Chapter 14

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WARD

WARD HAD barely gotten unpacked and sat down with a glass of wine when his front door burst open.

“Yo, Wolfie!”

Ward rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Hey, Lud.”

His brother, Ludwig Vaughn Freeman, scowled as he shut the door. “Remind me to change my name.”

“You've been saying that since you were six,” Ward reminded him.

“ Touché .” Vaughn laughed and tromped over to the kitchen in his heavy work boots, pretty much the only shoes he owned. He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, wrenched it open, flung the bottle cap into the sink, then threw himself down on the couch at Ward's side, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

“By all means, make yourself at home,” Ward teased.

Vaughn flashed him a grin. He took a swig from the bottle, then asked, “Where've you been all weekend? I stopped by yesterday, but you weren't here.”

“I went to Aaron's wedding.”

“Oh! Right.” Vaughn shuddered. “Weddings.”

“Says the man who cried at his own.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide a sappy grin. “I totally did, didn't I? What can I say? That man just makes my world.” Vaughn took a sip of his beer. “Up in Frisco, right? Aaron's wedding, I mean.”

“Yeah.”

“How was that ?”

Ward groaned. “Just as bad as I remember.”

“ Ugh , yeah.” Vaughn shuddered again. “They can keep that city.”

“No kidding.”

Vaughn turned uncharacteristically silent for a moment, sipping his beer and sneaking glances at Ward out of the corner of his eye. Just as Ward was about to say something, Vaughn asked, “Alone?”

“Alone?”

“The wedding. D'you go alone?”

Ward tensed. Shit . Did his brother know something? How could he, though? Vaughn barely knew Aaron, let alone anyone else who had attended the wedding. “Yeah,” Ward lied. “Why?”

Vaughn cocked an eyebrow at him. “Bro. This is me you're talking to. I can tell when you're bullshitting.”

Ward felt his cheeks heat up.

“Aha!” Vaughn said, pointing at him. “There it is. You got back together with Kelly, didn't you?”

Ward blinked and shook his head, feeling almost dizzy at the sudden subject change. “Kelly?” he asked. What did his ex-fiancée have to do with it?

Vaughn's smile slowly faded as he studied Ward's face. “Sorry.” He cringed. “I just assumed.”

“Assumed what?”

Vaughn hesitated. “She came into the shop a couple weeks ago–”

“She still goes to the shop?” Ward asked in surprise. That was where they'd met. Kelly had been there, picking up her car, when Ward came in to drop off one of the vineyard trucks for service. They'd been left alone in the waiting room for a few minutes and wound up hitting it off right away. Kelly had been beautiful, intelligent, friendly, and confident. Ward couldn't resist asking her out.

One date led to another. And another. After a history of being constantly dumped, Ward thought he'd finally found something real. Before he knew it, they were planning the rest of their lives together.

Only for the wedding day to arrive, but without a bride.

They'd broken off all communication after that, though of course they still ran into one another occasionally. But Ward was surprised Kelly would still go to his brother's shop for service, with her knowing full well there was every chance of running into him there.

“Yeah,” Vaughn replied. “She'd started going to the competition down the street—you know which one I mean—but they royally screwed her—surprise, surprise—so now she's back.” Vaughn paused, sipping his beer. “She asked about you.”

“She did?”

Vaughn nodded. “Almost kinda sounded like she was testing the waters. I mean, she didn't outright ask if you were still single, but…” Vaughn trailed off with a shrug.

Ward stared blankly at the floor and shook his head. Geez. Kelly. The one who'd gotten away. Despite their many arguments, Ward had been ready to spend the rest of his life with her. Of all the women who'd left him, that one hurt the most.

“I thought, maybe,” Vaughn went on, “she got a hold of you and tried getting back together. Just assumed she was your plus-one. But you really went alone, huh?”

Ward felt himself blushing again. He took a sip of his wine, buying himself a moment to come up with an answer. It wasn't that he was afraid to tell Vaughn about what happened. His brother was gay, after all. Vaughn would tease him mercilessly at first, but he'd also be supportive. Just as Ward had been his brother's biggest champion when Vaughn had come out, back when they were teenagers.

But Ward hadn't had a chance to really process everything he'd experienced that weekend. Especially after what happened that afternoon. He still felt thrown from running into Skylar again. It had been strange—yet also breathtaking—to see the boy in such a casual setting. And so unexpectedly! Ward was still trying to reconcile the Skylar from last night and the one from that day.

Had the boy still been playing a part? Trying to keep his new client happy? Angling for another date? Or had it all been as real as it felt, the two of them colliding like that in the foyer, groping desperately at one another with nothing but raw, human need?

And then there was Charlie. The boy was so precious and fragile that Ward wanted to scoop him up in his arms and never let him go.

But Skylar had a fragility to him, too. A more subtle one, but it was there, pulling Ward in.

Both boys fired off all of Ward's protective instincts, something he hadn't felt in years. At least, certainly not to this depth. As he sat there, he itched to drive right back across town and pull the boys into his lap, holding them there, safe and quiet.

Instead of answering his brother, Ward cleared his throat and changed the subject. “What brought you over, anyway?”

Vaughn took a sip of his beer. “I was explicitly instructed to vacate the house for a few hours. I think he's wrapping Christmas presents. Or baking, more likely, and he wanted me out of his hair. And my hands away from the batter,” he added with a chuckle. “Lord, that man can bake. I swear, if it weren't for all the vigorous sex, I'd probably weigh three hundred pounds.”

Ward snorted a laugh. “Yeah, right.” Between regular gym visits and the physicality of his job, Vaughn was even more built than Ward was. The man didn't have an ounce of fat on him.

