by Kelex
“I imagine the fear of Abbie Lee seeing this video will inspire your father to leave. It might be harder for him to convince your stepmother, but something tells me Walt will find a way. And if he doesn’t follow through—I believe once she saw this video, you would be the least of their concerns.”
Unable to help himself, he hugged Brody again. He couldn’t resist the warmth of the man’s arms.
“Okay, you two,” his mother murmured. “We have guests inside waiting on us. We’ll give you both a moment to talk.”
Noah eyed his mother nervously. “You’re sure?”
“Nope,” she said, seeming exhausted. “But I told you that you were an adult, capable of making your own decisions. Regardless if I agree with them or not.” She smiled weakly. “Geena and I discussed it. We finally got you back home, and we don’t want this dark cloud hanging over us. If this is who you want, then this is who you want.”
“What about Parker?” Brody asked.
“We’ll have to sit down and discuss Parker another time,” Geena said. “We have no idea how we’ll broach that. Or if we even will for a while. Maybe he needs a little time before we go there.”
“I don’t want to keep more secrets. They ate me alive the last time,” Noah said.
“I have no idea how he’d handle the news his brother was sleeping with his father,” his mother answered.
Noah shook his head. “Half-brother. Brody isn’t my dad.”
His mother sighed. “We’ll talk about it later. I can’t do this right now.”
“I sense your mothers have given as much as they can for tonight,” Brody murmured to Noah. “Give them time to breathe.”
Noah glanced up at Brody and nodded.
“Should we open a spot for you at the table?” Geena asked Brody.
“I’m a little underdressed for a dinner party,” Brody said with a chuckle.
“I think assless chaps and leather panties will fit in perfectly with the guests at our table tonight,” Stacey replied with a meager grin. “Plus, you already know Harry and Red.”
Brody scoffed. “They’re briefs. Not panties.”
“See, no one wants them called panties,” Noah whispered to Brody.
Brody chuckled. “Fuck it, make room for me at the table. Why the hell not? I’ve been in less weird situations before.”
As the garage door closed, he turned to eye Noah. “Hi.”
Heat flooded his face. “Hi, daddy.” He slipped into Brody’s welcoming arms, feeling truly safe for the first time in his life.
His daddy had done it… he’d protected Noah.
Without a shot fired. Relief filled him as he held on tight.
When Brody’s mouth captured his, he kissed his daddy back with all the longing pent up inside him. Brody leaned back and cupped his cheek. They held one another’s gazes. Need fired through Noah. He wanted to go home with Brody—immediately.
“I’ve been invited to the table—so I feel we should make an appearance,” Brody murmured. “Your moms offering that is kind of huge.”
“Yeah,” Noah said. “But can we go home afterwards?”
Brody sighed. “Maybe we don’t push them too hard?”
Noah glanced down, disappointed.
Brody tucked a finger under his chin and forced his stare up. “I want you back in my bed… but I also want a relationship with my son. Stace and Geena are my friends… I’ve already hurt them enough as it is. If I can mend that rift and still have a chance at being with you… then… we don’t push them farther than they’re willing to go. Okay?”
Noah nodded. “You’re right.”
Brody’s smile caused him to tingle all over.
“We’re here now. Together. Let’s enjoy that,” he whispered before lowering his head again to capture Noah’s lips.
Noah whined against his daddy, needing so much more than a kiss… a caress.
Brody growled, stepping back. “Let’s go before we do something we shouldn’t.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
Brody offered a hand. “Come on.”
Noah grasped it and let his daddy lead him out of the garage.
Before they reached the table, Brody released Noah’s hand. He didn’t want questions from Stacey and Geena’s guests to embarrass them. Brody did sit down at the table beside Noah, ignoring the whistles and catcalls from the men at the table. As long as Noah was at his side and his family was showing signs of acceptance, damned right he’d sit at their table, regardless of what he wore. “Okay, to answer your question before it’s asked—I came from work. There was a very important piece of news I had to share. I don’t have a habit of showing up dressed like this.”
“Brody here owns the Village,” Harry said before turning to Noah. “Wasn’t that the club where you met your handsome older man?” Harry made a point to give Brody a weighted stare. “Has the perpetual boy finally become a daddy?”
Shit. Brody ignored the question and turned to Noah. “What have you all been talking about tonight?”
“Well, we were invited tonight because we have all somehow managed to win at the age-gap game, it seems. Stacey invited us to pick our brains and find out what we did right, I suppose,” a handsome guy decked out in make-up to the right of him answered. “Along the way, we realized it was Noah here that was having daddy issues and we needed to get as many details as possible.”
“This is Jereme and his daddy, Anson,” Noah whispered to Brody.
“Nice to meet you,” Jereme said, offering a bejeweled hand.
“Brody,” he offered, taking Jereme’s hand.
“Jereme is a junior professor in the History department, working on his doctorate,” Stacey said. “I don’t think you’ve met Eric and James, either. They both work at the university, as well. Eric’s in the Literature department. James is a grad student in the same department.”
Brody waved toward the other two at the end of the table. “Nice to meet you both.”
“Likewise,” Eric said with a raised brow.
