Venus rising boxset, p.108
Venus Rising Boxset, page 108
“Definitely not,” Steve said, shaking his head. While part of him really wanted to, right now, he didn’t think he’d be able to trust anyone enough to scene with them. Not even Freddy, who had been nothing but nice to him this whole time... not that they had any real chemistry between them. He felt a kinship with Freddy, not attraction.
“Okay,” said Freddy, getting to his feet and looking at Steve with sympathy. “Let’s get you something stronger then.”
Obediently, Steve stood up and followed Freddy to the bar.
Chris
Whatever he’d expected to find when he came back down to the bar with Justin and a still-slightly woozy Jessica, his brother absolutely shift-faced wasn’t it. There were several dominants eyeing the table Freddy and Steve were sitting at, not with interest but concern. Several of his friends were a couple of tables away; Patrick, Michael, and Andrew. They all looked relieved when they saw him coming.
He waved his hand at them, acknowledging the issue.
People didn’t really come to Stronghold to get drunk. Sure, they might have a few drinks if they were there to socialize instead of scene, but Chris couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever seen anyone get truly drunk at Stronghold. Or if it had ever happened before at all.
Steve was gesticulating wildly as he said something to Freddy, nearly throwing himself off balance with the waving of his hands before he caught himself. Freddy laughed at whatever he was saying, but that didn’t entirely cover his own concern. As Chris approached the table, Freddy looked up and saw him, and the look he gave Chris was... odd.
“Is he okay?” Jessica whispered behind him.
That was exactly what Chris wanted to know.
“Hey buddy,” he said, putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder as he sat down next to him. His brother’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Chris; he obviously hadn’t seen him coming. “How are you doing? Did you enjoy your tour of the club?”
The questioning look he sent to Freddy made the other man shake his head. Whatever was going on with Steve, it didn’t have to do with Stronghold.
“Y’all need Jesus,” Steve said solemnly in his most Southern drawl, then broke into nearly hysterical laughter, setting Freddy off again as well. Jessica giggled as Justin sat her down in one of the seats across from Steve and Freddy.
Chris had to laugh as well. It was something they’d heard their grandmother say often, usually after he and Steve had done something particularly ‘rascally’—her word. She’d passed on years ago, but if she’d known about Stronghold, that was exactly what she would have said.
Abruptly, Steve sobered, his laughter cutting off so quickly, it was a little unsettling. His dark eyes were sad as his gaze glanced over Jessica and Justin before finally landing on Chris. Then his lips tilted in one of the unhappiest smiles Chris had ever seen.
“You’re a good brother,” Steve said, slurring his words and leaning in, whiskey-infused breath wafting over Chris. “I’m not. I’m the bad brother.”
“No, you’re not,” Chris said automatically, reaching for him, his voice soothing.
To his surprise, Steve practically slapped his hand away, now scowling. “You’re right, I’m not. You’re the bad brother. You left us. For them.”
The pure, bitter vitriol in his voice, the loathing in his voice when he looked at Justin and Jessica would have put Chris immediately on the defensive except Steve’s face crumpled as soon as he’d said the words, and he burst into tears. More than one chair shifted as he put his head down on his arms and sobbed. No dominant worth their salt was going to be immune to the very real distress Steve was projecting.
Freddy rubbed Steve’s shoulder, crooning meaningless reassurances, glaring at Chris from the other side of his brother.
The meaning of his glare was clear. Fix this.
But Chris had no idea what to do.
“Oooh, poor Stevie,” Jessica said, standing and swaying slightly on her feet. She barely noticed Justin jumping to his and holding out his hands in case she fell over. Almost tripping over herself, she veered around the table and hugged Steve from behind.
Surprisingly, considering the look he’d just given her, Steve didn’t push her away. He opened his arms slightly, so she could hug him better from behind, then hugged her arms to his chest, still openly weeping.
Helplessly, unsure of what to do, Chris looked up at Justin. This was one situation he desperately wanted the other man to take control.
“Everybody up,” Justin said, his voice gentle but firm. “We’re going to head home now.”
Chapter 11
Chris
Jessica might be a bit fuzzy around the edges, thanks to the intense scene at Stronghold, but she insisted on being the one to ride home in the back seat with Steve. The poor guy was in clear need of some snuggling, and she was the best candidate for it as far as she was concerned. Chris couldn’t really argue—she had the least amount of history with him as well as intimidating him the least—but it still stung.
Freddy had walked them out to the car, apologizing because he apparently hadn’t realized just how drunk Steve was, but Justin and Chris had both reassured him it wasn’t his fault. They were both blaming themselves, Chris more than Justin. Even though Steve had clearly been uncomfortable being there with his brother, he still shouldn’t have just passed him off to Freddy, then gone to have his own fun. He should have stuck around, made himself available in case Steve needed him.
“It’s okay,” Jessica said soothingly, holding Steve’s head against her shoulder and stroking his hair. Chris couldn’t help but glance back at them every few seconds. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not,” he said, choking on the words. He leaned into her, his arms wrapped around her waist, which couldn’t be particularly comfortable with the seat belt on, but she didn’t seem to care. “I’m messing everything up.”
