Adventure

by Quinn Ward

  Okay, so we're playing it like that. Glad someone fucking told me.

  Sensing my irritation, Enzo quickly dropped his hand to his lap. That should've eased my mind, but instead, it created a sick rolling in my stomach. If I expected the two of them to lay low, then none of us should be touching around other people. Especially Enzo and me. Fuck, why did life have to be so complicated.

  "I thought you'd gone home," I said after Max handed the final cup to Frankie and took his place at my side. Max extended his arm over the back of the couch and I leaned into him. It's what the family would expect since, as far as they knew, Max and I were the couple and Enzo the roommate/brother. My stomach did another flip, sending a surge of bile upward. I swallowed hard, breathing through the urge to vomit.

  "Nope, just needed to get some air." He kissed the side of my head. I didn't miss the sidelong glance in Frankie's direction. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know I'd be back."

  "It's fine," I told him, even though it wasn't. Later, after the dust settled and I no longer felt like every piece of my life was dangerously close to shattering, we'd sit down and hash out whatever had happened. I wasn't a complete idiot; Max disappeared after talking to Frankie, who kept looking over at us, shaking his head. "Does you getting air have anything to do with Frankie being extra douchey since he came back?"

  Before Max could answer, a nurse approached us. "Annette Marino's family?"

  "Yes," Freddie stood, introducing himself. "Is she going to be okay?"

  "It's still too soon to say, but she's a lucky woman," the nurse informed him. "If your brother hadn't reacted as quickly as he had, the outcome could've been much worse. We've given her a tPA injection, which should dissolve the clot that caused the stroke."

  "You hear that, Tony?" Freddie asked, looking directly at me. "Now will you listen when we tell you that you did everything right?"

  I shrugged because I'd probably always wonder if there was something more I could've done. If there were signs I'd missed because my mind kept wandering to images of Max and Enzo curled against one another as I'd left them this morning.

  "Accept the praise, Tony," Enzo added. "She's lucky you were there to help her."

  "I guess." The faux leather under my ass squeaked as I shifted, trying to get comfortable. Enzo squeezed my knee. "Fine, you're right."

  "And then what?" Frankie growled, glaring at us. I suppose I shouldn't have expected him to join in the love fest. He was still pissed about whatever Max had said to him.

  "Give him some time," Max whispered while Freddie and Frankie listened to the nurse's explanation. I tuned them out, knowing Freddie would explain it to the rest of us. The poor nurse didn't need all five brothers bombarding her with questions. "After your mom's out of the woods, we'll sit down together and talk to him. He's stressed out, and that's not helping him understand."

  "There's a chance he won't come around," I warned Max. Either way, I was certain their friendship would be collateral damage.

  "We can worry about that later," Enzo said. "Right now..." he jerked his head toward Freddie, who was watching us with a furrowed brow and grimace.

  "You guys good?" he asked as he waved for everyone else to gather around. "They're admitting Mama, probably for a few days. Obviously, we can't all sit around waiting for news. I know everyone wants to spend time with Mama, but she needs her rest right now. We'll all go in and say hey, but then most of us should take off. Frankie, can you stay up here for the first shift? I need to get back to work. Carlos is handling the dinner rush, but he can't stay to close."

  "Yeah, that's fine. Not like my to-do list for the day wasn't shot to hell before Mama even got sick," he replied, glaring at Enzo and Max. I took a step forward, ready to tell my brother to get his head out of his ass but Enzo held me back. I glanced at him, and he shook his head. I hated him being the voice of reason. "I'll have Cal come up to sit with me after he's done with Ryan's practice tonight."

  "We can spend tomorrow morning with her," Levi offered. "I know you and Tony both have work to do at Marino's. Mama wouldn't want the restaurant to suffer because she's sick."

  "Good, that's good. I'll stop by late morning after Sophia and Peter are both off to school for the day." It was inappropriate, but I choked back a laugh, picturing Freddie's daughter and fiancé skipping down the sidewalk to school, matching pink backpacks bouncing against their backs. Frankie's glare sharpened, and he actually growled at me, catching Freddie's attention. "Is something bothering you, Frankie? Why are you being such a dick to Tony when he's the reason Mama's probably going to be okay? You should be kissing his ass."

