I took Angelo by the hand. He whispered to me, “I’m nervous as hell about this. Maybe we should do it all later.”
“Is it still what you want?”
“Oh, man, yeah. I wouldn’t change my mind in a million years, but I’m still agitated. Speaking in public isn’t my thing.”
I squeezed his hand. “You don’t need to say anything. I’ll speak for us if it’s needed. Stand up there and look handsome, and then smile when he says your name. That shouldn’t be hard.”
Benji grabbed Jax’s hand, and they followed us. They were both smiling from ear to ear. As we climbed onto the stage, I spotted Mom in the audience. She had a hand over her mouth. I think she knew what was coming next.
Mason and Tate had confused expressions on their faces. Seeing them while I stood on the stage with Angelo sent a warm tingle up my spine. Their raised eyebrows and wide open eyes meant that Benji kept our secret. He was a terrific twin brother, sometimes.
The lead singer looked out into the crowd. He said, “All of you out there might think that you’ve seen it all here today, but believe me, you haven’t.”
I squeezed Angelo’s hand tight. I often thought I would never make it to this point in my life. I had a lot of fun for years, but nobody touched me so deep inside that I didn’t want them to ever leave.
Angelo leaned against me and whispered, “I think I might cry.”
I whispered back, “Hold it together. Just a few more minutes.”
The singer said. “These gentlemen have a major announcement for the entire crowd.” He looked to me on one side and then to Benji. “Gentlemen, do you want the microphone.”
I glanced at Benji and shook my head. “Go on. You’re doing great.”
With a huge grin on his face, the singer said, “This family has one more double wedding on the way.”
On cue, both Benji and I dropped to our knees and held out small ring boxes. We spoke in unison asking the men we loved to marry us.
Jax’s “yes” rang through loud and clear. For a moment, I thought Angelo might not get the word out, but then he beamed at me and said, “Yes, of course.”
A lot of the details about the next few minutes are a little fuzzy in my memory, but I do remember what Angelo said right before he kissed me. He said, “I love you, Jamie. You’re the first man I’ve ever said that to, and you’ll be the last.”
“I love you, too, Angelo. You’re my winner and my angel.”
We kissed, and the roomful of our closest friends and family applauded. Pulling ourselves away from the kisses for one brief moment, I high-fived my brother, Benji, and it was the best sensation in the world.
First - The Mathesons Book 1
Reviews
“I really liked the family aspect of this book. The bringing together of the Mathesons and the Greenes made for a really warm, frustrating, loving and challenging set of stories in this, Kyle and Mason’s love story. ”
“This story checked all the boxes: sexy, sweet, angsty with an HEA.”
“If ever a book was titled perfectly, it would be this friends to lovers romance. This story is packed full of firsts for both Mason and Kyle. With one guarding his heart and the other still getting his bearings in his new life, it felt a little like a coming of age story even though Mason and Kyle are past that age. They aren't immature by any means, but there is something almost innocent about Mason learning to let go and Kyle learning, well, everything about a relationship with a man. ”
For Mason Matheson, being first-born into a large, prosperous family meant the responsibility to compete to be first in many ways. When Kyle Greene, a childhood friend of Mason and his family, decides its time to broaden his horizons and experiment with men, Mason is determined to be Kyle's "first."
Mason began the week shoehorned into a minivan with his four adult brothers and one sister on the way to Kyle's mountain ski lodge for a vacation week. Matheson and Greene, the company founded by the elder generation of two close families, enjoyed a windfall of business, and Mason's father, John, decided that it was time to gather around, bring the two families together for the first time in years, and celebrate. For a whole week. Away from work. Away from the city. With brothers and sisters. Mason dreaded the upcoming seven days. Then he saw Kyle again for the first time since high school.
Former Olympic slalom skier Kyle is hurting from the three-pronged lousy luck of a blown-out knee ending his competitive skiing career, the death of his mother, and the disintegration of his marriage. All that he had left was his family, disapproving father Bentley and loving sister Lily, and his recently purchased ski resort, The Hideaway. He saw the arrival of the Matheson clan as an opportunity to get back on his feet and surround himself with a crowd of people who cared.
Mason represented one more opportunity. Kyle's curiosity about men lingered in the back of his mind since high school, and he knew that it played a role in his divorce. As part of a promise to his mother before she died, he was determined to explore his dreams, even the long-hidden ones. Hard-driving, hard-working gay Mason could help with that.
It doesn't take long for the week to turn complicated. There is a hidden pregnancy, a new ski injury, and bitterness from Kyle's father to contend with. At the center of it all, two men are falling in love. For Mason, that would be a first.
