Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

DALLAS

"Okay. So one, I need y'all to chill," Dallas said to his friends, who were all practically vibrating with anticipation. Not only was he bringing his boyfriend into their circle, but his brother, who had finally confirmed his move. Bronx was flying in later that week with Lucas, so Dallas was trying to get the Kylen intros over with so it wouldn't be two at once.

His friends were worse than his class right before a field trip.

"Two," Dallas said, folding his arms, "I need us all to use inside voices."

"You're so lucky I don't have a hot teacher kink," Frey said.

Dallas's eyes narrowed. "There are children in this house."

"Relax. They're watching a movie in Briar's room," Frey said, waving him off. "And it'll be years before any of them know what kink means."

"Don't be too sure. They'll have access to the internet soon enough," Adele warned. "You all are not prepared for the first time you go onto your kid's device and see what they've been searching for online."

All of them turned a little green and stared at Adele, who was pacing back and forth with Audra on his shoulder. She was dozing happily, and Dallas took a moment to feel completely and utterly fulfilled. Things in his life had been both a little better and a little worse since his failed trip to meet Kylen's family.

Kylen had withdrawn almost immediately, and Dallas was giving him space. But in the two weeks that followed, Dallas had started to panic. Maybe he'd gone too far. Maybe he'd overstepped and Kylen was having second thoughts.

He was just about to show up there unannounced to get some answers when Kylen called and asked to talk. Dallas couldn't put into words how good it felt to hear his voice, and it was even better when Kylen showed up half an hour later with Flora, a bag of takeout, and all the cuddles Dallas could have asked for.

Things settled after that, and Kylen had finally decided he was ready to be welcomed into the fold. He brought up the subject carefully, almost reluctantly, like he wasn't welcome anymore, and Dallas had done his level best not to laugh at him.

"The guys have been doing nothing except asking to meet you," he told Kylen the night he finally stayed at Dallas's place. "I'm pretty sure they're ready to camp out on your front lawn if you don't agree to come over soon."

Kylen flushed and buried his face in Dallas's chest. "Yeah? They don't think I'm a hot mess who brought even more drama to your already full plate?"

Dallas cradled his face and looked him in the eye. "No, sweetheart. They don't think that. They think you're the first person in forever who's been able to make me smile, and for that alone, they love you. But they're going to love the rest of you too. Just like I do."

Kylen blinked at him, then leaned in and kissed him until they were both ready to sleep, drifting off sharing breath between them, hearts in sync. It was another two days before Kylen had time to come over and meet everyone, and now Dallas was all nerves. He had no regrets, but it felt like his whole life was riding on this first impression.

"Look," Dallas said, dragging a hand through his hair, "I want Kylen to have a space here with us outside of this relationship."

"Oh my God, he said relationship," Bowen said, leaning into Frey with his hands in prayer. "Our baby is all grown up."

"I hate you," Dallas said.

Bowen grinned at him. "No you don't. You love us."

"Both things can be true at the same time. Anyway, I'm being serious, okay? You all know how much Kylen's family sucks. I want him to feel like this is his too. Not just his through me."

"We understand," Bowen said, his tone serious this time. "It was important to me too. I came in through Lane. I mean, I'm a dad through him, you know? So it took me a while to feel like I belonged on my own, and I had no idea how important it was until I realized that you're all here for me too."

Dallas softened. "Yeah. I just…he's been through so much shit. He's got a lot going on, and I don't want it to be weird. Which I know y'all will make it weird, so just try to dial it down."

"Don't ask them for that," Adele said, nudging Dallas with his elbow on his pass through the room. "That's just begging them to lie. "

Dallas let out a sigh, but before he could properly panic, there were headlights in the window. He was there. His heart kicked up a notch, but he was ready for this. Not just for his sake but for Kylen's too.

"Go away. Let me say hi first," Dallas ordered.

The guys grumbled, but they shuffled out onto the back deck, and Dallas paced by the door, waiting for the doorbell to ring. It did, after a long beat—several times in a row, which told him Flora was pushing it.

He opened the door and braced himself for her bear hug. It was needed. Dallas wasn't just in love with Kylen. He'd also fallen for his little family. He squeezed her tight and kissed her temple before she started wriggling to be put down.

"Hi," Dallas said as Kylen stepped into his space.

Kylen kissed him swiftly, then looked over Dallas's shoulder. "I was expecting a big group shouting ‘surprise.'"

"They would have, if I let them have their way." Dallas cupped Kylen's cheek and took one more kiss. "I wanted to give you a second to get your bearings. They're like kids on cupcakes."

Kylen snorted. "Thank you for this. I'm nervous, but I'm excited. I think I've needed something like this group for a long time."

"Trust me, I know what you mean."

Kylen laughed and stepped back to give him a long, slow once-over. "I know you do. That's why we fit."

Dallas grinned at him. "Yeah. I guess that's true."

Meeting the guys didn't go as badly as he'd feared. They were overexcited—especially Frey and Bowen, but it helped that Frey and Kylen were already acquainted outside of the group. After a little while, Kylen walked off with Frey and Bowen to take the kids outside, and Dallas found himself in the kitchen with Lane and Adele.

Audra was finally awake, gnawing on a teething toy in her swing, watching them with wide eyes like she was drinking it all in.

"Tell me I'm doing a good job, please," Dallas begged, running his finger around the rim of his water glass.

Lane frowned at him. "At what?"

"Being a dad. Being a boyfriend." Dallas looked at both of them. "Being a friend."

"You're not doing a good job," Adele said, and Dallas's heart threatened to stop. "You're doing an amazing one."

"I hate you."

Adele laughed. "You used that one already today. But trust us, will you? You know for a fact we'll call you out if you start fucking things up."

"And you haven't. You're doing a lot better than I did when I first started falling for Bowen," Lane told him. "I loved him, and I hurt him."

Dallas didn't know if he'd hurt Kylen. He hadn't been able to give him what he wanted right away, but he'd tried to communicate what he needed right from the start. So maybe that made a difference. "I think he's happy. He's still quiet."

"After everything his family said?" Adele's voice was a low, angry growl. He was a protector by nature, and the one thing he couldn't stand was for the people he cared about to be mistreated. He hadn't even known Kylen, but he was already under Adele's wing of protection. "You know I would have said a hell of a lot worse."

"Like you did with Sana?" Lane asked .

Adele had the grace to blush. Neither of them was sure who'd told Lane—likely Frey since the man couldn't keep his mouth shut. But Dallas knew Adele didn't regret it, and neither did he. Besides, Lane didn't seem too put out about it.

"It was worth it," Adele said with a sniff.

Lane's lips twitched, holding back a smile. "If you say so. Anyway, he's right, and I think all of us would have been a lot less kind if we'd been there."

"I just…I don't know. I didn't want it to feel like I was fighting his battles for him," Dallas admitted.

Lane smiled and shook his head. "I can say from experience that when you've spent most of your life being walked on and no one bothers to stand up for you, the first time someone does it, it doesn't feel like they're fighting in your place. It feels like you finally have an army at your back, and you're allowed to take a breath."

That helped, more than Dallas could say.

"We've got you both," Adele told him.

Closing his eyes, Dallas let himself feel those words deep in his chest. He was happy—truly happy—for the first time in a long, long time.

"Daaaa da da da da."

He jolted and looked over at Audra, who was grinning at him. "Yeah?"

She threw her toy across the room, and he reached down, unbuckling her from the swing and setting her on the edge of the table. "You like him, right? You want to keep Kylen?"

Audra stared at him, then smacked him in the face. If he was going to take anything as a yes, it was that.