Brad's Bachelor Party (10 page)

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since you left last night,” Brad said, a salty breeze ruffling his hair. “If my mom had lived, I doubt Danny would have turned out the same way.”

“You don’t know that.”

“True,” he said. “But she always knew how to handle him. And I…” Brad gave a simple shrug as if his words failed him.

Brad pushed away from the tree and crossed to the hammock to drop down beside him. And talk about lame. Cole had finally said his piece and told Brad, in no uncertain terms, to get with the program or get out of his life. Yet here Cole sat, feeling grateful for the simple contact of Brad’s leg against his.

Christ.

They spent the next few minutes in a silence broken only by the occasional wave crashing on shore.

“It’s hell constantly second-guessing yourself,” Brad said softly.

And it was painful watching his friend have doubts. He’d been prepared to yell at Brad again, to call him out for being such a self-sacrificing idiot, anything to get the man to see reason. Cole knew how stubborn Brad was, especially when it came to Danny. The past twelve years of events highlighted the fact that there was nothing Brad wouldn’t do for his brother. He would crawl to hell and back if he thought it would keep Danny clean.

Cole’d watched Brad struggle to help. He’d seen how much it tore him apart every time Danny relapsed. When Brad hurt, Cole hurt, and now was no exception.

Lame decision or not, lashing out at him again was out of the question.

“I keep wondering if I’d gone easier on him if things would have worked out better,” Brad went on. “Or maybe I needed to be harder on him. What would have happened if I’d left him in jail to serve his time instead of hiring a lawyer and getting him out on probation?” He watched a wave roll in, the rising sun now glinting off the sea. He let out a harsh sound “Maybe that would have been the life-altering event that turned this clusterfuck around.”

“Might have made things worse.”

“Exactly,” Brad said, shooting Cole a frustrated look.

And then Brad let out a breath and dropped his head back against the hammock, closing his eyes. He looked as exhausted as Cole felt.

“Jesus,” Brad said. “I’m just so fucking tired of the what-ifs.”

Cole studied Brad for a moment as he scrambled for something intelligent to say. There was no changing the past, and there was certainly no predicting the future. Danny was an addict, and that would never go away. All Cole had was the truth.

“You know what I think?” Cole said. “I think if Danny didn’t have you, he’d be dead.”

“That’s what he said.”

Surprise pushed Cole’s brow higher. “You talked to him about it?”

“This morning.” Brad glanced at Cole from the corner of his eye. “When I went to tell him why I was calling the wedding off.”

Cole’s leg froze, and the creaking of the hammock stopped. His head still felt as if it were waiting for the world to right itself again. Cole counted to ten as he fought to digest the news.

“Dude, quit looking so smug,” Brad said with an annoyed huff, the response eased by an amused twitch of his lips.

Cole narrowed his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Because the only feeling rolling through him was massive relief. Three months ago Brad had called Cole to tell him of the engagement and ask him to be his best man, and part of Cole had shut down. That he was sitting here with Brad now was nothing short of a miracle.

“Just so we’re clear,” Brad said, “I didn’t choose you over Jenny because you’re such a freak in the sack.”

The bark of laughter ripped from Cole’s throat, finally easing the tension.

Making the moment feel
real.

“Are you trying to tell me you want me for my keen intellect?” Cole said.

“Hell, no,” Brad said with a scowl he clearly didn’t mean. “I want you
despite
the fact you’re a hopeless geek.”

“And I want you despite the fact you suffer from a terminal case of assholiness.”

Brad tipped his head back and laughed, and Cole enjoyed the sight of the throat that could drive him to thoughts of throttling it in anger or attacking it in a fit of need. And it was incredibly inconvenient when he was hit with both notions at the same time.

“What did Danny say when you told him?” Cole asked.

“That getting married when I wasn’t in love would have been a stupid thing to do.”

“He’s right.”

“I know.” Brad let out a snort. “What can I say? Both of you are smarter than me.” He shot Cole a cautious look. “He also told me it was time I quit being a coward and make an honest man out of you.”

Cole’s lids slowly rose higher.

“I know,” Brad said with a roll of his eyes. “I pointed out the irony of
me
being the one to make
you
honest.” He met Cole’s gaze again. “So,” Brad said, as if fishing for something. He flashed Cole an easy grin, but the question in his eyes was impossible to miss. “I’m unemployed now, which means my schedule is wide open.”

