Happy Endings [Cedar Falls 20] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Shea Balik

  Zane burst out laughing. “What were you trying to make?”

  There was a scowl on Jesse’s face. “Lasagna. You know, they really should warn you that if you fill the casserole dish all the way to the top, some of it will spill over and get on the burners. I mean, that’s what the casserole dish is there for, right? To keep the lasagna from spilling.” Then he sighed. “I should have just stuck with spaghetti.”

  According to Zane, spaghetti was the one dish Jesse made well every time.

  “Anyway,” Jesse said with a wave of his hand. “I heard a few rumors at the pub and decided I’d come eat dinner with you two.”

  Aidan had been hearing what the mayor was saying about Lakyn so he already knew why Jesse had come to him. “I already know and I’ve contacted corporate to see about opening a spa at the casino.”

  Jesse glared at him. “That was my idea. How dare you take it?” Suddenly Jesse stood up, the chair scraping on the floor. “That was just rude.”

  “Isn’t the point that Lakyn will still have a job? Zane asked.

  Jesse opened his mouth, closed it, then pointed a finger at Zane. “Don’t confuse the issue. The point is, this was my idea.” He turned to Aidan. “Got it?”

  Aidan just nodded. He didn’t give a damn who got the credit.

  A grin appeared on Jesse’s face. “Good. See ya,” he said and just like he’d suddenly appeared, Jesse was gone.

  “That man sure knows how to create drama,” Aidan muttered.

  Zane grinned at him. “Yes he does and I, for one, can’t wait to see how he makes the mayor pay for what he’s done to Lakyn.”

  Aidan chuckled. “I imagine the mayor will wish he’d kept his mouth shut when Jesse gets finished with him.”

  So long as it wasn’t directed at Aidan, or Zane, Jesse’s revenge was always fun to witness. The man was inventive, that was for sure.

  Pushing thoughts of Jesse from his mind, he turned back to his husband. “You about done eating?”

  Zane still had most of his plate filled but he saw the sensual smile Aidan sent him and put his fork down. “If it means going to the bedroom for a little dessert, I am.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hard pounding echoed in Lakyn’s brain as he struggled to make sense of what was going on around him. His mouth was so dry, he couldn’t peel his tongue off the roof of his mouth. He tried to open his eyes but light as bright as the sun blinded him and he was forced to close them again.

  More pounding ricocheted around inside his head.

  Please stop.

  He would have said it out loud but since he couldn’t get his mouth to work, he had to settle for thinking it. Even that was too loud, and his mind rebelled. Sleep, he just needed to sleep.

  The pounding sounded again. Three sharp raps against steel. Lakyn didn’t even know he had steel at his house.

  Once more, he opened his eyes. Blurry images of his massage room started to come into focus. Memories of getting a drink at Pour Judgement filtered into his mind. Damn. Lakyn had no idea how he’d gotten to Happy Endings. He must have drunk a lot.

  Three more loud bangs had him turning to get off the massage table he was on. His legs fell off, hitting the floor. But when he tried to stand on them, they wobbled. He gripped the table, trying to steady himself. If the room would have stopped spinning, he might have remained upright, but when it didn’t Lakyn somehow ended in a heap on the floor.

  “Lakyn,” a muffled voice shouted. “I know you’re in there. Open up.”

  Try as he might, Lakyn didn’t recognize the voice. Between it coming from beyond the back door and Lakyn’s brain not exactly functioning correctly, he only knew it was male, probably.

  “Lakyn.”

  Yep, definitely male. Three more bangs had Lakyn holding his head in an effort to keep it from exploding.

  The pain was intense enough to make him forget that the inside of his mouth was the consistency of paste. He opened it to yell for the person to stop and ended up tearing off a chunk of skin from the roof of his mouth. “Fuck,” he tried to yell, but it sounded more like a croak.

  The pounding grew more insistent as the voice became more panicked. “Lakyn if you don’t open this door, I’m calling the police.”

  Lakyn sighed as he put a hand on the table to try and stand. But he was just too weak to make the effort worth it. Instead, he crawled. It wasn’t far, as his massage room was next to the back door.

