Welcome to Blissville
Page 107
“Your mom or sisters,” Chaz suggested.
“I prefer that you go with me,” I told him.
“Okay then,” Chaz said. “The salon will be closed, so I’m available anytime.”
“I’ll pick you up at six thirty,” I told him. “Mere said you had a rough day. Is there anything I can do to make it better?”
“You already did,” Chaz answered shyly then stood on his tiptoes to lean in the window. “Maybe a kiss.”
I cupped the back of his neck, pressed my lips to his, and kissed him tenderly until someone whistled and startled us. Josi and Dee giggled and waved as they walked to their cars.
“Better?” I asked.
“Mmm hmm,” Chaz said. “That will tide me over.”
“Until?” I asked. I was eager to spend time with him.
“Saturday,” he hesitantly said like he was afraid I would be mad at him.
“That’s only two days from now,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I told him. “I’m proud of you.”
“You don’t even know what I’ve written,” Chaz replied.
“Doesn’t matter; I’m still proud of you.”
Chaz kissed me once more before he headed to his car. I waited to make sure it started before I headed home. I debated on whether I should tell my mom about the house Becker found then decided to hold off until after I saw the inside. Thinking about my mom reminded me about her little stunt. I called my best ally in the world to plead for her help.
“What’s up, bro?” Jenn said into the phone.
“I need your help,” I told her. “Mom is meddling in my love life.”
“And where do you see me playing into this?” Jenn asked.
“Tell her about the baby, Jenna. She’ll forget all about me and my pitiful love life.”
“Is your love life that pitiful?” Jenna asked.
“It’s not where I want it to be, but I think it’s heading in the right direction.”
“Good,” Jenn said. “You’ve been an amazing brother to me my entire life and I want you to be happy.”
“Does that mean you’re going to tell Mom that you’re pregnant?” I asked hopefully.
“Not a snowball’s chance in hell,” she replied then laughed at my misery.
“Fine,” I said. “I hope I don’t accidentally let that cat out of the bag.”
“You wouldn’t!” Jenn exclaimed. She was right; I would never do that to her.
“Your secret is safe with me, Jenn.”
She let out a thankful sigh. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but that means you owe me one.”
“Or a hundred,” Jenn replied.
“I stopped keeping score when we were nine and six.”
“I probably owe you a thousand favors for taking the blame that time I knocked out the window over the kitchen sink with a softball,” Jenn said then laughed at the memory.
“Or that time you snuck out for a concert and ran out of gas,” I added. “Sis, you better hope the little dumpling takes after Brett, or you both are screwed.”
“I probably deserve to have a brat like me,” she admitted. “Love you, Ky.”
“Love you too.”
As much as I enjoyed the conversation, it had been a long time since I’d had lunch. Rule number one in weight management is never let blood sugar get too low or risk eating the wrong foods. I told Jenn I’d check in to see how she was doing in a few days and fixed myself a frozen, diet dinner.
The spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli looked like rubber and didn’t taste much better than it appeared. “I need to learn how to cook.”
I spent the rest of the night trying to get into playing WoW and failing miserably. I didn’t feel like watching Friends because I would spend the night moping and missing Chaz. I decided to watch Queer as Folk instead. It was the distraction I needed to get me through the night.
I received a text from Chaz right before I fell asleep. Maybe I can sneak away from the salon for lunch tomorrow. What time works for you?
I replied immediately. I go to lunch at 12:30. Meet me at the diner?
See you then.
My outlook was suddenly a lot brighter. It was the second time Chaz sought me out that week. We weren’t blazing a trail toward happily ever after by any stretch of the imagination, but we seemed to be inching closer every day. I considered myself a patient man, but no one had tested me the way Chaz did. I was certain if I could just hang on that it would work out in my favor.
No longer tired, I lay in the darkness thinking of nice gestures I could do for Chaz so he couldn’t mistake my interest. What did perfect book boyfriends do to show someone how much they cared? An idea came to me, but I wasn’t sure how Chaz would respond. Still, it was worth a shot.
“Go big or go home, Dr. D,” I said into the darkness.
The weather was stunningly perfect on Josh and Gabe’s wedding day, but that didn’t surprise me one bit. Not even Mother Nature was going to fuck with Josh Roman on his big day. I knew that one of Josh’s famous looks or a raised fist would be enough to bust up any rogue rain cloud that was ballsy enough to form. It wasn’t just the amazing weather or the love drifting on the breeze that had my spirits soaring with the birds. Ugh, I was starting to think in purple prose.
I had finished the rough draft of my manuscript the night before the wedding. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment because writing the second book was much harder than writing the first. I had zero expectations when I published my first book and no readers to please. I didn’t want to be some one-hit wonder or make fans of my first book scratch their head and wonder why they wasted their time, energy, and money on my second attempt. As scary as it was, I knew my second book was better than the first. Not only did I improve technical skills and fine tune my processes, but I also put pieces of myself into the characters which made them feel more real to me. If they felt more real to me, there was a good chance my readers would form a stronger connection to them also.
