by Shea Balik
“That doesn’t excuse swearing, boy,” Bram told Ethan.
Ethan sighed heavily. “Yes, sir.”
Bram leaned over his husband and whispered something in Ethan’s ear that had him turning red and putting a smile on his face. “I look forward to it, sir,” Ethan told Bram before turning his head and kissing his husband. Then Bram went back behind the bar with a smile on his face.
“See,” Betty Sue said to Gabriel’s mother. “Getting naked in a church.” Betty Sue’s face scrunched up into disgust. “They are all perverts.”
In this case, Betty Sue probably had a point, but it didn’t change the fact that she was a judgmental bigot who would like to see every one of them run out of town.
Jesse turned to Ryder, who was seated next to him, and said, “Have you ever looked at someone and just imagined holding her head under water?”
Ryder blinked at Jesse.
Jesse’s eyes widened as he seemed to realize what he’d just said, but Lakyn didn’t believe that for a moment. “No? Oh. Me neither,” Jesse said quickly. The wink he sent Lakyn’s way said he knew exactly what he was saying.
Betty Sue gasped. “Are you threatening me, Jesse Grant?”
Jesse’s acting skills went up a notch as he looked over at Betty Sue with complete shock and innocence. “Why, Betty Sue, I would never threaten you. After all, I always mean what I say.” He gave a shrug. “I may not always mean to say it out loud, but I always mean it.”
Lakyn chuckled. That was Jesse. Outrageous. Funny. Sarcastic. Always there when someone needed him.
It was at that moment that Bram and his daughter Bridgette started bringing out platters of food. “Now why don’t you leave us to our lunch, Betty Sue, before we all lose our appetites?” Jesse suggested.
Betty Sue narrowed her eyes at him, clearly intent on making a retort but Elizabeth stopped her by saying, “You might want to go, dear. It’s obvious you’re outmatched, and I would hate for you to get embarrassed even more than you already have.”
Lakyn heard the door open behind him. He turned to see Savannah looking like a beached whale. She had to be about to deliver any day now. Great, things were about to go from bad to worse. Betty Sue might be the Queen Bitch, but Savannah was a close second. Actually, considering she had tried to pin her pregnancy on Brent in order to trap him into marriage because the actual baby daddy was already married, she might have surpassed Betty Sue in that department.
“Savannah, congratulations,” Jesse called out.
Savannah looked at Jesse as if he’d lost his mind. “What are you talking about Jesse?”
He pointed to her stomach. “I assume you’re having twins, or is it triplets?”
Savannah gasped. “This is normal pregnancy weight, Jesse Grant. Don’t you know it isn’t nice to insult a mother-to-be?”
Jesse had that wide-eyed surprised look down pat as he stared at Savannah. “Really? Even though the mother is the bride of Satan?”
The whole pub burst out laughing. Savannah turned around and left. Betty Sue must have planned to have lunch with Savannah, for she raced off after her leaving them blessedly in peace.
Bridgette sent down two platters in the center of Lakyn’s table. “Jesse suggested getting a sampler,” Gabriel said when she left. “That way there was bound to be something you would like and we could order.” Lakyn felt his cheeks heat at being reminded he was late. But Gabriel put his hand over Lakyn’s. “Was that okay?”
Lakyn smiled into those honeyed eyes. “It’s perfect.”
“Good,” Elizabeth said. “Because I for one am hungry.” After putting a few items on her plate, Gabriel’s mother looked right at Lakyn. “Now, Jesse tells me this Mayor Murphy has been slandering your name. Have you thought about suing him?”
Lakyn blinked at her. “Sue the mayor?” he asked a bit stunned.
Elizabeth gave him a nod. “Of course. No one, not even the mayor, has the right to destroy your reputation with lies. If you want, I’d be more than happy to hire a lawyer for you.”
Her offer was generous and completely unexpected. “Why would you do that?”
Elizabeth smiled at Lakyn. “Because my son loves you and that makes you family and no one, not even the pompous ass of a mayor you have here, messes with my family,” Elizabeth proclaimed.