  When he got there, he had to stretch his arm up to reach the deadbolt. The moment it released, the door he was using to lean on opened, and Lakyn ended up sprawled half inside and half outside on the pavement with Gabriel staring down at him.

  Great. Just what he needed. The man he was interested in to see him like this. Was anything going to go right in his life?

  “Gabriel?” A woman called from just beyond where Gabriel stood. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were at work.”

  “I’m just helping a friend, Mom,” Gabriel said. “Why don’t I meet you for lunch?”

  His mom? Fuck. How much bad shit was going to happen to him? Did he break a mirror or something?

  “I’d like to meet your friend,” Gabriel’s mother said as she approached.

  Of course she would.

  “No, Mother,” Gabriel started but it was too late. His mother was there next to them, staring down at a still sprawled Lakyn.

  “Oh, dear,” she said. “Are you okay?” She must have gotten a whiff of him at that moment, for she suddenly covered her nose and mouth with her hand. “Is he drunk at eight in the morning?”

  “What’s everyone doing out here?” Zoey said as she strode up to them from the parking lot. “Oh, Lakyn, got drunk again, huh?”

  Gabriel’s mother’s eyes widened. “Again? Does he do this often?” She leaned over to whisper way too loudly for Lakyn not hear. “He’s not a good friend, is he Gabriel?”

  Lakyn closed his eyes and prayed as hard as he could that when he opened them he’d be in fiery pits of hell instead. It would be preferable to where he was at the moment. Too bad when he opened them it was to find the same three pair of eyes staring down at him.

  * * * *

  This wasn’t exactly how Gabriel had wanted to introduce Lakyn to his mother. After spending the day with her, she had come to accept his decision to run Jesse’s campaign. Even though she still thought Jesse was touched in the head—her words not his—she agreed his ideas were quite brilliant.

  “Wait a minute,” his mother said as Gabriel was trying to help Lakyn to his feet. “Lakyn? Isn’t that the man you told me about last night?”

  The horror in her eyes was evident as she watched Lakyn lean heavily against him since he couldn’t seem to stand on his own two feet. Gabriel had to turn his head from Lakyn as the alcohol smell pouring from his mouth was so strong Gabriel feared he’d get drunk just from smelling it.

  “Yes, Mother. This is Lakyn Voss, the man I’ve been dating.” When Lakyn tried to put his hand out for her to shake, he miscalculated and ended up unbalancing himself even further. Gabriel was nearly knocked to the ground but managed, just barely, to keep them both upright.

  “Oops,” Lakyn giggled.

  Zoey giggled, too. “Oh, this is classic. Wait until I tell Jesse.” Then she raced inside. Gabriel was sure the first thing she did was make that call to Jesse.

  “Gabriel, I think I’m going to go to that lovely diner I saw on Main for some breakfast.” His mother frowned at Lakyn before looking at Gabriel. “Why don’t you get Lakyn cleaned up and we can meet for lunch a little later?”

  Relieved he’d only have to deal with one catastrophe at a time, Gabriel agreed. When his mother left, he helped Lakyn to Gabriel’s car so he could take him home and get him in the shower. Gabriel wasn’t sure he could stand to be around Lakyn much longer otherwise. He reeked.

  “Mind telling me why you decided to destroy your liver?” Gabriel asked after they were in the car.

  When Lakyn didn’t answer, Gab
riel looked over to find him staring out the passenger side window. “Jesse told me what happened with your clients yesterday.”

  Nothing. No response. Not even a gesture.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Gabriel tried again.

  Still nothing.

  Not sure he could really offer much hope, Gabriel tried anyway. “Jesse said he’s come up with a plan to help. He wouldn’t give me the details yet but he was hoping to talk to you by the end of the day.”

  “Is there a reason you didn’t want to introduce me to your mother?” Lakyn asked out of the blue.

  “Huh? What are you talking about? I just did introduce you.” In fairness, he was pretty sure Lakyn was still drunk from the night before, so he might not remember.

  “Only because she happened to see us.” Lakyn light blue eyes were filled with misery as he turned to look at Gabriel. “If that hadn’t have happened, would I have met her?”

