by A. E. Wasp
Dakota nodded. He mentally gathered himself together, shoring up the wall between his heart and the world he had built as an abandoned child. He’d survived this long without Bryce; he’d lost nearer and dearer. When Bryce left, Dakota would still go on.
A scrap of poetry floated through his mind. Would it have been worth it, after all? Too soon to tell.
He reached up to Bryce’s face, kissed him gently on the lips. “I’m sorry. Take all the time you need. You have major decisions to make.”
“You know that the farm will be fine, you’ll be fine…You’ll always have a home here…even if…” Bryce broke off.
Even if. “I know. But if I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that you never know what’s going to happen. So it’s best to grab what you can, when you can.” He grabbed Bryce’s hips and pulled him in tight. Sliding his mouth along Bryce’s jawline, his bit at his earlobe and Bryce gasped softly.
Dakota slid his hands into Bryce’s back pockets as he continued mouthing gently and his jaw, ghosting across his lips but never stopping.
With a growl, Bryce grabbed Dakota’s chin and turned his head exactly where he wanted it. Dakota had no choice but to open for Bryce’s kiss.
God, Bryce could kiss. Dakota loved the way Bryce’s tongue felt demanding entrance to his mouth. Loved the sharp nips to his bottom lip, and the way Bryce kept it between his teeth as he pulled away.
He slid down the wall, tugging Bryce back and slotting his thigh between Dakota’s spread legs. He ground down on Bryce, dragging a high whine out of his throat.
“God, don’t start. Julie is right inside.”
Dakota rolled his hips hard against Bryce’s thigh as he dug his fingers into Bryce’s ass, and then abruptly let him go.
Bryce groaned at the loss of contact, then narrowed his eyes at Dakota as he adjusted the erection pressing against the front of his jeans. “That was mean.”
Dakota just chuckled. “She’s kind of intense, your sister.”
Bryce laughed. “Yeah. She’s a pit bull. A very successful pit bull. She handles all the family money, and she’s going to be a huge help. Just, not right now.”
“Not right now.” Dakota headed back inside.
Bryce stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Can I come over tonight?” he whispered.
“Of course, you idiot. You can come and go as you please.” And wasn’t that the rub.
“Good. I’ll get away as soon as I can.” He followed Dakota into the house. “It’s going to get harder to find places to do this soon. Amy and the kids get in tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
DAKOTA
The next day, Amy and her husband Andy arrived in a minivan with five hundred miles worth of road dirt on it and three kids and an old black Labrador inside of it. Since Lincoln, Nebraska was only seven hours away, they’d decided to drive. Amy said she liked to have a car available, just in case.
Amy jumped out of the van and leaped into Bryce’s arms. He caught her easily, spinning her around before putting her gently back down.
Dakota liked her right away. The shortest Lowery he had yet met, she had the same dark blue eyes and a kind face that slipped easily into a smile.
“We would have been here yesterday, but Ophelia’s soccer team had a make-up game.” She kept a hold of Bryce’s hand as the rest of the passengers got out.
“How’d it go, O?” Bryce asked.
“Pretty good. We won. I scored two goals and three assists.” Ophelia looked to be about twelve maybe? Dakota wasn’t a great guesser of kids’ ages. She wasn’t a little kid but wasn’t a teenager yet.
Bryce high-fived her as she walked passed him, dragging a wheeled suitcase.
“This is my friend, Dakota,” Bryce said.
Ophelia and the younger boy following her looked up at Dakota at the same time, gave him simultaneous ‘heys’ and raced each other up the stairs.
An airport shuttle van pulled up while Amy was helping her youngest son and the dog get out of the van.
A guy who looked like a younger and somehow even more buff version of Bryce got out. “Hola, mi familia!” he cried with open arms. He wore track pants and a t-shirt despite the chilly weather.
“Keith,” Bryce whispered to Dakota. “One of the twins.”
“He’s so…buff,” Dakota said in an awed whisper. Keith had Bryce’s dark eyelashes and wide smile. He was just an inch or two shorter than Dakota.
