Chapter twelve New Year’s Eve
Chapter twelve
New Year’s Eve
Tyler walked into the kitchen where food was spread out everywhere. Angel and Stewart had come over early to help and now had a massive spread laid out on every counter, the bar, and table. Angel swore it was fun, but Tyler wasn’t so sure. It looked like a lot of work to him.
“Hey, Ty. People will be here soon. Find a place for this.” Angel handed him a big bowl of tortilla chips.
Tyler looked around for an empty spot, unsuccessfully. Every inch of space had already been taken up by dishes of food and snack trays. “Don’t we already have chips?”
Stewart chuckled, his deep voice filling the kitchen. “Never enough chips. Where’s your husband hiding?”
“In a better spot than me,” Tyler mumbled, stepping around the bar to find somewhere on the table to squeeze in the extra bowl.
It wouldn’t have been so cramped if their plans of moving most of it outside by the pool hadn’t been thwarted by rain.
The unusually warm weather they were having meant it wouldn’t be snowing, which would have at least been pretty.
Instead, they had freezing rain that would keep them inside.
They’d made a quick change of plans, and Davey had driven in to Gallup and bought a huge, eighty-five-inch TV.
He wouldn’t have been able to haul it home without his pickup truck.
It was massive, but it would be fun watching the ball drop with their closest friends.
Davey called out from down the hall, “Hey, baby?” Tyler still got butterflies every time Davey called him that. Baby.
“Coming!” Tyler took the opportunity to ditch out on helping in the kitchen. That wasn’t his strong suit, and he was more than appreciative that Angel had it under control. Davey stuck his head out of one of the guest room doors.
“Can you take this out?” Davey handed him a little trash can full of paper towels.
“Everything’s clean and ready.” They’d had to spruce up for their guests who would be staying over.
Though, most would be staying at a local hotel.
They had invited Tate and his guys to stay over, but they insisted on staying at a local hotel as well.
Pilot promised he wouldn’t be drinking since Bryce still wasn’t twenty-one, and he didn’t want him to feel left out.
Tyler wouldn’t have believed that if he hadn’t seen the Apex paperwork on Bryce with his own eyes.
Supercross racers grew up quick and had an unusual maturity about them.
He knew that mostly from working with Sarah.
She was a spitfire. He was sad that she wouldn’t be at their party, but her parents didn’t feel it was appropriate, and Tyler really had no argument for that.
He grabbed the garbage and leaned in to sneak a kiss. Davey was happy to oblige him, but then shoved his shoulder. “Go. I still have to shower and change.”
“Better hurry.” Tyler looked at his watch, a slightly extravagant gift from Davey that sparkled nicely, but still didn’t outshine his ring. He could get used to the fancy gifts, though. “Yeah. People will start showing up soon.”
“Bets on who arrives first?”
Tyler laughed. “You know it’ll be Jessie. He never misses an opportunity to come over.”
“True.” Davey kissed him again. “Go.” He pointed back down the hallway.
Tyler took the garbage out as instructed, and by the time he returned, Jessie had shown up with two other guys. “Cuz!” he called out as he pulled Tyler into a hug. “These are my buds. Davey said it’d be cool to bring them.”
“Sure.”
They were introduced quickly, but Tyler didn’t think he’d be able to remember their names. One of them raised an eyebrow as he shook his hand. “Will, uh, there be other racers here? You know, uh, like that Bryce Nickel dude?”
“Uh, yeah. Bryce will be here,” Tyler answered, watching the kid’s smile brighten. “He’ll be here with his boyfriends Tate and Pilot.”
“Pilot?” the kid asked.
Davey spoke up behind him before Tyler could answer.
“Yeah, that big huge bodyguard that’s always around.
” Tyler was happy he’d said that. They were both very protective over their racers, and especially over Bryce since he was with Tate and Pilot.
That made him family. Not to mention how young he was.
“Oh.” The kid looked a little disappointed, but Jessie slung an arm over his shoulder, more than eager to console him.
Davey laughed as they walked off to get food. “Told you Jessie would be here first.”
“It helps that he lives locally. I thought he would be helping Dillon, though.”
“No, uh... Dillon is coming with someone. I think a girl.”
“Really? I thought he was gay?”
Davey laughed. “Dillon is...whatever he wants to be at the moment.”
The buzzer rang at that point, and Davey buzzed their driving team, Tony, Luke and their girlfriends, through the gates. After that, everyone started showing up at once.