Happiness bubbled up within Lakyn until he was sure his face would crack from the huge smile he wore. Gabriel’s mother considered him family after everything she’d witnessed. That had to be a good sign. But even better than that, she thought her son loved Lakyn. Life wasn’t going to get much better than that.
Chapter Twenty
“Is everyone clear on their objectives?” Gabriel asked.
More than a hundred people nodded or murmured their assent. “We will need more volunteers in September and October to get the word out. So please make sure to have anyone willing to help e-mail me at the address on the front of the binder.”
Gabriel had finally finished the policies Jesse would be running on in the mayoral election in the fall. He also created a plan for each of those policies, not only on how they would be implemented if he were elected, but how to get the word out about each of them to the constituents.
In the coming months, he would schedule events for Jesse to speak at, along with rallies to generate interest. These people that had gathered to help, all friends and family of Jesse’s, were the key to getting Jesse elected. For these were the people who would stand behind Jesse no matter what.
“I would like to thank Jax and Flynn to agreeing to host this barbecue.” Jax had his arm possessively around Flynn. The two were inseparable even after they’d been married for more than a year. Everyone clapped and cheered, as they knew he was about to release them to go eat. “Expect at least one more of these this summer to go over our plans for the fall.”
The aroma of the grilling food wafted over and Gabriel knew it was time to get the show on the road, so to speak. “It is my privilege to introduce to you the next mayor of Cedar Falls, Jesse Grant,” Gabriel said.
Jesse jumped up out of his seat and stood next to Gabriel. “And I want to thank Gabriel for all his hard work in organizing my campaign.” The crowd cheered. “I expect you’ll be hearing a lot from him in the coming months.” There were a few chuckles and groans.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to give some long winded speech,” Jesse assured them, which was met with more cheers. “But I do want to thank you for supporting me. I may not be a typical candidate for mayor, but I do promise, when I’m elected, to do everything in power to make Cedar Falls prosperous once more.”
There were more cheers.
Jesse grinned and even took a bow. “Now let’s eat, and remember to save me some of that cake.”
After another round of cheers and laughter, the crowd dispersed and started lining up at the tables loaded with enough food to serve an army. Considering how many people had shown up, it was a close comparison.
“I can’t believe how many people showed up,” Gabriel said to Jesse.
“Please,” Jesse said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “The people in this town love me. If anything there should have been more.”
Parker chuckled as he came up behind his husband. “That’s my modest angel.” Parker kissed Jesse on the neck.
Jesse happily leaned into Parker’s embrace. “What?” Jesse said. “I’m only speaking the truth.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You would do well to be a bit more modest if you want to win this election.”
Jesse shook his head. “Work, work, work. Do you ever relax and just have fun?”
“No,” Lakyn came up and wrapped an arm around Gabriel’s waist. “He’s so tense, his knots have knots.”
Sadly, Lakyn might have been joking, but it was true. Gabriel had been working so much they had hardly had time to spend together. Thankfully his mother had only stayed a couple of days, or Gabriel wouldn’t have been able to get everything done for this meeting.
“Well, I insist you take the next two days off,” Jesse said.
If only he could. “As great as that sounds…”
Jesse held his hand up to stop him from continuing. “I mean it. I don’t want to see you in the office until Tuesday.” He pointed a finger at Gabriel. “That’s an order, got it?”
Gabriel smiled gratefully. He really could use some time off. “Got it, boss.” He turned to Lakyn. “Apparently I’ve got the next couple of days off. Any suggestions on how I spend it?”
“I think I can come up with something.” Lakyn pressed a kiss to his lips. “Maybe some time out on the deck,” he suggested.
Gabriel liked that idea. “Sounds heavenly. Maybe we could grab a couple of burgers to go,” he said, hoping to start his time off right now.
“Actually, I was hoping to have a word with Lakyn,” Aidan said.
