Page 18 of Loving You

Bronx found himself blushing, the heat getting worse at the first touch of Monty’s very soft, very warmpalm. He squeezed his fingers gently and didn’t hurry to pull his hand back. Bronx cleared his throat and took the seat beside the man.

“I’m Bronx.”

Monty’s smile widened. “Yes, the brothers named after cities they’ve never been to.”

“Our mother had big plans she never followed through on,” Bronx said dryly.

Dallas burst into laughter. “That’s much nicer than the way I explain it. Anyway, Monty, my brother. Favorite brother ever, this is Monty, our new best friend.”

Bronx watched as Monty’s shoulders hunched for a brief second, almost like he didn’t know how to bear the weight of Dallas’s words. But he looked happy, wearing a bright smile that reached his eyes.

“I’m glad you came out. It’s not the most fun to be with these two. They’re still in the disgusting phase.”

Bronx burst into laughter. “Tell me about it. They keep inviting me over for dinner, and I’ve never felt so single in my life.” It felt odd to say that, but it was also freeing in ways Bronx never expected.

Every now and again, he felt pangs of loneliness and pain about losing what he thought he’d had with Jules, but they didn’t last long. He supposed that said something about how checked out of the marriage he’d been. He just wished he’d realized it before his ex walked away.

“Well, we can sit together and quietly resent them,” Monty offered, leaning close to him.

Dallas grinned unapologetically and took Kylen’s hand, kissing his knuckles. That was their thing, Bronx noticed. It was something he’d never seen Dallas do before, but he did all the time now.

It was sweet. It was different.

“Anyway, I was thinking—” Dallas stopped and frowned, then pulled his phone out of his pocket. “It’s Katie. I should take this.”

He stood up and started away, and Monty sighed. “How has it been?”

Kylen shrugged. “Some days are better than others. Not to armchair psych anything, but I think she still hates herself for what she did—especially now that she knows Dallas is ace. And she’s struggling to deal with that, so she takes it out on him.”

Bronx was pretty sure no one needed a psych degree to figure that out about Dallas’s ex-wife. He was pretty sure the reason she didn’t like him and Lucas was because she felt threatened by their love and support. Something she had very little of.

“Do you think she’s trying to sabotage the night?” Monty asked.

Kylen shrugged. “Probably not. I don’t think she knows we’re out.”

Dallas appeared a second later, his face pale. “She’s in the ER with Audra. Something happened to her arm.”

Bronx immediately went into big-brother mode. “What did she say? What happened?”

Dallas was gathering his phone and keys off the table. “Ah…ah, that…”

Hopping to his feet, Bronx walked around the chairs and took his brother by the shoulders. “Focus. What happened?”

“They were at this little indoor park thing, and she was playing on the monkey bars. Short ones—for babies,” Dallas clarified. “She said Audra started screaming, and she can’t move her arm. They’re waiting on an X-ray.”

Bronx was no stranger to the ER. Raising a blind childmeant quite a few more bumps and bruises for quite a lot longer than parents of sighted children. He’d been lucky that Lucas’s bigger injuries had come from sports rather than walking into walls or tumbling down stairs, but he remembered the feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he had to rush his kid in.

“Let Kylen drive,” Bronx told him. “I’m sure whatever it is, she’s fine. And she’s in the right place for treatment.”

Dallas let out a puff of air. “Right. Yeah.”

Kylen was already on his feet, tugging at Dallas’s hands so he could take the keys. “Come on, babe. Monty, you want us to drop you off?”

Monty frowned. “What? No. Get to the hospital. I’ll call an Uber.”

Bronx hadn’t realized Dallas was going to be Monty’s ride. “I can totally take you home. I took my own car.”

Monty’s shoulders sagged in relief. “Only if you’re sure. I don’t want to be a burden.”

---