by Kallysten
Laughs and chuckles erupted through the circle of friends. Daisy considered them all, amused. “I have a feeling I missed something again.”
Gesturing toward Mike with his empty glass, Brett threw a nasty look at him. “That idiot came in here claiming he and I end up together.”
Mike looked absolutely unabashed. “Well, we might,” he said with a wide smile that gave away he was teasing. “I told you ages ago that I had a crush on you. Maybe you’ll finally see the light some day.”
Brett snorted. “Asshole,” he muttered, but there was more swagger than real heat to the word.
“See?” Mike said, tongue in cheek. “You’re already starting to see things my way!”
They all laughed, even Brett, although he cast a warning glance toward Mike before leaving the room and heading to the balcony. “If you lied, I am so kicking your ass.”
Pointing at Brett with a finger that shook with suppressed laughter, Mike looked at the others as though taking them as witnesses. His grin could hardly have been any wider. “You heard it, too, right? He just said he hopes I didn’t lie, didn’t he?”
Grinning at Mike’s antics, Daisy followed after Brett. When she joined him, he was standing in front of the closed French windows, looking out onto the balcony. Woods had his back to them, and if he was aware of their presence, he did not show it.
Brett’s hand closed on the doorknob, but he didn’t pull the window open. Observing him closely, Daisy tried to figure out why he was hesitating. She wasn’t used to seeing him unsure of himself. “If you don’t want to go…” she said, leaving the rest of it unvoiced.
“I do,” Brett said, then snorted quietly, glancing back toward the dining room. “I’d have gone even if Mike wasn’t playing with my head.”
He didn’t really believe what Mike had said, Daisy realized. She doubted any of them did; it had taken Mike a long time to come out to them, but he now felt comfortable enough to joke about it.
“So why are you still on this side of the glass?” she prodded.
Hands in his pockets, Brett half turned toward her. She had rarely seen him wear such a serious expression. “Have you ever been in love, Daisy?” he asked quietly. “Really in love? With someone you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with?”
Daisy’s first instinct was to reply that she had. Of course she had, like she was sure every single one of her friends had been in love before, without needing the help of a seer to guide them toward the right person. She couldn’t say it, though, not without lying. If her friends had been so sure, they wouldn’t have been here tonight. As for her, it had been a while since she had had anyone in her life, and even then she had known it wouldn’t last.
She gave a small shake of her head. Brett didn’t look or sound surprised in the least.
“Me neither.” He looked back toward Woods on the other side of the window, and dropped his voice just a little more. “What if he doesn’t have a vision to show me?”
He sounded really distraught at the thought, and Daisy rested her hand on his shoulder to try to reassure him. “Of course he’ll have something to show you,” she said, pushing a smile to her lips. “He said everyone he ever read had their happy ending.”
“Everyone?” Brett repeated, still clearly unconvinced. He glanced at her, then drew the window open. “I guess I should go and find out, then, huh?”
He squared his shoulders before stepping outside. Daisy pushed the window closed again, although not completely. She felt a little uneasy, and it wasn’t long before she understood why. Even without meaning to, she had lied to Brett. According to Woods, every person he had given a vision to had found their happy ending, except for Woods himself.
Crossing her arms, she watched Brett offer his hand to Woods, the jerkiness of his gesture when they shook hand betraying his nervousness. His fists were closed as tightly as his eyes when he leaned forward for the kiss that would start the vision, and only after Woods had gently guided him to sit down in a chair did his nervousness finally fade away. Daisy wondered what, in his vision, could be making him smile so widely already.
* * * *
When Brett entered Daisy’s antique store, the bell attached to the top of the door seemed to laugh, the sound as clear as a child’s giggle. It would have made Brett smile even more brightly if he hadn’t already been grinning.
The sales clerk started to approach him, but before he could take more than a step toward Brett, Daisy’s voice rose from the back of the room.
“It’s all right, Steven. I’ve got it.”
Nodding to the clerk, Brett walked deeper into the store to meet Daisy, walking past beautifully restored furniture and displays of precious china. He couldn’t help but tease her as she approached slowly, hands on her hips. “You’re waddling. It’s kinda cute.”
Her smile turned into a scowl and she reached over to bat at his arm. “You’ve always been such a charmer,” she said deadpan. “Here I am, coming in to work just for you, and this is how you treat me? Ha. See if I give you a discount now.”
Laughing softly, Brett bent forward to hug her without squishing her belly. “All right, let me try again. You’re absolutely glowing. Any better?”
She returned the hug and was smiling again when she pulled away. “Much better. And thank you.”
Taking his arm, she led him to the back of the store, where the jewelry pieces were displayed inside a glass case. “And how have you been since last month?” she asked. “I was beginning to wonder if you had changed your mind.”
“No, I didn’t,” Brett said, smiling to himself. “I’ve just been too busy to take a day off and drive back up here. What about you? I thought you’d be a mom again by now.”
Daisy sighed. At the other end of the store, Steven laughed quietly.
“Go ahead, keep laughing,” she called out to him. “We’ll see how much you laugh when I extend my maternity leave and let you deal with the Christmas sales by yourself.”