Bryce frowned, and Dakota could have sworn he looked worried as Keith bounded over to them.
“Hey,” he said, coming to stand in front of Bryce. “How’s things?” He pulled Bryce in for a one-armed, back-thumping bro hug. “How’s the knee? Gonna go running with me tomorrow morning?”
“We’ll see,” Bryce said. “Depends how early.”
Keith had already turned to Dakota, sticking out his hands. “You must be the famous Dakota. I expected, I don’t, a halo or something. A glow.”
“Nice to meet you.” Dakota shook his hand while giving Bryce a look. Bryce shrugged as if he had no idea what Keith was talking about. Dakota didn’t buy it for a second. Amy’s snort of laughter confirmed his suspicions.
Keith put his hands on hips and checked out the house. “Holy shit, dude. This place is amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice. Kind of big for just mom though.” He looked at Bryce out of the side of his eyes.
“I didn’t build it. Plus you’ll all be visiting a lot, right?”
Keith shrugged. “Sure. Still seems a waste.”
Kelly, the female half of the Lowery twins, arrived early Tuesday morning, said a weary hello to her family, waved silently to Dakota, petted all three dogs, and then dragged herself to the nearest bedroom and shut the door.
“Med school,” Keith explained, looking up from some complicated concoction he was mixing in the blender. “It’s kicking her ass.” He put his hand over the lid of the blender and pressed a button. “I keep trying to get her try this stuff,” he yelled over the whir of the blades, “but she won’t touch it.”
“That’s because it’s gross,” Joshua, Amy’s middle son, commented.
“That’s how you know it’s good for you,” Keith said, enthusiasm undaunted. Dakota was beginning to wonder if anything could daunt it.
“So what’s the plan?” Connie asked. All eyes turned to Dakota.
He froze with his third cup of coffee half-way to his lips. “Excuse me?”
“For tomorrow. It’s Pizza Prep day if I recall correctly? So this is prep-prep day. Do we need to make a shopping list? A schedule?”
Julie lifted her head from her laptop. “Schedule?”
“Not really.” Dakota wished Lori were here. “Lori’s going to start the bread dough tonight. I think we have everything we need in the root cellar and pantry. Matt’s bringing the turkeys this year.” Usually, Dakota provided the turkeys from the small flock he raised especially for the holiday.
Unfortunately, this year, unbeknownst to Dakota, Bryce had named all three of the turkeys before he’d realized their ultimate fate.
Dakota and Lori had been sitting on the steps of the big house, making plans to slaughter them when they heard Bryce gasp. “You’re gonna kill Jasper?”
“Who’s Jasper?” Lori asked.
“The head turkey guy,” Bryce explained as if it were obvious.
Lori and Dakota exchanged glances. Lori looked confused, but Dakota was working hard to hold back a smile. Pulling out his phone, he tapped on the screen and handed it to Lori.
When she saw the series of pictures of Bryce carrying the red hen he had named Clarice, she rolled her eyes. “Lord, save me from city boys.”
“What do you think we do them?” Dakota asked.
“E-e-ggs?” Bryce said uncertainly. He looked stricken.
Dakota hadn’t been able to hold back the laughter. Ultimately, Jasper and his harem were saved when Matt offered to provide the backup turkeys.
“Root cellar?” Connie asked.
&
nbsp; After that, there was nothing to do but give everyone a tour of the root cellar and the pantry. Which led to a tour of the apple orchard, and the farm.
Amy let Dakota give the kids rides on the ATV. Even Atticus, her timid six-year-old loved it, screeching excitedly when Dakota pushed the old 4-wheeler up to a fast jog.
Later that night, David and Connie whipped up some dinner for everyone. Afterwards, Bryce said he had some business to take care of with Dakota, and he was going to walk him home.
Dakota felt the eyes on them as he said goodnight.
It was warm for the end of November, the air almost spring soft on their skin as they walked down the drive. Beezy and Lu trotted ahead of them.
You never knew what you were going to get this time of year. As a kid, Dakota had gone trick-or-treating in snow storms and spent Christmases in shirt sleeves.
