Tristan used his arms to push up and lift his chest off the desk. Dylan groaned as his softening cock slipped from Tristan’s body. He hated the loss of their connection. His lover turned in his arms and captured his mouth with a lingering kiss. “I love you too, Dylan Reeves,” Tristan breathed against his lips. Tristan’s mouth was on his, kissing him hard. He curled his hand in Tristan’s tie and tugged him closer. Their flaccid cocks rubbed together as they lovingly feasted on each other’s mouth.
“God, if you could see how sexy you are right now,” Dylan growled into the kiss. Tristan pulled back and looked at him.
“Please say you’ll come back to the hotel and stay with me tonight.”
Dylan smiled. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”
“Good. Now that that’s settled”—Tristan turned around, grabbed a tissue off Dylan’s desk, and looked down at Dylan’s free hand. His brow lifting as he spoke—“you’re not touching me again, until you get that mess off your hand.”
“No fair…it’s yours!” Dylan started laughing and reached for the tissue to wipe the sticky wetness off his fingers. “I almost grabbed your tie with that hand. Good thing I caught myself, huh?”
“The tie is one thing, but accidently running that hand through my hair is another.” Tristan winked at him and straightened the tie around his neck. “How about we go back to the hotel, and I’ll let you grab my tie all you want.”
“Deal.” Dylan tossed the tissue into the trash then pulled him in for a playful kiss.
“Mom, I promise I’ll leave if it looks like there’s gonna be any trouble. I got a primo parking spot in front of the rally. I can be back to the car in a few minutes,” Chloe said with her hand on the lifted trunk, waiting for Allison to grab the poster boards they’d created after she got home from her father’s big merger celebration.
“I gotta go, Mom, stop worrying! I’m smarter about everything now. I’ll text you and keep you updated. Love you, bye,” she said, ending the call right there before her mom could go on and on about the importance of keeping her record clean at this stage of her college career. That was the only thing either of her parents ever worried about. How her actions would affect her future. Like activism was a bad thing.
“She over-worries. So do my parents. They were like freaking out that I’m coming here tonight,” Allison said, handing Chloe her sign. She gripped the poster board tight and slammed the trunk shut, clicking the key fob to make sure all the doors were locked.
“I know, right? My mom’s like telling me all this stuff about police records and looking for a job someday,” Chloe said, pushing her too long bangs out of her face. She abruptly came to a halt, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, just north of city hall in downtown Dallas where tonight’s equality rally had been planned. She bent over, placing her sign between her legs as she pulled her long hair into a ponytail with the rubber band at her wrist. The bangs immediately slipped free and fell right back in her eyes. Frustration ensued, drowning out all those lucky feelings she’d had at finding this perfect spot to park so close to the rally.
Sweat trickled down her back as she shoved the bangs aside. May in Texas wasn’t good on the hair or the personal body odors all that sweat caused. She grabbed her designer sunglasses from her purse and slung the bag across her body.
“My parents don’t care about that. They’re so dumb. They’re still saying gay marriage is against moral conduct. What about the weed my dad smokes all the time? Think most people consider that morally correct? No,” Allison said, full of attitude. That was a family secret. Something Allison herself wasn’t supposed to even know about.
“My parents aren’t sanctimonious. They’re actually the other end of the spectrum. They don’t say anything about gay rights at all and that’s wrong of them. I don’t know when they became so status quo. The mayor of this city needs to take a stand and stop riding the fence!” Chloe demanded, building herself up for the march over the next few hours. She grabbed her sign right as a voice in a bullhorn started to speak.
“Come on! We’re late!” She took off running for the rally where several hundred people had gathered. She declared her intention. Ready to stay and fight until the bitter end regardless of what her mom had to say. Bring on the brigade; she was ready and willing to go down for this cause.
