20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

LEWIS

"Wow, I thought Wooley's was closed tonight." I pull my helmet off and hop off the back of Arrow's bike, landing gracefully with the gravel crunching under my boots. The leather jacket that made me sweat balls during the last part of the summer is now very welcome against the late October chill in the air.

"Right, invite only," Tex confirms, pulling his trusty cowboy hat out of his saddle bag and giving it a shake to uncrumple it, then trading his helmet for it.

"I know, but I thought we were special, like these were VIP invites. There are more cars in the parking lot than I've ever seen here at one time," I complain.

Another pair of headlights light up the night and I recognize Rowan's car as he pulls in and parks in one of the last available spaces.

"Sure, but the booze is free tonight," Jag points out.

I roll my eyes. "Like any of you ride after more than a single beer."

"Don't overthink it." Arrow puts a hand under my chin and tilts my face up so he can steal a quick kiss, smirking at me when we part again. "We get to see people we vaguely know dressed up in stupid costumes. Just go with it."

I chuckle. "Fair enough."

They all decided to keep things simple by dressing as The Lost Boys , which basically just means they added some fake blood and are either shirtless under their jackets or have ripped tank tops. No imagination at all.

"Do you seriously expect me to wear this all night?" Rowan calls, pulling open the door to his back seat and holding up the massive Audrey II head that he agreed to wear.

"Well, if you don't, then I'll look pretty stupid," I say. "I'll just look like a nerd with a button-up and glasses. I'm only Seymore if I have my Twoey."

Rowan sighs and pulls the head on. That's why he's my bestie.

I slide my hand into Arrow's and we all head for the door together, Rowan tottering awkwardly at the rear, trying to get used to the weight of his costume. Nerves flutter in my stomach as Piston reaches the door first and holds it open for the rest of us. Arrow's been trying to introduce me to his brother for the past couple of months, but things have kept coming up, so tonight will be the first time I get to meet him.

"Don't stress. If you can handle Jag, you can more than handle Henry," Arrow says near my ear as we step into the noisy chaos of the bar. It's like the man can read my mind.

I take a breath and nod. "Let's get it out of the way first, otherwise I'm going to be anxious the whole time."

I look around the bar at all the invite-only guests at this Halloween party. It seems like everyone knows each other, which makes for a cool vibe. There's a guy dressed in a bulky bee costume kicking ass over at the pool table against another pair of guys who seem to have gone with the classic two-part horse costume.

"Nice costume, Stone," Jag says as we pass them.

The guy who has the head end chuckles and looks over at the guy I'm assuming is Stone.

"I've always said he's a horse's ass," he says, pulling Stone into a playful headlock.

Stone scoffs. "I've got a horse's—"

We don't get to find out the end of that sentence because they end up with their tongues down each other's throats, but I'm sure I can guess.

I recognize the guys gathered closer to the bar as the mechanics from Big Bull. Heat rises in my cheeks. Even though it's been ages since the incident and I've had to deal with them since, I still want to crawl into a hole every time I think about it.

"They probably don't even remember," Rowan assures me, no doubt reading my panic all over my face as we get closer to the mechanics.

Oh fuck, is one of them Arrow's brother?

"Remember what?" Arrow asks.

Rowan opens his mouth to answer, but I elbow him to stop him. "Nothing."

We stop right in front of a tall guy leaning against the bar. He's dressed as Beetlejuice and clearly put a lot of effort into his face paint. He has his arm slung around another man who is… also dressed as Beetlejuice. I look between the two of them and the second Beetlejuice shrugs and smirks.

"Miscommunication, but we're rolling with it."

I chuckle, and then I suddenly feel several pairs of eyes on me. The twink mechanic who came and towed my car months ago is dressed in a white faux fur coat, with his chest bare and a headband around his head, à la Mojo Dojo Ken. He gives me a toothy smile.

"Hey, I just remembered who you are. You're the porn dude."

"Fuck my life," I mutter.

Rowan barks out a loud laugh, then tries to cover it a second too late with a painfully fake cough.

"Porn guy?" Hero asks.

"Yes, please do tell." Jag leans in conspiratorially. "Did our little Tater Tot do porn?"