“What are you messing up?” she asked gently, still petting him in reassurance.
“I can’t tell you.” Steve practically wailed the words.
“Why not?” The question, coming from Jessica, was much mellower than Justin or Chris would have managed it. Chris grit his teeth against interrupting. Jessica was doing a far better job of questioning Steve than he or Justin would have managed.
“Because you’ll hate me.”
“No, I won’t,” Jessica said, hugging him tighter. “You’re going to be my brother.”
“Not if I stop the wedding.” Steve burst into a renewed bout of tears, leaving Chris frozen in the front passenger seat. Coming to a stop at a red light, Justin glanced over at Chris—he could see it from the corner of his eye—but Chris couldn’t make himself look back.
His insides felt hollowed out by Steve’s admission. Was that why his brother had returned? Not to support Chris but to try to ruin everything?
A soft touch on his hand, which he hadn’t realized he’d clenched into a fist, made him jerk his head toward Justin.
“He obviously doesn’t want to,” Justin said so softly, it was unlikely Steve could hear him over his own racking sobs and Jessica’s stout reassurance she didn’t hate Steve, she loved him, and he was still going to be her brother.
No, it didn’t seem like he actually wanted to at all, did it?
The tightness of Chris’ chest loosened, just enough for him to breathe.
“Why do you want to stop the wedding?” he asked, his voice coming out as a hoarse croak. He probably should have left the questioning to Jessica, but he had to know.
Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was Jessica’s reassurances, or maybe it was just because it was so dark in the car, they couldn’t really see each other even if Chris did turn around to look at him, but the whole sordid story came spilling out.
The senator’s affairs.
Chris’ estrangement.
Steve’s choice to stay and support their mother.
The senator’s reaction to the wedding invitation.
It wasn’t until Justin was pulling into the driveway that Steve dropped the final bomb.
“And when he finds out I’m gay, he’ll disown me too, then I won’t have Mom, or you, I won’t have anyone.” The aching loneliness, the misery in Steve’s voice made Chris react before he could think.
Practically jumping from the car, he slammed the door behind him, racing around to Steve’s side. His brother was still crying on Jessica’s shoulder when Chris pulled him away from her and into his own arms, only slightly hindered by the seat belt Steve was still wearing.
He hugged his brother as tightly as he could. “You dumb shit, of course, you’ll still have me. I’m not losing you. Not ever again.”
Steve just cried even harder, clinging to his big brother, who rocked him back and forth like a baby.
Jessica
“So, then Justin and Chris got him inside and put him to bed,” Jessica finished. “He was still sleeping it off when I left this morning.”
Her bridesmaids all stared at her, slightly aghast.
Thanks to the rumor mill, they had all known about Steve’s breakdown at Stronghold. Ellie, Kate, and Lexie had all actually witnessed it since they’d been at the bar with their men, and of course, they hadn’t been able to stop themselves from asking when the group had gathered that morning to get their nails done.
Jessica had told them everything except about Steve coming out. She was pretty sure he wasn’t actually out, so she wasn’t going to out him to people he didn’t even know until she knew what he wanted to do.
But telling them about how he’d been sent by his dad—even more of a POS than she’d known—to stop her wedding... well, that was obviously something she couldn’t keep to herself. She was ninety-nine-point nine percent sure, he wouldn’t even make an attempt now, but just in case, it was better to have backup.
They were at the nail salon, half of them in the pedicure chairs, the other half at manicure stations, and everyone was paying rapt attention. Well, except for the nail technicians. Jessica didn’t know what she’d need to say that would shock them, they’d probably heard way crazier things. Although one of them had blinked twice when she’d mentioned she was marrying two men. That had been the biggest reaction she got from any of them.
“Holy shit,” Sharon said, looking stunned. “And I thought my family was messed up.”
“Your family is messed up,” Kate teased her. “This is just next level messed up. Besides, Jake hasn’t proposed yet. Who knows what kind of crazy your mom will pull once that happens?”
Sharon narrowed her eyes at her best friend. “If he proposes. Don’t jinx me.”
“Oh, please,” Lexie scoffed. “He’s totally going to propose. I’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t.” Since Lexie was Jake’s sister, her opinion carried extra weight, and everyone smirked as Sharon scowled at her.
“So, what are you going to do?” Hilary asked, bringing everyone’s attention back to Jessica. “I assume he’s still coming to the wedding, but like... what are you going to do about his and Chris’ parents?”
Sighing, Jessica shrugged. “That will be up to Chris.”
Chris was waiting for Steve to wake up so they could have a sober discussion about last night’s revelations. Jessica hated not knowing, but at least she had her best friends to distract her today.
They’d gone out to an early lunch at Murphy’s Meals, the restaurant her friend Maria managed, then headed over to the nail salon. Hilary got Jessica a white t-shirt that said “Bride” on it and everyone else’s blue t-shirts said “Bridesmaid.” Hilary was wearing a “Maid of Honor” shirt, of course, even though technically she was a Matron. She refused to call herself that, though, saying it made her feel old.