  "No thanks," Frankie scoffed. "From the sounds of it, his ass has been so busy he needs a personal assistant to set appointments for it."

  "That's enough," Max ground out. "This isn't the time or the place, Frankie."

  "Oh that's right, I guess it's your ass that's seeing all the action, right?"

  "Frankie. Stop." The entire room went silent at Freddie's barked order. I knew if I looked around, I'd see complete strangers watching the drama unfold before them which is why I was suddenly fascinated by the patterns in the worn carpet. "What would Mama say if she knew you were acting like this?"

  "What would she say if she knew her sons were both fucking the same guy? I think she'd be more upset about that than me being pissed off about it." Frankie's eyes grew colder than they'd been since he'd come back inside, if that was possible. When he stared Max down, a shiver jolted through my body. "Seriously man, how could you do that?"

  "Not. Now," Max shot back through gritted teeth. "You can hate me if you want, but you're not going to redirect your hurt and fear about your mom by lashing out at your brothers. They've done nothing to deserve being treated this way by you. Do you realize what you just did is on the same level with outing them? How would you have felt if someone had shared something without your consent? Remember, Frankie, everyone has secrets."

  Sweat beaded across my forehead and I felt my face flush bright red. Whether the reaction was out of embarrassment or rage, I couldn't be sure. I wanted to curl Enzo into my side and protect him from Frankie's venom, but that'd raise even more red flags. Instead, I squeezed Max's hand, silently pleading with him to let it go for now. I wasn't comfortable with our love life being the entertainment in the emergency room waiting area.

  "Guys! Knock it off." Freddie scolded them. "Both of you. It's been a long, shitty day and we're all on edge. Frankie, why don't you go call Cal and fill him in on the plan. Max, take Tony and Enzo home. Are you working tonight?"

  "Yeah, I'd call out if I could, but—"

  "Believe me, I get it." If Freddie was upset by the bomb Frankie had dropped in the room, he didn't show it. "You've been a huge help today."

  "I haven't done anything, really."

  "You got Enzo here, calmed Tony down because I know he had to be losing his mind by the time he got to the hospital, and you brought us caffeine. That's not nothing," Freddie pointed out, still ignoring the elephant in the room. I looked around, relieved everyone had gotten bored with our group once they realized it wasn't about to turn into a live episode of Jerry Springer. "Let me talk to Matteo and Levi then I'll walk out with you."

  Today had been a harsh reminder of how fragile life could be which was why no matter how pissed off I was with Frankie, I didn't feel right leaving without talking to him. After all, unless I was mistaken, his anger was all on my behalf. He worried about me even though I'd told him repeatedly that he didn't have to. And I was still curious about Max's comments about everyone having secrets, but that was another one of those things that'd have to be filed away for sometime in the future, if ever. Unlike my brother, I was okay with some things staying private.

  I waited until Frankie was off the phone and cautiously approached him. He drew back as I approached, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His mouth was still drawn into a frown, but he wasn't looking at me with the same level of disgust he'd shown earlier. "You mind if we step outside for a
minute?"

  "Yeah, sure." His voice was shaky, his words clipped. He turned slowly, leaving me to wonder if he was about to change his mind. I took the lead, holding the door for him. After a short walk, we found an empty comfort room and ducked inside. Before I could finish putting together what I wanted to say to Frankie that wouldn't make the situation worse, he spoke. "Look, I shouldn't have said what I did out there. Even though I'm pissed at you guys for keeping this from us, it wasn't my place to tell anyone. If you'd just said something none of this would've happened."

  I huffed out a deep breath, annoyed that he'd managed to take the start of an apology and turn it around to be my fault. I pushed off the wall, stepping into his personal space. "Have you considered maybe we hadn't told you what's going on because we were worried this was how you were going to react? We don't exactly have a conventional relationship, and we knew it would be hard for you guys to accept. You mean the world to us, all of us, and the idea that you'd think we were disgusting or that you'd think less of us was something we didn't want to face while we were still trying to figure out what us looked like."

