“I’m right here.”
Dakota looked over his shoulder with a cynical, assessing glance. “I thought I’d find you working.”
“Nah, I indulged in my second coping mechanism.” Brenden twisted his hands together to keep from going to him. He knew when it would be welcome and when it wouldn’t, and he didn’t feel like being rebuffed. He was still too bruised inside.
Dakota glanced at the door behind him. “Cleaning my room?”
“Our room,” Brenden corrected gently.
The hard mask fell away, revealing Dakota’s inner misery. “Christ, Bren, I hate fighting with you.”
Brenden relaxed in relief, and as he moved toward him, Dakota’s arms opened and he was right where he wanted to be. Dakota hugged him hard as Brenden burrowed in. “We’re both right and we’re both wrong. We’re having the get-together with the family Sunday. We’ll tell them then.”
Dakota tensed all over again. “Only if you’re doing it because you recognize the necessity, not to humor me into a better mood.”
Brenden pulled back and caught Dakota by the shoulders. “You have it wrong. I’m not afraid of your commitment.” Dakota opened his mouth to protest, and Brenden gave him a gentle shake. “I knew you’d come back tonight. And maybe I needed this fight to nail it home how much I trusted you, but I knew it. Evelyn and Trev are not the kind to take sides, but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking that when it comes down to it, you’re blood. I’m not. I broke a promise to them that was supposed to protect you. I don’t want to hurt and disappoint them after everything they’ve done for me, and deep down a part of me is terrified they’ll cut me out. It’s completely irrational—”
“No, it’s not.” Dakota’s eyes softened with understanding. “I didn’t even consider your dad. It’s like he doesn’t exist. And let’s face it, blood hasn’t stuck by you. But the people who took us in, they aren’t like our birth parents. They’re a whole other breed.”
“Intellectually, I know that. But I can’t shake the terror. So I’m going to balk, and bitch, and be moody until it’s over with, but you’re right—it’s eating away at me, so let’s get it out of the way before I develop an ulcer.” Besides, afterward, they’d be so busy stuffing swag bags that the tension would dissolve. At least Brenden hoped so because he couldn’t deal with it otherwise.
Dakota framed Brenden’s face between his hands. “I love you. No matter what, it’s you and me together. Always has been. And maybe it took this fight to make me realize it too. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have come back. I would’ve said fuck it because I didn’t need this. But with you, all I could think about was I had to come back to figure out a way to fix this. We good?”
Brenden smiled and walked backward, pulling Dakota with him. He ached to lay down with him and hold him. “Better than good.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
DAKOTA WISHED he could get Brenden to relax, but in a situation like this, it was a literal impossibility. As they hauled boxes of swag, bags, copies of the convention floor map, and guides to activities, Brenden was his usual controlled self, but Dakota sensed the tension rolling off him as he triple-checked everything. It reaffirmed his opinion that the sooner they dealt with their bombshell, the better it would be for everyone. Otherwise, Brenden would continue to build it up into a bigger thing in his head.
Yes, it would be a shock, but they already had a quarter of the Nye family on their side, and that was Dakota’s hidden weapon. It would be hard for the rest of the family to get too worked up with Aden chiming in with his wholehearted support. Dakota had given him a call to be sure Aden wouldn’t be blindsided and would have any arguments ready if they were needed.
Dakota wasn’t sure they would need it. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Trev were both reasonable people. All their kids had grown up and were out of the house. He didn’t have Brenden’s fatalistic viewpoint. Dakota’s momma hadn’t disowned him when she lost custody of him. It didn’t matter that Brenden’s father had tried at one point to make amends; Brenden was already scarred. Then again, Dakota hadn’t made a dumb-assed promise to keep his hands to himself. Brenden kept promises even when they weren’t necessary.
He eyed Brenden as he hauled open the garage door. The man would engrave any marriage vows onto his soul. He probably thought Dakota was screwing around or trying to prove something to him with the proposal, but Dakota had given it a lot of thought as he’d driven around after their fight. Call him crazy for doing a complete one-eighty, but he wanted a permanent mark on Brenden Wade, a ring on his finger, and a promise before witnesses that they belonged to each other.
