Chapter Two
chapter TWO
B eau stood in the background, watching as the Walker family rejoiced in the newest addition to their family. Being in the midst of all their excitement, Beau couldn’t help but feel it, too. Having grown up as an only child, he had found himself drawn to the Walker household because there was always something going on, and he had fit in from day one.
The Walker family was the exact opposite of his own family. Curtis and Lorrie doted on their children, spent time with them, and encouraged them in everything they did—even now, when they were all full grown.
In Beau’s house growing up, encouragement came when it benefited his father and only then. Not that it was necessarily a terrible thing, because growing up, Beau had worked his ass off to please his father. It hadn’t done much good, but the best memories he had were those rare times his father looked at him as though he hung the moon. Never mind the fact that it all came crashing down during his senior year of high school.
It wasn’t that his parents didn’t love him; he knew they did. They just didn’t have much time for him. Growing up, his father had been right there rooting him on in all his football glory, but, maybe because of that, their relationship had always been tense. At times, Beau felt like his father was more his coach than his actual parent. And when the day came that his football dreams crashed and burned, an even bigger gap formed between them. Beau had never questioned it. Having felt as though he’d let his father down, he never even thought to ask why their relationship had dwindled as fast as his future had.
Since he’d had the welcoming arms of the Walker family, Beau had simply continued to put one foot in front of the other, finding himself spending less and less time at home and more time at Zane’s. At first it was strange because growing up, Zane was as much a part of Beau’s family as he was Zane’s. Surprisingly, Zane hadn’t questioned the rift between him and his father, but that’s probably because Zane hadn’t understood it, either. After all, Curtis Walker was the opposite of Ben Bennett.
Where Curtis was supportive, Ben was critical. Where Curtis laughed with his boys, Ben frowned, never understanding the joke or the reason for so much happiness. And Beau’s mother, Arlene, was very much like her husband.
And now, considering the direction that Beau’s life had taken, the revelation he’d had about himself, he couldn’t imagine sharing his innermost secrets with his parents. He knew how they would react if he ever had the guts to tell them he was gay. After having spent a lifetime not caring what people thought of him, for some reason, Beau cared what they thought. Which meant their relationship would continue to be strained because Beau had no intention of letting them down again.
So, as long as they accepted him, Beau would continue to find comfort within the Walker family, celebrating their triumphs, mourning their losses, and everything in between.
Beau turned and smiled like a fool as Zane approached. He refused to bring down the celebration, and he knew the first person who would suspect he was dwelling on thoughts better left alone was Zane.
“What’s up?” he asked casually, readjusting his stance, but not moving from his position against the wall.
Zane glanced around the room and then back at Beau like he was expecting someone to sneak up on him.
“You wanna grab something to eat?” Zane’s question was said in a conspiratorial whisper, which was a dead giveaway that the man was up to his mischievous ways.
“Why? Cafeteria food calling your name?” he asked Zane as he watched Braydon disappear out into the hallway again, Brendon and Jessie right on his heels.
“You know it,” he answered with a grin.
“Liar.”
Zane laughed.
Beau had known Zane long enough. Knew how his brain worked. And the last thing Zane was thinking about was hospital food. In fact, the way Zane was eyeing V, Beau knew he was craving something a lot more appetizing.
“Nah, I think I’m gonna hang here for a few more minutes. Then I’ve got to head into work. But I’ll catch up with y’all later. Maybe we can get a beer after work.” Beau declined the invitation to their rendezvous as nicely as he could.
Beau knew that Zane was still trying to lure him back into his relationship with V, from an extracurricular perspective at least. He couldn’t blame him, necessarily. The sex had been phenomenal. Especially at the end when... Nope, not going there.
He understood Zane’s reasoning because the threesomes had been satisfying and interesting, and Beau might’ve been inclined to accept the offers had it not been for the fact that his life had changed dramatically ever since the night he had been with Zane. What happened between them had only solidified the reason for all the confusion Beau had been living with in regards to his sexual orientation.
That night had changed him. It had also clarified that what he felt for Zane, which he’d originally thought was more than friendship, was merely infatuation. Although he’d experimented, walking away from Zane and V had been easier than he thought. Mainly because it left him open to find what he’d been missing. Love. True love. Something that wasn’t based only on physical attraction.
Because Zane and V had found that deeper connection with one another, it hadn’t been a difficult decision for Beau to back out of the threesomes. In fact, it was easier to walk away than it would’ve been to deny himself the fulfillment he knew he would never find with them.
And with V’s support, Zane had backed off, but Beau knew his best friend was merely trying to keep things from becoming awkward between them. If Zane had picked up on Beau’s fascination with his brother Ethan, he might just be a little less worried. And maybe he had, but Zane wasn’t one to talk about those types of things.
Now that Beau had finally found his footing in the world, and V seemed to understand him, they were letting the significance of what they had all three shared before turn into a comfortable, platonic friendship. For that, Beau was thankful.
“Well, if you change your mind...” Zane let the sentence hang, but his attention was now fully on V.
“Go. Have fun. Maybe you can start with dessert.”
Zane turned back to face him, his blue-gray eyes glittering with devilish intent. “I think I might just do that.”
“Right. Like you hadn’t thought about that before.”
Zane slapped Beau on the shoulder. “You know me all too well, Bennett.”
That he did. He knew Zane better than just about anyone else.
“All right, then,” Zane said, looking back at him, his expression turning serious. “If you’re sure you’re not hungry...”
Beau laughed. “I’m positive.”
“Then we’ll catch up with you later at Moonshiners,” Zane said as V stepped up to join them.
“You two have fun. Don’t get caught.”
“Never,” Zane laughed.
V grinned, looking over her shoulder as Zane led her away, and Beau overheard her say, “What were y’all talking about?”
As they moved closer to the exit, Beau laughed at Zane’s response, “He suggested that we go get dessert.”
As more people filed out of the L it would just take some time to get down it. Based on what he had witnessed, and the way Ethan was trying to punish him, Beau knew it was only a matter of time.
Easing up to the window, Beau glanced at the tiny form wrapped in a little blue blanket. The only things visible on the precious little boy were his miniature nose and his small lips, pursed together as he slept.
Beau grinned. Zoey and Kaleb certainly had created a miracle.
Glancing down at his watch, he realized the morning was rapidly passing him by, and he truly needed to get to work. Not that his boss would particularly mind. Right now, obviously unlike at Walker Demolition, business was a little slow at Dillinger Automotive, and since he worked for a small family-owned shop, he was just extra help, although he was the most tenured mechanic they had. Hell, half the time he was the only mechanic they had.
However, one of the problems with working for family businesses was that if you weren’t part of the family, you were low man on the totem pole. Not that Beau honestly cared. He went in for a paycheck; the rest didn’t interest him in the least.
With a quick glance behind him, Beau noticed Ethan watching him. Offering the man a small smile, he gave himself a mental pat on the back as he walked away. If he could figure out a way to keep playing it cool, he might just win this game.