“Stop ogling the leather-clad man,” James warned.
“Why don’t you wear something like that for me?” Eric asked him.
“Because I doubt I would look quite that good,” James answered.
“Never know until you try,” Eric chirped. “I imagine you’d be amazing, personally.”
“You’re biased,” James said before giving his boy a kiss.
Brody eyed Noah and grinned. He wasn’t sure if Stacey and Geena were ready for PDAs between him and Noah, so he refrained—though his body was screaming to get closer. To touch. Later.
His body thrummed, ready for later.
“How have we never met before?” Jereme asked Brody. “Has Stacey been hiding you away?”
“No, she divorced him,” Harry replied with a mischievous grin. “And cast him out.”
“Wait? You were married to Brody?” James asked Stacey. “I don’t believe it.”
“It was a business arrangement,” Stacey replied. Brody heard the hurt in those words and hated that he’d been partially the cause of that. “I wanted something, he needed something. We got what we both sought out and then parted ways.”
“There was a lot more to it than that,” Brody said. “Even after we divorced, we stayed close. Family, right?”
Stacey met his stare, her lips firm. It was clear she wasn’t ready to give her full forgiveness. He’d take what little she offered for now. “Something like that.”
Footfalls came crashing down the stairs. Soon Parker showed himself, empty plate in hand. He saw Brody and came rushing over. “Dad! I thought I heard your voice.”
Brody gave his boy a hug and ruffled his hair. “Hey, kiddo.”
Parker gave him the once over. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” He plucked at Brody’s harness before asking, “Is this what you wear at the club?”
“Why do you think that?”
“I’m not a kid anymore. I know stuff.”
“Your dad came from work—he had good news for Noah.”
“Cool,” Parker said, clearly already past his father’s odd attire. “I want to show you something on the video game you got me,” Parker said. “Let me go grab my Switch.”
The boy bounded up the stairs.
Jereme eyed him. “Dad?”
“That’s what Stacey and Geena wanted. A child,” Brody answered as nonchalantly as he could. “I was happy to give them one. They’re amazing mothers.”
“So, you were married to Stacey—what, thirteen or so years ago—did that make you Noah’s stepfather?” Jereme asked.
“I don’t think we need to go into all that,” Brody muttered, recognizing that the night could very easily go sideways.
“Anson was very briefly my stepfather,” Jereme said, glancing between Brody and Noah. “He met my mom in Vegas and married her in a drunken, wild night. And then divorced not long after. We all lived under the same roof for a year before I left for college.”
“Oh my god, really?” Stacey asked, wide-eyed.
Anson didn’t seem overly pleased Jereme shared that information. “Did we have to go there?”
“It’s not like the guys weren’t already aware,” Jereme said, sweeping a hand across the table.
“Not everyone knew,” Anson murmured, his face reddening.
“You didn’t love her. But I’m glad you married her. Otherwise, we would’ve never met,” Jereme stated. He pointed at Brody and Noah. “And if what we went through can help them?”
“That’s why you had to leave home?” Noah asked Jereme.
“Pretty much. People would’ve talked. Judged us. It could’ve ruined Anson’s career.” Jereme said. “So we left it all behind. Started fresh, here.” He shrugged. “Well, not exactly here. Next town over.”
“I can’t exactly up and sell the bar,” Brody said, worry filling him. “This is my home. My people are here. My son is here.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Stacey said. “We finally got our son back. He’s staying put. At least for a while.” Stacey eyed him, one brow raised.
“Well, the fact that your ex-wife isn’t threatening to blackmail you and seems to be open to accepting this will go a long way,” Jereme said. “Had our situation been more like yours, we might’ve been able to weather the storm back home. My mother is a lost cause… but my father finally relented. He accepts our relationship.”
“Truly accepts it?” Geena asked.
Jereme sighed. “Do I suppose he wishes I’d met someone else? Maybe. Maybe not. But after nine years together, I assume he realizes this was more than some flash in the pan.”
Anson chuckled. “His dad and I actually get along now. We see him and his family every holiday. We watch football games together at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“It’s borderline Norman Rockwell,” Jereme added with a grin.
The clamoring of footsteps sounded back down the stairs. Parker ran over with his Switch to show Brody whatever game he’d bought. He watched, enthusiastically, as the other men at the table carried on their conversations with Noah, Stacey, and Geena.
Brody scanned the dining room. He had his son. His family. Friends. And his boy.
A smile came to his face.
“Dad? Are you watching me?”
Brody refocused on Parker. “Yeah, of course, kiddo.”
14
Noah hugged Brody tight at the front door. He didn’t want to let go. But he’d play things cool, as Brody had suggested. Noah didn’t want to destroy his relationship with his mother and Geena, either. Brody kissed him deeply before saying his goodbyes. After his daddy was gone, he closed the door and pressed his fingers against his kiss-swollen lips. Turning, he pressed his back against the door and smiled.
And then he saw his mother sitting on the stairs, watching him. A gasp left his lips, and he frowned. “How long have you been there?”
“Only a moment. I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
But she’d seen them kiss. Noah’s face reddened. That kiss… his smile returned, spreading across his face.