“Speaking of Christmas,” Vaughn went on. “We still going to Mom and Dad's?”

Ward nodded. “Shit. That reminds me. I need to snag a couple bottles from work to bring along for dinner.”

“I figured the winery would be closed this week.”

Ward shook his head. “John's going to Idaho for Christmas,” he said, naming the head winemaker, his direct boss. “So I've got a few things to take care of in his absence. The tasting room is even going to be open. It's usually closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but we always get people coming in to buy wine club memberships as last-minute gifts.” Ward sipped his wine, a sauvignon blanc. It was the first that John had allowed him to make all on his own, and it was damned good if he said so himself. “What about you?”

Vaughn sighed. “We'll probably be open right through Christmas Eve. Every year, we try to close early that day, but it rarely works out. Never fails, we get people coming in at the last minute, suddenly needing big repairs or maintenance jobs that they've known about for months, all because they're about to head out of town.”

“Ha!” Ward snorted a laugh. “Figures.”

“Yeah.” Vaughn paused, looking around. “This place is depressing , by the way. Not a single decoration anywhere.”

Ward shrugged, following his brother's gaze. He had a couple boxes of Christmas decorations tucked away in the closet, but he hadn't bothered getting them out this year. There didn't seem to be any point, just for himself. Besides, he didn't have much in the way of furniture. The living room was nothing but a couch, a coffee table, and a small TV stand. Other than the blank walls, there was nowhere to put any decorations.

Though he did sorely miss the sight of a Christmas tree over in that empty corner. Not to mention the smell of one. But why bother, when there was nobody to enjoy it with?

“We went nuts at our place,” Vaughn went on with a laugh. “And I'm sure Mom and Dad's is way over the top, as usual.”

Ward barked a laugh. “Oh, I don't doubt that one bit.” Their family wasn't remotely religious, but they loved Christmas. It had always seemed like one half of the garage had been reserved for all the boxes of decorations. The end result was often pure madness, but so worth it. Ward looked around again. His place felt naked by comparison. Depressing, just like Vaughn said.

He wondered what Skylar and Charlie were into, as far as Christmas went. Skylar had already mentioned loving the season, but did he go all-out with decorations and music and lights? And what about Charlie? Was it too much for him? Or did he enjoy it? The boy hadn't seemed overwhelmed by all the decorations at Living in Zin. With a couple of trees all covered in ornaments, plus all the string lights and tinsel everywhere, the bed-and-breakfast had looked almost magical.

At least, what he'd seen of it. Once he'd gotten Charlie in his lap—and then Skylar right in front of him again—everything else had faded.

“Okay, spill,” Vaughn said.

Ward blinked. “Huh?”

“You're unusually quiet, even for you,” his brother pointed out. “What's going on?”

“Nothing,” Ward insisted even as he felt his cheeks go warm.

“Bro. Again.” Vaughn gestured at himself. “This is me.” Vaughn paused. “Wait. Did you bang a bridesmaid or something? Hook up with a stranger at a hotel bar? You can tell me. I won't judge.”

Ward shook his head even though his brother had gotten annoyingly close to the truth.

“There's nothing wrong with a little one-night stand, you know,” Vaughn said gently.

“I know,” Ward mumbled, staring at his wine glass.

Vaughn turned sideways on the couch and propped his arm up on the back of it. “Okay, look. I know you've been acting weird for a while. Pretty much all year, really. And I've kept mostly quiet about it, because sometimes a man's gotta deal with his own shit in his own time. But if something's going on, and I can help in any way…”

Ward slowly nodded, then tapped a fist on his brother's arm. “I appreciate that.” He paused. “There is something,” he admitted. “I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. Still trying to process it myself.”

“Okay.” Vaughn held up his hands. “I get it. Just, whatever it is, I'm here for you. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“Good.” Vaughn started to turn back, then paused again. “But did you? Bang a bridesmaid, I mean? Actually, wait. No. I don't wanna know.” He shuddered and took a big gulp of his beer.

Ward laughed as the tension of the moment broke.

They sat around for another hour, watching TV and idly chatting. As soon as Vaughn went home, Ward got up and took care of some chores, making sure he was ready for the short work week. He had to clean up after his brother first—the man's boots had tracked in some dirt and grease, as usual—then started on his laundry. Ward stripped out of the clothes he was wearing, added them to the pile, and went to take a shower. He normally showered in the mornings, but he'd overslept and nearly missed check-out. There had barely been time to get dressed and pack.

The moment he stepped in under the hot water, he thought of Skylar. They never did get a chance to take a shower together. Maybe some other time? His dick stiffened at the thought. Ward took himself in hand and pictured the beautiful, slim body that had been all his for a few, short hours. Geez . Had that really been just last night? It seemed ages ago. Too long.

And Charlie…

Ward's dick twitched at the thought, turning to steel in his grip. Oh, fuck . Ward closed his eyes and stroked himself faster, picturing the two boys together, both of them naked. He imagined watching them kiss, then claiming their mouths for himself. Imagined running his hands all over their bodies. Every detail of Skylar seemed branded on his memory: the boy's scent, the texture of his skin, the firmness of his muscles.

But what about Charlie?

Ward cursed, feeling guilty for even thinking of the boys. Skylar and Charlie were dating. They were off-limits. Yet Charlie had sought out Ward for comfort, and Skylar had begged Ward to go upstairs. Try as he might, he couldn't stop the fantasy playing through his mind.

Both boys together. Naked. All his.

Ward moaned as he thought of being with Skylar again—putting his hands all over that precious, slender body—then imagined touching Charlie the same way. Kissing across his chest. Groping his ass.

Stroking his dick.

Ward let out a ragged shout as he came.