Venus rising boxset, p.101
Venus Rising Boxset, page 101
Families hadn’t approved—Chris’ had actually disowned him, although they hadn’t been close, to begin with. Jessica’s family had been pretty judgmental at first and tried to talk her into having a ‘normal’ relationship, but they’d ended up coming around. Justin’s mom had been the least disapproving, although he suspected she’d struggled with it initially more than she’d shown them.
He and Chris hadn’t lost any friends over it. All of their closest friends were pretty open-minded. None of them were polyamorous, but polyam relationships weren’t unheard of in the kink community, which they were all a part of. They’d been worried about how things might go down since he and Chris hadn’t intended to be polyam, but they’d been supportive—thankfully.
Now, he and Chris were going to commit themselves to Jessica for the rest of their lives. It still felt a little surreal... and completely wonderful.
Jessica
The loud peal of the doorbell woke her, although at first, she thought it might just be the ringing in her head.
“Oh my God...” she muttered thickly through the sock-mouth she had going on. “Never again.”
She’d said it before, but this time she really meant it. She was getting too old for this shit. The doorbell rang again, and she groaned.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she muttered under her breath even though she knew whoever was on the front step couldn’t hear her. It was more encouragement to herself to keep moving even though all she wanted to do was crawl back into the bed and huddle under her covers.
More knocking.
Argh.
Must not be one of her friends. They would have texted or called first.
On the other hand... where was her phone? Hmm, it was very possible someone had texted or called and hadn’t gotten an answer. Jessica hoped it was someone with food... or someone who would give her a ride to get food. Something greasy. Although she was sure, Justin and Chris had probably left her a Gatorade, or two, in the fridge, she kind of wanted grease more than anything right now.
I’m so too old for this shit. I’m never drinking that much ever again.
More knocking.
“Hold your horses!” she called out, hoping whoever was there would be able to hear her. She felt like an old woman, hobbling to the front door, her leg muscles not wanting to cooperate. Too much dancing. She had a very vague memory of “getting low” with Lexie at some point during the evening. Which probably explained why her thighs were screaming at her. She’d taken up yoga and Pilates to help stay flexible, which she was thankful for because otherwise, she’d probably feel even worse this morning. That was a sobering thought.
Ha ha... sobering... oh my God, get your shit together, Jessica.
She yanked open the door.
Blinked.
Stranger danger! No—wait...
It was not-Chris.
Her men looked a lot alike, so much alike, a lot of people thought they were brothers, but they still didn’t look quite this much alike. They were just tall, dark, and handsome in similar ways with somewhat similar features. Not-Chris was maybe an inch or two shorter than Chris, but he had the exact same hairline, nose, and high cheekbones. His lips were a little different, and his eyes were more hazel than dark brown, but other than that...
If she’d seen this guy on the street, she would have run up to him without hesitation, thinking he was Chris until she got right in front of him.
“Um, hi,” he said, without any of Chris’ confidence or bravado. Shifting in place awkwardly, his gaze traveled upward to her hairline as if drawn there rather than to her eyes. “I’m—”
“Steven!” she blurted his name out. “You’re Steven, Chris’ brother.”
Now his hazel eyes met hers again, surprise showing in them. “Steve, please. Only my dad calls me Steven. Um… He’s told you about me?”
“Yes,” she said, cutting the word off a little tersely as protective emotions rushed in the wake of her surprise. She knew all about Chris’ family, who had disowned him when he’d told them about his relationship with her and Justin, and the little brother who he’d hoped would be more tolerant than his parents. “Your picture is on our mantel.”
Although, in the picture, Steve and Chris were both younger. Apparently, Steve had grown to look more and more like his big brother as he’d gotten older. They could practically be twins.
If anything, her words make him look even more awkward and a little lost. “It is?”
Hope. That’s what she heard in his voice. Hope.