Gabriel hadn’t even heard the man approach. Considering how much he was enjoying being with Lakyn, that wasn’t a surprise.
“Don’t forget, this was my idea,” Jesse told Aidan pointedly.
Gabriel had no idea what was going on, but he had to admit to having his interest piqued. “Do you need me to leave?” he asked, hoping they would let him stay.
Lakyn kept his arm around Gabriel. “Don’t you dare go anywhere,” Lakyn joked. “I don’t want to have to try and find you in this crowd when we’re done.”
“That’s fine with me,” Aidan said. “I would like to offer Lakyn an opportunity to open a second spa.”
Lakyn blinked at Aidan before laughing. “As great as that would be, I’m barely making it with the first one. What makes you think a second location would do any better?”
“Because it would be in the casino,” Jesse said excitedly, beating Aidan to the punch.
Aidan gave a put-upon sigh at Jesse’s interruption. “I have made arrangements to open a spa in Utopia. The CEO isn’t sure it would work, so instead of Utopia running the spa, they would prefer an outside contractor come in. You would own the business and be responsible for all transactions.”
“Would there be enough business?” Lakyn asked cautiously.
“We have quite a few guests who have put in the suggestion of having a spa to make this worth trying.” Aidan wasn’t one to give false hope. “I can’t make any guarantees, and in the beginning we can have limited hours to see if it warrants you being there more.”
As much as Jesse and the others had tried to make up by booking extra sessions, the fact was the cancellations the mayor’s false accusations had created were significant. Lakyn’s finances were suffering and this might just save him from having to get a second job, as Lakyn had feared he might.
“Can I think about it?” Lakyn asked. “Or do you need an answer right away?”
Aidan handed Lakyn a business card. “Call my office and set up an appointment. We’ll discuss the details and any concerns you have.”
Lakyn took the card. “Thank you,” he said with tears shining in his eyes. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
Aidan nodded but Jesse threw his arms around Lakyn. “You’re welcome,” Jesse said. Then he looked over at Gabriel. “I told you I’d fix this.”
Aidan rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else.
“Unc Jesse,” Lily yelled. “I want cake.”
They all turned to find Lily’s mom Chastity holding out a hamburger for Lily to eat, who was refusing to take a bite. “Tell momma I eat cake,” she yelled to her uncle.
Parker curled his lips in to stop himself from laughing. Jesse rolled his eyes at his husband. “This is your fault,” Jesse accused. “You’re the one who keeps trying to eat dessert before dinner.”
Parker leaned over and kissed Jesse. “You know how much I like my sweets, Angel.”
Just like that, Jesse melted. “Yeah, well. I guess I can’t blame you for that.” They kissed again, completely ignoring the screaming Lily and her mother insisting she eat her dinner first.
The scene wasn’t exactly heartwarming with Lily screaming, yet Gabriel still longed for something similar. He’d never thought about having kids until he’d met Lakyn. But now? Now all he could picture was a life with Lakyn and kids running around.
“One day, I hope to have a little girl just like Lily,” he whispered against Lakyn’s ear.
He could hear Lakyn gasp in surprise. “You want kids?”
Gabriel stared into Lakyn’s light blue eyes. His heart was too full not to share what was in it. “With you I do. I love you, Lakyn Voss.”
The tears that had been in Lakyn’s eyes moments before returned and one slid down his cheek. “I love you, too, Gabriel McCarthy.”
As if they were perfectly in sync, they both leaned into each other. Their mouths fused in a kiss that spoke of everything that was in their hearts. As much as he didn’t want to end the sweet kiss, Gabriel wanted to be alone with Lakyn even more.
“Shall we go?” Gabriel asked.
Lakyn smiled at him. “Yes.”
As they turned to leave, Jesse called out. “Hey, where are you two going?”
Lakyn turned his head to give Jesse a grin over his shoulder. “Home. We’re going home.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Did you mean it?” Gabriel couldn’t help but ask. It was all he could think about as they drove.
