Chapter 31 Beau
beau
Iris’ brother doted on her the moment we arrived at his condo.
He hugged her fiercely, telling her he was so worried and why the hell did she marry the stupid cowboy?
I grabbed Nash’s hand to give him some reassurance that this was going to be ok.
Iris’s family loved her, so he might suffer a bit for it.
“Luke, that stupid cowboy is my husband,” she said, pulling away from him.
“You should have come to me,” he said, glancing at us, narrowing his eyes at Nash. “I can’t believe you took advantage of her, and you basically led her to danger.”
Luke glared at me too.
“Luke.” Iris admonished. “It wasn’t him. His father forced our marriage for his own gain. Don’t be mean to Beau, he was experiencing a lot of pressure.”
The guilt I had tried to overcome was thrown in my face again.
“I don’t give a shit. You guys should have known better,” Luke snapped, glaring at Nash again. “If this is how you treat the person you lo—”
“Amor.” Camilla, Luke’s wife, came up to him.
“I’m sorry,” Nash spoke up, because I was too stunned to say anything. “Our marriage shouldn’t have happened, but I’m not sorry it did.”
“You should be because—” Luke stopped speaking.
“Our marriage started out as contractual and our first year married was a disaster, but I fell in love with Iris in these past few months,” Nash said, standing beside Iris.
“Look, I don’t expect you to understand or even welcome me.
I don’t regret how we came together, my only regret is that it took me this long to realize how much of an amazing woman she is. ”
“Well, damn. That was a great answer.” Genevieve, Luke and Camilla’s girlfriend, walked to us. “Come on in, don’t mind him. He loves Iris and he just needs a minute to come to terms that his baby sister isn’t such a baby anymore.”
“Nash, this is my sister-in-law, Camilla, and their girlfriend, Genevieve.” Iris introduced Nash.
“Nice to meet you ma’am’s,” he said nervously, his southern twang even more prominent.
“Aren’t you adorable.” Genevieve looked at Nash up and down. “He looks like a keeper.
I laughed awkwardly. “Hello, Mistress.”
“Hello, darling. Are you ok?” She gave me a hug and I flinched in pain. “Oh no, you need to sit down.” She grabbed my hand as she hugged Iris who pulled Nash with us.
“I’m ok,” I said. “Just a little banged up—”
“Oh, thank god!” Valencia rushed over to me, about to hug me when I stepped back. “Is it that bad?”
“Just bruising, but other than that, I’m fine,” I said, pulling her in for a gentle hug.
“Idiota. I knew you shouldn’t have left,” she cried.
“I’m an idiot,” I sighed, as Valencia led me to the living room.
Hunter and Romeo stood up when we entered the room.
“Shit, you guys ok?” Hunter asked, coming over to us.
“Yeah, as good as we can expect,” I said, giving them a smile, worried what might happen next. “Hunter, Romeo and Val, this is Nash.”
“Nice to meet y’all,” he said with a nod, as he shook hands with the guys and he smiled at Valencia who didn’t look too pleased with him.
“I’m just glad you are ok,” she said, as Hunter and Romeo helped me sit down. “Are you ok, Iris?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” she said, sitting next to me, pulling Nash with her so we sandwiched her in between us.
“They arrested him, right?” Genevieve asked, sitting with Luke and Camilla on another sofa.
I chuckled, realizing we were all throuples, and how wild that was.
“They did,” Nash said, glancing at me. “Beau fought him until the cops showed up.”
“It was Scout,” I said, looking at Valencia.
“You’ve got to be kidding?!” she gasped. “Didn’t you guys use to work together?”
“Yeah, when I first started; then he wanted more and I said no,” I exhaled. “I hadn’t seen him in years. I don’t know why he suddenly started this.”
“Maybe it’s best if you don’t know,” Hunter said.
“I agree. Maybe it is better if we don’t know,” Iris said, threading her fingers through mine.
“Are you guys hungry?” Camilla asked.
“Yeah, we haven’t really eaten,” Iris said.
“I can go pick up something,” Nash offered.
A knock on the door had us all looking towards it.
“Are you expecting anyone else, Amor?” Camilla asked Luke. “Or is anyone else?”
Everyone shook their heads as Luke stood up.
“So, are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?” Valencia raised her brow at me.
“What elephants?” I played dumb.
“I take it you haven’t seen any news lately?” Romeo asked.
“No one is looking at any news until I give the all-clear.”
I turned around to see Jo standing there in a killer black suit, slick pony and tall heels.
“Uh, Jo. What the hell are you doing here?” Nash stood up.
“Luke used to be my client, and it wasn’t hard to put two and two together when you weren’t at your hotel,” she said, typing on her phone. “Look, you’re not answering your phone, and we need a game plan because another article is being released.”
“Jo, I don’t think—”
She held up her hand. “If your father is behind this, then we need to get ahead of it. I will not let that motherfucker undo all the hard work I have put in for you to get brand deals and your chance to finally win the championship.”
“She’s right,” I said.
“We won’t let him win,” Iris said as we both stood up. “I think we should go public.”
“Iris, I don’t—”
“I think that’s the only way he doesn’t win, Nash,” I said, grabbing his hand as Iris grabbed his other.
“I don’t want him to force us to announce our relationship to the world,” Nash sighed. “He’s already done it to me once, and I will not be manipulated into doing it again.”
“I look at it like a big fuck you to him,” Iris grinned. “He just needs to go get fucked.”