She couldn’t help it, she softened a little. She didn’t know his story, and it seemed like, whatever had happened in the past, he was hopeful he might not be unwelcome in Chris’ life now.
Chris had decided to send his family a wedding invitation at the last minute—one that included Steve. They hadn’t gotten an RSVP, but Steve was here now, and she was sure Chris would be thrilled to see him—hopefully. Hmm, why was Steve here now when he hadn’t RSVP’d, and the ceremony was still a week away?
“Are you here for the wedding?”
“Um, yes?” He sounded more like he was asking a question than giving her an answer, looking more uncomfortable than ever. “Um, I was hoping to talk to Chris if he’s here, though...”
“Oh, no, he and Justin are having their bachelor party today, they’re out on the Bay.” Jessica suddenly realized she was being extremely inhospitable, talking to Steve in the front doorway. “I’m sorry, do you want to come in?” Stepping back, she opened the door wider, then realized she maybe shouldn’t be inviting him in.
He was Chris’ brother, but she didn’t really know him. They’d never even been formally introduced. Inviting a stranger into the house was definitely something Justin and Chris would strongly object to. While she might be able to make a case since he was technically family… Though he was estranged from his family, she could definitely find herself in hot water... which, in her relationship, usually led to a hot bottom—and not in a fun way.
“That’s okay,” he said quickly, maybe seeing her hesitation. She wasn’t exactly hiding it. “I didn’t realize he’d be gone today.”
The disappointment on his face looked sincere. He had Chris’ same big puppy-dog eyes, which she was not at all immune to, even if they were lighter colored. Especially since Chris was usually goofing around when he did them, whereas Steve didn’t have Chris’ same aura of confidence.
“I can tell you where they’re having dinner,” she offered. “And call and change the reservation if you can make it out to Annapolis by six tonight.”
Steve brightened, and she couldn’t help but smile at him. He and Chris had a lot of the same facial expressions, and it made her feel like she knew him even though she didn’t… not really.
“That would be great,” he said, looking a little less awkward now. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” She smiled at him. “We’re going to be family soon.”
Yeah. She was pretty sure she didn’t imagine that little wince.
Steve
His brother’s fiancée was nothing like what he’d expected her to be.
Not that he’d been entirely sure what to expect—someone more put together, less down to earth. She’d been a hot mess but also welcoming, in a wholly adorable way that had made him feel even worse about what he was really there to do.
Sweet. Naïve. Gullible.
Steve had wondered if maybe his brother was using a poly relationship to cover his sexuality, if the female fiancée was just a beard. Now, he not only thought it was possible, but he found himself strangely indignant on her behalf. She didn’t deserve to be used that way.
That was what his family did, though.
So, maybe his brother wasn’t so different from their father after all.
But he didn’t know yet.
Flexing his fingers against the steering wheel, he mindlessly followed the GPS back to the senator’s D.C. house. Ostensibly, he was in town to do some business on the senator’s behalf, but he was free tonight. He’d kept the whole day open to deal with his brother.
He’d go back to the D.C. house, kill some time, change, then meet his brother for dinner.
Guilt sat uneasily on his conscience.
What was he going to do if his brother wasn’t using the sweet brunette?
Chapter 3
Chris
“I’m going to eat my weight in crab legs,” Chris said, eyeing his best friend Andrew as they walked off the dock. Well, Andrew was his best friend aside from Justin, the friend he was actually committing to a lifetime of loving the same woman with. As far as Chris was concerned, that made Justin more than his best friend. So, Andrew could still be his best friend. “And you’re going to pay for it.”
Andrew pointed a threatening finger at him. “Don’t get too cocky, Christopher. Whatever you dish out tonight, I get to pay you back this summer.” Which was when Andrew would be tying the knot with his fiancée, Kate.
“Oh, but I’m in charge of planning your bachelor party, so it’s going to be at Hooters,” Chris said, shrugging. “I’ll buy you all the wings you want.”