“Tonight was the first night I’ve seen you truly smile since you arrived,” his mother said.
Noah eyed her, not sure what to say.
“You sat beside him at my table—and you relaxed. You smiled and you were happy.” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “The last time I saw you—a decade or so ago—a judge had had you testify in his chambers. I caught a glimpse of you… and you were so unhappy looking. The happy, bubbly little boy I remembered was gone. I was terrified of what they were doing to you.”
She paused a moment, and Noah tried to remember. He hadn’t understood why he’d been forced to talk to the judge and now he did. She’d been fighting for him.
“You came back, and I wanted to see you smile so desperately. You forced a few for me, I could tell they weren’t real. They didn’t go all the way to your eyes. Tonight, they did.”
“I don’t want you hurt, mom. I want to have a relationship with you and Geena and Parker. I want to be a family.” He sighed. “But I also have this connection to Brody that I can’t explain. I’d call it love at first sight, only I don’t believe in love.”
“You don’t believe in love?”
“Dad and Abbie Lee said they loved me. If love can make you cruel and vicious, then I want no parts of that.”
“Your father doesn’t know how to love anyone. He doesn’t know how to love himself, sweetheart.”
Tears pricked the backs of Noah’s eyes. “That’s the only love I’ve ever seen.”
“Do you not remember your early years here? You were so loved, so happy.”
A tear slid down Noah’s cheek. He wiped it away. “I think I remember it… but it almost doesn’t seem real.”
His mother rose from the stairs and drew him into her arms. “I love you with my whole heart,” she whispered against his ear, squeezing him tight. “I will always love you with my whole heart.”
After that night, he knew she didn’t lie. This was a parent’s love. For the first time since arriving, Noah truly hugged her back. “I love you, too, mom.”
They stood embracing for a full minute before she slid back some. Tears shone in her eyes. “I don’t like this idea of a relationship with Brody. But I love you enough that… if this is what you want… I accept it.” She wiped at her eyes and then his. “Good or bad, it’s your choice. And his.”
“What about Parker?”
“Brody is a good dad, better than I ever anticipated he could be. For me to imagine otherwise was wrong of me.” She let out a sob. “And I will tell him that when I get the courage to say so.”
Noah held her stare. “I want us to be okay.”
“We will,” his mother whispered. “It’ll take some time to grow accustomed to each other and this situation. But then… it’s all new, right? You’re back home… maybe not exactly in the way I imagined, but then—when does life happen according to plan?”
Geena came down the stairs and eyed them. “You two okay?”
His mother ran a hand through his hair. “I think so… I told him that it’s his choice… and I would accept that choice either way.”
Noah eyed Geena. “What about you, Mimi?”
Geena’s eyes widened. “You finally remembered my name, hmm?”
He smirked. “Hearing Parker call you that triggered a memory.”
Geena grabbed him from his mother’s arms and hugged him tight. She pressed a kiss to the side of his forehead before letting him go. “Mimi agrees with mom. It’s your call. I only hope it doesn’t cause a rift in the family if this explodes down the road.”
“I suppose you want to call Brody to come get you,” his mother said before handing him a cell phone.
“Thanks… but maybe I should stay here tonight. I can call him tomorrow.”
He handed the cell back.
His mom shook her head and waved a hand. “It’s yours. I added it to our plan so we can have a way to get in t
ouch with you.”
“Thanks,” he murmured. “I can get a job… pay you back.”
“We owe you fourteen years of Christmas and birthday presents,” Geena said.
“No you don’t.” Noah shook his head. “I realize there was a cost. You fighting for me. I don’t want to make things any rougher than they already are.”
“No, sweetheart,” his mother said, drawing him to her side. “You don’t worry about that. None of that is your fault. Not one bit of it.” She forced his stare. “We’re okay. I promise.”
“Either way… I want to do things on my own. Dad and Abbie Lee wouldn’t let me go to college. Get a job. Do for myself. I want to do that.” He chuckled inwardly. He wanted to be independent—except in one place.
In Brody’s bed. There, he’d surrender himself.
“College sounds like a great idea,” Geena said.
“Maybe,” Noah replied. “It’s probably too late for financial aid for this coming fall, though. So maybe next spring.”
“I am a full-time employee of a university,” his mother said. “My children get free tuition.”
“Seriously?” Noah asked, stunned.
“Yep,” she replied. “You do have to pay for your books, fees, and labs—and board, if you ever want to live on campus. But the tuition is waived. Geena and I could help with some of that if you wanted to start in the fall.”
“But that’s in the next town over,” he said, considering his options. “I’d need a job… a car… insurance.”
“Or you could ride with mom,” Geena said. “At least in the beginning, if you needed time to get the rest together.” Geena gazed at his mother lovingly. “I’m sure mom would love the extra time spent with you on the commute.”
“I drive there every day, Monday through Thursday, even off-semester.”
“I’m definitely interested,” Noah said, excited for the prospect.
“Good,” his mother said with a smile. “Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we can get online and let you peruse the course catalog and see if there’s anything that interests you. Either way, you can, at the very least, get your general education requirements taken care of and then go pursue whatever it is you want to do. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We can talk about this tomorrow. I’m ready for bed.”