Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“YOU MADE IT!” Jonah waved Liam over from a table with three other guys in the trendy Culpepper coffee shop. “Come meet everybody.”
They all had coffees and welcoming grins. One of the guys dragged an empty chair over from a neighboring table.
“Hey, all, I’m Liam,” he said, lifting a hand as he reached the table.
“Sit, sit,” Jonah said. “Liam, this is Trevor to my right.”
A thin twink with a skintight cropped tank waved. “Hi, sweetie, welcome to our crew.” His glossy lips had a natural pout, and the liner around his eyes made them big, bold, and blue as the damn ocean. His hot pink hair was arranged in a tousled style that probably took him an hour to craft. Adorable guy, but not Tate’s type. He preferred his men a little scruffier and a little Tatier , but he could definitely see them hitting it off as friends. Same with Jonah.
“Next to him is Jimmy Don, but he’ll hate you if you call him anything but JD,” he said of the man scowling at him. JD lifted a hand. “I prefer people not know I grew up on a thousand-acre corn field in the middle of nowhere. Jimmy Don takes away my mysterious appeal.”
Laughing, Liam said, “Makes sense to me. As soon as Jonah said your full name, I imagined you in overalls carrying a basket of corn.”
“See,” JD said to Jonah as everyone laughed. He certainly didn’t have the look of someone who worked on a farm, more like a guy who walked off a cologne ad with tanned skin, perfectly styled light brown hair, and a jawline a sculptor would drool over. Designer sunglasses hung from the collar of his polo. Liam had a feeling that under his clothes, he was muscular, tanned, and hairless.
“Whatever.” Jonah waved away JD’s complaints. “You haven’t even been around corn in ages. Hell, you haven’t been in Oklahoma in ages.” He turned to Liam. “JD just got off back-to-back European photoshoots with a big-name designer.” He pouted. “But he isn’t allowed to tell us who it is yet. It’s ‘in his contract,’” he said, making air quotes.
Nailed it.
JD rolled his eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal,” he said, though his eyes sparkled with excitement. Liam would bet money the designer the guy modeled for was high-end and one they’d all lose their minds over. He’d be lying if he said the prospect of having a connection like that wasn’t exciting.
“And last but not least, Murphy.”
Liam faced the last and largest of the men. Gigantic was the most accurate description. And a little scary. He wore a scowl that didn’t seem to be directed Liam’s way, more his natural resting state.
Murphy nodded once in greeting but didn’t say anything.
“He’s the strong, silent type,” Jonah said in a stage whisper that had him earning a glare from Murphy. Instead of cowering under the intensity, Jonah laughed. “He’s all bark, well, all glower, and no bite. Murph works security for JD’s family’s farm. He’s a real live cowboy.”
“No,” Murphy said, speaking for the first time. “Not a cowboy.” He had a strong face and a nose with a hint of a bump as though it had been broken in the past. Thick, dark eyebrows arched over his equally dark eyes. His hair was mostly hidden beneath a Jon Deere trucker hat, but it seemed as dark as the rest of his features. The guy had muscles on top of muscles and could probably crack a walnut with one squeeze of his fist.
He was so different from the other three. Liam would love to know how they all became friends.
“Nice to meet you all,” Liam said with a smile. “What’s everyone drinking?”
“Carmel macchiato,” Jonah answered first. “Iced.”
“Iced chai latte.” Trevor shook his vat of a beverage before taking a sip.
“Skinny vanilla latte with almond milk,” JD answered, making the others roll their eyes.
“This one doesn’t do sugar,” Trevor said, thumbing his hand JD’s way. “Heaven forbid he gains an ounce.”
“What about you?” Liam turned to Murphy, who had a large to-go cup of something hot.
“Black coffee.”
Liam couldn’t hold back his grin. “Shoulda guessed that one. Let me grab a drink, and I’ll be right back.” Thankfully, there wasn’t a line, and he was back with his oat milk brown sugar latte in minutes.”
“So, Liam,” Trevor said when he returned to the table. “What’s your story?”
“My story?”
“Yeah.” Trevor propped his chin on his hand and batted his thick eyelashes. “Where are you from? What do you do? Why the hell did you move to Swan?”
“Ahh.” He sipped his drink and then set it down on the table. “From New York. I grew up about an hour north of the city, but most recently, I lived in New York City. I was a principal dancer in the New York City Ballet Company.”
Trevor’s eyes widened. “No shit? That’s incredible. Now I really wanna know why you’re here in the middle of nowhere.”
“I moved here to open a dance studio.” He plastered on a smile that felt fake.
“I’m hearing great things about it,” Jonah said. “For the first time ever, people are willingly driving from Culpepper to Swan so their kids can dance with a true professional.”
His cheeks grew warm. “Oh, wow, that’s really nice.”
Trevor tilted his head. “Not buying it.”
“Huh?”
“Your reason for moving here is bullshit. What’s the real reason?”
Snorting, JD shook his head. “You’ll have to excuse him. Trev was born without a filter.”
“Excuse you,” Trevor said as he smacked JD’s arm. “Ooh, you’ve been doing a little extra lifting, haven’t you?” His voice turned syrupy as he squeezed JD’s bicep with his pink-tipped fingers. The man didn’t seem to mind, flexing and winking at Trevor.
“Ain’t our business. You don’t gotta answer him.” Murphy had a deep voice that fit his huge stature.
He considered taking the out Murphy offered, but if anyone would empathize with his reasoning, it’d be these men, right?
“Um, no, it’s okay.” He fiddled with his straw. “When I was a teenager, I was in a traveling ballet troupe. We, uh, came here and performed at the state fair. Afterward, I was attacked and assaulted, beaten pretty bad.”
