by Jet Mykles
“Yes.” Noble waggled his eyebrows. “Once the glasses came off, the beast was released. I barely survived the night.”
Danny loved talking to Noble. He always ended up laughing. The glasses comment made him wonder if there was a beast inside Cash, but he put aside thoughts of his roommate. “Well, this guy works in the film industry.”
“Production?’
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“Mmm. Probably lying. Either that, or he’s a lowly handyman but didn’t want you to know that.”
Danny shrugged. “Whatever. We enjoyed last night.”
Noble nodded. “And as long as everyone left the room happy and healthy, that’s all that matters.”
Before Noble could ask about Danny’s conquest for the night, a fanfare announced the arrival of the bridal party. Or would that be the groomal party? Danny wasn’t sure of the correct terminology. The female justice of the peace entered wearing a blinding white tuxedo. Danny only knew she was the justice of the peace because she’d been pointed out to him by Luc the night before. She was a handsome older woman with gray hair that had a bold blue streak in the front that curled down and around one ear. Behind her came Luc’s Heaven Sent bandmates and their significant others. First, Johnnie and Tyler, followed by Darien and Chris. Hell, however, was walking with Gretchen Hobbes, Heaven Sent’s manager. Every last one of the group was dressed in almost white. “Almost” because the colors were actually ivory or ice blue or soft peach. No tuxedos or formal dress. Rather, they were dressed in flowing sleeves, tight pants, and high boots, just like the grooms. Each outfit was unique, with only the colors to unify them. When the six were arranged along two sides of the dais with the justice of the peace standing in the center, another fanfare announced the arrival of the best man and best woman. A gorgeous, grinning woman walked in on Brent’s arm, and even if Danny hadn’t already known she was his twin, it was quite obvious Reegan was Reese’s sister. Same hair, same smile, same almost everything. The two of them walked up and took their places beside the justice of the peace. Then the lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the crowd. Danny expected music, but there was none, just a general whisper from the crowd of approximately two hundred guests.
Then they arrived. Hand in hand, grinning ear to ear, Lucas Sloan and Reese Schulyer approached the dais. Luc wore snug white pants and gorgeous white leather knee boots with gold buckles up the side. His shirt was light wool, with blousy long sleeves and a loose V-neck that showed off much of his bare chest as well as the intricate white tiger over his left pectoral. Glittering diamond bangles circled his wrists, and his rich auburn hair was loose, tumbling in waves over his shoulders. Reese wore ivory hip boots and a cinched white corset under a flowing, nearly transparent shirt that showed off the dragon and tiger tattooed on his back. His hair was black, wavy, and also loose to his shoulders, with one thick lock of vivid blue in the front.
Danny glanced at the clock and was impressed to see they still had about twenty minutes until midnight. The justice of the peace started to speak, and she must have been mic’d, because each word was crystal clear. At her prompt, Luc spoke some words, then Reese. Then they exchanged rings. They had it timed just right; just as the justice of the peace said, “You may now kiss your husband,” it was time to start the ten-second countdown. The crowd began with “ten” as Luc and Reese wrapped their arms around each other and shared an amorous kiss.
Grinning wide, just happy to be in the moment, Danny kept his place about twenty feet from the dais and watched the happy couple as everyone around looked for someone to hold as the year turned over. Noble had disappeared, and Rabin had his arms wrapped around Izzy, laughing softly at the tears that wet Izzy’s cheeks. It didn’t look like either Luc or Reese was even aware that two hundred other people were in the room with them. They were so happy, so in love. I want that, Danny decided.
Up on the dais, the attendants had broken ranks to find their significant others. Brent and Hell murmured to each other. Darien and Chris laughed at a quiet joke. Tyler melted into Johnnie’s embrace to nuzzle under his jaw. We’re going to have that, Danny promised himself. The Indigo Knights, his band, were going to be every bit as famous as Heaven Sent. But not just famous. Happy. Content. Excited about life. That’s what Danny was determined to have.
“Three. Two. One! Happy New Year!”
Balloons and confetti formed a white-and-gold rain throughout the largest banquet hall at the Genesis resort.