Dakota whistled to himself as he added the last of the boxes to the trolley. Brenden Nye had a nice sound to it. Then Brenden could completely drop any lingering reminders of the man who’d abandoned him. Then he’d feel like he was one of them and not on the fringes.
Brenden turned disbelieving eyes on him. He looked so startled that Dakota couldn’t help but grin, and that seemed to confuse him more. He wanted to kiss that expression right off his face. Wouldn’t that shock the hell out of everybody? The thought tickled him even more.
“What is wrong with you?” Brenden asked, his voice thick with exasperation. His fists landed on his hips. “Are you cheerful? Do you know what’s at stake here?”
“Yep. It’s the start of the rest of our lives.” Dakota grabbed the trolley handle and tugged it toward the garage as Brenden came to help him. “A little Kermit flailing will be the worst of it. Just you wait and see.”
“You’re unnatural,” Brenden growled under his breath. “I’m dying and you’re whistling.”
“You love me because I whistle. If I was dying too, you’d be a complete wreck.”
Aunt Evelyn had set up a long trestle table in the garage and cleared out space where they could stack boxes once they’d filled them up. This was a project that they normally grabbed volunteers for once they set up at the hotel before the event. Dakota had pushed for that this time, given the scale they were dealing with, but their family wanted to be in on the insanity, so they made a Sunday party out of it. Friends and family would be joining them later for the assembly line. There would be plenty of food and drinks to keep them going, and Dakota brought his sound equipment and a kickass playlist.
Brenden shook his head and organized the boxes. He set them up under each station at the table with a generous stack of the contents within reaching distance. “Okay, inserts, guides, and bags. We have the swag for the VIPs, for the preregistrations, and for the first thousand people through the door. We’ve got this. God, this is insane.”
Dakota laughed and squeezed his shoulder. “Go with your first instinct, Bren. We’ve got this.” He hoped plenty of volunteers showed so they could take shifts or they would be at this until the middle of the night.
The garage door opened and Aunt Evelyn came through carrying bags of ice. “I thought I heard you pull up. Wow, that is a lot of boxes. You think you picture what it means when you say you’re assembling thousands of materials, but I don’t know where we’re going to put it all.”
Brenden opened the large cooler in the back so she could upend the ice into it. “This isn’t all of it, I’m afraid. This is the first round. The rest is in the U-Haul. But if we get a good system going, we’ll knock it out.”
Dakota admired the hell out of Brenden’s steel. One would never know how off-kilter he was by his voice or manner. He supposed that’s why he kept secrets so well.
Evelyn looked at the stacked boxes with wider eyes. “Oh my,” she said with a laugh. “I suppose we should get started, then. Your brothers are in the living room. Trev’s grabbing some beer from the store, but he should be here in ten minutes. There’s no reason why we can’t get a jump on it while we’re waiting for the volunteers to show.”
Dakota met Brenden’s eyes. Brenden nodded and looked away, pressing his lips together. “Well, I’ll grab the Wonder Twerps and we can begin. Anything else you need, Brenden?”
Brenden shook his head, keeping himself busy by rearranging everything to his exacting specifications. Dakota knew it was a coping mechanism, so he didn’t tease him. He was getting nervous himself. Brenden was infecting him. There was nothing to be nervous about.
“When are you going to bring a guy home that we can meet?” Evelyn asked with a searching gaze. The timing of the question almost made Dakota snicker. The universe had a fucked sense of humor. “You too, Brenden. It’s been a while since you’ve brought anyone around, and Dakota, you haven’t since high school.”
“Bullshit, I’ve been bringing that one around.” Dakota pointed to Brenden, hoping to tease a smile out of him.
“No, I call bullshit. I’m the one who makes sure you come to family dinners.” Brenden shot him a look, silently demanding he get on with it as another car pulled into the driveway. He pulled out his phone and texted. “Trev’s home.”
Dakota’s phone pinged and he rolled his eyes. It had to be Brenden. We should tell Trev and Evelyn 1st, since they’re here & not bring in the others yet.
