Chapter 1
Chapter one
Johnny
Johnny shoved his glasses back up his nose, wishing he’d worn his contacts.
Fuck it. He’d been on the treadmill in his spare room for almost half an hour.
He normally did forty-five minutes, but it was Christmas Eve, and he had other plans.
He pushed the buttons to stop the machine and headed for the shower.
He normally didn’t spend Christmas Eve alone, but this year Pilot wanted to spend the evening with his two partners.
They’d planned for everyone to meet up on Christmas morning, though, for a family gift exchange.
Johnny groaned. He’d shopped for Pilot and Uncle Gary easily enough, but he had no clue what to get for the partners. They were an enigma.
He gave Pilot credit for dating two young and hot racers, but that was where things got weird.
They both showed a lot of maturity for their ages, having been in the motocross circuit since they were little kids.
Hell, the younger one, Bryce, had told Johnny he’d started the whole motocross world obsession when he’d climbed up on his first bike at three years of age. He’d been a toddler for crap-sakes!
Johnny still didn’t know what presents to get for them.
He didn’t know much about motocross and didn’t care.
The Apex team Bryce had joined was a client for his uncle’s company, Trident.
That’s all he knew. What he’d ended up getting them was probably lame, but he’d spent enough time worrying over it.
After his shower, he headed to the kitchen.
He made a kickass milkshake and settled in front of the television for some Christmas movies.
If Pilot were there, they’d probably watch that Bruce Willis movie he loved so much, but he wasn’t there.
He was loving it up with his moto hot lovers.
So, fuck him. Johnny would put on Ralphie’s Christmas Story.
He loved that one. He could relate to the main character and his unfulfilled longing, even though it wasn’t a BB gun Johnny wanted.
He recalled his little one-night stand with the hunky Gavin Peri.
That man was one more thing Johnny knew about Supercross.
..he managed one of the other teams. He’d gotten the impression the Apex team wasn’t too happy with the man.
He’d shown up at their function to try and poach Bryce.
That didn’t happen, but Johnny did manage to get a little piece of Gavin, instead.
He silently added another night with Gavin to his Christmas wishlist.
##
Johnny woke up to his phone alarm, looking around dazed.
He’d fallen asleep on the couch watching the movie.
Pathetic! He sighed and popped frozen waffles in his toaster to feel better.
Christmas morning called for a treat. While the waffles cooked, he pulled out his secret stash of Nutella and the syrup.
He worked hard and ate right most of the time, but he didn’t hesitate to splurge when it was called for.
..and this Christmas, it was definitely called for.
After his sweet breakfast, he cleaned up and loaded his presents in his little Volkswagen hybrid. It didn’t take long. He texted Pilot to let him know he’d be there soon and then called his Uncle.
“Yo! Johnny boy! Merry Christmas, kiddo!”
“Merry Christmas, Uncle Gary.” Johnny loved his uncle like a father, he’d practically been Johnny’s father since his teenage years, anyway. He was the one man Johnny looked forward to seeing. “Want me to pick you up? I’m getting in my car now?”
“Nah...I’ll meet you over there. I have some shit to do still and—”
“Tell me you are not working on Christmas... Uncle! Come on.”
“I have a little bit of paperwork. That’s all. It won’t do itself.”
“No, but I can come in tomorrow and take care of anything left hanging from last week. Okay? Deal? I’ll pick you up.
Be there in five.” He hung up before his uncle had time to argue.
The man would work twenty-four seven if Johnny didn’t keep him in check.
He made a mental note to get his uncle to relax more.
Maybe they could go fishing soon...if the weather warmed up any.
Currently, he’d bundled up in layers to fight the cold.
The lingering snow still dusted across his lawn glittered in the morning sunshine.
That, at least, was perfect for a Christmas morning.
He took a deep breath of the chilly air and locked up the house.
Gary lived between his house and Pilot’s, and it only took Johnny a few minutes to get there.
They had all settled within five miles of the Trident offices.
His uncle had positioned the security company in a suburb of Denver, not too far from the city, but far enough.
Johnny only went downtown to hit the clubs, and that was rare, even more so since Pilot hooked up with his motocross buddies.
He hardly ever spent time outside of the office with the man anymore.
He checked his growly mood as he pulled up to Gary’s quaint ranch-style home with the brick facade that stretched out across the bottom of the house.
The three bedrooms, two baths house was probably overdue for some upgrades.
Gary lived modestly, choosing to reinvest in his company overspending lavishly, and Johnny inherited that frugal business mind.
He’d bought a home similar in size and value, if a different, more modern style.
He lived in a newer neighborhood, but Gary had bought his home in an older mixed residential and commercial area where he could live close to the office.
They worked within walking distance from Gary’s home.
He honked his horn, and in a moment, Gary came out, locked up, and walked down the driveway.
Johnny watched to make sure he didn’t fall on the slick sidewalk, but someone had salted the drive, and Gary got into the passenger side unharmed.
He leaned across the center consul and pulled Johnny in for a hug. “Merry Christmas, son.”
“Merry Christmas to you, too, old man.”
“Fuck that,” he grumbled. “I’m not old. I’m...aged to perfection.”
Johnny couldn’t help a small giggle at that. He loved teasing his uncle. “Okay...like wine or cheese?”