Seven hours later, Chloe was still marching in a circle in front of Dallas city hall. The evening heat had done a number on her body. She was certain she was one of those hot smelly messes she’d worried about before. Her voice cracked, her throat raw as she yelled the all night chant, ‘gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right!’ Her arms ached at holding the sign high in the air and she swore the thin poster board felt like a million pounds weighing down on her tight shoulders.
Yet through it all, those police lining the street fueled her momentum. She stood ready to fight. Her spine was stiff with indignation. Everyone should have equal rights. As far as she was concerned, every person in Dallas should be out here demanding they all be treated equal.
“You’ve been here all night! What’s your name?” A guy wearing an event badge came up beside her, stopping her chant as he motioned for her to step to the side of the large crowd. Only then did she lower her past-exhausted arms and dig the water bottle from her purse. The relief was audible as the moisture coated her aching throat.
“I’m Chloe Reeves.” Her voice cracked again.
“I’m Jake. Can you be back here in the morning like by eight? We want to organize better for next week,” he yelled loudly to be heard over the others still shouting the rallying cry.
“Yeah, I can be here. I go to OU, but I’m transferring up north because I’m sick of this Southern oppression. People should have rights!” she yelled back adamantly and that caused him to smile big. She’d found a kindred spirit in Jake.
“Good! We need people like you. Go home now and get some rest. We’re about to call it a night. We shut the bars down and got more people here because of the news. It’s what we wanted, but be back here in the morning,” he called out, taking several steps back to his position on the front steps. “We’re meeting right here so they can see us planning while they’re all coming in to work!”
She smiled big, her inner energy filled with pride. She was already moving up to the planning committee. Somehow that validated everything she held dear in her world. This did make a difference tonight. They had given this community something to think about and tomorrow they’d start over again! With a fire burning deep inside her soul, she headed to the small grassy hill that Allison had crashed on hours ago. She’d burned out early and gone on a man hunt. Those didn’t seem the right priorities in something this important to the future of their country. She might have to rethink bringing Allison to future events.
As Chloe scanned the crowd lying on the grass, she spotted Allison on a blanket, curled up next to some guy. She wasn’t certain how she picked one of the only straight men there tonight, but Chloe had never seen the guy before.
“Hey, you!” Allison called out, patting the blanket beside her. Chloe eyed the guy closely because Allison would seriously just think anyone was okay to spend time with. Collapsing on the blanket took her mind off the guy that looked to be pretty normal, at least he styled the swoosh in the front part of his hair correctly.
All thought vanished as she stretched out her tired, aching legs in front of her. She dropped her arms to her sides and closed her eyes. Protesting was exhausting work.
It occurred to her that a gay rally was probably not the best place to pick up girls. She opened her eyes and turned her head toward Allison and the guy, wondering what he was doing here. Maybe he had a gay brother or sister and decided to support them. How cool was that? Man, she wished Chad would turn out gay.
“Chloe, meet Jacob. He has classes with me,” Allison said.
“Hey,” she said, and her voice cracked. “Where’s some water?” Chloe asked, closing her eyes again, less worried about her friend
since she knew the guy from school.
“Here you can have mine,” Allison offered, handing hers over. Chloe opened her eyes and propped herself on one elbow to take a long drink.
“Hey, I want you to know your dad’s a pretty cool guy. He’s why I’m here tonight,” Jacob explained, a big grin in place. He stared at Chloe as he said the words, but they made no sense. She looked over at her friend to find out why Allison’s dad, Jack, had all of a sudden become a reason to attend tonight’s rally.
“What did he do to make you come here?” Chloe asked, giggling a little at Allison’s expense, the pain of her body now completely forgotten as they both turned toward Jacob. Allison looked as confused as she felt.
“He’s just a good guy. Him and his boyfriend. They shouldn’t have to hide—” Chloe cut him off in mid-sentence.
“Wait, what? Go back.” Chloe snapped forward as Allison pulled back a little. They both stared at Jacob, but Chloe just knew they were about to get some good dirt on Allison’s family.
“Where did you meet her dad?” Allison asked.