“So that went well,” Bryce said.
“I really like your family.” Dakota bumped his shoulder into Bryce’s.
He smiled wide. “I’m glad. I can tell they like you, too.”
“Great.” He came to a stop in the middle of the driveway. “Look,” he said pointing up.
It was a cloudless, moonless night, and the sky was ablaze with stars. The river of the Milky Way stretched above the trees.
Dakota pointed to the first constellation he’d ever learned. “Orion. The mighty hunter.”
Bryce put his arms around Dakota from behind. “Show me more,” he said, nuzzling the top of Dakota’s ear and sliding his hand underneath Dakota’s shirt. He tugged Dakota over to a cottonwood tree on the side of the path.
“You’re not even looking,” Dakota laughed.
“Tell me anyway. I like your voice.” Bryce leaned his back against the tree and pulled Dakota tightly against him. “Where’s the big dipper?”
Dakota’s answer trailed off into a grunt as Bryce unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper down. Bryce had closed over Dakota’s cock, and he stroked fast and hard.
The race was on. Dakota stammered out the names of constellations as Bryce attacked the back of his neck with his mouth and pushed Dakota closer and closer to orgasm.
“Cassio - fuck,” Dakota cursed as Bryce ran his palm over the head of Dakota’s cock. “Cassiopeia,” he said triumphantly, then groaned long and deep as Bryce wrapped his hand tightly around Dakota’s cock and dragged the orgasm out of him.
Bryce kissed the back of Dakota’s neck as he shuddered and tried to get his breath back. “Good lesson. I really learned a lot.” His hard cock pressed against Dakota’s back.
“Yeah?” Dakota turned in his arms. “Then you deserve a reward.” He dropped to his knees, hands already working on the button of Bryce’s pants.
Bryce’s fingers tangled through Dakota’s curls, dragging his head up and down his cock. Dakota relaxed his jaw and let Bryce set the pace as he thrust fast and hard into Dakota’s mouth.
Bryce panted and cursed quietly above Dakota, the tightening of his fingers the only warning Dakota got before Bryce came down his throat.
The dogs watched as Bryce and Dakota silently pulled themselves back together. The light from Dakota’s house glowed softly from between the trees.
“I think I can make it by myself from here,” Dakota joked.
Bryce kissed him gently. “You sure? Not afraid of bears?”
Dakota kissed back, a soft press of lips. “The dogs will keep me safe.” Lu barked once in agreement. “See?”
“You’ll save him from the bears, Lu-dog?” Bryce asked. She leaned against his leg, and he gave her a scratch behind the ears. He leaned in for one more kiss. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” Dakota said, holding Bryce against him for just a second longer. Tomorrow, Bryce’s family would meet the people who were, for all intents and purposes, Dakota’s family.
He hoped it would go smoothly. Despite his goodbye, Bryce watched Dakota until he reached his door. “Goodnight,” Dakota called again.
“Goodnight,” Bryce said, then turned and walked away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
BRYCE
Bryce couldn’t remember the last time he’d been around for Thanksgiving prep. He was lucky if he didn’t have a game on Thanksgiving and could grab a flight to his mom’s house on Wednesday night. He always had to fly out Thursday night, and like Kelly, he would spend a lot of the day catching up on sleep.
So when Julie started organizing the chaos and assigning tasks, he figured his best bet was to stay out of the way. He sat on the stairs and watched as Julie did her thing.
Most of the action was taking place in the big kitchen and the attached breakfast nook. Bryce’s whole family was there, down to the baby.
A handful of Lori and Dakota’s friends had showed up. Bryce recognized a few of them from the day his mom had moved in, including Matt with the turkeys. Dustin greeted him like an old friend. His hug felt awesome.
Amy had been delegated by Julie to greet everyone as they came in and get their name and a list of what food and or drink they were contributing. When it was done, she handed the list to Julie, who started making notes on it.
Lori leaned against the kitchen island, staring wide-eyed at Julie as she went around the room calling people by name and asking them if they needed oven time today or tomorrow, and reminding them not to forget serving utensils.
