Chapter Twenty-Three
Dean
Dinner at Maverick and Jackson’s was nothing short of amazing.
I wasn’t sure why I thought it would be any less.
Maverick had always been a fantastic cook.
When we were on tour and forced to be on that horrible bus, he had enjoyed cooking for the band.
He had insisted it was because it was healthy, but deep down, I had always wondered if it was because he had liked it.
If it had given him a sense of having a family.
Something neither one of us had had growing up.
Watching Maverick with Jackson was like something out of a romance book.
The long glances. The soft touches. The way my brother blushed when Jackson whispered into his ear, telling him things only Maverick could hear.
I loved seeing my brother so happy and open again.
The way I always remembered him. But it was Maverick’s giggles of happiness that made me realize that Jackson was what really had been missing from his life. What Maverick needed.
“I won’t need to eat again for a week.” Sam patted her stomach as we all moved from the kitchen table to the couch. “Allen, your cooking is out of this world. If this drumming thing doesn’t work out, you should open your own restaurant.”
I wasn’t sure why Beau’s sister insisted on calling Maverick by his middle name. There was definitely a story there.
Maverick blushed. “Thank you.” He leaned into Jackson on the couch.
“I have to agree with Sam. That roast was perfect. I’m not sure I could eat anything else.” Beau nodded in agreement.
Maverick gave him a tight smile. He was trying his hardest to be nice tonight after I had begged him to be. Told him how much I liked Beau and wanted this thing between us to work out. He hadn’t promised he would, but Mav was trying, and that was all that mattered.
“Thank you. I hope you all saved room, though. There’s dessert.”
“I could eat dessert.” Cole looked up from his phone and blushed when Maverick chuckled. “I mean, you made it, so it would be a shame for it to go to waste, right?”
Maverick climbed to his feet. “Come on, kiddo. I hope you like strawberry shortcake.”
We watched them go and then Jackson let out a long sigh. “Well, I think Maverick wanted to be the one to tell you this.”
“Don’t you dare!” he hollered from the other room. “Wait for me, Goose. We have to tell them together. You promised.”
My eyes went wide. What was going on? “Is everything okay?” I reached for Beau’s hand without even realizing it and linked our fingers together.
“Everything is fine.” Maverick walked back in, with Cole behind him, carrying a giant plate covered in whipped cream. I assumed there were strawberries beneath it somewhere. He smiled at me. “We’ve been talking about fostering a child.”
Jackson nodded happily. “There’s a lot of paperwork and red tape to get through first. Go on, Sweetheart, tell them.”
“Back when I was still trying to get my head out of my butt, and we had a fight, I met this boy, Andy. Sam, do you remember him?” Maverick glanced over at her.
She nodded. “The one at the coffee shop?”
“That would be him. Apparently, he’s in a foster home now, and they reached out to me to see if I could help him with giving drum lessons.” Maverick’s face grew into a bright smile. “He’s such a good kid. After a few lessons, I couldn’t help but hope that we could help him.”
My throat grew tight as I saw the love that beamed from my brother. I could see Maverick being a father. I could see him with a house full of kids who he loved and took care of. He had so much love to give. “That’s amazing, Mav.”
“You think so? I just... I want to help him so much. Andy is talented, funny, and kind. We want to give him a home.” Maverick smiled up at Jackson.
Beau squeezed my hand. “You’re doing a great thing. Both of you.”
“And, Cole, he’s only a couple of years younger than you are,” Maverick added. “If things work out, maybe the two of you could be friends.”
Cole nodded, his face back in his phone as he shoveled strawberries into his mouth. “Cool, yeah, sure.”
“He’s got a boyfriend.” Beau chuckled softly.
I nudged him playfully. “It’s not a boyfriend. It’s a pen pal thing through school, remember?” Cole had told me all about Reed and how they had instantly clicked. They were talking online as well as their snail mail letters. I thought it was kind of cool.
“How come no one told me any of this?” Sam asked as she leaned down to try to read over Cole’s shoulder. “Reed, huh? He’s a dancer?”
Cole blushed and yanked his phone away. “That’s private. You shouldn’t read someone’s messages like that without asking.”
“It’s also rude to ignore everyone,” Beau said sternly. “You can put your phone away until we go home.”
Cole nodded. “Yes, Dad. Sorry.”
“Have the two of you set a wedding date yet?” Sam asked, and just like that, conversation changed to wedding bells and summer flowers.