“I wait tables at Five Sixty and got an offsite gig. Your dad was pretty cool. It’s not right they had to have dinner in their room and hide. When I saw them on the news today, I kind of got how wrong and unfair this all is.”
“Why was your dad on the news today?” Chloe asked Allison.
“He wasn’t,” Allison answered very quietly. Jacob started working with his phone, lifting it between the two of them to show her a picture of her family, along with Tristan, Rob, and David on the front page of WilderNation.
“That’s you, right? I recognized you right away tonight. I was going to come over and introduce myself and tell you to thank your dad for the big tip. But then I saw you with Allison and realized you were friends. It’s a small world for sure.”
Two things happened simultaneously. Jacob showed Allison another picture on his phone, and Chloe sat there completely dumbfounded, trying to make sense of Jacob’s words. She watched Allison’s face change as she looked down at his phone. Her eyes widened as she stared at the image.
“Is it Rob or David? I bet David!” Chloe grabbed for the phone as the screen turned dark. She did have a gay man in her life! She’d fight this cause for him. “Turn it back on! Which one is it?” Jacob reached over and tapped the side button. The screen lit up as she grinned from ear to ear and stared down at a picture of her father sitting at a table with Tristan. They were both in profile, talking to each other as Tristan held her dad’s hand on top of the table.
Chloe stared at the screen, unbelieving, until it went dark again. Reality slowly crept in. She hit the screen button again, bringing the picture back up. “Is this your only picture?”
This didn’t make sense at all. She looked up at Jacob who was taking the phone from her hand. He now carried the same bewildered look they all had.
“It doesn’t make me gay that I have that. They were just cool guys and successful and great tippers,” Jacob rambled, tucking his phone in his pocket, looking away from both girls. Which was a good thing because Chloe was having a complete out of body experience. She looked over to see Allison standing, panic on her face, and holding all of their belongings. She must have been down on this blanket for a while.
“Where are your keys? I’m driving,” Allison said, holding out a hand to help her up. Everything centered into Chloe in that moment. She grabbed Allison’s hand, using her as an anchor to the turbulent storm raining down on her overtaxed thought processes.
“That was my dad.” In her mind, she thought she whispered those words to Allison, but by the look on her friend’s face, she’d just made everything worse.
“Let’s go. Where are your keys?” Allison asked, trying to tug Chloe along toward her car.
“She didn’t know?” Jacob asked, immediately standing beside them. “Oh man, I ruined their secret?” Allison took hold of Chloe’s arm, moving her swiftly to the car.
“Was he there all night?” Chloe asked.
“Tell your dad I’m sorry. Allison, tell him I’m sorry,” Jacob said, following along behind them.
“Stop talking, Chloe. Just stop. You don’t know anything,” Allison hissed in her ear, dragging Chloe faster toward the car. “Jacob, go away.”
“My dad’s gay or at least bi, Allison. He was holding Mr. Wilder’s hand like that wasn’t the first time,” she said, every aspect of that picture seared into her memory in vivid detail. Allison stopped them a few feet from the car. They were all alone, and she turned Chloe to face her. Allison, her very best friend in the world, looked worried as she moved the hair out of her face.
“Whatever happens, I promise we’ll get through it. I’ll always be there for you, no matter what,” Allison said.
“Is that what you saw when you looked at that picture?” Chloe asked and stared at her friend, trying to gauge her reaction. She begged for anything that helped her deny what her eyes had seen so clearly. Except she and Allison were too close. They didn’t need words said between them. “I need to call my mom.”
“You need to think about this. Not react on every impulse like you always do, Chloe Reeves. This is a lot to process and it’s big. It’s life-changing big,” Allison advised.
“I need my phone. I have to tell my mom. This is something she needs to know.” Tears poured down Chloe’s face as she realized the burden she was about to place on her mother. She dug for her phone through the things in Allison’s arms only to remember she had it in the back pocket of her shorts.
