2. Chapter Two #2
Lincoln nodded and grinned brightly while he glanced behind him to see where Aaron was standing.
“I’m going to give it a try,” he said in a hushed voice to keep Aaron from overhearing him.
“Aaron’s not a hundred percent on board with the idea of me performing.
He thinks it’ll be too physically challenging and worries the stress could trigger a relapse for me, but I’d really like to experience Vegas with you guys.
Even if it’s just a couple of songs before I make my exit. ”
“Join us,” Bronx said. “We’re happy to have you for whatever time you can manage.”
“Thanks, that means a lot, Bronx,” Lincoln said. “I really appreciate you stepping in for me, too. I love the sound you’ve added to the music. It kicks ass.”
“We all kick ass,” Ashton added.
“That goes without saying,” Lincoln agreed.
They moved into the hallway to continue their conversations so as not to annoy the other people in the room who were waiting to hear updates.
A few minutes later the guys in Ivory Tower arrived together as a group and then Dagger appeared again in the hall holding a hand in the air that was stuffed with cigars.
Bronx glanced around at everyone. They’d come to help Dagger and Ryan welcome their new son into the world and seeing the real affection between the guys made his heart feel full.
He doubted he’d ever have something this potent with a partner but seeing Dagger and Ryan so happy made him realize this kind of relationship was completely possible.
His gaze bounced around the group. Dagger had Ryan, Dante had Ashton, Lincoln and Aaron were married, Alex had Chase, Cooper was with Jayson, Tony and Jared were together, and even Wheland was married off to Rooster.
All of them had life partners except for him.
Being alone never bothered him until he was in a room full of all these long-term couples and then he felt the pull.
Movement near the wall had his eyes tracking there and that’s when Cavalari caught his attention. He was standing vigil at the section of hall where it opened up to two other off-shoots of corridors. Cavalari looked intimidating as hell. No one was getting past him to bother any of us.
He also looked hot as fuck dressed in his work clothes, which today were a pair of dark jeans and a white polo shirt with the Ventura Security logo on the chest pocket.
The fabric was impossibly stretched over his enormous biceps and chest and Bronx didn’t even try to stop his perusal of the goods.
It was obvious Cavalari worked hard to be in this kind of shape, so of course he was looking at him.
That’s what guys like Cavalari expected you to do, for fuck’s sake, so he took his time and allowed his eyes to roam freely over every bulging muscle his guard had worked hard to achieve. Absolutely no crime in that.
“Put your tongue back in your gaping mouth,” Dante teased Bronx.
“Shut your face,” Bronx dismissed Dante’s implication which only made Dante laugh.
“Just remember what I said about me and Ashton,” Dante said. “We’re way better at fucking than we ever were at fighting.”
“Who wants to do a celebratory smoke with the proud papa?” Dagger asked as he waved the cigars above his head. It was the perfect distraction to end the conversation between Bronx and Dante, so he gave Dagger a cheer even though he wasn’t a fan of cigars.
“Not my idea of something fun to smoke,” Ashton complained. “Got any of the good stuff?”
“Sir, we have a strict no smoking policy inside the hospital,” a nurse informed Dagger as she walked out of one of the labor rooms. “The smoking of anything will have to be done outside the building in the designated areas.”
“Ma’am, I had every intention of taking this outside,” Dagger said to the woman.
Behind Dagger we could see Ryan trying to get our attention. “Come meet the baby,” Ryan hollered and everyone hurried down the hall with the grace of a herd of cattle.
Dagger followed Ryan into the nursery while the rest of us gathered at the viewing window.
They both slipped into sterile surgical coats and hats, then the nurse reached into a bassinet and lifted up a baby swaddled so tightly in a soft, white blanket and a blue knit cap they could barely see the little boy’s face.
“He looks like a burrito,” Ashton joked and everyone snickered as they pushed and shoved themselves closer to the glass to see better.
“Anyone know his name?” Wheland asked.
“They haven’t said yet,” Dante said.
Rooster tapped on the window and waved Dagger closer to the glass. “Name?” Rooster asked.
Dagger glanced at Ryan and they discussed something quietly between themselves before Dagger walked over to the door to the hallway and opened it up. Ryan stood beside him now holding the baby.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet . . . Liam Drummond-Pierce,” Dagger announced. “We don’t have a middle name for him yet but we’re still considering one.”
The guys all cooed and preened at the infant and Wheland tossed an arm around Rooster’s shoulders. “Does seeing little Liam make you want to have more kids?” he asked his husband.
“Nope, the twins we have are beautiful miracles and plenty enough work for us,” Rooster answered rather quickly. “Why mess with perfection?”
Bronx couldn’t wipe the smile off his face but he wasn’t alone in that regard.
It seemed all of the guys gathered were feeling the emotion of the new addition.
Bronx found Cavalari near the back of the pack of rockers and their eyes locked.
That one, very brief moment they were connected Bronx felt something shift between them, but he’d never admit it in a thousand years.
It seemed Cavalari was just as surprised by whatever happened in that click of time, too.
He quickly stood a little taller as he looked away but in that shared beat of time things between them didn’t seem to be quite so cold and it gave Bronx pause.
He was still thinking about it even as Cavalari drove him home.
He kept his eyes pointed out the side window in the backseat of the Suburban while Cavalari drove.
Neither of them said a damn thing. Instead, he pondered what Dante and Ashton had told him about being stuck in a facility while a doctor forced them to face their issues together.
He wondered if Dagger would push him and Cavalari to do the same thing.
If Dagger pulled that shit on them he was prepared to fight back.
Neither he nor Cavalari needed to revisit their past. Bronx’s sobriety came out of that hellish time and ultimately Cavalari moved on from the police force to get what seemed to be a better job doing the private security, so it all ended up pretty damn good for both of them.
Why rock the boat now—years later? And what would being locked in a room together achieve besides more resentment?