Page 77 of Loving You

Bronx turned to him, and he kissed him soft and slow. “Yeah, actually. It really, really is.”

Business took off, and Bronx found himself swamped with work over the next month, which meant little time with Monty and being forced to choose between invites with the guys and collapsing on Monty’s sofa when he was able to function enough to make a drive somewhere.

He almost always chose Monty, so the Thursday night Adele invited him over for dinner, he finallyaccepted.

“You’re welcome to bring Monty,” Adele said, sounding like he was in the kitchen.

Bronx considered it, but he knew his lover was drowning in a sea of paperwork, and he’d only put himself behind by saying yes. And he would say yes because he thought it would make Bronx happy. It would. But Bronx loved him too much to put that extra strain on him.

So he showed up at Adele’s, sans Lucas, because he was trying to put distance between him and Gage. When he got in though, the other teen was nowhere to be found. Frey and Lane were setting the table, Dallas was pouring drinks, and Adele was finishing something up on the stove.

It was just the dads. Something about that allowed Bronx to settle in a way he hadn’t realized he’d needed. They were almost all paired up now, so it was rare to see the guys without their partners. Not that Bronx minded. He’d come along late, and all but Adele had fallen in love.

But it reminded Bronx he was allowed to have something outside of his relationship.

“Grab a seat,” Adele said, grinning as he carried a large platter to the table. It was loaded with tamales, and Bronx’s mouth watered. “We’re all set.”

“Got you water, old man,” Dallas said, plopping an icy glass in front of him.

Bronx rolled his eyes. “It’s nice to see my son has corrupted you all.”

“Oh, you should hear about your reputation at the restaurant,” Lane chimed in with a small smile.

“I don’t even want to know.” Bronx took a long drink as Adele passed around the platter, and Dallas served everyone beans before they began to unwrap the corn husks and dig in. “I really needed this. Thanks for inviting me.”

“You weren’t invited,” Adele said, pointing his fork at Bronx. “You’re in the club. There are no invites. There’s just the expectation you show up when you can. But I think all of us needed this.”

“I did,” Lane said. “I love my life, but I can’t remember the last time I had ten seconds to myself to think. Briar’s been working on her whole stealing shit habits in therapy, but she’s taking out her urges by hiding all my toiletries. Yesterday, I found my toothpaste in the silverware drawer.”

Bronx hid his smile behind his napkin as he chewed. “I’d offer some advice,” he said after swallowing, “but Lucas never went through that phase. Or if he did, he was terrible at it.”

Lane snorted. “I’m sure he gave you a run for your money in other ways.”

“Oh, he was a nightmare toddler,” Dallas said. “I had him for a weekend, and he tried to drown himself like four separate times. Somehow, his little baby brain confused fearless with reckless. He went chasing the sound of these geese straight into the goddamn pond on the last day.”

Bronx remembered Dallas and Lucas trudging in soaking wet and smelling like pond slime. “He’s been keeping me on my toes since the day he was born.”

“People say it gets easier, but I feel like the problems just get less obvious,” Adele said. He glanced at Bronx sideways with a knowing look, and suddenly, Bronx realized that the crush wasn’t a secret. Nor was Lucas’s absence.

“Yeah. Ah. Well…”

“No, it’s fine. Gage feels like a complete asshole,” Adele said swiftly. “He didn’t know, but he and this kid have been going together for a while, and?—”

“Hey,” Bronx said, “no one blames Gage. Not evenLucas. His heart’s a little sore, but he’ll get over it. He loves having Gage as a friend. He doesn’t want to lose that.”

“He won’t,” Adele told him firmly. “Gage cares about him too.”

Frey cleared his throat. “We’ve all been there, trust me. I had more than one crush on a best friend growing up and trying to figure out the difference between platonic and romantic needs to be affectionate.”

Bronx bowed his head. “He takes it hard. He wasn’t Mr. Popular at his last school, and it’s worse here. He feels a little like a circus attraction sometimes.”

Adele stiffened. “From Gage?”

“No. God, no,” Bronx said in a hurry. “I think that’s why he caught feelings. Gage is the first person outside of his blind school bubble that hasn’t gotten, you know, weird. He didn’t ask him gross questions like how does he know when to stop wiping his ass.”

“People do that?” Lane asked.

Bronx snorted. “Strangers. In public. You would not believe the audacity some people have right to his face.”

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