Steven made some sputtering excuses, claiming he had been thinking of something else, but was thankfully saved from further trouble when another customer walked in. Daisy slipped behind the jewelry case and pulled a set of keys from the pocket of her cardigan.
“I’m due next week,” she said as she unlocked the cabinet and pulled out two rings. They were both tagged with a small yellow sticker that bore the word, ‘Sold.’ “I’m glad I could be here to give these to you, though.”
As she set the two ring boxes on top of the case, she looked up at Brett, and her eyes were a little misty.
“Don’t you dare start crying now,” he said. A lump was already forming in his throat.
Daisy fanned her face and laughed. “Sorry. Hormones. Yesterday I burst into tears when I saw a picture of a kitten. Of course I’m going to cry when my friend’s getting married.”
“Not married,” he reminded her as he picked one of the boxes. The ring in this one was plain, the platinum gleaming softly. “Vampires can’t—”
“Marry humans,” she finished for him, and made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Who cares what the law says. If you guys say it’s a marriage, then that’s what it is. You never do things half way, do you? And I still say you should have a party or something so we can all shower you with gifts. ”
Brett snickered. “So you can drink on the house, you mean. Not that you could, in your state.”
“In my state?” Daisy huffed. “Never mind the discount. I just remembered the price of platinum went up last week. You don’t mind paying extra, do you?”
Shaking his head, Brett picked up the second ring to examine it as well. Smaller and thinner than the first one, it was made of the same material, with five diamonds set inside the band. Understated and elegant, it seemed to have been made for Lisa.
“She’s going to love it,” Daisy said, echoing his thoughts, and when Bre
tt looked at her, he realized she was tearing up again. “So, you’re really doing this, then?”
Brett considered the two rings in front of him, thought back on everything that had happened in the past few years and everything he hoped was yet to happen. He smiled.
“Yeah. I’m really doing this.”
The ride back to Haventown was uneventful, if long. Brett could have bought the rings in town, but he had first noticed the vintage matching wedding bands in Daisy’s store a couple years back, and they had remained at the back of his mind the entire time, resurfacing sometimes when he kissed ruby-red lips or entwined his fingers with a hand that matched his own perfectly. A month earlier, he had popped in at the store unannounced and had been both delighted and a little relieved to discover that the rings were still there. To make his decision even easier, only the man’s ring had needed to be resized.
It was a silly idea, of course, a ridiculous idea, a completely insane idea. But he couldn’t help but hope that the rings would be taken in the same spirit they were offered: as inadequate yet tangible proof of his love, tokens that would endure much longer than he would himself. Not that he intended to say as much; there was no need to remind anyone that he was human and therefore mortal.
Night was still an hour or so away when he reached Haventown, but the sky was already turning orange and red in the west, without a single cloud to mar the horizon. It was going to be a beautiful, clear night. Maybe they would go to their spot on the cliff, after dinner, and share a glass of champagne under the stars.
Rather than going straight back to On The Edge, the club Lisa had helped him open years earlier, Brett stopped by their favorite restaurant and ordered from the menu. The restaurant usually didn’t do take-out, but it helped that he was a regular customer, and a more-than-generous tipper. Having served his fair share of tables during high school and college, Brett didn’t mind paying good service what it was worth.
The club was already open when Brett walked in, although there were only a few people at the bar, and the music rising from the dance floor on the lower level was nowhere near as loud as it would be as the night grew older. He waved at the barmaid as he passed by, stopped to share two words with the security manager, then finally made his way to the back of the club, where a discreet door led to the apartments above the club. He had a bag full of food in each hand, but somehow the two small boxes in his inside jacket pocket seemed to weigh a lot more with each step up the staircase.
He opened the front door with his elbow, closed it with his foot, and made a beeline for the kitchen. They didn’t have a proper dining room or a dining table, the apartment had never been meant to host formal dinners, but the kitchen table would do well enough. He dropped the bags on the counter before setting up the table, even lighting a couple candles he placed in the center of the table.
“Pretty,” Lisa said behind him, and Brett turned to watch her enter the kitchen. Even barefoot, she was as tall as most men, and the curves squeezed into her skin-tight bustier dress were all feminine. She had to have just taken a shower because her short blonde hair was still a little damp. “What’s the occasion?” she asked as she put on an earring.
Brett had to stop himself from patting his jacket to check that the rings were still there. “Do we need an occasion?”
He walked over to her and took the second earring from her, delicately sliding the stem through the hole and fastening it. Her arms slid around him, and she pulled him in for a chaste thank-you kiss.
“Let’s see… you switched Leo’s schedule so he wouldn’t work tonight, and unless I’m mistaken those bags are from Antonio’s. So yeah, there’s definitely an occasion.”
Chuckling, Brett kissed her cheek. “You were always the smart one, but you’ll have to wait. Where’s Leo?”
Her interest was definitely piqued, and Brett was suddenly worried she would notice the way his pocket bulged over the jewelry boxes. Her eyes remained on his face, though, her head tilted to one side, like she always did whenever she was puzzled or trying to figure out something.