In ten minutes she’d worked out a schedule for Tommy’s double oven and Dakota’s single oven that covered both prep day and Thanksgiving and if followed would assure everything arrived at the table perfectly cooked and at the proper temperature.
When Julie started assigning people tasks from a list she and Dakota had made earlier that day, Lori practically swooned.
“I love you. Marry me?” Lori craned her neck to look up at Julie.
“I’ll have to check with my husband.” She called across the room to where David supervised the kids. “David, Lori wants to marry us. Is that okay?”
“Which one is Lori again?” he asked with a smile in his dark brown eyes.
“Dakota’s sister. Tiny. Really spectacular hair.”
“Does she cook?”
Julie turned and looked down at Lori who was almost a whole foot shorter than she was. “Do you cook?”
“She cooks,” Dakota said. “Take her.”
“Sold. Talk to me later.” Julie smiled and then went back to her list. “Okay, so setting up for the bonfire.”
“Watch out for Lori, Jules,” Bryce called from the stairs. “She had violent tendencies.”
“That’s okay, I like ‘em feisty.” She pointed her pen at Bryce. “Where have you been hiding?”
Bryce looked guilty. “I was trying to stay out of the way.”
“You’re part of this family, get the hell in here.” Julie waved him in. “You’re on bonfire duty with Dakota, Dustin, and…” She waved her pen across the crowd, “Keith.”
“I feel like that’s sexist,” Keith objected. “What if I want to decorate or cook?”
“You will. Don’t worry. But for right now, I need you to go lift heavy things.”
Keith shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“Atticus!” Julie called.
Amy’s youngest jumped up from the corner of the couch where he’d been curled. A quiet boy, small for a six-year-old, he often got overlooked in the chaos of the family.
Bryce hoped to spend more time with his nephew. Something about his shy smile and the intense way he watched everything around him made Bryce want to get to know him better.
“What can I do, Aunt Julie?” he asked. He stood straight up, blushing a bit at all the eyes on him, but ready to be put to work.
“You have a very important job. I need you to gather eggs. Without eggs, there is no cake. You know Aunt Kelly will cry if there is no cake, and she is an ugly crier, and nobody wants to see that.” Julie looked down to hide her smile.
From the back of the room, Kelly gave Julie the finger. Josh and Ophelia muffled their laughter behind thei
r hands.
“But I can’t go to the store myself.” Atticus’s brow furrowed. He looked so concerned, Bryce wants to go over and just squeeze him or something.
Sometimes the way he loved his nieces and nephews felt too big for his heart to hold. How did parents do it? How did they live every day knowing anything could happen to their kids?
A drunk driver, a psychopath, a too-big bite of food could kill them. Babies sometimes just died in the middle of the night, and no one knew why. Bryce actually clutched his heart at the thought.
“Not the store, babycakes. You are going to go get eggs from actual, live chickens.”
“Really?” Atticus’ eyes opened wide. He started to say something, then closed his mouth and looked down. His sister crouched down next to him.
As Bryce watched, Dakota caught his eye. You okay? he mouthed.
Bryce remembered that Dakota’s birth parents had given him up, or had been so awful that the state had to take him away. He’d never asked for the details. How could someone do that? How could you hurt your own kid? The thought was incomprehensible, and Bryce was grateful. He never wanted to be someone who could understand that.
He nodded slightly to Dakota. Fine.
Ophelia stood up, holding Atticus’ hand. “Aunt Julie, can I help with the eggs, too? I wanted to see the chickens, too, but I’m kinda actually scared of birds. So I thought if Atty went with me, it would make me less scared.” She smiled down at Atticus, and he gave her a blinding smile of gratitude.
That’s it. Bryce was going to cry in the kitchen in front of everyone.
When Bryce had left home and moved to Canada, Julie had been the same age Ophelia was now. The twins had been barely five. Leaving them had been harder than leaving his mom.
His mom worked long hours, and the kids had bonded together to make sure everything got done. Homework and meals and laundry.
Kelly and Keith had grown up at ice rinks, running up and down the stairs, toddling unsteadily on double-bladed kid skates.