* * * *
“This is awesome,” Danny told Rabin as he and his friend sat at a table in one of three banquet halls decked out for the wedding. To his right was a great roaring fire blazing in a huge fireplace, and to his left was a bay window laced with frost, thanks to the drifting snowfall outside. Danny was more than full from late-night hors d’oeuvres and pacing himself with scotch and sodas heavy on the soda. An hour after the ceremony, he was feeling no pain.
Rabin snorted, lifting a half-empty tumbler to his lips. “Not everyone can afford this.”
Danny grinned at him. “Just wait until our album hits the market, man. We’ll be able to afford something like this very soon.”
Rabin cringed and glanced around. “Don’t say that so loud. Iz will hear you.”
Danny cracked up, leaning back in his chair. “You’re safe. He’s over there, picking on the food.” Rabin’s boyfriend was a cooking student, and although he’d raved about the entrées they’d been served at the prewedding dinner, he wasn’t enthused about the finger food at the reception. Danny thought he was crazy. The food was insanely good. Or maybe the alcohol made it all better. “Why? Is he making noises about the two of you?”
“No.” Danny knew Rabin’d had a lot to drink, because his English accent was far more pronounced. But you had to know him to see the alcohol had any effect on him at all. “But I’m getting lots of ‘Well, if I were catering a wedding…’” Rabin shook his head, but Danny caught the wisp of a smile at one corner of his expressive mouth. “He’s been talking about starting a catering business when he graduates. Not sure if he’s serious or not.”
Danny cocked his head to the side, watching Rabin. When they’d first met, Danny had thought the man quite intriguing. Handsome without being insanely gorgeous, Rabin had the kind of sharp looks that just made people look twice. Or more. But other than one very nice kiss, it hadn’t been in the cards for them. Rabin hadn’t yet admitted it at the time, but he’d already been completely in love with Izzy Rose. Four months later, they were living together and still riding the high of newfound love. Danny didn’t begrudge them, but he did wonder sometimes. He knew few people in relationships—hetero- or homosexual—that lasted longer than a year. He really hoped there wasn’t trouble on the horizon for them, and not only because Izzy was related to Brent Rose, the Indigo Knights’ producer and all-around patron saint. He genuinely liked Rabin and Izzy together and wanted his friends to be happy.
Rabin caught him looking, and blue eyes narrowed. “What?”
“What do you think? You gonna marry him?”
“What? Me? Not tonight.”
Danny gave him a withering glance. “You know what I mean.”
“I dunno.” Rabin glanced at Izzy, and there it was, that goofy smile he got sometimes when he looked at the little man who held tightly to his heart. “Yeah, probably. If that’s what he wants.”
“What about what you want?”
“I want him to be happy.”
“Aww, how sweet.”
“Fuck you.”
They laughed.
“But really man, forever? You’ve only been together four months.”
Rabin gave him a look that belied anything he might have been drinking. The look was hard and direct. “I love him. I can’t see myself with anyone else.”
Danny smiled. It was sweet. It was. The romantic part of his heart soared for his friend and wished him all the best. But the practical part of his heart knew forever was a long time for a young man, and pro
mises made at the beginning of a love affair looked and felt different years later. “Tough time to start a relationship,” Danny mused, staring at the melting ice in the bottom of his empty glass. “I don’t envy you.”
“What, you mean with the band and all?”
“Yeah.”
Rabin shrugged and ran a hand through chestnut hair that had started the night spiked high but now had sort of wilted. Truthfully, Danny preferred the current look and knew Izzy did as well. “Doesn’t bug me. I kind of did the groupie thing when we toured before. Not my thing.”
“It was all girls then.” Prior to Izzy, Rabin had only ever been with women.
Caught off guard by the comment, Rabin coughed, then laughed. “Yeah. There is that.” Again his gaze wandered toward where Izzy stood. “But I like the idea of that one person who’s just for me.”
About twenty feet behind Rabin, the ginger cutie Danny had spotted before the wedding strolled by on his way to the next room. Danny took that as the cue to let Rabin off the hook. “Well, it’s my thing.” He stood and tossed back his loose hair, checking it in the partial reflection in the window. “And I happen to be at a party full of eligible gay men. I’m going to enjoy it. Starting at that bar in the next room. You coming?”
Rabin stood but shook his head. “Nah. I think I’ll go rescue whoever Izzy’s trapped.”