Lakyn knew exactly what Gabriel was asking for he didn’t hesitate to reach over the middle console and take Gabriel’s hand before answering. “Yes. I know this is soon and maybe we need to decide if we’re ready for such a big step, but I also know I want you in my life, my future.”
Gabriel remained silent until he’d turned into the driveway and put the car in park. Then he turned to Lakyn. “I feel the same way. I don’t want to rush into something and ruin what we have, but at the same time I want to spend all my time with you.”
A smile formed on Lakyn’s handsome face. As always, that smile had a way of stealing Gabriel’s breath and he found it impossible not to restate his feelings. “I love you.”
Lakyn’s lips lifted up even more, stopping Gabriel’s heart with its sheer beauty. “I love you, too.”
They leaned forward, their mouths fusing in a kiss that stole whatever breath Gabriel had remaining in his lungs. But as far as Gabriel was concerned, oxygen was irrelevant so long as it meant Lakyn’s lips were against his own. He would give up his very life for just one kiss from this man who had become his world.
Needing to touch, to feel Lakyn’s body against his own, Gabriel surged forward only to be blocked by the middle console. They both chuckled as they realized they were still in the cramped car even though they had a bed just steps away. Except, like they had every night they had spent together, Gabriel didn’t want to be stuck inside.
No. What Gabriel desired most was to make love to Lakyn under the stars with the soft splashing of the waterfall and stream to lull them to sleep afterward.
As if they were in complete sync with each other, Lakyn reached for the door handle at the same time Gabriel did. The moment they were in front of the car, they came together, one arm wrapped around the other as they walked toward their favorite spot in the world, Lakyn’s front porch.
Words weren’t necessary as they pulled out the mattress and bedding. Working together, they made quick work of preparing their bed.
Then hands reached out, touching, stripping each other of their clothing. Drugging kisses made it harder to pull off their shirts, but they didn’t care. Time meant nothing as they showed with every touch, every gesture, just how much they loved each other.
Only when the need to feel skin against skin became too much did they pull apart to yank their shirts off. “I
want to feel you inside of me,” Lakyn whispered as their lips came back together.
Just the thought of sinking into Lakyn’s body, of feeling his channel clench around his aching cock, squeezing it so perfectly, had Gabriel groaning as he claimed Lakyn’s mouth with his own. Thrusting his tongue inside, Gabriel let it tangle with Lakyn’s, loving how much Lakyn gave as much as he took.
Never in Gabriel’s life had he been so in sync with another as he was with Lakyn. Every touch, every kiss, every sound only inflamed his desire into a fevered pitch. He could get lost in this man and never regret a moment of it.
He reached down and unsnapped Lakyn’s pants. Careful, so as not to get anything caught, he lowered the zipper. Then he slid his hand inside, cupping the bulge that strained against the front of Lakyn’s boxers.
Lakyn’s moan was like music that harmonized with the sounds of nature that were all around them. Wanting to hear more, Gabriel pushed down Lakyn’s pants and boxers, freeing his steely rod.
A groan from deep within Lakyn reached Gabriel’s ears as he wrapped his hand around all that silky flesh. A drop of fluid met his thumb when he skimmed over the head, and Gabriel had to taste.
He dropped to his knees to find Lakyn’s erection proudly jutting from his body. He gave it a few more strokes before leaning forward to lick another drop of fluid that formed at the tip.
Salty sweetness exploded across his taste buds. In an effort to elicit more of the nectar, Gabriel opened his mouth wide and let Lakyn’s dick slid inside. He let the heavy weight sit on his tongue for a moment, loving the feel of his lips stretching wide to take Lakyn in.
In the short time they had been together, Gabriel had found he loved worshipping Lakyn’s body. In fact, he could do it all day and night and never get tired. It was like a wonderland, created just for him.
Every dip and ridge made just for his hands and mouth to discover and draw sounds of pleasure from Lakyn’s sweet mouth. There was no part of Lakyn he hadn’t touched, kissed, or licked, and he knew he would continue to do so gladly for the rest of his life.