I tucked myself comfortably next to Beau as we all laughed and enjoyed ourselves. I wondered if I could live here in Boston. Would that be something Beau wanted? Not with him, of course, but I could be closer to my brother, too. Be there if he needed me. I could find my own apartment.
“You awake, Pink?” Beau’s voice was soft in my ear. “We can go if you want.”
I hadn’t even realized I had fallen asleep. “Okay.”
“I take it you’re staying with Beau now,” Maverick teased. He climbed up next to me on the couch and hugged me. “I love you, Dean. Thank you for being the best brother.”
Where had that come from? “I love you, too, Mav,” I assured him.
“We’ll have lunch tomorrow, okay?” He squeezed me again before he let me go, and then Beau was leading me upstairs to his apartment, putting me back in his clothes, and helping me to bed.
BEAU HAD PRACTICE IN the morning, followed by some interviews and photo shoots that were contract agreements.
It felt a little strange to be in his apartment alone, drinking coffee at his table.
But when there was a knock at the door, and I found Maverick standing there, it felt right. Like I belonged here.
“So.” Maverick wiggled his brows at me after he hugged me. “Are you in love with him? Do you want to have like a million of his babies? Is Cole going to call you Daddy?”
I rolled my eyes. “Stop it.” But the blush that crept up my neck and face was hard to ignore. I was suddenly sweating despite wearing one of Beau’s oversized T-shirts. I dragged a hand through my hair. “It’s only been a couple of months.”
“Holy shit.” Maverick stared at me with wide, green eyes. I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my hand. “I was kidding, but you are, aren’t you? In love with him, I mean.”
Was I? I thought about the way my heart thumped loudly whenever Beau was in the room.
Or how my stomach filled with butterflies when I saw him.
Or how good it felt when he kissed me. Touched me.
Hell, whenever he did anything to me. I had enjoyed being with Helena, and maybe things might have been different between us, but Beau?
He made me feel alive for the first time in my life.
I swallowed nervously. “I’m terrified of whatever this feeling is, Mav.”
“Oh, Dean, don’t be.” He tugged on my hand and pulled me into a hug. “Love is amazing. It’s scary, sure, but it’s so worth the fall.” Maverick squeezed me tight. “I’m so happy you found someone.”
I wasn’t sure I felt the same way. “What if Beau doesn’t feel the same way? He ghosted me before.” I wasn’t sure I could handle that again.
“I’ll kill him.” Maverick pulled back to stare at me, fire in his eyes. “Don’t think I won’t. Just because Jackson is back in my life, that doesn’t mean I’m not still that asshole.”
I snorted. “Mav, I love you, but what could you do to Beau?”
“You doubt me?”
“Actually, now that I think about it, no.”
He smirked. “Remember the fights Kill and I had?” Then his smiled dropped from his face. “Jesus, those were bad. I shouldn’t even brag about them. I wanted to murder him because I was scared of my sexuality and pissed that he came out. That he was so damn happy. I was a dick.”
“But you’re out now. Engaged to the love of your life,” I reminded him. “And Killian forgave you.” I pushed the hair back on Mav’s forehead.
Maverick smiled. “I am.” His cheeks burned pink as he thought about Jackson. “Killian and Matty have both been pretty amazing, but I still feel like a complete shit about what I did.”
“All you can do is continue to not be.” I hugged him again.
Maverick grunted. “I know, but sometimes I just get so angry with myself for what I did. For how I acted and what I said. It was wrong, Dean. That’s not the man I am.”
“They know,” I assured him. “We all know. This man, this person you are right now? This is who you really are. The brother I grew up with, laughed with, and looked up to is who you are now. I always knew you were there, Mav. I’m glad you’re back.”
Maverick’s eyes welled with tears. “Don’t make me cry.” He sniffed and then he squeezed me so tightly I felt like my ribs might crack. “God, I missed you so much. You know that, right? You were always such a great brother. Not one of those annoying ones.”
“I missed you, too.” I chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat. Weren’t you going to take me to some place that has the best lobster rolls in Boston?”
He nodded. “You’re going to love them, trust me.”
And Maverick wasn’t wrong. It was some little food truck that I was more than skeptical about, but the lobster rolls were perfect.
We found a bench to sit on, laughed, and talked about everything and anything.
The wedding that Maverick and Jackson were planning.
The upcoming six-week tour that Maverick didn’t want to go on to promote our next album. Fostering Andy.
And what the future might hold for Beau and me.