  "And do you know that now?" Frankie asked, his tone softening.

  "We're getting there," I admitted. "Believe it or not, it hasn't always been easy for us to be comfortable with what's happening. Me and Enzo never planned to fall in love with the same guy, and I will guarantee you Max didn't start fucking around with me because he knew he'd get a two-for-one deal. That's not how it works. But sometimes, you have to take what's right in front of you and run with it."

  "What happens if one of you decides you don't want to be with him anymore?" Frankie asked.

  I hesitated, trying to keep my breathing even. Despite having a huge piece of our secret out in the open now, there was still a piece we were keeping to ourselves, and that was the part that kept me up at night. I loved the hell out of Enzo, and I worried constantly he'd wake up one morning hit with a wave of guilt over what we were doing, and it would be the end of the two most important relationships in my life. I rubbed at my chest, trying to ease the overwhelming ache over the thought of living without both of them in my life.

  Max's words from one quiet night at home replayed in my mind. His response was perfect. "Nothing in life is guaranteed, but it's a risk we've decided to take anyway. If we live waiting for everything to fall apart, eventually it will. But if we keep talking when things get to us, we stand just as much chance of everything working out. Someday, I hope you'll be able to accept that both of us love Max, and he loves both of us. It's not conventional, but I think our family has proven, more than once, that life doesn't always make sense."

  "And you're sure Enzo's as cool with all this as you seem?" Frankie asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "He's always been a go with the flow guy, but as far as I know, shit like being in a relationship with a guy is new to him. He's not going to freak out, is he?"

  I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. Freaking out wasn't a problem for Enzo unless that was some sort of euphemism for wanting to test what sort of sweaty, naked mischief he could get into. I shook my head. "Nah, you don't give him enough credit. He's good. Are we?"

  "We're getting there," Frankie reassured me. "Now, you'd probably better get out there for the Freddie inquisition. I really am sorry for blurting it out like that. Max was right; we all have secrets, and it's not cool to rat someone out just because you're in shock after finding your brother wandering around naked with his twin's boyfriend."

  He'd opened the door. I could so easily ask what skeletons were hiding in his closet, but I wouldn't. It wouldn't change anything, and if Frankie wanted us to know, he'd tell us. Frankie drew me in for a quick hug and a slap to the back.

  "How fucked up is it that you lost your shit when you found out about us, but Freddie seemed totally cool?" I asked as we wandered back to the waiting room.

  "I blame Peter," Frankie deadpanned. "Freddie's so chill lately you'd think someone was slipping something into his morning coffee."

  "Stranger things have happened," I observed.

  "You mean like your friend being in a three-way relationship with two of your brothers?"

  "Touché."

  The air in the room was tense and still as we opened the doors to the waiting room. Only when they saw neither of us was bloody or bruised did our family let out a collective sigh of relief. At some point, I seriously needed this emotional roller coaster to pull into the station.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Enzo

  "Do you think they're going to kill one another?" I asked, curling into Max's side as we watched Frankie and Tony disappear into a corridor off the emergency room waiting area. I wiggled around, trying to get comfortable, but everything that had happened in the past few hours had me restless. My chest ached from the stress of worrying about Mama, feeling guilty our drama was taking the focus off her.

  "They'll be fine," Freddie answered firmly. I risked a glance in his direction, taken aback by his sad smile. He sat down next to us and gave my knee a reassuring squeeze. "The three of you managed to give all of us a shock today, and it's going to take Frankie some time to come around. He'll deny it, but he worries about all of us. He wants us to be happy, but he's not always the best at remembering we're grown men who know what we need."

  "We didn't plan this," I told him, uncertain whether I was talking about them finding out the way they did or our relationship in general. It felt important someone understand this wasn't a casual fling, and since Freddie was the one sitting down to really hear me, I hoped he'd listen.

  "I know you didn't." I was grateful he stared into the distance rather than looking at us. I couldn't shake the fear something I'd say would repulse him. "It stings that you didn't tell us what was going on sooner, but I do understand why you didn't. It's a lot to take in. It's not conventional by a long shot, but as long as the three of you find a way to make it work for you, I suppose what the rest of us think doesn't matter."