Cole bit back the smile. Brad, the guy who flitted from woman to woman without ever losing that cocky grin, suddenly looked unsure of himself. And the moment was too novel to put to an end just yet.

He twisted on his side to face Brad, elbow on the hammock, head propped on his hand. “We should start researching how best to start your own company,” Cole said.

“Whoa.” Brad held up his hand in protest. “Ease up, man. Let’s not shift into geek-attack mode just yet. I’d like to relax for a week or so.” A single eyebrow moved higher. “You know, enjoy a little time with my boyfriend before I jump into the madness of starting my own business.”

Beneath Brad’s usual teasing tone lay a sincere question that wasn’t lost on Cole. Using the term
boyfriend
was a big deal. Cole finally took pity on the man.

He gripped the back of Brad’s neck and hauled him closer until he was sprawled across Cole. After spending years thinking this was impossible, Cole kissed Brad a little rougher than originally planned. Brad apparently didn’t mind, yielding to Cole’s mouth and meeting him at every turn. There was the insistent stroke of Cole’s tongue against Brad’s. The determined scrape of Cole’s teeth against Brad’s lower lip. And then Cole nipped the corner of Brad’s mouth, demanding more, and Brad moaned, arching his hips.

What followed was a free-for-all make-out session not fit for public viewing, each battling for dominance. Until Cole rolled, pinning Brad under him, and restrained Brad’s hands above his head. The submissive position must have pushed the right buttons. Giving up all pretense of control, Brad tipped his head back and parted his thighs in consent, groaning as Cole’s mouth landed on his neck and his hard cock thrust against the firm length of Brad’s dick.

A seagull screeched overhead, bringing Cole back to his senses. Pulse pounding, he lifted his head to look down at Brad.

“Damn.” Hands and hips still trapped beneath Cole’s, Brad licked his kiss-bitten lips, his gaze dark. “Are you always going to be this bossy?”

Cole simply sent him a smile and shifted until they lay side by side, Brad’s head resting on his shoulder. They could spend the rest of their lives just like this, and Cole would be happy. As their breathing slowed to more reasonable rates, he listened to the waves crash on shore.

“How did you explain things to Jenny, anyway?” Cole finally asked.

“Easy.” Brad smiled against his skin. “I told her I fell for my best man.”

Epilogue

“Does anyone else think it’s weird that we’re celebrating Danny’s sobriety in a sports bar?” Ryan asked, reaching for the pitcher of nonalcoholic beer on the table.

“Not at all.” Brad sent Danny a huge grin, the affection and pride swelling in his chest almost too painful to contain as he studied his brother at the head of the table. “Danny’s party. Danny’s choice.”

From beside Brad, Cole raised his mug at the man of the hour. “Here’s to five more years.”

Across the booth Martinez and Ryan both responded with a “Hell yeah.” The smell of chicken wings and french fries infused the air as the announcer for the football game on the big screen overhead droned on and on about stats.

Life just didn’t get any better.

Brad lounged against the seat and slung his arm along the back of the booth behind Cole. “Seriously,” he said to his brother. “I’m proud of you, man.”

Danny sent him a smile and twirled his five-year Narcotics Anonymous token on the table. “I couldn’t have done it without you, bro.”

His blond hair now short, he wore khakis and a button-down, the surfer look replaced with that of respectable businessman. The manager of a local sports store, he was thriving in ways Brad had never dared dream about. Steady job, steady girlfriend—and
man
, Tina was so sweet she made Brad’s teeth ache—the works.

But years of experience could never be entirely washed away. Brad still suffered through that sickening twist in his stomach every time he met up with his brother, briefly scanning his face for any sign Danny was slipping. Five years later and the response wasn’t as acute, but it would never completely disappear. Once an addict always an addict, with some of them managing to live in a state of recovery. The risk would always be there. But for right now Brad had his boyfriend at his side and his brother was clean. The look he shot Danny must have betrayed his emotions.

But Brad couldn’t let the sappy moment go on too long or he’d look like a pansy-ass wuss.

“Of course,” Brad went on with a teasing grin. “You had an excellent role model.”