I laughed as Nash cracked a smile. “You’re right, Petal. He needs to get fucked.”
“I agree and no better way to do that than seem unphased by his antics,” Jo said, putting her purse down and sitting at the seat closest to us.
“Are you sure you want to go public, Iris?” Luke asked, looking upset. “Once people know about your relationship, they get nosey, have opinions and a whole mess of problems come with it.”
“Do you expect me to stay quiet?” Iris snapped.
“Jo is great at what she does,” Luke said, stepping towards Iris. “Let her do her job and in a week or two it will all blow over.”
I glanced at Jo, who was watching us patiently.
“What do you think, Jo?” I asked, curious as to what she was thinking.
“I can do whatever you ask me to. It might be hard to make this go away, but that’s what Nash pays me for,” she said patiently.
“Luke is right, once you go public, everyone will be in your business, especially if Nash wins the championship. Your relationship will be brought up over and over again, but once you jump over this hurdle, you won’t have to hide who you are anymore.
You can go to his rodeo, be by his side and live your life without fear of someone finding you guys out.
No matter what, people will always wonder if what they read was true.
So, you need to decide what you are comfortable living with. ”
Iris turned towards us, biting her lip. “I don’t want to hide.”
“Neither do I,” I said. “I know it won’t be easy, but I don’t want to live in fear of someone taking a picture or stopping us from living our life.”
Nash took a deep breath. “I want whatever will make y’all happy. I don’t care if we are public or not, as long as I get to call you mine.”
“Then let’s do it,” Iris said, looking at Jo.
“Fuck yes! I was hoping you would say that,” Jo said, getting some papers out of her purse.
“I have a statement drafted already to address the situation and to condemn whoever gave photos of your private life to the press. It’s simple, but gives us time to figure out our next steps without worrying about the press breathing down our neck. ”
Nash grabbed the paper and we all looked it over. It was simple, straightforward, and to the point.
“Would it help if we made a statement?” Hunter asked. “We know what it’s like to have the press in your face about your relationship and we can say they are our good friends.”
“No statement, but in the next day or two I need Nash to post a picture of y’all and if you’d like, you could repost or comment on his photo,” Jo said, as she typed on her phone.
“I don’t want you guys to think you have to help us,” Iris said. “I know the spotlight is always on you and if this is too much—”
“Nope. Us triads need to stick together,” Valencia said quickly. “We’ve learned to ignore the hate as much as we can and if we can help, we want to.”
“Great! Now that that’s settled, Nash, tomorrow you have that event at Love4All with the puppies,” Jo said, getting up. “If Iris and Beau come with you, then make sure you get photographed together.”
“Jo.” Nash sighed.
“Don’t Jo me, we need all the good press we can get.” She grabbed her purse. “Now go to the event and please get your ass back on the road because I don’t know how else you’re going to pay me. Love you, bye!”
She walked away as we all watched her.
“Damn, I should have asked where she got that suit,” Genevieve said, breaking the silence. “Her ass looked great in it.”
“I can make you one,” Camila said, kissing her cheek. “I’ll make your ass look even better.”
We all laughed. The mood lightened after that. Everyone finally relaxed as Camilla ordered us some food.
Luke walked up to us, sitting on the coffee table in front of Iris.
“I just want you to be happy, Izzy,” he said softly.
“I know. I just want to be happy, too,” she said, leaning forward.
“Are you sure it’s with these two?” he asked, nodding at us.
“Yeah, it is. I don’t want anyone else.” She grabbed our hands.
He smiled. “Good. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Iris said, hugging Luke.
“Now since I’m the oldest, I’ll issue the threat.” Luke released Iris. “There’s seven of us and only two of you, make sure you treat my sister right and you won’t find out how quickly we can make you disappear. We know people.”
“Luke! Don’t listen to him,” Iris said, as her face grew red.
“Iris is safe with us,” I chuckled. “There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for her.’
“Or each other,” Iris said.
“Good, love you, Izzy.” Luke ruffled her hair as he stood up.
We spent the rest of the evening eating, relaxing and enjoying everyone’s company before we went back to the hotel. Nash locked the door as we took off our shoes and I grabbed a water bottle.
“I think we should take that picture now,” Iris said. “I know she said a few days, but I would like to do it now.”
“Let’s do it,” I said, grabbing my phone, looking around for the perfect place to take it.
“On the balcony,” Nash said, opening the door.
“Yes, I like that,” I said, following him outside.
“Make it quick, it’s cold,” Iris said, cuddling close to us.
I extended my arm as we took a few pictures together.
“This feels so serious,” Nash grumbled.
“Too staged?” Iris bit her lip.
“You guys need to loosen up,” I said, looking at them.
I leaned down to kiss Iris and then Nash, taking random pictures until we giggled like teenagers.
“Alright, get your butt inside,” I said to a shivering Iris.
We walked inside, heading straight to bed. Nash and I flanked Iris as we flipped through the pictures until I stopped at my favorite one. All of us were smiling, but none of us were looking at the camera just at each other. It was a little out of focus, but that added to its charm.
“Do it,” Iris said.
I handed my phone to Nash since I still had his login. He took the phone, typed for two seconds and gave it back to me.
Our love, not anyone else's, but ours.
I hit publish, signed out of his account and threw my phone on the nightstand. We didn’t need to see the comments or likes. Our love was enough and that’s all we needed.