Read First
Cowboy - The Mathesons Book 2
Reviews
“This book about Tate and Simon deserves nothing but the best as far as I'm concerned. Very well written with enough angst for this story. Tate being a workaholic and Simon not tolerating it too well and yet both crazy in love with each other.”
“Baseball games, video chats, and dancing create a new beginning for Tate and Simon! Watching Tate and Simon grab that second chance at love, has all the feels for me! A second chance with the one you still love is an amazing gift and both Tate and Simon want this time to be different and they want forever.”
“I loved Tate in the first book in the series, and now that I've read his story, I love him even more.”
In the most unlikely of places, a party in Manhattan, Tate found his cowboy, the hero of his dreams. Unfortunately, Tate's lasso failed, the cowboy escaped, and he found out that forever would require a second chance.
When Tate Matheson moved to New York to head the East Coast firm of his family's advertising firm, falling in love wasn't supposed to be part of the equation. But his childhood love for cowboys became a realized fantasy when he stumbled across a vision out of his dreams clad in Western shirt, hat, boots, and tight-fitting jeans. It was infatuation at first sight but it wasn't long before the Matheson family disease of long hours and far too much work, interfered.
For designer Simon LeWayne, falling in love with the tall, broad-shouldered, muscular Tate was easy. The man of his dreams had swept him off his feet in a heartbeat and he thought he'd finally found the one. Their whirlwind relationship was steamy and intense. Until it all fell apart leaving Simon heartbroken and resentful.
When Simon is hired to design the new offices for Matheson and Green Advertising, the chance encounter with the one that got away stirs up feelings that never truly vanished. Intense passion and physical chemistry that still lurks draws the men back together but the old complications and a new one with deep pockets threaten to ruin Tate and Simon's second chance.
Read Cowboy
Hero - The Mathesons Book 3
Reviews
“Delightful characters, creative story-line together create wonderful story. Benji and Jax are such great characters, i fell in love with both of these really good men. Their journey to friendship and love is filled with honestly, passion and a deep desire for the other person to be happy.”
“I love this story. The men are so lovable you want to pull a Jamie and fix everything for them. Hero hits all the buttons a good romance should--plenty of angst, good sex, and circling around finding real love. I like the way this series is written. The characters are easy to relate to with plenty of friends and fam
ily to support them. They're just plain old nosy too.”
“One of the best books I've read in quite awhile. It has everything a good gay book should have. Some angst. Some humor and of course sex scenes in good taste.”
Benji didn't prepare himself for spending the semester seeing an off-limits gorgeous straight guy every morning.
For shy graduate school student Benji Matheson, moving in with Jax Carmichael, a swim camp buddy of his twin, Jamie, sounded like a great idea to boost his social life. It worked for that, but the magnetic and unexpectedly gorgeous Jax soon became a distraction, too.
A brilliant academic career meant a move to Boston for Benji to attend graduate school. Unfortunately, that meant abandoning his large, supportive family. Faced with the pressures of higher education and isolation, he suffered from a tendency to become a recluse.
Jax desperately needs a new hero in his life. Family problems, his father's conviction and his mother's depression, threaten to derail his academic career. He's never fallen for a man before, but there is something about Benji and the sensual magnetism between them.
After stray sparks light a fire and slowly kindle it into a burning flame, Benji and Jax find a growing love that neither anticipated. Unfortunately, life circumstances threaten to break their fragile shared dream of a future in each other's arms.
Read Hero
Also by Declan Rhodes
The Weighting Game
The Mathesons
First (Mason and Kyle)
Cowboy (Tate and Simon)
Hero (Benji and Jax)
Baseball and Softball
A Brand New Ballgame (Chase and Aaron)
The Money Pitch (Mo and Jack)
First Time Up (Eric and Harley)
Distant Replay (Andy and Zane)
The League 5-Book Boxed Set
Pitchers and Catchers 5-Book Boxed Set
Making the Cut
All-Stars
Romance In the City
The Pretend Husband (Liam and Alex)
The First Time Around (Mark and Daniel)
Winter Sports
Built for Speed (James and Lucas)
Trained to Win (Jordi and Tristan)
More Books
Fit To Be Married
Late Night Means Love
Order Up
About the Author
Declan Rhodes is an author of gay romance. He is fascinated by exploring male/male relationships in a world changed by worldwide progress in lgbtq civil rights.
He is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and loves men, cooking for friends and family, travel, and long walks along the shore of Lake Michigan not necessarily in that order.
[email protected]
Winner: The Mathesons Book 4 Page 17