Chapter 31
Linden
Not wasting any more time at the house, Hugh and I rushed to Atlas’s apartment to not only see if he’d come back home, but if his roommates knew where the hell he was.
But the two women had no idea. Since they were worried too after our arrival, they directed us to ask Ryder, which we had planned to do anyway, so we headed over to Legends Night Club.
We had no idea whether Ryder was working. If he wasn’t, perhaps Knox Porter was.
Hugh and I had been to the club before, but only a couple of times. We would drag particularly special clients there for some fun. Legends was the place to be in Washington, DC, especially for the elite. Knox was the owner, whom we’d recently met at The Backdoor Club.
Hugh grabbed my hand and threaded our fingers together as he tugged me into the place. It was such a simple gesture, but one that meant everything. He did it so absently, like he’d been doing it his entire life.
The place was packed with people, everyone celebrating the holidays or schmoozing with politicians.
The crowd was decked out in their finest fashions, the air heavy with perfume and cologne.
No one was underdressed there. Some people were watching the dance floor from the balconies above, but most were dancing and writhing to a song I didn’t recognize.
Hugh tightened his fingers around mine as we shoved our way through the throng of people, trying to find anyone familiar from Ryder, Knox, or Finn.
As we headed toward the neon-lit bar, I instantly recognized Ryder, busy making drinks. I had to admit he was stunning to look at, with his long bangs falling into his face and a silky burgundy dress shirt, sleeves rolled up.
Hugh and I were forced to wait in line for drinks just to talk to him.
“What can I get you, gentlemen?” Ryder asked when we finally reached the bar.
I guess he hadn’t recognized us since we were wearing masks at The Backdoor Club when we’d first met him.
“I’m Hugh, and this is Linden. We’re looking for Atlas.”
Ryder froze and scrutinized us before shaking his head. “Order drinks first, then I’ll tell you as I make them.”
I could hear Hugh’s annoyed growl over the music. Then he relented. “I’ll have a smoked old-fashioned,” he ordered, then looked at me.
“I’ll have an espresso martini.”
Ryder nodded and began making our drinks. “Before you run off, he’s here. Finn and I dragged him out for some fun because he’s been really down. I keep telling him he needs to talk to you, but he wants some time.”
“Dammit,” Hugh said, now drumming his fingers on the counter, quickly losing his patience. I was in the same state, desperate to find Atlas. The longer it took to talk to him, the more he would get up inside his head.
He finished making the old-fashioned and covered it with a smoking lid as he began mixing my drink.
“I learned from Knox and Finn how important it is not to keep shit to yourself. I made that mistake, and I hurt myself even more. I don’t want that for Atlas.
You just being here shows how much you care about him. ”
“We love him,” I said.
Ryder glanced at us underneath his thick bangs and nodded. “Good. Atlas is a good person, and he’s a friend. I hate seeing him hurt.”
“We aim to fix things,” Hugh insisted.
Ryder slid our drinks across the counter to us before jerking his head toward the right side of the club. “He’s at a private table we set up for him and a few of our friends.”
We grabbed our cocktails, and Hugh paid him and dropped a twenty-dollar tip.
“Thank you,” I said to Ryder as Hugh pulled me away and led us toward the back of the club.
Hugh and I held our drinks, careful not to slosh them all over us as we meandered through the large club. No other place in DC could you find so much Botox and filler in one place.
Suddenly, Hugh pumped his brakes, and I nearly collided with him.
My gaze traveled to where he was staring, and my breath caught.
There he was, our Atlas. He was so beautiful, wearing a pretty pink crop top with baggy jeans as he sipped on a cosmopolitan.
But what I focused on the most was the sadness there.
He tried to smile as three other men talked to him, but he hid it away between sips of his drink.
Hugh slammed his drink back, coughing as it went down, and I did the same, though my drink was probably smoother. We set our glasses on someone’s table and made our way toward our princess. It was time to bring him home with us… permanently.
We stopped in front of the table as Atlas looked up at our presence over the rim of his martini glass while sipping his drink. His dark eyes exploded into wide circles, and he started choking.
“Uhm, what are you doing here?” he asked.
“What do you mean, what are we doing here?” Hugh snarled. “We’re here to take you home where you belong, dammit!”
His eyes watered, and his lip trembled. “But—”
“No buts!”
“Who are these people?” I asked him, suddenly wary with a sense of jealousy.
“Oh, uhm…” He waved a hand at an attractive guy who looked like a damn linebacker, but was dressed like some cowboy with light brown hair.
Hell, they were all attractive. “This is Waylon. He’s Ryder’s best friend from back in Nebraska.
He’s here to find a job and a place to live in DC.
” Then he waved a hand at a man who looked like some damn supermodel with wavy, dark brown hair, dressed to the nines in a crisp suit, with his button-up shirt unbuttoned at the top.
“This is Casey, who’s an old model friend of Finn’s, and that’s Isaak, uhm, Casey’s professor.
” I didn’t recall ever having a professor that hot.
He had dark brown hair that fell over his ears and wore a sexy smirk, as if it were a natural feature on his face rather than a sign of smugness.
Then Atlas introduced us. “Well, everyone, these are my guys… were, I guess. Hugh and Linden.”
