Christian (The Beck Brothers Series)

by Andria Large

  “I’m sorry,” Shea whispered.

  Christian shook his head. “It’s fine, Shea. I didn’t expect you to do everything in just a couple of weeks.”

  Shea nodded. Christian then shuffled them around so that Shea was under the water. Christian smoothed his hands over him to get the soap off, and cleaned himself quickly before they got out. Christian dried Shea off and helped him back into his sling and swathe. The doctor said he would need both for the first week, then probably just the sling the second week. It could take anywhere from four to eight weeks to get back to fully functioning.

  “I hate needing someone to help me do simple shit like this,” Shea grumbled as he followed Christian down the hall to his bedroom.

  Christian shrugged one muscled shoulder. “Nothing you can do about it.”

  Shea huffed and sat down on the bed as Christian pulled out something for him to wear. Shea had his own drawer. They spent so much time at each other’s houses that it just seemed like a good idea to keep clothes and other things there. Like right now, it came in handy; Shea didn’t have to pack a bag from his house to bring over because his shit was already here. They did that shortly after his family had died in the fire. Christian basically moved in with Shea for a little while. He had been devastated, and Christian helped to keep him from losing it completely.

  The entire Beck clan had been really supportive at that time. Anne and Henry Sr. made a crap load of food for him, and brought it over to his house. Henry helped take care of all of his parents’ financial stuff, since Shea had no idea where to start. Claire had somehow gotten a hold of old photo albums and pictures that hadn’t been completely damaged, and made a beautiful new album for him. Sebastian helped him make all of the funeral arrangements, and Quinn came over to clean up around his house when was just too depressed to get out of bed. And Christian? Christian was at his side the whole time, letting him grieve the way he needed to, holding him when he needed him to, forcing him to pull his life back together and move on because he was still alive. Shea still had no idea how he could ever thank the family for all that they have done for him.

  “Shea?” Christian’s voice asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

  Shea blinked up at him. “Huh?”

  “You okay? You spaced out there for a minute,” he said with a frown.

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Shea insisted and tried to push past the pain in his heart.

  “Are you hurting? Do you need more medicine?” Christian asked.

  “Yeah...yeah, it’s starting to ache,” he agreed.

  “Alright, I’ll go grab you some,” Christian said as he pulled on his underwear then a pair of dark jeans.

  Shea watched him walked out of the room, his ass looking fine in those jeans. Shea was still a little weirded out by how attracted he was to Christian. It wasn’t like that happened overnight either. It had been a slow build that started years ago. Shea could still remember the exact moment: They went down to Wildwood, NJ, around four years ago for a weekend and went to the beach one day. While Shea chilled out on a towel, Christian decided to take a swim in the ocean. Shea watched as he waded into the surf, and then dove into a wave. He stayed in for a few minutes before making his way back out. Shea’s breath caught as he watched his best friend stride up the sand toward him.

  A couple of girls walking by literally tripped and almost fell because they were staring at him so hard. Water ran down his hard toned body and made his bathing suit cling to his thighs. Shea’s eyes drifted to where Christian’s bathing suit clung to something else and a swirl of desire hit him out of nowhere, shocking the ever-living hell out of him. Something inside Shea turned at that moment, but he had no idea what it was. Ever since that day, he caught himself on many occasions checking Christian out, admiring his body and the way he moved, wondering every now and then what it would be like to kiss him and more. Never in a million years did he ever think that he would actually get the chance to act on those thoughts.

  Christian returned with his medication and a glass of water. After taking it, Christian helped him get dressed. They didn’t even bother with a shirt, he wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Will you be alright tonight, or do you want me to cancel the showing?” Christian asked as they headed back downstairs.

  “Don’t cancel the art show, your students look forward to that. Just see if someone can come over to sit with me. Anyone but Sebastian,” Shea said, giving Christian a pointed look over his shoulder, making him smile.

  “Are you sure? Sebastian can be very entertaining.”

  “Dude, I will end up back in the hospital if he comes here to babysit me.” Shea snorted.

