Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
TWNETY ONE
S o this was what it was like to be part of the Kings family.
Val sat on the couch, his arm around Saint’s shoulders as he observed the boisterous group. So many different personalities, yet so much laughter and love.
Colton and Ace’s mansion seemed to be the gathering place for all their get-togethers and parties, which made sense because no one else owned a place big enough. Plus, it didn’t hurt that their Ponte Vedra mansion had a huge pool, an outside barbecue area, and a private beach.
Red was in the kitchen with Mason, both cooking and never once running into each other as they moved around. Whatever they were cooking smelled amazing and made Val’s stomach rumble.
Laz documented everything, and no one batted an eye at him, snapping photos with his fancy digital camera.
In fact, Fitz sat on Jack’s lap, blowing kisses at the camera and posing.
Jack and Joker both watched something on Joker’s phone, and they burst into laughter at the same time.
Val couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle.
They were like a couple of schoolboys, those two, always snickering and getting into mischief together.
Colton was setting the extremely long and expensive-looking wood dining table.
Did he and Ace have to get a new table every few years to accommodate their growing pack?
Speaking of pack…Chip and Cookie chased Duchess around the house, probably trying to commandeer the stuffed squeaky frog in her mouth.
Did the frog have a crown? It was nice to see Chip and Cookie off-duty and just being dogs.
Val missed having a dog. He’d never had one himself, but the firehouse always had dogs, usually ones rescued from fires. Maybe he’d talk to Saint about getting one.
Gio and Saint chatted about Saint’s charity idea, and from the looks of it, Gio seemed very excited about it.
Something told Val plans would soon be underway.
Ace and Lucky were…. Val wasn’t sure what they were doing.
They each had a handheld game console and were very absorbed in whatever they were playing.
It was obviously some kind of driving game because Ace moved his console like it was a steering wheel.
“Yes!” Lucky jumped to his feet, arms thrown in the air. “Yes, I did it!” He thrust a finger in his cousin’s face. “Ha! Take that! That’s what you get for throwing that red shell at me! Malviviente!”
Ace glared at Lucky. “You only got lucky because I got distracted by my husband’s ass.”
Val glanced at Colton, who paused as he was putting a plate down and looked over his shoulder at Ace.
“Don’t use my ass as an excuse,” Colton said. “Face the music, darling. You lost at Mario Kart to your cousin.”
“Never!” Ace said, getting to his feet. He thrust a finger in Lucky’s face. Someone was going to lose a finger eventually, Val was sure of it. “I beat you at Rainbow Road,” Ace growled. “So that’s, like, a hundred extra wins right there.” The two promptly started arguing in Spanish.
It was a shame Ryden couldn’t be here, but with everyone here tonight, someone had to man the Four Kings Security building, and according to Saint, Ryden was happy to be that guy. He’d quickly become a trusted member of the Four Kings crew, and that meant the world to him.
When Ace received a text from King that they were on their way, Val was astonished by how the room got quieter.
Not quiet, because this was a lively bunch, but the volume lowered, and Val wondered if it was because of Leo.
They’d all spent so much more time around him than Val, so obviously, they knew him at a much deeper level, but Val had come to notice how attuned everyone was to Leo.
As much as everyone at Four Kings Security would have loved to welcome Leo home, Val knew Leo would find it overwhelming. So instead, the employees had a giant Goldfish cracker-shaped card made, and they all left him little messages and signed it.
The party was orange and white themed, and of course, there were bowls filled with Leo’s favorite fish-shaped snacks, along with fish-shaped sugar cookies and…. Val stood and hurried over to the table.
“Are those…?”
“Fish-shaped pastelitos, yes,” Colton said, his smile wide. “Don’t worry, Leo doesn’t actually want his fish-shaped food to taste like fish. They’re guava, guava and cheese, beef, and shredded chicken.”
“That sounds amazing,” Val said, practically salivating.
“Which one?”
“All of them.” Val patted his stomach. “I’m going to have to join a gym if I’m going to hang around you guys.” Between Red’s Southern cooking, Lucky and Ace’s Cuban food, Mason’s barbecue, and Colten’s and Gio’s catering, there was always so much delicious food around.
The dogs charged into the living room. All three skidded to a halt, ears perked and tails wagging so hard there were three butt wiggles.
“Guess who’s home,” Colton said with a chuckle.
Everyone got up and turned to face the door, so Val joined Saint and did the same. The door opened, and everyone cheered as King walked in with Leo. They all chimed in, welcoming Leo home, and Leo’s smile couldn’t get any wider. His cheeks were pink, and his eyes glassy.