“I can eat a lot of wings.” Grinning widely, Andrew rubbed his belly. He glanced over his shoulder, looking to see where the rest of their party was—moving more slowly, as usual. None of them had had more than a beer or two while they were out on the water, but no one was in a hurry either. Except for Chris, apparently. But why not hurry when there were crab legs to be had?
Frowning, Patrick passed by them, glancing at his watch. “Come on, you two, or we’re going to be late for the reservation.”
“We were ahead of you until a second ago,” Chris pointed out although he got moving again, Andrew by his side.
“Yeah, but then you stopped.”
The big man was a bit of a control freak and had a thing about being on time for everything. He was also handy to have in a crowd, and the sidewalks of Annapolis were packed right now. While their friend, Jared, was even taller and broader than Patrick, there was just something about Patrick’s demeanor that always screamed ‘I’m in charge.’ Jared was a big, easygoing teddy bear, and despite his size, people sensed it.
Patrick was a tank. With as crowded as the sidewalks were, it was easier to let him go in front and follow in his wake. People automatically moved out of the way for him, without even realizing they were doing so.
So, it was a surprise when they were about ten yards away from the restaurant, and Patrick came to an abrupt halt. Chris and Andrew, who were goofing off as usual, nearly plowed right into his back. Before Chris could ask what was wrong, Patrick had turned, stepping to the side so his broad shoulders were no longer in Chris’ line of sight.
Frowning, he looked at Chris, then back toward the restaurant. Following his gaze, Chris froze.
“Woah...” Andrew said under his breath. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Who is that?” Luke asked at exactly the same time. He was the newest addition to their group of friends, and while a great guy, he and Chris hadn’t gotten close enough for Chris to unload his whole family drama on him. “He looks just like you. Do you have a brother?”
“Come here, cupcake,” Olivia murmured. She was Luke’s girlfriend, Domme, and the only woman invited to the bachelor party. She’d been friends with Justin and Chris for longer than they’d known Jessica and had also been instrumental in them getting together. “I’ll explain.”
A hand came down on Chris’ shoulder—Justin’s, of course, his co-partner in life.
“Let’s go say hi,” Justin said, his voice light but with an undercurrent of tension. While most of their friends knew Chris was estranged from his family, only Justin and Jessica had been there to see the immediate aftermath of his parents disowning him. They were the only ones who knew he sometimes checked his family’s social media, especially his little brother’s, and cried because he missed them. Even if his parents had been narrow-minded, bigoted, and unsupportive of anything that they felt reflected poorly on them, it wasn’t like it all had been bad.
He’d felt loved enough, until he refused to end his unconventional relationship, he’d honestly thought his parents would eventually accept it wasn’t their business who he fell in love with. While he’d known they wouldn’t take it well, he hadn’t thought the break would be permanent, but he hadn’t even heard a peep after sending the wedding invitation. Not even a call to try to convince him to change his mind.
That was when he’d finally accepted his family was well and truly gone.
Except now, his brother was standing right there in front of him, looking... worried… hopeful. His hands were at his sides, twitching upward like he wanted to reach for Chris but was anxious about his reception and didn’t want to be rejected. BDSM had honed Chris’ ability to read body language, and maybe it was just wishful thinking, but that’s what he saw.
Clenching the back of his jaw tightly against the tears now burning the backs of his eyes and the ache rising in his chest, he rushed forward, away from Justin’s supporting hand, and grabbed his brother into a tight hug.
Steve
Hugging his brother wasn’t like hugging anyone else in the world.
Chris had always been a good hugger—something he’d gotten from who knows where because for the most part, their family didn’t hug... but Chris had always been tactile. Breathing in his brother’s unique smell, feeling his arms around him, memories rushed in. Chris holding his hand before letting him cross the street, Chris the one to comfort him when their family dog passed away, Chris showing up to his swim meets when their parents were too busy...