"I didn't do porn." I roll my eyes.

Arrow coughs to stifle a laugh. "Uh, on that note, Lewis, this is my brother, Henry."

He gestures to the first Beetlejuice, and my face heats. Under the makeup I'm almost positive now that he's the guy who runs customer service at Big Bull, and I'm pretty sure I said he was hot right to his face once.

"Hey," I mutter, thrusting my hand out in greeting.

Henry takes it and uses the leverage to pull me in for a big bear hug, slapping my back and lifting me off the floor.

"I don't care how much porn you watch while you wait for an oil change, you make my brother smile and that's good enough for me," he declares loudly.

"I don't…" I sputter, stumbling a little when he sets me down. "It was just an open tab I forgot about. I wasn't watching it."

"An open tab that you left playing all the way through the grand finale?" Beetlejuice Two asks with an arched eyebrow.

I sigh. "I'm going to need a drink."

ARROW

In spite of Lewis's initial embarrassment, the night turns out to be a blast. We play darts and shoot the shit with Henry and the rest of the guys filling the bar. For years it was just me and my club, but as our outer circle has grown to include the mechanics at Big Bull and, to a lesser extent, the guys who own Four Bears Construction, there's a definite sense of community I didn't know we were missing out on.

"I need you to weigh in on this, Lewis," Henry says, leaning back comfortably in his seat, a few empty beer glasses littering the table between us, the drinks spread out over the course of the last handful of hours. "Skins—cool or creepy?"

"Creeptastic," Lewis says without hesitation.

"Hey," I complain.

My boyfriend laughs and kisses my cheek. "Sorry, but it's weird. You sound like you skin people."

"They're not wrong, bro," Hero says.

Henry holds his hands up victoriously. "I fucking told you, it's weird."

"Fine, you guys want to change the name?" I look around at my traitorous crew and all but Piston nod.

"Why don't we just call ourselves the Ink Slingers?" Jag says.

"Seconded. No need to make it complicated," Tex says.

"Thirded," Hero chimes in.

"Alright, Ink Slingers it is. But one of you can organize getting the patches on our jackets replaced."

There's a ripple of agreement and laughter, and then the conversation turns, and I don't bother to follow it. I reach over and pull Lewis out of his seat, dragging him onto my lap. He giggles and comes easily. I nuzzle his neck and he slides a hand under my jacket to tease the bare skin underneath.

"Hey, I was thinking," I say quietly.

"Yeah?" Lewis traces his finger along the trail of dark gray hair that leads down from my belly button and my cock swells against his thigh.

"What if you move in?" The question has been burning on my tongue for over a month now, and finally saying it out loud takes a weight off of my shoulders.

Even in the dim light of the bar, I can see his cheeks darken as a shy smile spreads across his lips.

"I kind of already have."

I frown. "What?"

He laughs. "I thought you'd noticed. I've been slowly moving my stuff in for weeks. The only stuff left at my apartment is my furniture, and I've been considering just telling the landlord they can keep it and rent it as furnished to the next person."

My heart leaps and I chuckle. "So, we live together?"

Lewis bites his lip and nods. "We live together."

I catch his mouth in another greedy kiss, licking between his lips and savoring the faint flavor of his cherry lip balm. The part of me that's been waiting for him to change his mind and decide I'm too much after all finally settles, and I think he can feel it. He melts into me and kisses me deeper.

"What do you say we get out of here and go home?" I murmur against his lips.

He smiles into the kiss and nods, his nose bumping mine.

Home . The word has a different meaning now that it's Lewis's too. It's not just the place I live, it's where we're going to build a life together. We can pick out new furniture together so it's not just mine, it's ours . We can get a friend for Gregory if Lewis wants, and the four of us will spend lazy Sundays in bed and throw big, noisy Fourth of July barbecues.

"I want forever with you, Lewis," I whisper gruffly, and he nods again.

"Tell you what, I'll start planning a wedding and you can propose after we're married," he teases.

"Deal." I drag him in for one more kiss because I'm greedy like that. Because when it comes to Lewis, I'll always need one more, and thank fuck he feels the same way.

The End