  Gabriel had no idea where this was going, or even why Lakyn thought he didn’t want his mother to meet Lakyn, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. “Of course you would have met her. Why do you think I didn’t want her to meet you?”

  Those blue eyes were still so sad, all Gabriel wanted to do was pull Lakyn into his arms. “Then why didn’t you invite me to dinner with the two of you last night?”

  Now Gabriel was starting to understand, sort of. “Because it was the first time my mother and I were actually talking without her trying to dictate my life to me.” Not that she didn’t try on occasion, but Gabriel quickly put a stop to it each time she attempted it. “I guess, I thought she and I had things to talk about before she met you, but I promise you, I had every intention of you two meeting each other.”

  Lakyn didn’t look convinced.

  “If you remember, she knew who you were the moment Zoey said your name this morning. That’s because I had already told her about you.” Gabriel wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say to convince Lakyn. “Probably why she invited us to lunch even though she just saw you falling down drunk. She already knows how important you are to me.”

  Gabriel put his blinker on and turned into Lakyn’s driveway. When he stopped the car, he turned to face the man he was falling for. “I’m not sure where this is all coming from, but I swear to you, what happened between us the other night was just as special to me as it was to you.” Gabriel was willing to put himself out there if it meant having a chance with Lakyn. “I know we’ve only just started to get to know one another but I’m hopeful this will lead to a future…together.”

  Slowly the sadness in Lakyn’s eyes seeped away and hope started to brighten them. “Really?”

  Gabriel smiled and reached over to cup Lakyn’s face with his hand. “Very much so.” Then he leaned over and kissed those lips he’d been dreaming of since yesterday morning, only to cringe when he got a taste of Lakyn’s soured breath. “But maybe you could brush your teeth and take a shower before we try that again.”

  Lakyn laughed. “That bad?”

  Gabriel nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  “I’ll be just a minute,” Lakyn promised before opening his door and racing to the house.

  Gabriel leisurely followed in his wake. He’d already had a shower, but there was no reason he couldn’t take another.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The need to throw up was becoming harder and harder to tamp down as Lakyn walked across Peachtree. The combination of being hung over and nerves at having to meet Gabriel’s mother for lunch after their horrible introduction that morning was causing his stomach to revolt.

  The light turned green and Lakyn crossed Main. They were meeting at The Collared Pup and, as if he needed any help to make a bad impression, he was running late. It wasn’t his fault his last client took an extra ten minutes to get dressed after their session. But that wasn’t going to matter to Gabriel and his mother. They would only know that not only did he get falling down drunk, but that he wasn’t someone to arrive on time.

  Being on time was something Lakyn prided himself on. Unfortunately, too many times his clients made that an impossibility with their inability to get moving. If Happy Endings had the room, Lakyn would put in another massage room, just so his next client could start undressing while he waited for the first client to leave.

  Opening the door to the pub, Lakyn wasn’t sure if he was relieved or even more nervous to find Jesse, Ethan, Flynn, Griffith, Zane, Aidan, Stone, Tag, and Ryder there having lunch just one table from Gabriel and his mother. They would most assuredly take some of the pressure off the conversation, but on the other hand, they wouldn’t allow the three of them to get to know one another, either.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Lakyn apologized. “But I had to wait for the client to leave so I could lock up.”

  Gabriel stood and gave him a quick kiss to the lips. “That’s okay. The gang has been keeping us entertained with some of their exploits.”

  Jesse gave Lakyn a wink. “And if weren’t for Lakyn’s magic hands to fix our sore muscles after some of those exploits, we would all be crippled by now.”

  The gang chuckled but fully agreed with Jesse.

  “Mother,” Gabriel said. “I’d like you to meet Lakyn Voss. Lakyn, I’d like you to meet my mother, Elizabeth.”

  Lakyn, who was still standing, held out his hand. He let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding when Elizabeth took it. “It’s lovely to meet you, Lakyn. I hope you’re feeling better this afternoon.”

  As he took his seat next to Gabriel and across from Elizabeth, Lakyn could feel his cheeks heat up. “Uh, yes, thank you for asking. I want to apologize for how I was…uh…well…” Lakyn found himself stumbling to find the right word.