“‘Were?’ I swear to god, Atlas, you’re going to be punished for that,” Hugh snapped, tense as hell. I was just as frustrated with him, but we needed to talk. “There is no ‘were.’ We belong to you, and you belong to us. Now enough of this.”
No one said a word as a tear spilled down Atlas’s face, but Waylon wrapped an arm around him. I wanted to rush to him, but I wasn’t sure what to do with all those other men there. I especially didn’t like that Waylon hugging him when it should’ve been us.
Hugh and I hadn’t expected him to be at the club, and we certainly couldn’t have a good discussion there.
“Do you… really want me?” Atlas said.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Hugh hissed. “Stand up and come over here.”
“Now wait a minute,” Isaak said, standing and about to confront Hugh. I couldn’t blame him, since Hugh was being intense as hell.
Atlas pressed a hand on Isaak’s arm and shook his head. Then he stood, walked over to us, looked up at Hugh and me. I reached for his face and wiped the stray tears, but my cousin was less patient. He lifted Atlas and tossed him over his shoulder. “We’re done here. Time to talk, Princess.”
He didn’t fight it, and in fact, I was almost certain I saw a smile there for a second.
Hugh didn’t set him down as we meandered back out of the club and walked toward the car. Only when we reached his car did he finally put him back on his feet. I opened the door, and Atlas slid into the back seat, while I climbed in behind him. I needed him. I needed to touch him and hold him.
We drove in silence as I wrapped my arm around his narrow shoulders, pulled him against me, and kissed the top of his head. That was when the sobbing started. He put his head on my chest, and his hands gripped my other arm and back.
After arriving at Hugh’s place, we all sat on the couch, with Atlas sitting between us. He held wadded-up tissues, but he’d stopped crying.
“You leaving without a word fucking hurts, Atlas, not gonna lie,” Hugh finally said, sounding more resigned than angry. “Why? Why did you do it?”
I twisted my body to face him, my arm draped behind him over the back cushions, waiting to hear him out.
He looked back and forth at each of us, then sagged, looking down at his hands and shrugging. “I thought… Linden said it was me who made things harder for him. Once you two finally admitted your feelings, I guess I believed that was it for me. You two found each other, and I was just in the way.”
“Jesus, baby. I said that because it made me want Hugh more, but it didn’t make me want you less. You weren’t the one frustrating me,” I explained.
“Fuck me,” Hugh said, pinching the bridge of his nose before wrapping an arm around Atlas. “So, you just up and left us? No talking. No communicating. You just walked out of our lives.”
Atlas’s bottom lip trembled again, and I scooted closer to him. “I wanted you two to get… reacquainted with each other and be out of your way. I… planned to talk to you about it all, but it just hurt too much. I needed time.”
“Time? You should have come to us immediately,” I said and pinched his chin to force him to look at me.
“Atlas… Fuck, we’ve all done a shitty job at communicating, but that’s over now.
No more letting feelings slip by unsaid and unnoticed.
We’re all guilty of this.” He nodded and looked at me with red, watering eyes.
“I’m going to start by telling you I love you…
You and Hugh both. You are as much a part of our lives as we are a part of yours. ”
“Y-you love me?” he squeaked.
“Yes, Linden and I both do,” Hugh said.
“God, I love you both so much.”
And there went his waterworks. Hugh and I snuggled in with Atlas and let him get it out. “I’ve never been in love before. Hell, no one has ever loved me either. I didn’t want to leave at all. God, I’m… so sorry I did that to you. It seemed like the right thing to do at that moment.”
“Well, it wasn’t.” I stood and squatted between Atlas’s legs and rested my hands on his thighs. “We’re in this for the long haul, baby. The three of us. But…”
He sniffed and rested his hands on mine. “But what?”
“Linden and I are leaving Cross Corp,” Hugh said before I could.
Atlas’s eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. “What? Why?”
“We’re tired of it. I’m tired of not doing what I want to do; using my hands to create beautiful things.
And Hugh… Well, he’s tired of his father never being happy.
I also believe this is the best way we can all be together without worrying about the office.
This isn’t playtime anymore, baby. We’re serious.
Well, we’ve been serious about you, but this is our way of making sure we stay together. ”
His finger dragged along the skin of my hand as he looked at Hugh. “W-what’s to happen to me? I liked my job.”
“We want you to come with us. Linden and I are going to create a new business doing renovations, restorations, and house flipping. We can’t pay you as much, but—”
Atlas flung himself at him, wrapping his spindly arms around his neck. “I’ll do it! Definitely!” Then he reached for me and pulled me into a hug. “God, I’ve been a fucking idiot.”
I chuckled and fingered back some of his fallen curls. “That you have, but we love you anyway,” I said, winking at him. “But I was an idiot too for not telling anyone I loved Hugh, and for damn years. To be fair, it’s not an easy thing to admit, being who we are.”
Hugh pulled us both into hugs, our heads dipping and resting against each other. “And I’ve been an idiot, trying to please Dad at the expense of my own happiness, and believing he’ll ever be proud of me.”
“So, we’re agreed? No more secrets. No more hiding our feelings, right?” I said.
“Exactly.”
“Yeah, I’m so sorry again for leaving.”
Hugh let out a dark, low rumbling laugh, one that went straight to my nuts. “We forgive you, but that doesn’t get you out of your punishment.”
“I can’t wait to learn my lesson,” Atlas breathed.