’s… work,” he said, heading out of the kitchen. “I’ve got to take it.”

  A little frisson of anxiety moved through Shane, but he did his best to brush it off. The way Brandon had claimed “work” made him think it really meant something about Peter, and Shane hated that his past with Peter was interfering with what he’d found now with Brandon.

  “Seriously,” David said, his voice dropping low as he looked furtively after Brandon. “Even if it’s just a rebound fling between you two, Shane, you totally deserve it. I’ve always thought Brandon was hot.”

  “Oh, really?” Clayton asked, wrapping his arms around David’s waist possessively. “Is that why you’re suddenly pulling out my prosciutto-stuffed chicken?”

  Shane laughed, shaking his head. They could joke all they wanted, but Clayton and David were as solid of a couple as he’d ever seen. They had exactly what he’d always wanted.

  “It’s not a rebound with Brandon, and it’s definitely not a fling. It’s the real thing. I love him.”

  David grinned at him, but, for once, he didn’t try to make a joke about it. “I know, sweetie, and I’m glad you know it, too. Like I said, it’s about damn time.”

  “Time for what? Dinner?” Brandon asked, coming back into the room with a smile that probably fooled everyone else. There was a strain in his eyes, though, that immediately had the hair on the back of Shane’s neck standing up.

  “Almost,” David answered. “So please don’t tell me that your work call is going to interfere.”

  “Nope,” Brandon said, popping another appetizer into his mouth and not meeting Shane’s eyes.

  David drummed his fingers on the counter, then he sighed, looking a little crestfallen. “Dang it. I was hoping it would be something dramatic and we’d all have to hide out in the panic room or something.”

  “We don’t have a panic room, babe,” Clayton said with an indulgent smile.

  “Well, the pantry would do in a pinch. No windows, lots of food. We’d be set.”

  “The door doesn’t lock.”

  “Details,” David said dismissively, waving the comment off. “Besides, Brandon would protect us, right?”

  Brandon had been smiling along with their banter, but Shane wasn’t fooled. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yep,” Brandon said, pulling Shane against his side and planting a kiss on his temple.

  “Was it about Peter?”

  Brandon gave a noncommittal shrug, picking his wine back up for a conveniently timed sip that allowed him not to answer.

  Shane turned to face him. “Brandon, quit it. You know I love you, and I’m sure you have a really good reason for trying to be evasive, but I’ve known you practically my whole life. You know that shit isn’t going to fly.”

  Bran
don sighed, putting the glass down as Clayton and David looked on with avid attention.

  “It’s really nothing, honey,” Brandon said, smoothing Shane’s hair back from his forehead with a complete disregard for the twenty minutes Shane had spent in the bathroom getting it right.

  Forgiven, though, because he was also looking at Shane with enough loving sincerity to make up for it.

  “It was my friend Jase, and the call was more about Kelly Davis than Peter,” he said. “It was just an update, though. No new developments. Jase has got Kelly stashed somewhere out of the way. And I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you, Shane, I just didn’t want to ruin the night by talking about unpleasant things.”

  “Nothing can ruin the night,” Shane said, forgetting about their audience for a minute. “Not when I’m with you.”

  Brandon smiled at him, his eyes holding every promise Shane could hope for.

  Shane leaned in, but an overly dramatic sigh from the peanut gallery reminded him of where they were.

  “Oh, don’t stop on my account,” David said, waving his hand at them as if to urge them closer together. “This is better than a movie on the lifetime channel.”

  Shane laughed and flipped him off, but Brandon just grinned… and kissed him.

  Much to David’s extremely vocal delight.

  “It is better,” Brandon whispered before he pulled away. “Because it’s real.”

  Shane grinned, taking the dishes David handed him and obediently trooping after his friends into the dining room. Laughing along with them as they laid out the food and gossiped about the latest drama at Opulence and generally enjoyed the heck out of the evening.

  Not least of which because he was there with Brandon.

  Their love really was the real thing, and—as Shane ignored the annoying vibration of yet another text message coming through on his old phone—he knew for sure that it was going to last. Normally, he didn’t have nearly the patience with life that Brandon did, but when it came to the two of them, it was different. He could wait to shout it from the rooftops, could put up with a few more days or weeks or, hell, even months of this cloak and dagger game, if he had to, because he knew Brandon wasn’t going anywhere.

  And, really, what was a little more time after ten years of thinking it was never going to happen? Especially when he knew for sure that this was it. He’d been made to love Brandon.

  Forever, full stop.

  And fuck Peter if he thought he could get in the way of that.

  Chapter 16

  Brandon

  “Hi, honey,” Beverly Byrne said with a wide smile, pulling Brandon into a quick hug as soon as he walked in.

  It wasn’t the first time Shane had come to his parents’ house with him for dinner, but—just like when they’d gone over to Clayton and David’s house the other night—it felt different to show up as a couple.

  Better.

  Right.

  His mom gave him a final squeeze, then pulled back, turning to Shane with a welcoming grin. Instead of greeting him, though, her eyes widened—gaze locked onto Brandon’s hand, wrapped around Shane’s—and her mouth fell open in a comical “O.”

  “What’s this?” she asked, finally dragging her eyes away from their entwined fingers to meet his eyes.

  He wouldn’t have thought her smile could have gotten any wider, but somehow she managed it, beaming as she looked back and forth between the two of them.

  She turned to Shane without giving Brandon a chance to answer. “Shane, I’ve missed seeing you around here, sweetheart, please tell me I’m not imagining things. Have you finally decided that you should be more than just an honorary Byrne?”

  Shane grinned, and Brandon stifled a groan. A snicker sounded from across the room, and he looked over to see Gabe leaning against the arm of the couch. Brandon shot him an accusing look. Somehow he’d assumed Gabe would have broken the news about the change in his relationship status before they’d shown up, but he should have known better.

