by Jenny Wood
Next, Morgan, my best friend and now brother-in-law, welcomed me into their brotherhood-not that I hadn’t been before; but now it was legit. He made us laugh and made me tear up, and I wanted to hug him and beat him in equal measure by the time he was done.
Jody and Cameron spoke together; Cameron taking the reins, telling us how lucky we are that we live in a place that acknowledges the love that each one of us has together. Allowing us to have this special day that we had today and giving us an equal opportunity to love the men we love. It was short and sweet, and Jody watched him the whole time, with big ol’ stars in his eyes. I couldn’t wait for their day. Kady had her moment but found herself too shy to say much more than she loved us, and she was so happy we were finally married. I never thought I’d see the day where outgoing, crazy, Kady would be shy, but she was getting older and noticing boys, and I had noticed that there were a couple around her age that had come with their parents. I smirked at Kayson when I saw her looking at one of them from across the room, with the prettiest, shyest blush. Kayson wasn’t impressed. I squeezed his hand refocused his attention. He leaned in to kiss me, and Kady made her escape off the small, makeshift stage.
Kingsley was our closer. I knew they were saving the best for last and I figured he’d make a spectacle of everyone and bring the house down after the most perfect day.
“Kayson and Conner. Finally! Took you long enough, didn’t it?” He raised his glass to us, asking Kayson; causing everyone to laugh. It had been a long time coming, but every day with Kayson was worth the wait to get where we were today.
“Man, I’ll never forget the day we met Conner; I’d never seen my brother so out of his head and distracted by anyone. Other than his brothers and our little sister, he was a one-man band; never one to settle down or share much of himself outside the bedroom. It was fun, watching him fall. Entertaining, eh, Kayse?” He winked at Kayson, earning a middle finger and again, causing the room to chuckle at their banter.
“It was also inspiring,” Kingsley says in a rare, serious moment. “And encouraging, because I had no idea what I was doing when I met my own heart. You taught me so much, not only in life but in love; I had no idea how much of my own happiness depended on someone else’s happiness. You showed me hope when I needed it, just by being around the two of you and I’ll forever be grateful for all the support and guidance you both gave Morgan and me when we needed it. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve finally made this official because brothers, I’ll tell you this; there is nothing in the world like waking up beside your forever and knowing in your heart, that it’s actually forever. Enjoy it, guys. There is nothing sweeter. Congratulations and I love you both.” He finished, and we both stood so we could hug him. I heard Kayson and Kingsley whispering to each other, before engaging in a loud, back-slapping bro-hug that I always thought looked incredibly painful; thankfully, the hug I received was much gentler, “Welcome to the family, little brother.” Kingsley whispered to me while everyone clapped and the speech portion of our day concluded. We stood for pictures, for what seemed like ages and then it was time to cut the cake and do the first dance, which Kady and Merissa insisted that we do. I didn’t care about the fanfare, but I was glad we were doing it all, traditionally.
“Conner Kennedy” Kayson whispered to me with a smile as we swayed together to the rhythm of our third slow dance, “are you ready to get out of here and start our honeymoon?”
“So, so ready,” I tell him honestly. “As delicious as you look in that suit, I cannot wait to get you out of it.”
“Let’s make the rounds then, and get the fuck out of here.” He says, grabbing my hand and practically pulling me to the front of the room to grab the microphone.
“Ladies and gentleman, friends and family. I want to thank you all for coming to the most important day of my life. I’m so happy that each and every one of you came to support us. I love you all, and I’m very grateful. In saying that, I need to get my husband out of here because you’re all cutting into my honeymoon time.” He finished, earning a small scolding from Kady but understanding chuckles from everyone else. We hugged and shook hands with everyone while we stood hand in hand, waiting for someone to pull our car around. We thanked everyone again, and within ten minutes, we were on our way.
