“I don’t think…don’t we have to…” Steve blurted out. Then he stopped when Jack and Josh began laughing. “Fuckers,” he said with no heat. ”I thought you should know I’m going to buy some land and make a real home for us all. I have enough money. Today I am rich man; in fact, I might have too much money, but I can do something about that. I could give loads of it away if you think it’s a bad thing—”

“Stop,” Jack said sharply. “Breathe, man.” He looked concerned, as did Josh.

Riley laid a hand on his friend’s arm. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“He needs more beer,” Josh said helpfully. Passing a new beer to Steve meant that Steve now had two bottles, one in each hand, both of which would pretty much remain full given Steve didn’t really drink much.

Jack took back one of the bottles and took a healthy swallow. “He’s going to be a baby daddy and you want to make him into an alcoholic?” he muttered. “What about his sperm?”

“Jack, you are doing way too much research into sperm,” Josh commented dryly.

“I’m burning your steak,” Jack shot back. He pressed down on the closest steak with his tongs and it sizzled. He grinned at the sound.

Josh wrestled for the tongs and Jack backed away until the two brothers stood in a weirdly comical face-off.

“You burn my steak, I’ll burn your boots,” Josh snapped with no heat and an accompanying grin.

Riley laughed at the nonsense. He’d never had a close brotherly relationship with Jeff, but he enjoyed teasing Eden.

“Guys?” Steve interrupted. The two Campbell brothers turned to look at him. “So, it’s okay, uhmm…you want to ask me any questions?”

Josh spoke first. “You’ve been together years, you loved her from the moment you met, you love Emily like she is your own, I’m guessing medically you checked it out, so yeah, it’s cool.”

“You gonna let anything hurt her?” Jack added.

“Not intentionally.” Steve had horror in his voice.

“You can’t ask him that,” Josh admonished.

Jack looked directly at Steve, but he spoke to Josh. “Okay, big brother, I hear you, but can I say that if he ever lets anyone hurt her we’ll hunt him down and kill him?” Riley could tell that Jack was relaxing and had decided teasing Steve would get him to calm down.

Josh poked him again. “No, you can’t.”

The four men clinked beer bottles—the patented male way of dealing with things. Jack’s and Josh’s support clearly made Steve a happy man. Riley watched him leave and when he reached Beth, he hugged her, then stood back and cleared his throat. The general noise of talking and laughter died down and everyone turned expectantly to Steve.

“Just wanted to say, thank you all for coming today to celebrate my birthday with me. And I want everyone to know just how much I love Beth and Emily,” he stated grandly.

Everyone laughed at the announcement.

“You’re an idiot,” she said affectionately. “But I love you.”

Riley had ended up standing with Eli and Robbie, and the three of them lifted their beers in acknowledgement at the same time as everyone else. He’d wanted to catch up with Eli since the last hospital test for his friend, but time had just slipped away from him.

“How did Thursday go with the tests and all?” Riley asked his friend.

They found some shade under a tree and sat down. “It’s good news,” Eli explained. ”They said I’m still clear and there is every hope that I’m clear for life now.”

“That is really good news,” Riley said quickly. He settled himself with his back against the tree trunk and concentrated on his beer as Eli and Robbie talked quietly. He wasn’t really listening—he just couldn’t help but overhear.

“I love you, Robbie Curtis.”

“You’re not so bad to be with, Eli Martin.”

“You ever think about getting married?” Eli asked.

“Where did that come from?”

“Just. Do you?”

Robbie looked at him pointedly. “In Texas?”

“Riley and Jack managed it okay.”

Robbie huffed a laugh. “They went to Canada. In a private jet. It’s a different world for them, and hell, it’s not even legal here.” Riley instantly felt guilty as memories of that flight and the intention behind it flooded him. Yeah, he and Jack had been married, but at the start it was for all the wrong reasons. Robbie had a point as well, not even Riley and Jack’s marriage was seen as legal here. They’d had Jim tie every possession they owned up in so much legal tape that Riley was secure in the knowledge that if anything happened to him, Jack would get everything. The money, the shares, Hayley. It wasn’t that way for a lot of other gay couples.

“What if it were legal here?” Riley heard Eli ask with a curious tone.

“If it is legal here, the very day that Texas says that, I will be on my knees begging you to marry me. Just so you can never run away.”

Eli inhaled sharply, and Riley made sure it was obvious he was looking at something else in the absolute far distance. “Fuck, Robbie, you kill me every time you say shit like that.”

“I mean it.”

“And what about kids?”

“Now you’re pushing it.”

Riley people-watched. He ate steak and he drank beer and it was the absolute perfect family day. Emily toddled over to him and climbed on his lap and for the longest time he simply cuddled her as she fell asleep in his arms.

“You okay?” Jack asked. He slid down the tree trunk until he was sitting next to Riley.

“Yeah, just chilling.” He shifted a little and Emily wriggled in his lap.

“I can’t say I’m not worried,” Jack said quietly. Riley didn’t have to ask what Jack meant.

“I know what you mean,” he said. “Beth and Steve are like these old souls who just belong together. And with Emily, it’s like they’re perfect. I want forever for them.”

Jack snorted a laugh. “That’s very poetic.”

Riley glared at him. “I can be sensitive.”

Jack leaned to whisper in his ear. “You’re damn sensitive on your inner thigh when I kiss you there.”

Emily chose that moment to sit upright and clamber off his lap in that amazing wide-awake way very small children sometimes had of emerging from sleep.

“Swing me, Unca Jack,” she demanded with all her best diva on show.

Jack stood and complied and swung his niece, then tickled her until she begged for mercy. Finally she scampered off to find her mom, leaving Riley and Jack alone. Jack sat back down on the ground.

“I’m getting too old to sit in the dirt,” he grouched. “Tell me again why we’re here and not on one of those nice comfy chairs over by the house.”

“I keep forgetting you’re an old man now,” Riley snarked.

“Says the guy who turned thirty and has gray hairs.”

Riley protectively placed a hand on top of his hair. “I do not have gray hair.”

Jack leaned in, pretending to examine Riley’s head, then at the last minute he changed direction and kissed Riley. The kiss deepened and Riley clung to Jack’s shirt. When they parted, a little short of breath, Riley narrowed his gaze.

“I do not have gray hair. Say it.”

Jack tilted his head and with a grin, he repeated the words. “I do not have gray hair.” His blue eyes sparked with mischief.

“You are so going to get it later,” Riley warned.

Jack stole one last kiss, then moved to stand up. Offering a hand he helped Riley to his feet.

“I really hope that’s true,” Jack said with a smile.

Chapter 6

Career day dawned all too quickly after the weekend. Jack arrived at Hayley’s school and was introduced to his fellow parent-speaker. He nearly swallowed his tongue. He might be married and so in love with Riley it hurt, but he wasn’t blind and being married didn’t mean he couldn’t check out the menu. He just didn’t plan to order. Aiden Hunter, star of a huge Hollywood movie franchise, was sex on legs. Slim, dark-haired, with emerald green eyes, he was mesmerizing with his picture-perfect good looks.