Chapter 28
LEA
“Ileave you alone for a few weeks and you go and fall in love on me?”
I jerked my head up at Shea’s voice, watching warily as he sat down with a heavy sigh on the other side of the couch.
I dropped my head back into my hands and said, “Shea, I’m so sorry, I know what it looks like but I swear, I swear I love him. I really do. Please don’t hate me, I don’t think I could handle it if you weren’t in my life anymore, please—”
“Still as melodramatic as ever, aren’t you?”
Shocked at the amusement in Shea’s voice, I raised my head and stared at him. “What?”
He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, I…I really shouldn’t have put my hands on you like that.
I walked in and saw you on top of him and I just—fuck.
I just reacted. I’m sorry I did that, because you didn’t deserve it.
” He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. Beau is gay, you’re in love…
what’s next? Riley likes men, too?” He snorted.
“No, what would be truly weird is seeing Monroe smile.” He cut his eyes to mine and gave me a smile of his own, and the heaviness in my heart lifted.
“You really don’t hate me?”
Shea scooted down to me and wrapped me in his arms. “I could never hate you, dummy. I might give you weird looks for a while, but that’s it. I love you, Lee Lee. You’re as much of a brother to me as Beau is. I just want you to be happy.”
“I’m so happy with him, Shea. You have no idea.”
“Good.” He pulled back and tipped my chin up. “Did I hurt you?” There was a wealth of regret in his voice, so I patted his knee.
“No, you didn’t hurt me. You almost did, but my knight in shining armor came to my rescue. Did you see my fierce man back there? Ugh. Amazing. But where the hell did all these muscles come from?” I wrapped a hand around his bicep. “Have you been weight training or doing scientific research?”
“Why not both?” he said, flexing in my grip.
“Damn, babe, you could crack nuts with these bad boys. You’re seriously swole.
Where’s your backwards hat? Where’s your tiny tank and your shaker bottle full of protein?
That should be glued to your hand at all times.
What will I do if you get hangry on me? I know I’m edible but this is all for Beau. ” I gestured down my body.
“Okay, stop. I’m not that big,” he laughed, pushing my wandering hands away.
“You’re bigger than you were. How did it go out there? We missed you,” I told him, sincerely glad to have him back. “Plus you look a little rough, did something happen?”
Shea bit his lip and glanced away.
What was this? Did something juicy happen?
“It was fine, nothing happened.”
Something definitely happened.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was keeping something from me and I would absolutely find out what it was.
“Ah, so it was all just very fine,” I remarked.
I decided to let him off the hook for now because he really did look tired.
“Maybe you should go take a nap. The guest room is free again now that Beau has moved into mine.”
Shea sighed and stood up. “Yeah, I think I might. Drinks tonight?”
“How else would we welcome you home? The marching band was busy, unfortunately. Wait, wait, wait, did you see any UFOs?”
“Not this time, sorry. But there was a portal to another dimension that appeared out of nowhere. We avoided it by just a hair.”
“You should have been the good little scientist you are and gone through it, taken some samples or whatever it is you do.” He laughed, and, seeing the weariness in his eyes tugged at my heart. Softly, I said, “Go rest, hon.”
Shea stood up, hesitated, then leaned down and gave me a hard hug with those big new muscles. “I’m glad it’s you,” he said softly. “Be good to him.”
I hugged him back and murmured, “I intend to.”
Shea kissed my cheek and headed down the hall to the guest room.
It was time to go check on my man. We’d been interrupted at a very poignant moment, and I wanted to pick up where we left off.
“Beau, darling,” I called, padding down the hall and through the open door of my room. Beau was sitting cross-legged on the bed, a small blanket in his hands. He looked up at me and smiled, though it was a little too sad for my liking.
“What’s that?” I crawled onto the bed and wrapped myself around him from behind, propping my chin on his shoulder and linking my hands across his stomach.
“It’s a blankie my mom made for me when I was little. I was thinking…” He trailed off and sighed.
I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You were thinking what?”
“That I might get rid of it.”
“Ah. And why’s that?”
Beau sighed. “Because I don’t think she ever loved either of us at any point.
I kept it because I felt like it was the only evidence that maybe, for just a little while, she had loved me.
But I’m not so sure anymore. How could anything she did or said be likened to love?
She’s the reason Shea wanted to…to die. I didn’t know he was in so much pain that he wanted to…
I never knew. And I was so mad at him for so long, and…
” His voice was rough and low, and I wished I could take all his pain away.
My poor, precious baby; he’d only just found out today?
I guess I always assumed that Shea had told him, but Christ.
I kissed his neck and said, “I know, sugar. It’s not your fault.
There was no way for you to know if he didn’t tell you.
But that was a long time ago. He’s in a good place now—literally and figuratively.