Kyle was the first person I told about finishing my book. Well, technically I sent a text before I crashed hard, but he was still the first person to know. I’d been running on fumes for so long that I slept like the dead; in fact, I slept so long I nearly was late getting to the salon. Curl Up and Dye wasn’t open to the public, but Josh planned a day of pampering for the mothers of the grooms. Josh was calm and relaxed the previous night during the rehearsal and dinner that followed, but I wanted to be on hand early just in case his mellow mood had evaporated.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the salon, were the stunning Tropicana roses that Kyle had sent me the previous day. No one had ever sent me flowers before, and I stood staring at the delivery woman like she’d made a mistake. Mere finally came over and took the roses from her and set them on my desk.
“Blink, baby. It’s going to be all right,” Mere had said on her way back to her station.
I had so many things on my to-do list that day, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the vibrant orange roses. I knew they were from Kyle without looking at the card nestled in the foliage. Who else would send me roses? I was dying to know what he wrote in his message, but I didn’t want to read it with everyone looking at me. I waited until it was time to meet Kyle for lunch and took the card with me. My hands trembled with nerves when I pulled the message out but then my body shook with laughter when I read it.
Orange you glad we met? I find you very a-peeling. I’m looking forward to lunch.
Kyle
I had slid the card in my back pocket and grinned like a fool for the entire walk to the diner. It was only a few blocks, but I knew I looked like a goober. Kyle waited for me outside the diner wearing a sappy grin like mine.
“Thank you for my flowers,” I said. “They’re beautiful, and I love them.” I rose on my tiptoes and kissed Kyle, not caring where we were or who was watching. The feelings he brought out in m
e were too beautiful to hide.
“You’re very welcome. I wanted you to have something pretty to look at in case today is as hectic as yesterday,” Kyle had told me. He opened the door to the diner for me and followed me inside. “Orange flowers aren’t easy to find, but I was on a mission since it’s your favorite color.”
I stopped walking and turned to face him so fast that he nearly ran into me. “I can’t believe you remembered that,” I said softly. We’d talked about our favorite Friends episodes, and one of Kyle’s was the episode that Ross’s spray tan went hilariously wrong. That led to bad spray tans in general and how some people looked orange. I’d said to Kyle that orange was my favorite color, but that didn’t mean I wanted my skin to match it. It was one small conversation we had five months prior and he still remembered it.
“I remember everything you’ve said to me,” Kyle replied.
Oh, damn. I fell so hard for Kyle at that moment and prayed there was something soft to catch me when I landed. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. I was one who always had something to say and rarely used a filter before speaking. In fact, the only thing that followed closely was the number of times I stuck my foot in my mouth. Luckily, more people considered that one an endearing trait instead of an offensive one. Kyle, though, rendered me speechless. The sly grin that spread across his face proved that he knew it too.
Kyle leaned forward and whispered, “I only have forty-five minutes left. I was kind of hoping to have a few minutes left to make out once we finished eating.”
That snapped me out of my trance. “I’m not hungry.”
Kyle grabbed my shoulders and turned me back around to face away from him. “Yes, you are.”
I let out an irritated huff and walked to an empty booth in the rear of the diner. Kyle didn’t so much as look at the menu, but I needed to find something healthy to eat that was hearty enough to get me through the day. That puny-ass salad we ate the other night wore off before I got home. I couldn’t live like that.
“Hey, guys,” Daniella cheerfully said when she arrived at our booth. “Ice water with lemon for the good doctor and a Mountain Dew for you, Chaz?” she asked.
“I’ll have ice water with lemon too,” I told her.
“Bring him his Mountain Dew,” Kyle said, shaking his head. “You don’t have to change your drinking and eating habits for me. I want you to be happy. I’m happy eating lettuce and drinking lemon water.” I practically shuttered at the thought.
Kyle ordered a side salad and bowl of chicken tortilla soup without cheese for lunch. I started to order the same, but Kyle stopped me. “He’ll have the bacon cheeseburger deluxe and an order of sweet potato fries. Ranch dressing on the side,” he added when Daniella started to walk away. I blinked at him in surprise because I never discussed my love for their bacon cheeseburger with him. Kyle’s face turned red under my scrutiny, and he shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been watching you for a while now,” he confessed.
“How long?” I asked. I couldn’t explain why I needed to know; I just did.
Kyle looked down at the straw wrapper he was tying in knots. “Practically since I moved back,” he admitted.
“You were with Gabe then,” I said in surprise.
“Yes, and I never would’ve acted on the attraction I felt for you, but it was there and really strong,” Kyle said.
“You broke up two years ago,” I remarked.
“You’ve been counting?” Kyle asked.
“Come on,” I told him. “Let’s not pretend you didn’t hear my outburst in the salon before Easter.”
“I heard it,” Kyle admitted. “It was the first time I realized that you returned my interest.”
“But, you…” I couldn’t very well accuse him of fooling around behind my back with Drew. First, he didn’t know that I even knew about Drew. Second, he wasn’t fooling around behind my back because he “met” Drew online before he knew about my feelings.
“What?” he asked.