  "You're wrong about that," Max interjected. "Tony and Enzo love all of you, and the thought of any of you turning them away because of me is unacceptable. I think all of us worry about what we'll do if that happens because I refuse to be the man who drives a wedge between them and the rest of you."

  "I appreciate that."

  The doors swung open, halting our conversation briefly. While I was relieved it wasn't one of the staff who was treating Mama, a pit formed in my stomach as we silently watched a grieving family shuffle through the room. It could've been us. Still could be if Mama suffered a setback, and here we were talking about my love life. I was a horrible son for not tabling this discussion for a more appropriate time.

  Freddie pulled his phone out of his pocket, smiling dumbly at the screen. It didn't take a genius to realize who'd texted him. After tapping out a quick reply, he stuffed the phone away. "Sorry, Peter was just letting me know both he and Sophia are done with their homework. I swear, sometimes it feels like I'm parenting both of them."

  "Yeah, but only one of them likes spankings," I quipped, both to lighten the mood and get the attention off myself. Max choked, spewing water all over himself and the floor. "You know I'm right. I'd bet Peter's a freak in the sheets."

  Freddie simply shrugged. It was crazy to me how much he'd changed since the two of them had gotten together. Old Freddie would've gone off on a rant about how inappropriate it was to discuss sex lives in public. This version of Freddie decided to up the ante. "Okay, if we're opening the bedroom door here, I do have one question..."

  "Go for it, we're not going to keep secrets. Just remember, you might not like the answer you get." While I'd have to get creative if Freddie edged too close to the single truth I wasn't prepared to share, I was done lying to our family.

  "I don't need details, but how do you guys decide who gets Max for the night? Do you have a calendar or something? I don't sleep for shit when I'm not next to Peter, so it's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of having him in the same apart
ment and still sleeping alone." Yeah, Freddie had it bad. Luckily, that wasn't something we had to deal with because Tony had insisted on buying the biggest bed he could fit into his bedroom when he moved out after a lifetime of cramming himself into a twin bed.

  "Who says it has to be one or the other?" I teased. "Tony and I do know how to share our toys."

  "But what about—" His brow furrowed, and he shook his head quickly as if he was trying to clear the images that'd just formed in his mind. "Never mind, I don't need to know."

  "Probably for the best." Max laughed, reaching around my back to squeeze Freddie's shoulder. "So, you're good with this?"

  "As long as you're all happy, I'm good," he reassured us. "The one thing this family has taught me is sometimes you simply have to accept love looks different to everyone, and it's not my place to judge anyone."

  The doors Frankie and Tony had exited earlier opened, and everyone stilled. I don't mean our group, I mean everyone. It seemed they were now invested in our family's soap opera. A few of them seemed almost disappointed by the anti-climactic return of our brothers. Tony shot me a quick smile, and my shoulders relaxed. I'd find out later what had been said, but for now, it was enough to know Tony wasn't still ready to kick the shit out of Frankie.

  As much as I didn't want to leave the hospital without seeing Mama, it was going to be a while before they allowed any of us back. The doctors here were first-rate; they'd take good care of her. And even though our brothers now knew the truth about Max and me, I still didn't feel comfortable snuggling up to him the way I wanted with all of them watching. Maybe someday, but for now, I felt it was easier to ease them into accepting us. If we left now, there was a chance we'd have time to decompress a bit in the peace of our home before Max had to go to work tonight.

  "You about ready?" I asked Max, trailing my fingers along the top of his thigh. He tensed then let out a shudder. Damn, how I wished he could call off work tonight because finishing what he and I had started this morning—god, had it really only been hours since we napped together and then Frankie walked in on us?—seemed like the perfect way to stop worrying about Mama for a little bit. Maybe it made me a horrible son to think about how desperately I wanted to get naked and sweaty with my guys while she was in the hospital hooked up to monitors and IVs, but I needed them. Needed the reassurance that we'd all come out the other side of this unscathed.