“This day was awesome,” I commented, looking over at my husband, who’d taken off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt and was looking especially delicious as he drove us towards our hotel. We had all of our things packed and in the trunk for a four-day trip to Honolulu. We didn’t want to go too far and to be honest; I didn’t see a whole lot of leaving our room, anyway. We could’ve stayed in Madison and just gotten a hotel for a few nights, but Kayson had things planned that he wouldn’t tell me. I didn’t care what they were; I was just happy to be getting a four day stretch of no work, no interruptions and lots and lots of naked husband.
“Clothes off,” I said to Kayson, the minute he shut the door behind us in our suit. Checking in, only took a few minutes, but watching my husband’s hand as he signed in, his platinum ring shining brightly for all the world to see that he was a married man….married to me; I was ready to jump him before we hit the elevator.
“Clothes off, Kayson. Right now.” I say, crowding him against the wall just inside the door.
“Look at you, Mr. Impatient.” He smirks, grabbing my hips and pulling me tighter to him. I surprise us both when I grab his shirt by the collar and yank with impatience. His button’s go flying, and for a second, I think he might try to say something smart-assy or witty, but I stop them with my tongue, tracing his lips before he opens for me.
“I said, I want them off,” I whisper against his lips and he groans. He wasted no more time, throwing his shirt to the ground and walking me backward towards the perfectly made bed that neither of us cared about. It was about to get all kinds of messy.
“You leading this show, baby?” Kayson whispers as I step out of my pants and bright blue boxers that Morgan insisted I wear as my “something blue.” If Kayson noticed them at all, he didn’t say anything.
“Yep.” I nipped at his lip and nudged him down onto the bed, following him immediately, pressing into his hard, muscled body. I kissed him with everything I had; I licked and nipped and sucked at his lips and tongue, feeling his big hands clutch at my body, from my arms to my waist.
“Conner,” He breathed my name as I worked my lips down his neck and chest; tracing the intricate, beautiful ink that adorned his body. I’d never get tired of looking at it.
“Fuck, Conner!” Kayson gasped as my teeth sunk into his hip at the same time my hand wrapped tight around his cock. He surged up and grabbed me by the arms before pulling me up and spinning me around and dropping me to my back, where he just was. He covered my body his tongue surged into my mouth and just like that; we started our honeymoon.
Kingsley
“Kennedy Ink, this is King, can I help you?” I answered the shop phone since everyone else was currently busy. Conner usually came and sat at the front desk when he got done at his place, but he was currently on day two of his honeymoon. When no one was here to man the front, whoever was closest, answered the phones.
“Yeah, man. My name is Felix Finnley, Finn if you want me to answer. I work here at Envy Ink, in Atlanta. I’m going to be honest with you; our shop is getting axed because some dumb fucking idiot went on the news and said he contracted Hep-C from our shop. Now, I’ve been here almost two years, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that we take sterilization and sanitation serious as shit, but our rep is ruined, and our shop owner is hitting the road. It’s no secret that you and your crew are close to the best and being honest again, I’m one of the best.” The man said with a confident, growly timbre.
“So, you’re looking for a new shop?” I asked, stupidly. If I’m honest though, his voice is kind of throwing me off. It sounds like what you’d imagine the voice of God to sound like or something. I love my husband more than anything in this wor
ld, but I’d kill to see what this dude looked like right now.
“I’m looking for roots, man. Honesty again, I’ve got a two-year-old daughter that I’m raising by myself and rent that is ridiculously high for such a shit hole. I’ve been in a little bit of trouble; I’ll tell you that from the jump, but my main concern is my daughter and gigs are hard to come by. I have a resume; I have a portfolio, and I’ve got references.”
“Well, I’ll be honest, man, we’re all family here and when I say that, I mean that in every sense of the word. If you wanna send me all your stuff, I’ll talk to my brothers, and we’ll see what we can do to help you out.” I say honestly. It’s not uncommon for people to want to come for our shop; we get inquiries all the time, but as I said, we’re a family here, and it’s hard to accept outsiders into our space.