“Are you sure you have to do this right now?” Allison begged her to stop by placing a hand over hers as she dialed. Both girls stared wide-eyed down at the phone in Chloe’s hand as Teri’s tired voice echoed on the other end of the line.
Chloe needed her mom more than anything right now. Tears slid down her face, and she lifted the phone to her ear.
“Mom, I have something to tell you,” Chloe said, tears were in her voice as she looked directly at Allison who stood shaking her head at Chloe.
“Are you crying?” Teri asked.
“Yes, Mom. I have something to tell you. You need to listen to what I say, because I don’t want to repeat this again.” Allison stopped moving her head and stared at Chloe.
“Where are you?” Her mother’s voice radiated concern. Chloe was about to rock her world. She had to be strong for her mom right now.
“Are you listening, Mom?” she asked, leveling out her tone.
“Chloe, what’s wrong?”
“Mom, Dad has a boyfriend. It’s Mr. Wilder. I think that means he’s gay. I saw it with my own eyes,” Chloe said and dropped down, clutching her knees with her arm as she gripped the phone tightly. “Oh god, I just betrayed Dad. I should have called him first.” The tears were flowing in earnest now.
“Calm down, Chloe. Tell me where you are,” Teri stated, the concern gone, her voice taking on a harder edge not near the meltdown she’d expected from a women who found out her husband was gay.
Denial. She’d read about this in her psychology course. Her mom was definitely in denial.
“Mom, I’m sorry. Allison said I shouldn’t tell you. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but it’s true.”
“Are you with Allison—hand her the phone,” Teri instructed firmly. Chloe lifted her hand in the general direction she thought Allison was standing. Her mom probably needed the confirmation and Allison had seen that picture too. She rocked on her feet as she listened to them talk.
“Yes, ma’am,” she heard Allison say. There were a couple more yeses before she felt Allison slipping an arm around her. “Come on, I need to take you straight home so your mom doesn’t come down here to get you.”
Teri pushed herself up on the mattress. The lamp light was on and her e-reader lay on its side close to the edge of the bed where she’d fallen asleep reading. She looked at the clock on the nightstand beside her and lowered the phone to her lap. It was already three thirty in the morning.
This was enough. This
lie needed to have ended a long time ago.
She never wanted her children to find out this way. Her dreams of a carefully planned vacation with a family meeting scheduled somewhere in the middle were finally dashed—the one dream she’d always looked forward to in ending this farce she and Dylan had created. She sighed deeply. If she were honest with herself, that dream had been destroyed four months ago.
The nausea started again, perhaps a little early this morning under all the stress, and she reached over to the nightstand to pull out a packet of crackers while gently rubbing her belly. She tried to soothe herself. To find comfort in the barely there bulge of the baby growing inside her. Her new little one was a surprise, and proof birth control wasn’t a hundred percent effective. This was Mark’s baby, and no one knew, not even him.
On instinct rather than steadfast certainty, she abandoned the crackers and called Dylan first. The phone rang four times before he answered in a groggy, exhausted voice. She cringed for him. He’d had a huge day, and he deserved to have that day without this coming down on top of him.
“Dylan, I need you to come home. Chloe knows. I’m getting the kids up now. We need to talk,” she said, quickly and efficiently.
“What?” His voice was still gravelly with sleep, but clearing. “She knows?”
“Yes,” she said, still keeping her resolve.
“I’m on my way.” She could hear Tristan in the background questioning him until the phone disconnected. She sat there a minute more, staring at her cell before she called Mark. Based on the time, she had about twenty minutes to dress and get Chad and Cate downstairs before Dylan or Chloe could make it home. Mark answered on the first ring. It was just like him to do that.
“Hi, baby.” He’d been asleep too, but always okay with whatever she had in mind.
“I’m sorry to wake you.” Her voice cracked a little under the weight of this moment. Where Dylan was her best friend, Mark had become her rock. She wasn’t certain she knew that until this very moment.
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