Dakota shook his head and gave Brenden a firm stare as he texted back. And leave our secret weapon in the LR? Fuck no. He gave Brenden a sunny smile and went to retrieve his cousins. He should not be this nervous. Damn Brenden for getting him worked up too. People made too big of a deal out of sex. So what if they were together? They loved each other. That’s all that mattered.
His cousins and Julie were in the living room playing the latest zombie video game. “That’s some serious skills there, Jules,” Dakota said as he watched her finish off a mob, saving Aden and Zach’s asses.
“Thanks.” She flashed him a delighted grin. “I’m getting the hang of it.”
Aden set aside his controller. “You guys ready?”
“Yep. Brenden’s anxious to get moving now that he’s decided to jump in.” Dakota caught Aden’s gaze and saw his awareness of the hidden message.
“I’m only in it until the rest of the volunteers arrive.” Zach flipped off the game and stowed the controllers. “Then I’m bailing.”
“So sticking around for food and beer and mooching as usual.” Dakota gave him a shove as he went by. “Just enough to get credit.”
Zach snickered and bopped him in the back of the head. “Someone’s got to take over the role now that you’re all responsible and shit.”
“Don’t you dare blaspheme. I’m not mature.” Dakota aimed another swipe at his cousin, but Zach ducked away, hooting with laughter.
“Is it okay if Julie joins us?” Aden asked as Zach hollered a greeting from the garage.
Dakota glanced at her, and nothing in her expression indicated Aden had given her a heads-up, which was both cool of him for keeping the secret and awkward as hell. But having her there wouldn’t make it any more uncomfortable for Brenden. He was already laser-focused on Evelyn and Trev. Besides, she and Aden were tight enough that she was practically family. This might even make Brenden more inclined to accept her, because he suspected she would follow Aden’s support.
“What’s going on?” Julie asked. “I thought we were stuffing swag bags?”
“Brenden and I have a little announcement to make to the family first. He’s freaking out over it, so go gently with him when we do,” Dakota said. “On that note, let’s go because I won’t relax until he relaxes.”
Julie whispered to Aden as he headed back to the garage, but Dakota couldn’t make her words out. This was ridiculous. They should’ve sent a group text this morning and left it at that. But Brenden, being such a stickler for niceties, felt they should tell them in person. He was a martyr, that’s what he was, and if Brenden wasn’t so miserable, Dakota would give him hell for it later.
Zach was popping the top off a beer and trading insults with his dad while Evelyn cast Brenden worried looks as he fussed over the stacks of paper. She knew the signs almost as well as Dakota did.
“Okay, good, we’re all here and we have some time before Brenden’s backups arrive,” Dakota said as he went to Brenden’s side. Brenden was probably agonizing over the right words. Something that wouldn’t make this weird. But Dakota had learned from coming out to them as a teenager that the best way was to dive right on it and blurt it out. “Brenden and I have something we want to say if you’ll give us a moment before we get down to our torturous project of the day.”
Brenden stood stiffly beside him, and when Dakota touched his hand it was cold despite the heat coming in waves from outside. Aden gave them a thumbs-up, but Dakota wasn’t even sure Brenden saw it. He slipped his hand around Brenden’s and was reassured when Brenden held it back instead of pulling away. He wasn’t going to back out of this.
“What’s going on?” Aunt Evelyn asked, her eyes sharp with curiosity.
“When you took us in, Mama E and Trev, you made it clear we were a part of the family. That we were all brothers. And both Dakota and I were… are grateful for that. We needed a family. We needed that sense of belonging. We still do,” Brenden said as if weighing each word, much to Dakota’s impatience.
“Of course you’re family,” Trev replied. “That doesn’t need to be said at this point.”
“This isn’t going to get sappy, is it?” Zach asked and took a sip of his beer as Aden elbowed him. Beer splashed across his mouth. “Hey!”
Aunt Evelyn cast them both a sharp look. It was time to cut through the bullshit setup. “I’m going to lay it out like this: Brenden and I are in love with each other and we plan on making a life together. And since you’re our family, we thought you’d like to congratulate us.”