They parted ways, and Danny left the small room for the bigger one, where the ceremony had been held. The dais had been moved to one side of the room and split in half so it lined one wall. On it, a long bar had been set up, manned by four bartenders. A dance floor had replaced the dais in the center of the room, and pulsing dance lights poured over gyrating bodies that moved to the beat governed from the DJ platform in one corner. Most of the party was here, and Danny was thrilled to see the majority of the bodies were male. This was definitely the place to be. Now, if he could find his red-haired lovely, the night would be even better. He stepped up onto the dais carefully in the dark, uncertain light and maneuvered around bodies to get to the bar. It took him a while because he stopped and chatted with various people he’d met earlier. One simply didn’t just walk by some of the hippest people in the music or art world when one had the chance to schmooze.
It was sometime later before he actually made it to the bar to order his drink. He was taking his first sip when a body crashed into him. Holding his glass up high to avoid further spillage, he instinctively curled his arm around the other man to help steady him. The man turned, flashing colored lights spilling over the light curls that fell about his face. A gorgeous face came very close to Danny’s, huge eyes blinking myopically as they failed to fully focus. Danny would have been enchanted—no, he was enchanted—but there was nothing he could do about it. He knew that face. Knew it well because it belonged to Tyler Purcell, Johnnie Heaven’s husband.
Tyler smiled wide, making Danny’s heart skip a beat. “Hi.” He made no move to step out of Danny’s arms. In fact, his put his hands on Danny’s shoulders and seemed comfortable in the circle of Danny’s arm, their hips brushing. They were about the same height, so that guileless face remained close to Danny’s. His white shirt glowed in the black light, and the front gaped open enough to show a tantalizing amount of bare chest. To confound matters, he smelled bizarrely of strawberries. “You look familiar.” Tyler blinked slowly. “Do I know you?”
Oh man, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say Tyler Purcell was hitting on him. But he did know better. Everything he’d heard about the man confirmed he was very much in love with his husband. So he could not be hitting on Danny, despite what Danny held in his arm. The arm he tried to unwind so he could present his hand properly. “We’ve met. Danny Champion.” Didn’t blame Tyler for not remembering him. Their greeting had been brief, and there’d been a lot of people at Brent and Hell’s place that night. “Indigo Knights?”
Recognition dawned, and Tyler smiled. “Right.” He swayed into Danny again with a drunken smile, forcing Danny to hold on to steady him again. He slid one hand a little up Danny’s neck. “Hi.”
Okay, maybe he was hitting on him. Danny started to panic and glanced past Tyler for an irate spouse. “Uh, hi.”
“You’re pretty.” Tyler traced one side of Danny’s jaw with gentle fingers. “So blond.”
He was one to talk, with all that beautiful gold framing his face. True, the current lighting didn’t show off the color well, but Danny had seen plenty of pictures to confirm the color. He caught his hand drifting up Tyler’s back, then hastily dropped it from around Tyler’s waist. He backed up a step for good measure too. “Thanks.”
Tyler frowned at the loss of contact but managed to catch Danny’s arm and hold tight. He pulled, walking backward toward the dance floor. “Come dance with me.”
“Huh? No, I don’t…”
“Come on.”
Because he idolized the man, Johnnie Heaven was always a welcome sight to Danny’s eyes, but never more than right then. He materialized behind his husband, causing Tyler to blunder into him. His famous waist-length hair was caught in a loose tail tied between his shoulders so that some of it billowed to frame his face and line his long neck. His shirt too was open in front to reveal even more chest than Tyler’s, decorated by a deceptively simple necklace of feathers and turquoise. He caught Tyler’s shoulders to hold him steady and leaned in close to his ear. “Hey, you.”
Tyler’s smile melted away, and he tilted his head away from Johnnie’s. “Go away.”
“Now, blondie…” Unfazed by his husband’s rebuff, Johnnie reached around Tyler to grab the wrist of the hand that still had a death grip on Danny’s arm. “Let the nice man go.”
“No. The nice man and I are going to dance.”
Johnnie’s eyes met Danny’s. He was smiling, but the warning was clear. “No. You’re not.”
Danny shook his head, wholeheartedly agreeing. “No,” he said for good measure.