  Gabe looked like he was having too much fun.

  “What?” Gabe mouthed silently, shrugging with an overexaggerated air of innocence. He sauntered over, throwing an arm around their mother’s shoulder. “Good news, eh, Mom? I know you’ve always liked little Shaney, haven’t you?”

  “I adore Shane,” she said, wrapping an arm around Shane’s waist as if to prove her point.

  “It’s mutual, Mama Bev,” Shane said, laughing down at her. “Does this mean you approve?”

  “She’s only gonna say yes if you promise to give her some grandbabies,” Gabe said, winking. “I’m sure you two can figure something out, though. Right, bro?”

  “Oh my goodness,” Beverly said, looking like she was about to swoon. “I would be over the moon if you two adopted some babies. You’ve always been so good for Brandon, Shane. You’ve got to tell me everything. Last I heard he was taking Jacob Hansen out for dinner, but, I’ll be honest, I’d much rather have you for a son-in-law.”

  “Hey, now, Ma,” Gabe said, giving her a mock frown as she started to pull Shane toward the kitchen. “I’m all for welcoming Shane to the family, but no need to disparage Little Jakey.”

  “Oh, you,” she said, flapping a hand at him dismissively. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Shane laughed, and, for a moment, Brandon considered trying to save him from the third-degree he knew his mother was about to unleash. Shane had known his family long enough to hold his own, though. Brandon might have worried about his mom’s enthusiasm scaring someone else off, but Shane didn’t look scared. On the contrary, he followed her into the kitchen as if he was just as excited to share the news as she was to hear it, chattering away happily with a PG version of their current living arrangement.

  Brandon grinned. The truth was, he’d love to make Shane more than an honorary Byrne.

  “Dude, stop mooning after him like a lovesick fool,” Gabe said. “You already sealed the deal. No need to overdo it.”

  “Whatever,” Brandon said, unable to wipe the smile off his face. “Talk to me when you finally fall for someone, Gabe.”

  Gabe snorted, shaking his head. Their older brother, Matt, had settled down with his childhood sweetheart. Brandon had lost his heart at seventeen. Gabe, though, just didn’t seem to be wired for long-term commitments.

  A knock sounded on the front door behind him, and, with his mother otherwise occupied and his father nowhere to be seen, Brandon turned to answer it. To his surprise, Gabe beat him to it, yanking it open and looking like he’d suddenly been possessed with an odd, jittery excitement. As soon as it swung open, though, Gabe morphed into an elaborate version of his more familiar casual nonchalance.

  Brandon narrowed his eyes speculatively as he watched his brother shove his hands deep into the pockets of his ever-present cargo shorts and rock back on his heels. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was up, but Gabe was definitely acting weird.

  Gabe had been home for weeks on an extended leave, but he’d be heading back to Camp Pendleton in the morning. He was the one Byrne who’d decided to make his military service into a career, but now, with the peculiar air of restlessness he was giving off, Brandon had to wonder if Gabe was really happy with that choice. Was his imminent departure why he seemed so edgy?

  “Hey, Little Jakey,” Gabe said, leaning against the doorframe as he addressed their guest. “I didn’t think you were gonna make it. That hot date fall through?”

  He greeted Jacob with a grin cocky enough to make Brandon wonder if he’d just been imagining things. Gabe seemed normal enough now, although… what on earth was Jacob Hansen doing here? Brandon had thought this farewell dinner was just going to be family and a few close friends.

  Jacob sighed dramatically as he walked in. “Don’t even get me started on that,” he said, going straight for the coat closet with a familiarity that made Brandon’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Jacob seemed right at home in the Byrne household. There was no way this was the first time he�
��d visited.

  “Hi, Jacob,” Brandon said, his curiosity ramping up. “How have you been?”

  “Oh, hey, Brandon,” Jacob said, looking slightly startled. “I didn’t notice you there. And great, thanks, if you don’t count me suffering through yet another miserable date.”

  Gabe laughed, and Jacob turned bright red.

  “Um, I mean, uh, sorry, Brandon,” he all but stammered. “Not that going out with you was miserable, of course. But, good Lord, why I let my mother set me up with someone else, I don’t know.”

  “’Cause you’re desperate for a good man,” Gabe teased.

  “Yeah, plus horny as fuck. Oh, sorry, Brandon,” Jake added, lowering his voice with a sheepish glance after the f-bomb. “Your mom around?”

  “Don’t worry about her, Little Jakey,” Gabe said, slinging an arm around Jacob’s shoulders. “You know I’ve got your six.”

  “I swear, if you don’t stop calling me ‘Little Jakey’ I’m going to slap you. Jake, okay? Just Jake.”

  “Not Jacob?” Brandon asked, feeling like a heel. “You should have said something when I took you to dinner.”

  Jacob looked a bit embarrassed, but just shrugged. “Jacob’s fine. I mean, it’s what my mother calls me. But yeah, I usually go by Jake.”

  “Which, I might point out, is exactly what I call you,” Gabe said, grinning. “Little Jakey.”

  “Jesus, Gabe. I think I might actually hate you. Do I have to keep reminding you that I’m not ten years old anymore?”

  “Nope. No way I could forget when you keep telling me how horny you are.” Gabe snickered. He still had an arm around Jacob’s—Jake’s—shoulders, and he tugged him against his side, giving him a noogie and messing up what Brandon recognized as very carefully styled hair.

  Jake pushed Gabe off, turning red. “You’re impossible. I don’t know why I bothered to show up.”

  “’Cause you’re going to miss me,” Gabe teased, wrapping an arm around his shoulders again. “Admit it.”

  “No.”

  “Admit it,” Gabe said again in a sing-song voice, squeezing Jake against his side.