Evelyn’s breath caught as Brenden closed his eyes in resignation and Zach choked on a mouthful of beer. “That’s awesome,” Aden said, breaking the surprised silence and giving them an encouraging smile. “You two belong together.”
“Wait,” Evelyn said, holding up her hand for quiet as everyone else babbled. “When did this happen?”
“I know I made a promise to you and Trev,” Brenden said in a troubled voice. “And I’m sorry I broke it, but—”
“Screw the promise,” Dakota said savagely before Brenden could mess with his own head even more. “I’m not a fucked-up teenager anymore. Okay, I get it. We both were wrecks then, and a situation like that…. But I’m an adult, so’s Brenden, and dammit, I love him. You’re not keeping him from me. That’s not your decision to make.”
“What promise?” Zach asked, looking around in confusion. “It’s not April Fool’s. Is this some joke?”
“I’m surprised in one way, but not in another I suppose,” Trev said. “We’ve always pushed the idea of all of you being brothers, and there was a reason at the time, but you two always had your own relationship outside of the family.”
“Dude, am I dreaming? Or hungover?” Zach gave his beer such a comical look that Dakota would’ve snickered if Brenden wasn’t still so tense next to him. Him and Aunt Evelyn were locked in a stare down to end all stare downs until he looked away and a light tremor went through him.
“If they’re happy together, then I’m happy for them,” Julie said and nudged Aden. “Though I don’t know why this one felt he had to keep it a secret from me.”
“You knew and didn’t say anything?” Zach asked. “Why am I always the last to know?”
“It wasn’t my news to spill, and I knew they’d tell when they were ready. I found out by accident.” Aden slipped his arm around Julie’s shoulders. “They’re happy. Like happy in a way I always wish they could’ve been. Don’t mess with their heads, bro.”
“Brenden Wade and Dakota Nye, I want you both to look at me.” Aunt Evelyn’s firm voice cut through the chatter. Brenden went utterly still as Dakota winced. He knew that tone. Her expression was set, her eyes flinty. Oh yeah, she was irked. “Aden, Zach, Julie, out.”
“Mama E—” Brenden started, but she cut him off.
“Don’t you Mama E me. You’ve had your say. Now I’m going to have mine.” She put her hands on her hips and shot a wa
rning glare to her husband when Trev put a placating hand on her shoulder. “Did you believe we were going to take the news so bad that you had to be afraid to tell us?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Dakota saw Aden nudge Zach and make a jerking motion with his head toward the door. Zach nodded and bolted with Aden following. Julie paused long enough to give them both a quick hug, and then she disappeared too—leaving them to face Aunt Evelyn’s wrath alone. Dakota would’ve done the same if he could. Like Zach, he knew when it was time to duck and hide. He wished Aden had stuck around, but they all knew when to obey without question.
“Yes and no,” Brenden said with a heavy sigh. “I… we—”
“Now I’m insulted.” Hurt as well as irritation tinged Aunt Evelyn’s voice and Dakota winced. He hated it when he upset her like this, and it was rare, but it slayed Brenden when it happened. He squeezed Brenden’s hand in silent support. “We love you two knuckleheads. We want what’s best for you. And I’ve been worried these last few months because I knew something was off. You two don’t have to keep everything in. You can talk to us!”
“We needed to figure out things between us before we talked to anybody,” Dakota said in the ensuing quiet. “And I did talk to you. I even called you, I just didn’t say why.”
“I understand, I really do.” Aunt Evelyn paused, looking between Dakota and Brenden. “But you’re not hearing me. I’m not upset you’re a couple, though it’ll take some getting used to and readjusting to our thinking. I’m upset you both were standing here shaking to tell us.”
“Well, you are yelling at us,” Dakota pointed out, and Brenden let out a warning hiss.
“You’re not helping,” Brenden muttered with a side-eye at him.
Aunt Evelyn made a strange sound Dakota had never heard before, a kind of strangled sob and laugh in the back of her throat. “I need a minute,” she said and turned to march back into the house. “Nobody had better follow me either. Got it? I need a minute.”
A Beautiful Disaster Page 28