“Ha! I’ve got your cheese, young man. Come on, let’s get this over with.” He motioned for Johnny to get rolling, so he put it in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
“I’m, uh...a little nervous about this, Uncle. I mean...this is his first Christmas with both of them.”
Gary snorted. “I have to say, and probably for the millionth time, I never saw this one coming. I mean. Don’t get me wrong, if this is what makes Sean happy, I’m all for it, but damn.
” Sean was Pilot’s real name, but rarely did anyone use it.
If someone did, it was probably from his family or Johnny trying to get a rise out of him.
“I know.” He drove in silence for a while until he couldn’t hold back any longer. “I don’t have to understand. It’s his life, but I love him like a brother, so I’m trying...to get it. You know?”
“Yeah, me too. I will say that both of his young men are...nice.” It sounded like half a statement and half a question. Johnny might not have used the word nice for their bizarre, three-way relationship, but he didn’t entirely disagree with his uncle, either.
“They are. It’s odd, I know, especially Bryce. He’s so young. How can he know this is what he wants? Is it his young sex drive? Maybe in a few years, he won’t want that anymore. I hate to think he’d break Pilot’s heart.”
“You know, it is what it is, Johnny. It’s Sean’s risk to take.”
“I know, but watching it happen is going to break my heart, too.” Seeing Pilot hurt would crush him. He cared entirely too much about it.
The conversation ended, though, as he pulled his compact car up into the driveway behind Pilot’s mustang.
He used to park it in the garage, but Bryce had taken over with his motorcycle parts.
Pilot had bought him a junker to fix up.
At least the kid thought about what he would do when his racing career finished. He wanted to work on the bikes.
Tate was another matter—older than Bryce by a few years, but the more flighty of the two, if either of them could be considered flighty.
Tate had a vibrant, fun-loving side, full of zest. That’s what Johnny’s mom would have said.
He didn’t want to think about his mom on Christmas morning.
He shoved it down and got out of the car.
Bryce came out and helped him unload the presents.
His uncle hadn’t brought anything, so he assumed he was giving everyone money.
That’s how Gary was. He figured it would be more useful than anything he could pick out.
He probably tucked pre-stuffed envelopes in his coat pocket, and that was fine with Johnny. He kind of wished he’d done the same.
It was more than obvious when Pilot’s guys opened their presents that Johnny had fucked it all up.
He hadn’t personalized the gifts at all, but they’d done well getting him gifts.
Tate got him a couple of t-shirts with words on the front that said It’s Accrual Life and Home is where the WIFI always connects.
It was funny an oddly appropriate coming from him.
Bryce bought him a set of metal straws. At first, Johnny thought it was odd, but then he opened Pilot’s gift.
Brand new milkshake glasses and a sign with a picture of different fancy milkshakes and the word MILKSHAKES written across them.
He loved it. Couldn’t wait to try the glasses out with the straws.
That only made him feel worse. He couldn’t pick out gifts to save his life. Mostly. He did well enough with Uncle Gary and Pilot, but he’d known them all his life.
He made his way into the kitchen for coffee, needing a reprieve from their understanding about it.
They were gracious if disappointed. Johnny didn’t know what to do about it.
He’d given Bryce a wallet, a leather one with one of those chains attached.
It may not have been personal, but it was a nice wallet—real leather.
For Tate, he’d picked out cologne and aftershave set, a designer brand that Pilot would like on him. Again, nice, but not personal.
Gary had been so much easier. He collected Star Wars memorabilia and merchandise, so he’d bought him a Star Wars t-shirt, one Johnny knew he didn’t have, and a Han Solo bobblehead. Silly, but perfect. Maybe the biggest screw up had been Pilot’s gift. Maybe he shouldn’t have done it.
The first part of the gift was cool. He gave him a punch tracker, so he could measure his punches when he worked out.
It would show him the number of punches and the velocity, type, and speed of those punches while training.
He also bought him a new pair of shorts to train or fight in.
Not that Pilot would be doing anymore underground fighting, but he still liked to train in the ring.
The shorts garnered looks from the other two guys. Had it been too personal?
Johnny shook his head. It was simply training gear, and he needed it, but it left him feeling conflicted about the whole thing. He added sugar and milk to his coffee and leaned his hip against the counter, sipping the hot java magic.
“Johnny. Hey, pour me a mug.” Pilot slid up next to him and reached in the fridge for the milk.
Johnny poured the hot brew into a motocross mug that’d been sitting next to the pot. After Pilot dumped some milk and enough sugar to choke a cow into it, he took a sip and moaned a little. “Thanks. It’s always better when you make it.”
“How would you know?”
“Huh?”
Johnny shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Listen. Uh...I’m thinking maybe you should get to know the guys a bit more. Spend some time with them.”
“I know them.”
Pilot set the coffee mug on the counter and crossed his huge arms over his bulging chest. Johnny swore his muscles were even bigger than the last time he’d seen him.
He’d definitely been working out more over the break.
“I don’t think you do. You don’t spend time with us.
You don’t, uh...talk to them. I mean, come on, talk to them. ” He held a hand out, pleading.
“Maybe you’re right.” He hadn’t made a huge effort, but the little dude inside of him was still licking his wounds over everything. He needed to get over it. “I’ll make an effort.”
“That’s all I’m asking. They’re in my life, but so are you. Always, bro!” He leaned in and hugged Johnny, torturing him with his warmth. Yep, he needed to get over it.