Burying his face in Chris’ shoulder, so he didn’t have to look at the group of people accompanying him, especially Justin, whose expression had turned suspicious, Steve’s tears wet his brother’s shirt.
Stop crying and man up. The senator’s disgusted voice echoed in his head, followed immediately by Chris’ sympathetic, somber words. Dad’s wrong, Stevie, it’s okay to cry. Everyone cries sometimes. It doesn’t make you any less of a man.
Even as a teenager, Chris had been more mature than most adults.
As a kid, Steve had wanted to impress the senator. As an adult, he realized his brother was likely the reason he hadn’t grown up to be a total asshole. But it was still hard to shake the senator’s voice in his head. He wondered if Chris still heard it too.
“Are you here for the wedding?” Chris asked, and the hope in his brother’s voice nearly broke Steve’s heart.
“Yes,” he said, technically telling the truth although he knew he didn’t mean it the way his brother did.
Which suddenly made him feel guilty. It was hard to hold on to his resentment at his brother when he was being overwhelmed with memories about all the times Chris had been there for him. Even though Chris had stepped away, leaving Steve to deal with their parents on his own, leaving their mom to deal with her crumbling marriage with the support of only one of her sons because apparently sleeping with just one person wasn’t enough for him—all of that seemed to be melting away now that he was confronted with his brother.
His brother, who was obviously very happy to see him, even though Steve had chosen to abide by the senator’s estrangement. Even though he’d never responded to the messages Chris had sent him.
Pulling away from the hug, Chris kept his hands on Steve’s shoulders, He was looking at him like he was afraid Steve might disappear right in front of his eyes if he glanced away. Steve knew how he felt.
A massively intimidating black man stepped toward them, tapping impatiently on his watch. “And we’re officially late. Let’s move the family reunion inside. I’ll tell them to change the reservation number.”
“Jessica already called and did that,” Steve blurted out.
The big man blinked, then smiled widely, giving Steve an odd rush of relief and satisfaction, which didn’t make sense because he didn’t even know the man. “Good. Then the only thing we have to worry about is being late.” He raised his voice slightly. “Let’s move, people.”
“So, you met Jessica?” Chris asked, sounding a little worried, but he slung his arm around Steve’s shoulder, keeping up the welcome.
“I went to your house first,” Steve confessed. “I didn’t, um, I called first, but you didn’t pick up, and I was in the area. So, I figured I’d just swing by... She’s really nice. She told me you’d be here, and she’d call and fix the reservation if I wanted to come, so here I am.”
“I’m glad you came,” Chris said baldly, tightening his arm as Justin came up beside them. Steve didn’t know Justin very well, but they’d met before. “You remember my partner, Justin?”
“You mean your soon-to-be-husband,” another man teased, walking past them. His tanned skin and dark hair made Steve think he was probably Hispanic.
“That’s Andrew,” Chris said, shaking his head and grinning, confusing Steve even further. If Justin was going to his brother’s partner, or husband, or whatever he wanted to call him, then why did they need to involve Jessica? Maybe because they wanted kids? But how could a relationship like theirs—if it could even be called that—actually work? Why didn’t he just marry Justin or Jessica—preferably Jessica—so Steve could come out of the closet and be the black sheep of the family? “He’s my best man.”
Ouch. Steve reacted without thinking, wincing as his chest tightened in pain. Not that he should expect to be his brother’s best man, not after they hadn’t talked in years, but for some reason, it still hurt to hear someone else was.
Unfortunately, Chris noticed, and his smile turned down. “I’d love to have you stand up with me, too,” he said quietly.
“No, it’s okay,” Steve said, pushing a smile onto his face. “We haven’t... you know. I get it.” He could only imagine the senator’s reaction if Steve not only failed to stop the wedding but ended up being a part of it. It was likely he’d be disowned as quickly as the senator had removed Chris from all of their lives. Mom needed him. He couldn’t do that to her. “Let’s go inside, and you can introduce me to everyone else.”