“Alright.” He sounds disappointed, and for some reason, I didn’t like that. It was tripping me up.
“If you go to our website, click on my name specifically. It’ll give you my personal e-mail. I’ll have a chat with my brothers, one’s away on his honeymoon right now, but I’ll get back to you quick, let you know something one way or another.” I offer. I hear him release a breath and he thanks me before ending the call. As I said, we get calls all the time, e-mails and people showing up wanting to apprentice or fit in here with our guys. Hiring Joker was a favor, and even though we were skeptical at first, he’s family now.
“King, come here.” Jody got my attention, and I went to one of our drawing tables to see what was up.
“I’ve got a cover up I’m working on. She wants this here going this way, around her thigh but I’m not convinced it’ll look right and to be honest, I think I need to make it bigger and change the color of this here…” Jody went on, and I helped him draw up a couple of different ideas. Sometimes, people knew what they wanted and couldn’t be swayed, but none of us, here, would ink something we didn’t feel would represent our name or our shop in a good light.
“Yeah, I’d offer one of those, if she doesn't like it, she can go elsewhere. I’m telling you from the picture, that blue will not set right over the black, it just won't.” I tell him honestly; he knew it, he just wanted another opinion.
“Thanks, man.” He slapped my shoulder as he passed and I got ready for my next appointment.
“What’s got you thinkin’ so hard in here?” Morgan asked as he brought his paint brushes into the kitchen to rinse them off. I was sitting at the table, scrolling through the portfolio from the guy, Finn, that called yesterday.
“Come look at this,” I reply. He sets his brushes in the sink and washes his hands before coming over. Morgan is an artist; he spends a lot of his days in his home studio, lost in whatever it is he’s working on. I admire his creativity, and there’s nothing more gorgeous than watching him work. I’ll never stop considering myself the luckiest man alive for the life I have with him. I almost didn’t get it, I almost lost him before I could love him and it makes me grateful, every single day that it didn’t happen that way.
“Whoa, shit. Who’s is that?” Morgan asked, flipping through the pages on my iPad.
“His name’s Finn; he called yesterday, and I don’t know, I only talked to him for a minute, but… I got this gut feeling. It was weird. I told him I’d look over his stuff, see if we had room for one more.” I shrugged. His big pieces were stunning.
“That looks like a photograph,” Morgan says as he points to one particular portrait. It really does, his detail is amazing. “Kayson was just complaining a couple of weeks ago that y’all needed more hands.”
“We really do.” I murmur, scrolling through pages and pages of work.
“The thing is, we’re not any more busy than usual; it’s just that with Jinx and Layla moving away and the rest of us all loved up and wanting to spend less time at the shop and more time at home. It wouldn’t hurt to bring in someone else to manage our time better. All of us. “I’ll need to talk to the guys,” I say as I pull out my phone and start a group chat.
“How about you do that in a minute and join me in the shower first.” Morgan slides his lithe, little body down on my lap and wraps his arms around my shoulders. His eyes look tired, and it causes me a moment of hesitation. We’ve not made it to our five-year mark yet, where the chance of his cancer coming back diminishes exponentially. I know it could come back at any time, one year of twenty years later, but for some reason, I’ve got that countdown to the five-year mark, locked in my brain.
“You’re beautiful,” I whisper and watch his face go soft. Since the day I saw him throwing up on the floor of the living room, several years back; I’ve never seen a more attractive man. He calls to everything in me, and I can’t get enough of him.
“I love you.” He smiles, kissing me softly for just a moment.
“Not as much as I love you,” I tell him honestly. Sometimes I can’t breathe with how much. I stand with him cradled in my arms as he wraps his arms and legs around me tighter. Group text forgotten for now; I carry my man to the shower.
Jody
“Why? Why is there an alarm going off before the sun is even up?” I growl as I feel Cameron climbing out of bed.