  Christian laughed. “That is probably true, let me call Quinn.”

  Shea nodded. “Good choice.”

  Henry cursed silently as some asshole took the parking spot he had been waiting for. If he didn’t have the kids in the car, he would have flipped the hell out; instead, he just moved on to find another spot. He was fuming, though. Finally, after a few minutes of driving around, he squeezed into another spot. Christian’s gallery was in a really bad location for trying to find somewhere to park.

  Henry got all three kids out of the car and started down the sidewalk with Ethan, who was now five, Henry III, who was two, and Adalyn, who was almost nine months old. Ethan was looking less and less like a baby, and more and more like a growing boy. He was getting tall and thinned out a lot. His face wasn’t as round as it used to be, and his hair was now cut short, per his request. Ethan wanted a Mohawk like little Henry, so both boys had short blonde Mohawks. Little Henry was turning out to be a spitting image of his father, looking exactly like Henry, except he had crystal blue eyes like his mother. It was funny how Ethan and Henry III looked so much alike even though they had different biological fathers.

  Then there was Henry’s baby girl, Adalyn. She was a gorgeous little girl, naturally. She was her mother’s child with strawberry blonde curls and big bright blue eyes. Every time Henry took her out, he was constantly told that she needed to be modeling or on TV or something.

  They walked up the steps to the Beck Gallery door and Ethan tried to tug it open. He got it partially open but it ended up being too heavy and Henry had to help. Ethan helped his little brother step up the last step and into the gallery, while Henry walked in behind them with Adalyn in his arms. He hasn’t been to Christian’s gallery in over a year.

  The space was a decent size, with it being longer than wide, galley-style. There were partial walls set up in the middle of the room, splitting it in two in certain areas. There was artwork hung on every wall. Some of it was incredible – mostly Christian’s work – while the rest was pretty good for people who were just learning how to paint. Christian also set up a section just for the artwork of the kids he taught.

  “Henry! What are you doing here?” Christian’s voice asked, pulling Henry’s attention away from the color-filled walls.

  He looked up to see Christian striding toward him, his lean body moving smoothly and somewhat gracefully. He was wearing dark gray slacks with a medium purple shirt under a black vest and tie. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he had a black leather cuff on one wrist. His blonde hair was styled to perfection and his face was clean-shaven. Henry knew his brother was very fashion forward, but he was looking extra metro-sexual today.

  “Hey, Christian.” Henry smiled, giving him a partial hug since Adalyn was in his arms. “Claire’s birthday is coming up; she’s been asking for one of your pieces, so I’m going to have the kids help me pick out a nice picture for her.”

  Christian beamed with pride. “Really? That’s awesome.”

  Henry nodded and handed over a squirming Adalyn to her favorite uncle. Christian took her and kissed her before settling her little diapered butt on his forearm. Adalyn’s fingers went right for his mouth as they always did. Christian chuckled and nibbled on her chubby fingers, making her giggle around the binky in her mouth. He high-fived Ethan, and pinched litt
le Henry’s cheek.

  “Daddy, can I go look around?” Ethan asked.

  “Yes, but do not touch anything,” Henry warned sternly, getting a fervent nod from Ethan before he wandered off.

  There were only about ten to fifteen people there, so Henry could see everywhere that Ethan went. Little Henry sidled closer to Henry’s side and slipped his hand into his daddy’s. He was a bit shy around people he didn’t know, but that had a lot to do with his age.

  “Go ahead and look around. Let me know if you find something you like,” Christian said, bouncing Adalyn in his arms.

  “Alright. You take that one, I’ll take this one,” Henry said, lifting his mini-me into his arms.

  Christian nodded and sauntered off with Adalyn. Henry watched his brother walk away. Something seemed different about him, but Henry couldn’t figure out what it was. One thing he did notice was that Christian seemed happier lately, only in the past couple of weeks. Henry wondered what was making him so happy - a girl, maybe?