“He went back to bed after helping me shower,” she said in the end. “Why don’t you go wake him, and I’ll finish preparing here?”
He chuckled quietly as he pressed a kiss to her cheek. No doubt she hoped to find a clue about what was going on. Too bad for her, he was taking the clues with him.
He toed his shoes off in the entrance hall and shrugged off his jacket as well, hanging it in the entryway closet. Hidden from the kitchen behind the closet door, he transferred the rings to his pants pocket, quickly disguising the bulge by tugging his shirt out of his pants. Only then did he go over to the bedroom. He stood by the door for a few seconds, fully appreciating the view.
The room was dark, but with the light that fell from the living room through the doorway, Brett could see Leo quite well. He was sprawled on his back in the center of the bed, one arm raised near his face and the other lying across the pillow. His chest seemed even paler than it really was against the dark green sheets, and Brett rubbed his fingertips together, wanting to touch that smooth and perfect expanse of skin, from the dusky nipples to the flat stomach where a thin trail of pale hair led down to an even nicer view. The sheet was riding low enough that it kept Leo barely decent, while making it completely obvious that he was naked.
Before Brett had begun to tire of the lovely sight, Leo curled one arm behind his head, his slight smile revealing that he was awake. “You gonna watch all night or you’re gonna come and ravage me now?”
Laughing, Brett came forward to the foot of the bed and tugged at the sheet, sliding it down to reveal more of Leo, one inch at a time. Leo’s cock lay dormant when it first appeared, but it started filling up and lengthening as it was slowly exposed. Brett’s own dick began to harden at the sight, and he had to adjust himself.
“Nice,” Brett murmured, desire filling his voice. “Were you waiting for me?”
Leo still didn’t open his eyes, but his smile widened a little, and his cock bobbed up in its nest of short curls. “What if I was?” he drawled. “You going to do something about it?”
Brett was tempted, really tempted, but the rings in his pocket seemed heavier suddenly, and he was all too aware of Lisa waiting for them in the kitchen.
“I will,” he said as he walked over to the dresser. “But later. For now, I need you to put on some underwear and come to the kitchen.”
He threw a pair of his own silky boxers at Leo. They landed on his chest, and Leo frowned down at them, then turned the same look at Brett.
“You want me to get dressed?” He was practically pouting now. “What for?”
Brett chuckled. “Because there’s no way I can have dinner without choking on my food if you’re sitting naked next to me. Come on, the food’s getting cold.”
Without listening to Leo’s protests that he was a vampire and didn’t actually need food and that Brett was just mean and enjoyed torture too much, Brett coaxed Leo out of bed and helped him slide the boxers on, although not without adding in some groping and a kiss or two. As a result, they were both hard when they finally left the bedroom. Brett’s untucked shirt more or less disguised his erection, but the silky boxers made Leo’s that much more obvious. When they entered the kitchen, Lisa was just finishing pouring wine into three glasses. She looked at them, her eyes immediately focusing on both their crotches, and she grinned.
“No appetizers, then?” she teased as she held out a glass to Leo.
He took it and threw a grimace at Brett. “Believe me, I was up for it.”
Lisa laughed aloud and handed a second glass to Brett. “This had better be worth it,” she said. “Or you’ll have to make it up to us.”
For the first time that day, Brett’s conviction that he was doing the right thing wavered. He had awoken that morning wrapped around Lisa and with Leo wrapped around him, and after having hesitated for almost a
month, he had known, deep down, that he had made the right decision when buying those rings and asking for the man’s one to be resized for Leo. All his hesitations that they might not want to wear such rings had vanished, leaving behind the certainty that they loved him just as much as he loved them and would understand what the rings symbolized. Now, he was wondering again. What if he was making a mistake?
The light clink of two glasses against his own brought him back to the present. He looked at them, first Lisa then Leo, and faced with both their smiles his fears disappeared again. He had planned to have dinner first and pull out the rings for dessert, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to show them, tell them, and he had to do it now.
After taking a sip of wine to give himself courage, he put down the glass on the table and slipped a hand in his pocket.
“There’s something I want to give each of you,” he said as he pulled out the boxes. They seemed so small suddenly in his hand. “I’ve been thinking for a long time about how I could ever show you how grateful I am for having you two in my life. How much I love you.” He looked up at Lisa at that, met her eyes and gave her an apologetic grin. “I know you don’t like that word, and I don’t expect you to say it back.” She never had said it, not in close to ten years, but Brett didn’t need to hear it; he knew she loved him, they both did, and that was enough. He turned to Leo now, and his grin softened a little. “But I do. I really do. And… these are for you. I hope you’ll like them.”
He held out the square box to Leo, the round one to Lisa, and held his breath as he waited for their reactions.
Leo picked up the jewelry box first and opened it at once. His face split up on a wide smile and before Brett could even blink he had tugged the ring free and slipped it on the ring finger of his left hand.
“Not only is it gorgeous, but it fits just right!”
Bringing his hand in front of his face, he turned it around and peered at the ring closely before grabbing the back of Brett’s neck with that same hand and pulling him close enough that their cocks found each other despite the layers of clothing that separated them.