“Sorry, I told you I had an early shift, today.” He whispers, leaning back to kiss my shoulder before crawling out of bed. I listen to him shuffle his way to the bathroom without closing the door.
“When we get married, I’m putting in a “no alarm clock clause,” I complain, my voice only half muffled by the pillow that my face is half buried into.
“You could try.” Cameron chuckles, moving to the closet for a pair of scrubs that he’ll wear to work today. I first met Cameron at the hospital where Morgan had his brain tumor removed, and although he was in a relationship at the time, I couldn’t keep my mind off him. I still can’t.
“Don’t forget that Kayson and Conner get back today and you guys have that video meeting with the new guy.” He reminds me unnecessarily. I’ve been looking forward to talking with this guy since Kingsley forwarded us all his portfolio. I wouldn’t ever admit it to the guys, but I thought he rivaled Kingsley and that was saying something.
“I didn’t forget,” I grumble, hearing him turn on the shower. If it weren't the middle of the fucking night, I’d be in there with him; but I had a late-night session with an out-of-towner, and his piece went on for two hours longer than I anticipated. Fuck it. I thought, as I jumped out of bed and joined my man in the shower.
“How is it that I came from Hawaii and I made it here before you did?” Kayson teased, Conner sitting on his lap, both looking tan and happy.
I flipped Kayson the bird but otherwise ignored him. I wasn’t late, my shift technically didn’t start for another hour, but we scheduled to talk to the new guy before we opened. The phone ringing stopped Kayson from saying anything else.
“You look good, happy.” I smile at Conner, and he beams. Joker walks in with Kingsley and Jase, and everyone greets them.
“Wow, you guys look orange.” Kingsley teases them, and this time it’s Kayson flipping the finger, still on the phone. He’s scrolling through our appointment book, but by the looks of it, we’re all booked up for the next couple weeks at least. This new guy couldn’t have come at a better time, to be honest.
“What’s up, Papa Bear?” Jase smiles, but it’s a little bit strained. Things haven’t been the same since I opened my mouth and asshole came out. I’ll admit, I’m a dick. The things I said to him were mean and unforgivable. I hate myself for it because Jase is like a son to me. Cameron and I became his sort of, honorary dads when he aged out of the system and came to live with us. I love the kid, and although we talked it out and he forgave me, I still feel like he doesn’t trust me as he did, and I hate that.
I have anger issues; I don’t know why, I don’t know where it came from, but when I get emotional about any damn thing, asshole pops out.
“What’s up, kid?” I say, tagging him around the neck and pulling him into me for a weird, side-hug thing. He
laughs and leans into me.
“Hey, hey now… this one’s mine. You have your own.” Joker teases, glad to see us getting along. I know he felt to blame for my temper tantrum, but It wasn’t him at all. It was my own insecurities about Jase moving on from Cam and me. I shouldn’t have worried; he’s our family. Tell that to irrational me.
“So, what do we know about Felix?” Morgan asked, coming in from the back room. It looked like the whole gang was here, except Cameron who was at work.
“Well, he goes by Finn.” Kingsley starts, looking over his resume.
“I don’t blame him.” Kayson murmurs, earning a nudge from Conner. He kisses him quickly to make up for it. I roll my eyes at the newlyweds.
“He says he’s a single father of a two-year-old, daughter I think he said.” King flips off the tablet. “He said he’s looking for roots; to settle down. Been in trouble before but is all about his kid now.”
“Did he say what he’d been in trouble for?” Jase asks. Kingsley said no, he had no idea and he didn’t question him. We can today though, though we’d try not to judge him for it if he truly got his shit together for his kid. Joker had been to prison before coming to Madison, for something terrible. Had we not gotten to know him first…. Well, okay… exclude me from that, because like I said, I know I’m an asshole. But, I learned from that mistake, believe me, I did.
“Alright, should we call him?” King asks, and we all settle in around the computer. It rings for a solid thirty seconds before he picks up and all I notice is a beard.