  Henry walked around the gallery, one eye on the art, and one eye on Ethan. He stopped in front of one of Christian’s paintings. It was a black and white, and it was of a seemingly naked man tangled in the sheets on a bed. The man was on his stomach and his face turned away. Henry immediately recognized who it was; he’s known the guy almost his entire life. Why the hell would Christian paint a picture of Shea, naked, and sleeping in bed? Henry turned to look for Christian and found him standing slightly behind him, Adalyn still in his arms; the expression on his face was unreadable.

  “What’s up with this?” Henry asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

  Christian blinked at him and shrugged slightly. “I’m an artist, I find art everywhere,” he said as if that explained it.

  “But why Shea in a bed, naked, tangled up in sheets?” Henry asked, confused.

  “I liked the way the sheets where rumpled,” Christian said, waving a hand dismissively.

  Henry shook his head slightly, he was still confused, but whatever. “Okaaay.”

  “I have a couple of nice landscapes toward the back. Why don’t you go check those out?” Christian murmured while tickling Adalyn, his eyes on the baby, not Henry.

  “Sure,” Henry agreed and hitched his son higher before walking toward the back of the gallery.

  Ethan picked out a lovely painting of a calla lily for Claire, one of Christian’s, obviously. Christian wanted Henry to take it for free, but he insisted on paying for it. Then they gathered up the kids and walked back out to Henry’s car. Christian put Adalyn in her car seat while Henry strapped in the other two. After the kids were secured, Henry went to his brother to say goodbye.

  “How’s Shea doing anyway?” Henry asked, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

  “Alright, I guess. He’s still in pain.” Christian shrugged.

  Henry nodded, watching him closely. “How long is he going to stay with you?”

  “As long as he needs to,” Christian replied evenly.

  “Doesn’t he have a girlfriend that can take care of him?” Henry asked curiously. “I swore he was seeing someone.”

  “Not really,” he answered tightly, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Henry nodded in understanding. What he didn’t understand, though, was that fucking painting. Wasn’t it odd for a straight man to paint another straight man, naked and asleep? Henry wondered if Shea knew about that painting. Henry’s vote would be a no. Whatever was going on with Christian was going to have to wait for another time; Henry had to get the kids home and ready for bed.

  “Okay, let me get out of here. I’ll talk to you later,” Henry said, giving Christian a hug.

  “Okay.”

  Christian waved as Henry pulled away from the curb. Henry shook his head to himself. Could his brother possibly be gay? He has never really thought about it before, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing Christian with a woman. He most definitely never brought one home. A few years ago, he would have blamed that on his mother, but she has changed, so the man has no reason not to bring a woman home to meet his family. He was always with Shea, though. Shea was straight, Henry was sure of that; he’s seen him with multiple women over the years. Henry sighed, confused and not sure what to think.

  Christian got home around midnight, after finishing up transactions, kicking everyone out, cleaning up, and shutting everything down; it took him about an hour to get out of there. When he walked in the front door, he saw that both Shea and Quinn fell asleep on the couch, one at each end. Christian smiled and walked over to Quinn, placing a hand on his shoulder. Quinn stirred, pulling in a deep breath and rubbing his eyes. He blinked up at Christian.

  “Shit, did I fall asleep?” he asked sleepily.

  “Yeah, are you alright to drive home?” Christian asked in return.

  “Yeah...I just gotta wake the hell up,” he muttered, scrubbing his face hard with both hands.

  “Take your time,” Christian replied and patted his shoulder. “How was Shea?”

  Christian walked over to his boyfriend and stared down at him. His head was resting on the back of the couch and he had to fight the urge to smooth his hand over Shea’s short hair. No doubt Quinn would question him like Henry did tonight, especially if he touched him affectionately.

  What a fucking nightmare that had been. He had forgotten about that painting and didn’t really think anything of it when Henry walked in. None of his brothers have been by the gallery in a while, so he has been putting up everything that he painted, not just the non-sexual/sensual ones. Every weekend, when he has the gallery open for showings, almost all of the sexual/sensual paintings that he produced, of both men and women, have sold.