With an annoyed snort, Tyler let Danny’s arm go. He turned to face Johnnie fully and punched his shoulder. It wasn’t a hard hit, and his aim was off, so it couldn’t have hurt. “Fuck you.”
Johnnie met the curse with a patient smile and caught Tyler’s arm before he could hit him again. “Gladly. Shall we go to our room now?”
Tyler growled, yanked his hand from Johnnie’s, and stalked away.
Johnnie watched him go. Then he sighed and shook his head. “Sorry about that, Danny.”
“No worries on my part.” Johnnie-fucking-Heaven! And he remembered Danny. How outrageously cool was that? Outwardly, he tried his damnedest to remain cool. “Uh, you guys okay?”
“Oh yeah, we’re fine.” Johnnie glanced after Tyler again. The blond was back in the thick of the dance floor, sidling up to Reese. The groom met him with a happy yelp, and they laughed drunkenly as they continued to dance. “He can’t stand crowds, but for some bizarre reason, tonight he decided to get drunk. He’s only ever been like this once before.” Johnnie snorted, his eyes still on his spouse as two guys behind him looked interested. But Tyler was completely absorbed in himself and his friend and failed to see the danger his husband did. “Just my luck, he gets flirty. You’re the fourth guy I’ve pulled him off tonight.”
“Wow. Fun.”
“Not so much.” Johnnie gave a fatalistic shrug. Then laughed. “But it’s good for him to let loose once in a while. Won’t be so bad if I can keep him out of trouble.” He winked at Danny. “With any luck, he’ll be really sorry tomorrow morning and willing to do a lot to make it up to me.”
They shared a laugh at that.
Johnnie-fucking-Heaven! Danny had gotten used to working with Brent, and he was fully comfortable now working with Noble and Lance, who were minor celebrities in some circles, but Johnnie was just a different case. Johnnie was, almost literally, everything Danny wanted to be. And he was standing right there.
“So…” Johnnie propped his hip against the bar and motioned at one of the bartenders. “How goes life with the Knights?”
Danny tried to squelch the tremor of excitement that threatened to have him shaking his butt like an overenthusiastic puppy. Johnnie actually wanted to talk to him? Sure, his eyes were on his spouse, but the words were for Danny. As calmly as he could, he replied, “It goes good. With Lance and Noble, things have really shaped up.”
“I bet. Quite a find, those two. Sounds like they were happy to get away from The Might.”
“Tell me about it. We’re beyond lucky that Gordon knows them.”
Johnnie grinned thanks at the bartender, who put what looked like a vodka tonic in front of him. “Things like that have a way of happening when it’s right. Happened with us.” Johnnie turned that grin on Danny as he brought the drink to his lips. “Brent’s all excited about you guys, and I’ve learned over many years to always trust his instincts.” Small sip. “In music, at least.”
Danny was glad to hear it. He was beyond excited. A few months ago, it had just been Rabin and Danny with a name and a few songs, using Brent’s studio, filling in what they could for drums and bass. In what Danny could only describe as a magical moment, their manager, Gordon McCarty, had found their answer in Lance Hoff and Noble Welbourn, the bass player and drummer from The Might, who were sick of the restrictions of their band and looking for a change. With an experienced rhythm section on board and under Brent’s guidance, only Danny’s inborn Scottish pessimism kept him from being certain it would all be golden from here. “I trust his instincts too.”
“You gonna be done recording by February?”
“We’re already done. The tracks went for mastering a week before Christmas.” Again, Danny had to suppress the urge to wiggle in excitement.
“Well, shit, I’m behind the times. That’s awesome. Congrats.” Johnnie reached out a hand, and they shook. “What’s Gordon got in mind next?”
“He’s looking to get us some gigs around Chicago during January, then do a club tour starting late February or March.”
Johnnie nodded. They left a big thing unspoken. Both of them knew Heaven Sent was going back into the studio in January. When that album came out, it was an unspoken promise that the Knights would open for them on tour. Brent had mentioned the possibility more than once, and Gordon worked for the same management company that took care of Heaven Sent, so there was no reason it couldn’t be a done deal. It was ridiculously good fortune for a new band, and Danny didn’t speak of it, for fear of jinxing it.