“I sure did.” Danny gave Cole a wink, a mischievous look crossing his face. “Someone who taught me patience and persistence by example.”

Brad picked up his mug. “Really?” He remembered all the years he’d steadfastly stood by Danny’s side, and his grin grew bigger. “And who would that be?”

Danny sipped his nonalcoholic beer and shot his brother a smirk. “Cole.”

Brad choked on his drink.

“You set yourself up for that one,” Cole said as he patted Brad on the back before giving him a gentle rub between the shoulder blades.

Brad stared into his boyfriend’s blue eyes and wondered why the hell the touch of those skillful fingers created such a thrum of awareness, a spark of heat that still sneaked up and punched him in the chest. Stealing his breath. He didn’t deserve Cole as his partner. Certainly not the way the man had stubbornly stuck by Brad through the difficult early days of his consulting business. The first six months of their relationship had been hard. But Cole had settled in at his side and filled in the spaces Brad hadn’t known were empty.

He gazed at Cole’s ever-present bed-head hair and green scrubs and his chest hitched in response.

Jesus
. He lived with Cole, had shared his bed for the last two years, and he was
still
fucking whipped.

“Cole is inspiring,” Danny said to Brad with an easy shrug. “And I figure staying clean has got to be easier than living with you.”

“I’ll second that,” Cole said.

Brad gave Cole a halfhearted scowl. “Dude, you are
so
not sharing my bed tonight.”

Martinez leaned forward over his frosty mug. “You should kick him out,” he said to Brad before turning to Cole. “You can crash on my couch if you want.”

“Give up, Martinez.” Ryan rolled his eyes, popping a french fry into his mouth. “Face it, you owe me money.”

“Hey,” Martinez said to Ryan, pushing back his cowboy hat. “They don’t hit the two-year mark for another twenty-eight days.”

Two-year mark…

Wait,
what?
Brad blinked, staring at the two men across the table until the reality of their words hit him full-on.

Brad tossed his chicken wing into the basket with disgust. “You two took bets on how long we’d last?”

“Whoever gets closest without going under,” Martinez said with a nod. “I picked six months.” Brad shot him a
WTF?
look, and Martinez smiled as he went on. “I figured once y’all got over the great sex part, you’d be done.”

“I’m not that pathetic.” Brad picked up a french fry and threw it at Martinez. It bounced off the man’s chest before landing on the table. “And the sex is still fucking awesome, you moron,” he said. “Cole’s a freak in the sack.”

Martinez groaned while Ryan muttered, “Too much information, dude.”

“I told you guys,” Danny said, clearly amused. “The quiet ones are always the kinkiest.”

Hell yeah. Brad smiled as he licked the salt and traces of barbecue sauce from his fingers. He caught Cole watching, the blue eyes going dark, and Brad’s smile froze, his body responding in kind. After a twenty-four-hour shift yesterday, Cole had come home at lunch and slept for twelve hours. At midnight, Cole woke Brad up in a most enjoyable way.

Yes, the sex was still friggin’ awesome.

“Of course, they weren’t as optimistic as I was about your relationship,” Danny went on. “I gave you guys four years.”

“Traitor.” Brad shot Danny a look. “You were in on it too?”

Danny shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Not just me,” he said. “Cole wins it all when you hit the five-year mark.”

“Jesus,” Brad said as he stared at his boyfriend. And he did
not
just squeak like a schoolgirl. “You gave us five years?”

Which was four years and six months beyond anything Brad had managed to achieve before he’d moved in with Cole. But still, the fact his boyfriend had expected a limit hurt like hell.

Cole’s blue eyes steadily met Brad’s as he calmly took a sip from his mug. “I would have said forever, but we won’t live that long, and I wanted to collect my money at some point.” He coolly raised an eyebrow at him, but Cole’s free hand settled on Brad’s thigh under the table, his thumb brushing back and forth in a soothing manner. “When we get to our five-year anniversary, I get the entire pot.”

Brad laughed. The evil genius lived on.

A grin slowly spread across Brad’s face. “How much will you win?”

“Nine hundred bucks.”

“Nice,” Brad said and then lowered his voice. “You owe me a night on the town when it happens.”

Cole’s smile was for Brad’s eyes only. “Count on it.”