I don’t know why, but I needed him to say Drew’s name out loud. I needed to know that Drew was a fleeting connection and the one we had was deeper and lasting. I knew it was dumb for me to feel that way because I was both Chaz and Drew. “So, why didn’t you ask me out or even hint that you were interested in me. Did you meet someone else in between Gabe and me?” There, I came right out and asked him.
I could tell he was hedging his bet. Did he tell me the truth and risk upsetting our budding relationship or did he lie and feel bad afterward? I had chosen the wrong door each and every time, but I had a strong feeling that Kyle would choose the right one. “I didn’t ‘meet’ someone in the traditional sense, but I struck a friendship online that I thought had the chance to develop into something special,” Kyle said.
Daniella delivered our food, which gave me a few seconds to figure out how to respond. “It didn’t work out for you guys?”
“Um, I don’t think he was ever as into me as I was him,” Kyle said. My heart pinched painfully in my chest hearing him say that to me. “We chatted for several weeks through a gamer messaging app and got pretty close.” I’ll say. “One day I mentioned that I wanted to meet him and I think it freaked him out. He evaded my question and then logged on less and less over the following weeks until he disappeared completely.”
“You haven’t heard from him recently?” I asked.
“I tried reaching out to him after July Fourth, but he didn’t answer me,” Kyle said.
I gave him an A for honesty, but it still fucking hurt to hear him say he reached out to Drew after our first kiss. “Ouch,” I said, rubbing my heart.
“What do you mean?” Kyle asked.
“You kissed me for the first time on July Fourth then decided to reach out to another guy,” I told Kyle. “That’s painful to hear.”
“Do you want to know why I reached out to Drew?” Kyle asked.
“I’m not sure that I do,” I replied honestly. Fuck, it hurt to breathe.
Kyle covered my hand on the table and said, “I’ll tell you anyway because I think you need to hear it.” He waited for me to look into his eyes before he continued. “I reached out to thank him for his friendship during a very lonely time in my life. I wanted to apologize for making him feel uncomfortable by requesting to meet in person.”
“Oh,” I said softly.
“I’m not finished,” Kyle said. “Mostly, I wanted to tell him about you.”
“Oh,” I repeated.
“That was no ordinary kiss,” Kyle said. “I know that you felt it that night too and it made you run.”
“I walked briskly,” I corrected.
Kyle chuckled at my indignant tone. “Well, it seems that you stopped walking briskly and allowed me to catch you.”
“I did,” I agreed.
“Why?” Kyle questioned. I guess it was only fair that he put me on the spot too.
“I knew that I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t,” I said simply. “I’ve dated the dime-a-dozen guys, but you’re a one-in-a-billion man.”
Kyle shook his head. “I put my pant legs on one at a time like everyone else.”
I knew that we would just have to agree to disagree on that one. I didn’t want to waste any of our precious time debating the awesomeness of Kyle Vaughn. We both tucked into our food instead of talking. Afterward, Kyle insisted on driving me back to the salon. I didn’t bother pointing out it was only a few blocks because I saw the heat in his eyes and knew he wanted to kiss me in private.
His long lingering kisses fueled me for the rest of the day and evening. The knowledge that I would soon have his lips on mine again added to the happy buzz inside me when I saw my roses again the next day.
“Make sure you take them home so you can enjoy them over the weekend,” Mere said when she joined me, snapping me out of my little happy trance. “You ready to stand beside our best friend as he marries the man of his dreams?”
“I am. Have you seen Josh yet?” I asked Mere.
“You bet.”
Meredith wasn’t the only one who needed a handkerchief to wipe away tears as Josh and Gabe exchanged their vows. I had never been as happy for another living soul as I was for Josh that day. He’d found a man who loved him the way he was—bold, beautiful, and flamboyant as fuck. I glanced at Kyle a few times during the ceremony and caught him watching me instead of the grooms. The connection was so intense it was hard for me to look away, but I did because I couldn’t miss Josh’s big day.
Kyle waited for me by the large marquee while the photographer snapped at least two thousand photos of the wedding party. I noticed that Kyle was seated next to me at the main table, which meant Josh hadn’t given up playing matchmaker after all. If anyone thought it was odd that Gabe’s ex-boyfriend was sitting at the same table with him, they didn’t say anything. Gabe’s parents and Kyle seemed genuinely happy to see one another.
Everything about the night was perfect, but nothing made me happier than dancing with Kyle. It didn’t matter if the dance was fast or slow, it gave me an excuse to put my hands on the man. It felt like we danced for hours before the grooms said goodbye and headed to their hotel in Cincinnati. The music continued to thump on even after they left and we danced some more.
“It’s probably getting close to midnight,” Kyle said once we stopped dancing long enough for a drink.
“Are you going to turn into a pumpkin or something?” I asked playfully.
“Cute,” Kyle replied. “I was thinking more along the lines of taking you back to my place, stripping you out of your tuxedo, and having my wicked way with you.”
“Okay then,” I said. “Just let me say goodbye to a few people.”
I found Meredith slow dancing with Harley and tapped her on the shoulder. “I’m not cutting in,” I assured Harley. “I’m heading out and wanted to say goodbye.”