“You got rid of the part of the ceremony that asks if anyone wants to object, right?” asked Angel, leaning forward in her chair so she could see over Sharon to Jessica.
“Does anyone still have that as part of their ceremony?” Ellie asked, frowning.
“We weren’t going to, and we’re definitely not adding it back in now,” Jessica joked, making all of them laugh.
“How was he going to stop the ceremony?” Leigh asked.
Jessica shrugged. “I’m not sure. He didn’t really say. I don’t know if he even knew. By the time we got him in bed, he was just kind of babbling between apologies, but I think he initially thought Justin and Chris were a couple, and I was just an add on.”
That sparked another round of laughter from all of them. It had always been very clear, to everyone who knew them, Jessica was the center of their sandwich.
“I take it he figured out his mistake pretty quickly,” Maria said, her dark eyes dancing with amusement.
“Yeah, he was pretty worked up about it,” Jessica said sympathetically. “I think he’s caught in a bad place. He doesn’t want to lose his mom, but he doesn’t want to hurt Chris either.” She sighed. “I don’t really know how they’re going to work it out.”
“Don’t worry,” Olivia finally spoke up. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet. Jessica assumed she’d been up late working the night before. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”
For some reason, just hearing Olivia say it made Jessica feel better.
Steve
Everything hurt.
His head ached. His limbs ached. His eyes ached. His cheeks ached. His chest ached. His mouth felt like a dirty sock.
It wasn’t hard to recognize all the signs of an epic hangover even if it had been years since his last one.
“Flurgh. Blegh.” He rolled over onto his back, flinging his arm over his eyes to block out the light. Even through the curtains, it was far too bright.
What time was it?
Ugh. He’d have to open his eyes to check, and he didn’t feel up to that quite yet.
“Coffee or water?”
His brother’s question nearly made Steve jump out of his skin. Which, in his current state, meant he jerked slightly.
Groaning, he moved his arm just enough, he could crack open one eyelid and peer blearily at the armchair in the corner of the guest room he’d been staying in. That had been the direction Chris’ voice had come from.
Sure enough, there was his big bro, looking completely confident and put together while Steve felt like something a truck had run over. Great. That pretty much summed up his whole life at the moment. That maudlin thought made the events of the come rushing back, and Steve groaned, falling back against his pillow, arm settling back into place.
“How can you even look at me right now?”
He didn’t hear Chris move, but a few seconds later, the bed shifted, and he could feel his brother sitting down on the bed beside him.
“Because you’re my brother, and I love you,” Chris said simply.
“Even though I’m here to break up your wedding?”
“You don’t want to.” Chris’ tone was almost annoyingly reasonable. “Or you wouldn’t have told me. And if you are trying to break us up, you’re doing a really shitty job.”
“Got that right,” Steve muttered. He sighed, moving his arm so he could turn his head and look up at his brother. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” Chris said quietly, looking away, then back at Steve. His eyes were full of compassion, but he looked a little happier than he had a moment ago. The apology had meant something to him. “So. What now? What is the senator going to do if everything goes on the way it’s supposed to?”
“I don’t know,” Steve confessed. “He told me to offer Jessica or Justin up to a hundred thousand dollars to call off the wedding.” Just thinking about it made him feel dirty. He hadn’t bothered to tell the senator there was no way either of them would accept that kind of deal. The senator’s imagination didn’t stretch far enough to think some people weren’t motivated by money and self-interest.
Chris snorted with laughter, his eyes gleaming with mischief in a look Steve recognized all too well from their youth. “I should tell one of them to take him up on it. We can postpone the wedding and cash in.”
That would really drive the senator up a wall. Steve had to chuckle as well, which made him groan again because his head still hurt and his eyes were gritty from crying last night, but at least one part of him felt better. The tension in his shoulders, which had been building all week, was finally gone.
Groaning, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. “So, now what?”
Shrugging, Chris stood back up. “Now, you get up, we hang out today, and we can figure out what you’re going to tell the senator.”
Starting to nod, the clock on the nightstand caught Steve’s eye.
“Shit! I’m supposed to meet Mom in less than an hour for lunch.” He threw off the covers, ignoring the way his sudden movement made his head throb before he caught sight of Chris’ sudden stillness. He froze for just a moment before blurting out, “You should come.”
“To lunch? With Mom?” Chris looked more unsure of himself than he had since he’d first seen Steve waiting for him outside the restaurant last Saturday.
Steve nodded. “Yes. She misses you. I know she does.” He forced himself to get moving again, despite the protests from his sore muscles and aching head. “And... this might be our last chance.”
Last chance to try to reconcile her and Chris. Last chance to try to convince her to buck the senator’s edicts. Last chance to try to keep their mom.
Steve knew Chris’ wedding was the beginning of the end for him with the senator. He still had hope for his mom, though. It seemed kind of mean to make Chris the guinea pig, to see if she would turn him away once they were face to face, just because the senator said Chris was no longer family. If they didn’t do it today, they might not ever get the chance.
Part of him didn’t really expect Chris to go for it. Why would he when their mom had already turned her back on him once? But Chris slowly nodded.