I promise.” I unlinked my fingers and stroked a firm hand up and down his chest. “So you want to get rid of that? Do you wanna burn it? Shred it? Take it to the dump? I’ll help you, baby. ”
Beau leaned back against me. “I think I’d like to donate it. It’s got my name on it, but maybe another Beau will find it.”
“Okay. Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Hey Lea?”
“Mm?”
“Did you really not kiss anyone before me?”
I chuckled softly. “Is there anything Judy didn’t tell you? Ugh. Yes, I really didn’t kiss anyone before you. Well, not for ten years, at least. It felt too…intimate. I guess I must really like you or something.”
Beau smacked my hand so gently it was more like a caress. “Shut up.”
“Yeah, I think I, like, might even love you,” I said with feigned incredulity.
Beau whipped around and pinned me to the bed with a soft growl that made my full heart pound and all the blood in my body rush to my dick. He dragged my wrists over my head and lowered himself until his lips were on mine. “Say it again.”
His rough whisper sent delicious shivers down my spine, and I arched into him. “I love you, Beau.”
He took my lips with groan, giving me all the sweetness he could offer.
It was a lot, and still, it would never be enough.
“Your chicken poppers, Ri,” I announced, sliding the hot plate in front of my hungry, hungry hippo of a friend. Someone had to feed all those muscles.
“Hell yes! Thanks, Lea.” He dug right in.
The bar was jam-packed—it was Saturday night—and all my favorite people were here. Especially my most favorite person.
I gave heart eyes to Beau, who was a few seats down talking with Shea.
As if he could feel my gaze, he glanced over at me.
The smile that stretched across his face made my heart flutter.
I couldn’t believe this beautiful boy was all mine, but I wasn’t about to question it too much.
I felt settled now that I’d been able to share my feelings and give myself to him completely.
And oh, the perks to being with Beau were endless. He was going to let me count his freckles later, and I planned on doing a very, very thorough tally. With my tongue.
I blew Beau a kiss, making him blush, and reluctantly turned back to Riley. “You’re quite welcome. Although my generosity does come with a price,” I told him with a sly smile.
“What?” he mumbled around a mouth full of chicken.
I held two fingers up. “Two hugs a day for a whole week straight.”
Riley chuckled and shook his head. “I’d do that for free. I’ll give you unlimited hugs any time you want, how’s that?”
“Well, I can’t give you unlimited chicken poppers because you’d put us out of business.”
“It’s fine. This is good for now.” Riley was done with the plate in less than a minute.
He wiped his hands with a napkin and nodded toward Beau.
“He’s really nice. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but damn, Lea.
That right there is a keeper. You two are adorable together.
I thought he would resemble Shea, but they don’t even look like they’re brothers. What’s up with that?”
“I know!” I cried. “But also, thank god for that because that would be weird.”
Riley laughed and slapped me on the back, making me stumble forward. “Yeah. Oh, whoops, sorry.”
Ouch. “It’s fine, I’m just surrounded by bodybuilders now, apparently. Have you seen Shea’s muscles? I think he wants to outdo you, Ri.”
“That’s okay. I don’t work out to look good.”
Riley got sick a lot as a kid, and as a result, he’d been underweight.
But by high school, he’d bolstered his immune system, so he put all his energy into staying healthy and fit because he never wanted to feel like he did when he was little.
I admired him for his discipline and tenacity, but god, I could never do the amount of physical activity he did on a daily basis.
Just the thought was enough to exhaust me.
“I know,” I said. “But the result is still très magnifique.” I leaned closer to Riley and said quietly, “I think our Shea is withholding pertinent information from his closest allies, so my goal tonight is to drag it out of him. You think I can do it?”
“If anyone of us can do it, it’s you.”
“Your vote of confidence is everything. Now watch me work my magic.” I patted Riley’s shoulder and sauntered over to Shea and Beau. “Hello, lovelies,” I said, draping myself around Beau. He leaned back against me, and a familiar warmth spread through my chest.
For once I was glad that Lyle had cheated on me. I was glad for everything in my life that had led to this very moment. I’d go through all that suffering a million times over if it meant I ended up right here, in Beau’s arms.
Well, he was in my arms right now, but my point still stood.
I kissed the top of his head, then rubbed my cheek against his soft fuzz. As promised, Shea was giving us a weird look, but I saw the smile he tried to hide with his beer bottle. He took a long sip, then said, “I’m gonna stay with Riley for a bit. I’m sure you guys understand.”
My lips curled up because oh yes, we understood, and neither of us really wanted Shea staying at the apartment either. “Of course,” I said with a laugh. I rubbed my head against Beau’s and murmured in his ear, “Hey, sugar. You come here often?”
He laughed and leaned back into me. “Probably too much.”
“Wanna get out of here?”
He tilted his head back and kissed my jaw. “My place or yours?”
I pressed my lips to his. “Ours. Definitely ours.”