Davey turned on the TV to tune in the New York coverage, as everyone got food and mingled. The house was quickly filled with most of their friends and family, but some were missing. Tyler felt his face tugging into a frown as he thought about one in particular.
An arm fell over his shoulder, and Davey whispered in his ear, “What’s wrong, baby?”
“I miss Janie.”
“Mm. Me too. Parties are just not the same without her.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s more than that, huh?”
Tyler leaned into Davey, taking warmth and comfort from his body.
“She’s my best friend. I haven’t been without her this long.
Ever. We’re both moving on.” Janie couldn’t be there since she was spending the New Year with her boyfriend’s family.
They were getting serious and while Tyler was happy for her, he missed her.
“She’ll always be your bestie.” Davey kissed the side of his hair and ran a finger through it where his lips had just been. “We’ll make a point to see her a bit more. Okay. First break, we’ll make time, even if we have to fly across the country to find her.”
Tyler turned and grabbed Davey, hugging him tightly. He mumbled into Davey’s chest, “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me, baby.”
Tyler laughed, “I’ll thank you in a special way later if you keep calling me baby.”
“Baby, baby, baby.”
“Ah man! Get a room already!” Jessie called out.
“Shut it, boy,” Dillon reprimanded him. He rolled forward in his chair a bit before grabbing his guest’s arm and pulling the small redhead into his lap. She giggled softly, happily. Everyone seemed happy.
Tyler decided to enjoy the company of those who were there rather than thinking about Janie and Mickey who couldn’t come.
Davey’s old trainer, Brad, also couldn’t come, but he was happy to see Tim Albright, who would also be training Rico this next season.
Tim had brought his boyfriend, a firefighter named Frank who rivaled Pilot in the muscle department.
In all, there were probably thirteen or fourteen people mingling in the living room and kitchen.
At midnight they gathered around the TV and cheered when the ball dropped.
Davey grabbed him at the final second and kissed him senseless.
When they finished, Tyler glanced around at so many other couples kissing.
Not to mention the sexy threesome sharing one strange three-way kiss.
Tate and Pilot had never looked so happy since Bryce had joined them.
Somehow the three of them just worked. Not everyone was engaged in swapping spit, though.
Jessie and his buddies were toasting with glasses of Champaign, clearly all three platonic friends, though they didn’t seem bothered by all the lovey-dovey scenes around them at all.
Tyler felt a strong sense of love in his heart.
All the people crowded around them were different.
They did their own things, and some were gay, and some were not.
Some were in new relationships, and some like Angel and Stewart had been together at least as long as Tyler and Davey.
They all still had a few things in common.
They accepted each other. They loved racing. And they were family.
The party went on, but eventually, people left and the few staying at their house like Stewart and Angel, made their way to their rooms, leaving Tyler alone with Davey in the main house.
Tyler had started straightening the mess in the living room when Davey came up behind him and took his hand. “Come with me.”
Tyler let him tug him out into the garage. He flipped on the lights and then slung his leg over his father’s old Harley, looking up at Tyler with that sexy stare that meant he wanted to play around. “I’ve been thinking about his bike a lot lately.”
“Oh yeah?” Tyler crawled up on the bike in front of him, leaning back into Davey’s arms.
“Yeah. I remember the first time you saw it.”
Tyler laughed.
“The first thing you said was how you wanted me to fuck you on it.”
“No, it wasn’t...”
“Well...that’s the part I liked best.” He nuzzled his nose under Tyler’s ear, making him wiggle around. “I love this bike. It reminds me of my dad. I really would have liked you to meet him.”
“I would have loved him. I’m sure.”
They snuggled a bit as Tyler thought about their last few weeks. Their vacation was almost over, and they’d spent a good bit of it arguing. “I know he was a hella-better father than my own.”
“Hey. I’m sorry. Listen.”
Tyler turned around and wrapped his legs around Davey’s waist. “No. It’s fine.”
“I meant what I said about us being in a better place now. Stronger. Closer.” Davey carded his fingers through Tyler’s hair.
“I know. I think so, too. So, like, I thought a lot tonight about the people who aren’t here. I didn’t once think about my father. He doesn’t factor in.”
“Do you ever think about looking for him?”
“Uh...no. Hell no. He doesn’t deserve to know me. Not after all this time.” Tyler shook his head. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Okay.” He smirked with mischief shining in his eyes. “Or...”
“Yeah?”