  “He was fine, a bit irritable, but that was about it.” Quinn shrugged, answering the question that Christian forgot he even asked.

  Christian lifted his eyes to find Quinn watching him. Christian ignored the curious look in his brother’s eyes and said, “Thanks for coming over, Quinn. I really appreciate it.”

  Quinn stood and nodded. “No problem, Chris.”

  They said their goodbyes before Quinn headed out. Christian shut and locked the door behind him then went back to Shea. He watched him sleep for a moment, watched how his chest rose and fell as he breathed and the way his top lip twitched in a very Elvis-like manner. Christian smiled, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. Damn, he loved this man so fucking much, but he refused to say it again. He would not be the only one in a relationship dropping the “L” word, no freaking way.

  Christian finally gave into his urge and smoothed his hand over Shea’s dark hair. Shea hummed softly and dragged his eyes open, looking up at Christian; he gave him a slow smile.

  “Hey pumpkin, did you have a nice night?” he drawled.

  Christian snorted at the ridiculous endearment. “Yes, although Henry stopped by and saw that painting I did of you in bed.” He sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch next to Shea.

  Shea’s expression remained neutral. “And? What did he say?” he asked evenly.

  “He wanted to know why I would paint you in bed naked. I told him that I like the way the sheets were rumpled,” Christian mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

  Shea sighed heavily. “I don’t understand why you don’t just tell them that you’re gay.”

  “Because, Shea, I don’t know how they are going to feel about it. I couldn’t handle it if they decide that they can’t accept my being gay,” he said tightly, feeling a dull ache take hold in his chest.

  “Come on, Chris. You know that your brothers love you and only want you to be happy,” Shea replied wearily.

  “I just...I’m not ready, okay? Let’s not argue about it. I’m tired and want to go to bed.”

  “Fine,” Shea huffed. “Help me up, will ya?”

  Christian stood and helped Shea up off the couch. Shea grunted and winced as he straightened. He then slipped his good arm around Christian’s waist, tilted his head back and
puckered up. Christian smirked and leaned down, giving Shea a soft kiss on the lips. He then gave Christian’s ass a squeeze before moving out of the embrace and starting for the stairs. Christian watched him go. Fuck, he hoped this relationship worked out; he didn’t think he could live with not being friends with Shea anymore - not seeing his face just about every day, not hearing his voice, or having him play jokes on him. He wouldn’t be able to take it; he’d rather die than not have Shea in his life.

  ~Chapter 4~

  Sebastian pulled up to Christian’s house. He was just stopping over on his way to work because he is missing a box of gun parts, and he thought that maybe he left them in Christian’s garage, possibly forgetting to grab it when he moved his shit out. Sebastian walked up the walkway to the front door, where he knocked twice then used his key.

  Sebastian opened the door just as Shea was coming down the steps. Shea saw him and froze, his eyes widening slightly.

  “You...you stay the fuck away from me,” Shea hissed, his arm just in a sling now.

  It’s been a little over a week since Shea got hurt and he seemed to be healing fairly quickly. Christian had said that he wasn’t even taking his pain meds anymore. Sebastian grinned and shut the door behind him.

  “Hey, Shea, I won’t touch you, I swear.” Sebastian chuckled, holding his hands up as if showing he was unarmed. “I just need to see if I left a box of gun parts in the garage.”

  Shea relaxed slightly and nodded. “Christian’s out there right now actually.”

  “Oh cool, alright, I’ll just go out the back door,” Sebastian said and started through the house.

  Sebastian hopped down the two steps that led out the back door then strolled along the brick paver walkway that led to the door on the side of the garage. Sebastian glanced through the window to see Christian sitting in a chair, his back to the door, his guitar in his lap. He was swaying slightly and his bare foot was tapping out a steady beat. Sebastian opened the garage door slowly so that Christian didn’t hear him enter. He hasn’t heard his little brother play the guitar since he moved out of their parents’ house. He kind of missed it.