Page 82 of Broken Chorus

When Aaron tried to pull the pillow away, Hawk yanked him down, rolled them over, and kissed the hell out of him.

“Great, now I don’t wanna move,” Aaron muttered.

“That’s what you get,” Hawk grumbled before leaning in to kiss him again.

“Did I forget to mention that it’s a formal teddy bear tea party?”

“You know you did, so quit fuckin’ with me and show me what you picked out,” Hawk demanded as he rolled off of him and poked him in the side to get him moving.

“Owe, watch where you’re sticking those fingers.”

“Funny, but you weren’t saying that the other night.”

“If we had more time, I’d bite you.”

Grinning, Hawk wiggled his eyebrows at him. “Raincheck then?”

“Always,” Aaron replied as he rolled out of bed and cross the room to the closet, where he removed a pair of garment bags Hawk hadn’t even seen him sneak in.

Holy shit.

Aaron’s consisted of black leather pants with thin purple pinstriping, a black vest over a purple shirt and a black and purple waistcoat. To top it all off, literally, he had a black and purple top hat with matching bowtie that Hawk couldn’t wait to see on him.

As for his own costume, Hawk was completely blown away to find an elegant kilt ensemble in deep shades of gray and black. It even had a matching length of tartan pinned to the shoulder, and came complete with sporran, high socks and polished black dress shoes. Shit, it was the very thing Kelly would have chosen for himself if they were attending something formal.

Was enough to make him wonder what Aaron had chosen for the others.

“Go grab your shower, I’ve already had mine,” Aaron said. “I need to dress and help Ella so we can greet everyone when they arrive. No being late, either or that raincheck will bounce when you go to cash it.”

“Now that’s not playing fair.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“How can you say that?” Hawk grumbled.

“They’re your rules, remember?” Aaron said, flashing him a cheeky grin and a wink before he started striping.

Talk about not playing fair, there he was baring skin while basically telling Hawk he couldn’t touch any of it. There’d be payback in his future, that was for damn sure. For now, he headed for the shower, still wondering about the rest of the surprises Aaron and Ella had in store for them. One of them had to be big, since Aaron had been out in the shed late into the night for the past three nights, working on something he’d forbidden Hawk from peeking at.

He found out on the walk out to The Thoughtful Spot, as he hurried out the door only to see Micah and Cade disappearing down the trail in front of him. Lengthening his strides, Hawkcaught up to them, stunned when he saw Declan in front of them. Holy fuckin’ wow. Hawk was flat out blown away by what he saw. The chair itself was completely covered, encased in a costume of its own which gave the appearance of an old style Victorian upholstered chair.

Declan was dressed in a classic Victorian prince ensemble, super elegant in its rich, deep black with gold accent and flowing ruffled collar. The whole look was topped off by a jaunty flatcap with a large feather attached to the side, giving it a very renaissance French appearance. Not only that, but they had somehow rigged a table, complete with a black gothic lace doily covering a gold cloth, to the front of the wheelchair, meaning Declan wouldn’t have to move from it to enjoy his tea and snacks. It was so beautifully thought out and executed that Hawk wondered how long it had taken them to pull that off. Hell, there was even a miniature teddy bear on the table beside a vase holding a single black rose.

“That is seriously bad ass!” Hawk declared after walking around Declan to take in the full effect.

Declan laughed and damn, but he looked comfortable and happy in that setup. “That’s exactly what I said when Cade helped me into it.”

“Wait…you didn’t have a hand in setting it up?” Hawk asked.

“Naaa, me and Aaron did it,” Cade explained. “He brought the pieces when he came creeping over with the costumes and invitations. Honestly, I think he’d have done it himself if I hadn’t caught him coming in with everything.”

“Damn…it’s fuckin’ fantastic,” Hawk declared as Kelly, dressed in all black save for his red shirt, caught up to them, looking like a dashing rogue. It fit him perfectly, right down to the red leather band he’d tied his hair back in.

“Whoa!” Kelly said the moment he got a look at Declan.

“Tell me about it,” Declan replied. “I don’t know how he knew that I’d have hated having Cade get me in and out of the chair in front of everyone, but he sure solved that problem.”

“Yeah, I um, asked him and he just shrugged and mumbled something I didn’t catch, then said we needed to hurry ‘cause he had a bunch of stuff he still needed to set up,” Cade explained.