Trevor gasped and pressed a hand to his lips. JD and Jonah stared at him with wide, enraptured eyes while Murphy’s facial expression remained the same scowl.
“After that, I decided that someday I’d come back and give kids like me an opportunity they might not have. I’d give them a chance to be themselves and have a gay male role model.” He cleared his throat. “So here I am.”
No one said anything for a moment, and he started to squirm under the attention of their stares. Finally, JD spoke. “Well, shit. That’s deep for this time of day.”
Thank God for him because it broke the thick tension. They all chuckled.
“I remember when that happened,” Trevor said. “I was about thirteen and already fabulous.” He winked. “My parents forbade me from going to the fair that year. I acted surly the way any teenager who was told they can’t do something does, but I was secretly relieved. It was hard enough growing up a gay kid in Culpepper. I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been in Swan.”
“How’d you get away?” Murphy asked.
“Uh, another kid jumped in and tried to fight off my attackers. Got his ass kicked as well.”
Jonah whistled. “Brave guy.”
A smile spread across Liam’s face. “Yes, very brave. He, uh, he’s actually my boyfriend now.” And that was the first time he’d said those words. God, it felt good to tell people about Tate and how wonderful he was.
Trevor’s jaw dropped. “You lucky bitch.”
“Seriously,” Jonah said with an exaggerated pout. “All I meet are pieces of shit, and you’re with your actual knight in shining armor.”
Laughing, Liam shook his head. “I don’t know how shiny it is. His style is a little more like Murphy’s.”
“Oooh.” Trevor bounced in his seat and clapped his hands. “We’re going clubbing in Tulsa this weekend. You should totally come and bring your stud.”
Tate is a stud, isn’t he ?
“Um, yeah, I’ll ask him. He isn’t exactly the clubbing type.” Though, of course, that’s where they’d met, but Tate had only been there to scratch an itch, not experience the club.
“That’s fine. He can sit at the bar, drink beer, and glare at people with Murph while we dance! This is such a good idea.” Trevor seemed so excited Liam couldn’t do anything but agree to go.
He stayed way too long, laughing and getting to know the guys who he could see becoming his go-to group of friends. By the time he left, he had three new numbers on his phone, plans for the weekend, and less than one hour until his first class of the day.
As he speed-walked down the street toward the meter where he’d parked his car, he noticed a white pickup truck parked a few spaces behind him. The familiar logo on the back had him grinning and picking up his pace. Had he realized Tate would be in the area, he’d have at least grabbed him a coffee.
He practically threw himself against the open passenger side window. “Hey there, you sexy… oh, shit.”
Instead of Tate, Randy sat at the wheel, texting away on his phone. As soon as he heard Liam’s voice, he jerked his head up and glared. “The fuck?”
“Sorry. Thought you’d be Tate.” He stepped back from the truck, but instead of continuing to his car, he tilted his head and studied Randy.
“The fuck you staring at, perv?”
“What is it?” How many times had he wanted to ask someone those three little words throughout his life? “What is it that you have such a problem with?”
Randy’s eyes, the same pretty blue as Tate’s, only full of hatred and disgust, narrowed. “My brother’s a fag. Do I need more of a reason?”
“Yes.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You do. And you need to stop using that word. Why the hell does it matter to you what your brother does with his dick?”
“Because it’s fucking gross.”
“Fine, you think it’s gross. So don’t do it. I’m sure there’s a lot of kinky shit out there that you find gross. Do you go out of your way to hate people who piss on each other?”
“What?” His nose scrunched. “No. That’s nasty, but it ain’t my business. Why the fuck would I care—”
Liam smirked. “Keep going. Finish that sentence.”
“Fuck you.”
“I just don’t understand what it is about you uber-straight boys who are so threatened by men like me and Tate.”
“I’m not—”
“You are. You are threatened by us.” He closed the gap to the car and rested his elbows on the window frame. “News flash, Randy, Tate realized he was gay more than a decade ago. You’ve lived with him, worked with him, and hung out with him nearly every single day since then. Not a goddamn thing has happened to you because of it.”
Randy didn’t respond.
“No one is interested in ‘turning you gay,’ ” he said, making air quotes. “That’s not even a thing. And if you’re afraid he’s gonna hit on you, you’re just stupid. He’s your brother. You wanna screw your mom?”
“What?” Randy reared back, mouth agape. “No, you sick fuck. What the hell?”
Liam shrugged. “Well, you’re straight, and she’s a woman, so by your thinking, shouldn’t you wanna screw her?”
“You’re fucking twisted.”
“And you're stupid.” He stuck his head in the car and pinned Randy with a severe stare. “You’re gonna throw away the one brother you have because of some bullshit ideas you have. Tate’s sexuality has zero impact on who you are and your life. I’m with him, Randy, and I’m not going anywhere. He doesn’t want me to go anywhere. So you have two options. Continue down this path and lose him from your life forever, or grow the fuck up, open your mind, and stop being a bigot.”
Randy didn’t respond, but a muscle in his jaw twitched with the force of his clenched bite.
“Decide quickly because Tate’s getting ready to close the door on you, and once that happens, it won’t open back up. I won’t let anyone who might hurt him get close enough to do so.”
He shoved away from the truck and finished walking to his car. Once behind the wheel, he blew out an unsteady breath and placed his shaky hands on the wheel.
He’d done what he could. Hopefully, Randy had enough brain cells to think about what Liam had said and make some changes.
Tate wasn’t the only one who could protect those he loved. Liam would do everything in his power to shield his man from pain.