Page 71 of Ballads of Lines Blurred

Milo and Cody kept a small stash of clothes here. It was ridiculous that I hadn’t asked them to move in yet, so before we could go downstairs, I faced them both, halting them before they left the room.

“We haven’t discussed it yet, but I’d love it if you’d both move in with me. You’re here all the time. I want you here every day going forward. What do you say? Move in with me?”

Milo leaped forward, putting his arms around my neck. “I was wondering when you were going to ask.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I’d love to live here.”

Cody came up alongside us to put his arms around us. “I’m in. Not just for this, but for everything, whenever you’re ready.”

Cody and I kissed then he shared one with Milo. We had time to get them moved in. Cody didn’t have a lot of furniture, just a bedroom. And Milo shared a huge house with his brother. I doubted Hale was going to start pitching Milo’s belongings onto the front yard to get rid of them.

Downstairs, we found my mom plating pancakes and a table full of people. It was a good thing I had seating for ten. Dash had already wedged another chair in that he must have brought up from the basement. I had a dozen folding chairs down there. We had family gatherings here from time to time.

My mom put the plate on the table and turned, her eyes already watery at seeing me with my boyfriends. Her gray hair was pulled back in a bun at the base of her neck. She was shorter than me by a good six inches. Wrinkles lined the corners of her eyes and mouth. In a pair of capris and a T-shirt that went past her hips, my mom liked to dress comfortable, same as Dash and me.

I gave her a hug. “It’s so good to have you here.”

“We’re happy to be here.” She released me first, delicately wiping beneath her eyes. “Now introduce me.”

Milo and Cody met my mom first and got hugs and pats on the cheek. My dad stood off to the side, waiting his turn. He wasn’t much of a hugger, but he wore a big grin on his cleanly shaved face. As tall as me and leaner, he gripped my hand in a shake when I went to him. His salt-and-pepper hair was thinning and neatly styled to one side.

“Slater,” he said. “It’s good to see you. You look happy.”

“I am. Come meet the reasons for my smile.” I introduced him to the men who made me so damn happy, I could hardly contain it.

Once the introductions were out of the way, we sat down to breakfast. No one could cook comfort food like my mom. The table was full with plates in the middle for us to get food from. Eggs, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, and scones, there was more food than we needed but my mom tended to do that. She’d rather have too much than not enough. No one would go hungry when she was around. One of her joys was making sure the people she cared about were fed.

“So, your tour is getting closer,” my dad said. “Dash told me he’s taking Romeo and Tristan with him.”

I nodded. “Cody and Milo will be joining me as well. We have a luxury coach being customized. We want to travel in it when we’re not on tour, see the country like you and Mom do.”

“Oh, that will be wonderful,” my mom said. “Your father and I can tell you the spots we’ve enjoyed most. There’s so much to see and do. I’m glad you’re getting out there to explore. It’s a great way to bond.”

“You don’t get tired of each other?” Milo asked.

My dad chuckled. “We like our space from time to time and there’s only so much inside the coach. We have a patio set now too, which I put out when we find a spot we’ll be in for a few days. One of us lounges outside, one inside. We make the best of it, even renting a car if we’re going to be somewhere for more than a night. It’s easier to get around that way. It does help to plan though. Get your car reservations in, find out where you’re going to park the coach. It will save you from the headache once you’re there. You’re going to want to see and do things, not worry about logistics.”

“Cody’s going to handle that for us,” I told him. “He’s already started researching.”

“It’s not for a while yet,” Cody said. “After the domestic tour and the break, we’re going internationally with them. I figure when that’s over, none of us will want to travel right away. It will give Milo and me a chance to return to work for awhile and I’ll finalize an agenda for our trip. We’re not rushing it.”

My dad put his glass of juice down. “That’s smart. Traveling for leisure should be relaxing, not stressful. You don’t want to have to pack a lot of sightseeing into one day. Spend the time enjoying what’s around you.”

My parents had mastered the art of traveling. It was nothing like what the band did when we were on tour. We could go from one city to the next, back-to-back. I looked forward to when things settled down and we could get out there, just the three of us.

There was a lot of planning and a lot of commitment. Cody, Milo, and I had talked at length about what we wanted out of life. Where we wanted our future to go. We were on the same page. No matter where we ended up, as long as we were together, that was what mattered.

Having my parents here with us, my brother and his partners, my best friends and theirs, this was who was most important to me. The people in this room were my family. For good or bad, they were here for me. And the more time that went on, the better I felt about everything. My anxiety wouldn’t go away completely, but the happiness I felt, that was what I would hold on to when the fear became too much. If I didn’t feel like I could keep my head above water, Cody and Milo would be there to make sure I didn’t sink. They’d lift me up and keep me close, where I was meant to be, in their arms.

33

MILO

Clubs were my thing. The thumping of the bass, the gyrating of bodies. Hot men all around. I wasn’t talking about Untouchable, but the dance club Cody and Slater first met at. The night things went to shit in more ways than one. But we were rewriting the past in a way, bringing it into the future and making it a good memory. This time with me in the mix.

“I love this place,” I said, soaking in the smell of liquor, sweat, and cologne. There were men everywhere. If I wasn’t in a committed relationship, I would have looked. Now I had no desire to. Why would I when I had two sexy men by my side?

Slater wore a pair of fitted gray shorts that had a straight leg and did amazing things for his thighs. He paired them with a black sleeveless shirt, showing off his rock-god sexiness. Even his hair was fit for the part. He left some of it hanging down onto his forehead while the rest was brushed back with his fingers. It was messy in a hot way.

Then there was Cody, who made me horny with one look at him. Jeans hugged his ass while his white shirt was see-through so his muscles would be on display. He said it was intentional. This way if anyone thought they could hit on Slater and me, one look from him and they would hopefully back off. I was more concerned about him drawing the attention from us onto him.

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