“You did all this for me?” Leo asked, walking into Fitz’s arms first to give him a hug. Val didn’t blame him. Fitz always had on the softest-looking sweaters. Then Leo went down the line, making sure to hug each and every one of them. He even hugged Val.
“I heard you and Saint are dating now.”
Val nodded. “We are.”
“Good. That’s a very sound decision.” Leo spotted the table and gasped when he saw the spread.
“This is amazing!” He picked up a fish-shaped pastelito and bit into it.
“Oh my God, this is so good.” It took Leo three bites, and he’d finished off his fish pastry. “Thanks, guys. I love it all so much.”
Leo walked into the living room, the three dogs trailing behind him and looking up at him adoringly.
Val marveled at how sweet and gentle the dogs were with him, and it was easy to guess who their favorite person was.
They didn’t jump on him or knock him over.
Chip jumped on the couch and put his head on Leo’s lap while Cookie lay down at his feet, while Duchess gracefully hopped up on Leo’s other side and sat next to him.
She leaned against him and daintily licked his cheek.
Everyone went back to conversing until Red announced it was time to eat.
Then they got up and took seats at the table with Colton at the head and Ace at his side.
King sat at the other end of the table with Leo beside him.
Then everyone else took their seats. Everything was served family-style, passing huge plates around with various protein and side dishes.
Saint leaned into Val and whispered in his ear. “Don’t worry, I have an idea how we can work all this off later.”
Val shivered and then glared at his boyfriend, who laughed knowingly. “Little shit.”
“Not sorry,” Saint said as he served himself a heaping spoon of cheesy hash brown casserole.
Damn it, now all Val could think about was Saint in bed. Ooh, the things he was going to—
“King and I are getting married.”
The room plunged into silence, and everyone’s head shot up, all eyes on Leo. It was so quiet and still that when Ace opened his mouth, his fork fell and hit his plate, scaring the shit out of everyone.
Val put a hand on his chest. “I’m going to end up on blood pressure meds around you guys. I just know it.”
And then Ace screamed.
“What is happening right now?” Val asked, grabbing Saint’s arm as Ace flew from his seat and started running laps around the dining room. Occasionally he’d stop next to King, thrust a finger in his face, and yell, “Ha!”
Val was so confused.
Colton ignored his husband. “That’s incredible! Congratulations!”
That broke whatever trance everyone seemed to be in, and they all cheered and congratulated the pair. Leo beamed at them, and Val couldn’t help but ask.
“How did it happen?”
King chuckled. “Well, Leo asked me.” He seemed to think about it. “More like told me.”
“Told you?” Saint asked.
Leo shrugged. “King was helping me get dressed, and I realized that I’ve never felt as happy and safe and loved as I have with King, so I told him we should get married.”
King’s smile reached his eyes. “He literally said the words, ‘We should get married.’”
“To which you replied….” Joker prompted.
“Okay.”
Fitz sighed dreamily. He knew the two very well. “Aw, that’s so romantic.”
Everyone laughed because King and Leo, despite seeming like such complete opposites, could not have been more perfect for each other. They were both so direct and to the point, and they were in sync like no couple Val had ever known.
Joker flipped a hand out at Jack and tapped his palm. “Pony up, loser.”
With a grumble, Jack reached into his pants pocket and removed his wallet. He grabbed a bunch of bills and smacked them into Joker’s hand.
“What was the bet?” Saint asked.
“I bet him that Leo would ask first.”
King sighed, and that was when Val noticed Ace was hovering over his friend. “Get it out of your system.”
Ace hummed and put a finger to his lips. “Hold on. I’m recalling a memory. It’s way, way, way, way back in the recesses of my mind.”
“We could be here all night then,” Joker said, laughing when Ace flipped him off.
“Wait, it’s in there somewhere,” Ace said. “Searching, searching. Going way back to—”
“You have until I finish chewing this piece of chicken,” King said, placing a forkful of food in his mouth.
Val had to press his lips together not to laugh.
“Found it!” Ace swept an arm out dramatically. “The year was 2006. George Clooney was named Sexiest Man Alive, Pluto was reclassified as a Dwarf Planet, and Microsoft launched Zune.”
Colton shook his head. “He can’t remember to take out the trash, but he remembers when Zune was launched.”
“What’s Zune?” Saint asked.
“Exactly,” Leo said with a snicker.