  “Drunk,” Gabriel’s mother provided.

  Lakyn’s cheeks burned. “Yeah. That. I don’t normally drink so much, but let’s just say it was a bad day.”

  Elizabeth stared at him for several moments, and Lakyn suddenly knew what it felt like to be an insect under a microscope. He found himself shifting uncomfortably on his seat as sweat popped up along the back of his neck.

  “Mother, stop it,” Gabriel warned. “Lakyn doesn’t have to explain himself to you.”

  His mother’s dark brown eyes glanced at her son before zeroing in on Lakyn once more. “I’m your mother. If you two are planning on dating, he most certainly does need to explain himself. I won’t have my son dating an alcoholic.”

  “He’s not an alcoholic, Mother. Stop overreacting or I’ll have to ask you to cut your trip short.” Gabriel’s words were softly spoken but the steel behind them had Lakyn staring at him in wonder.

  He hadn’t expected Gabriel to stand up to his own mother for him. Not that he’d actually given it much thought, but still, she was his mother. As much as he appreciated the gesture, Lakyn also knew he couldn’t get in between them. From what Gabriel had told him, they had a strained relationship at best, but yesterday they had made strides in the right direction. Lakyn wasn’t going to be the reason that was ruined.

  “It’s okay. Gabriel.” Lakyn placed a hand over Gabriel’s, gently squeezing it in reassurance. “She’s just looking out for you.” Then he turned to Elizabeth. “I assure you I am not an alcoholic. That said, yes, on occasion I drink, even to the point of getting drunk, but it isn’t often and usually not to the extent of last night.”

  That was as much as he was going to say about the matter. Either Gabriel’s mother accepted his explanation or she didn’t. So long as Gabriel did, nothing else mattered to Lakyn.

  Elizabeth continued to stare at Lakyn for another minute before she pointedly said, “I only want what is best for my son.”

  Lakyn could understand that. He gave her a tentative smile. “I respect that.”

  When she smiled at him in return, Lakyn’s stomach started to settle.

  “Mrs. McCarthy you can’t sit there,” Betty Sue must have just come in, for Lakyn didn’t see her when he arrived.

  Elizabeth smiled up at Betty
Sue. “Why ever not, dear?”

  Betty Sue whispered loudly enough for everyone in the pub to hear her. “Lakyn is the pervert I was telling you about this morning.”

  “Mom, how do you know Betty Sue?” Gabriel asked.

  Betty Sue’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she gasped, “Mom?”

  Elizabeth said, “I met Betty Sue when I went to The Coffee House for a cup of coffee.”

  Jesse jumped out of his seat and yelled at Bram, who was behind the bar. “Quick, get Elizabeth a shot of Fireball.” Then he turned to Gabriel’s mother. “We may not ever get your taste buds back to normal but we should be able to get that horrible taste out of your mouth with enough liquor.”

  “Hey,” Betty Sue exclaimed with a stomp of her high heels against the tile. “My coffee is good. Right, Mrs. McCarthy?”

  Elizabeth looked at her as if Betty Sue were a bit daft. “Oh dear, I didn’t actually drink that burnt liquid you served me. It was bad enough that it assaulted my sense of smell, I wasn’t about to put it in my mouth.”

  “So do you still need the shot?” Bram asked carrying a shot glass filled to the brim with the amber liquor.

  Elizabeth smiled up at Bram. “No. It won’t be necessary.”

  Jesse’s eyes lit up as he held out his hand. “I’ll take it.”

  Bram set it on the table next to Jesse but before he could grab it, Ethan snatched it up. “No way in hell you’re drinking this.” Then downed it in one gulp.

  “Boy,” Bram said, gazing down at his husband, “what did I tell you about swearing?”

  Ethan grimaced, Lakyn just wasn’t sure if it was from the Fireball, getting caught for swearing, or both. “But the last time Jesse drank Fireball we ended up at the church standing before the altar buck naked singing ‘Jesus Loves Me.’”

  Laughter broke out as several of those sitting at the table started chattering about that night. Lakyn had heard about that night. From the accounts, those that participated had been lucky not to end up in jail.