“You’re not real close to your family, are you, son?”
He blushed. “No. I’m afraid I’m not.”
“I could tell. You have an air about you. Like you’ve been abandoned before.”
Tyler blushed even deeper, heat rolling across his face. “It’s a rather long story.”
“I imagine it’s not one you’re fond of telling.”
“Not particularly.”
“Ty,” she softly said, “if my son loves you, and you love him, that makes you family. My family.” She enveloped him in a long, strong hug. “I guess this means we won’t see any more babies with the Kinsey name, but that’s okay. I don’t mind picking up another son.” She laughed as she stepped away and wiped at her eyes. “Leastways, one I don’t have to put through college.”
Tyler wanted to break down and cry. In just a couple of hours, Peggy did feel like a mother to him. Calling her anything but “Mom” would feel horribly wrong. “Thank you.”
She shook her finger at him. “Just don’t hurt him, you hear me? I’ll walk through fire for my kids and their other halves, including you, but you do not want to get on my bad side, boy.”
A flicker of darkness washed through his soul at the admonishment, memories he’d rather leave undisturbed.
He nodded. “Yes, Mom. I promise.”
She smiled, then kissed his cheek. “You’re a sweetheart. Well, at least this’ll knock out my church ladies’ group gossip about Billie Mae Englund’s married daughter getting knocked up by that shrimp boat captain.”
* * * *
Tommy walked into the kitchen about the time the front door opened and slammed shut again. A woman’s voice called out. “Momma? Tommy?”
The tall woman who walked into the kitchen could have passed for his lover’s twin. Tyler watched as the woman squealed in delight and hugged her brother. “Tommy!”
“Hey, Kar.”
She turned and spotted Tyler. Her eyes lit up. “Well, helllooo, Blue Eyes!” She started toward him when her brother stopped her.
“Um, Kar, we need to talk.”
She smiled, not taking her eyes off Tyler. “In a minute, baby bro. Introduce me to your friend first. Don’t be rude.”
Peggy laughed and shook her head as she started frying up the cube steaks, but she didn’t say anything.
“Karen, this is my boyfriend, Tyler Paulson.”
She smiled. “Nice to meet you…” Her voice trailed off before she turned to Tommy. “What?”
He walked over and draped his arm around Tyler’s shoulders. “Surprise.”
She looked startled, then recovered and rolled her eyes as she stomped her foot. “Dammit! Why are the cute ones always gay! That is so not fair!” She poked Tommy in the chest, hard. “Why the hell can’t you bring home a cute straight guy for me, jerk?”
Tyler wasn’t sure if this was a good reaction or not, but Tommy laughed. “Well, hands off, kiddo. He’s mine.”
She stuck her tongue out at Tommy, then leaned in for a serious hug from Tyler. “Nice to meet you. If you ever get sick of him, let me know, ’kay? I’m calling dibs right now.”
Tyler laughed. “I doubt that will happen, Karen, but I’ll keep your offer in mind.”
She sighed melodramatically. “And he’s friggin’ British, too.” She smacked Tommy hard on the shoulder. “Next time, you’re not allowed home unless you bring me one, too.”
April arrived home around nine. While stunned, she took the news well and appeared as enamored of Tyler as Karen. The next evening, the other daughters and their husbands or boyfriends arrived for dinner. That’s when Tommy planned to break the news to the rest of them.
Tyler was battling a serious bout of nerves he thought might lead to hyperventilation when Karen winked at him from across the table. He was helping her set the big formal dining room table for their meal.
“Chill, Blue Eyes,” she joked. “Em’ll have a cow, but that’s okay. She freaks about everything. Don’t let her get to you.”
He tried for deep, slow breaths. A little while later, Tommy caught up with him on the back porch, where Tyler had retreated to try to calm down.
He wrapped his arms around Tyler from behind. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this together, buddy.”
Tyler nodded. “Together.”
Tommy turned him in his arms. “I’m not going anywhere. Even if Momma had flipped out, you’d still be my guy, and I’d still be yours. Got it?”
Tyler always felt himself lost in Tommy’s sweet brown eyes. His rugged face was long and lean and tanned from the time he spent outside on construction sites. But his eyes balanced him out, sweetened and softened his face, expressed the soft heart and bottomless well of compassion hidden within. “Got it.”
He brushed a kiss across Tyler’s lips. “When we go to bed tonight, I’ll give you one of my back rubs.” He winked. “Then you can give me one of your front rubs.”
Tyler laughed, needing the release of stress. “I love you.”
He grinned. “I love you too, sugar. Don’t forget it.”
* * * *
Tommy had suspected Em would flip out. While the adults were gathered in the kitchen before dinner and all the kids outside playing, Tommy cleared his throat.
“I need to make an announcement.”
Tyler, standing next to him, straightened a little
Tommy didn’t miss Em’s harsh, suspicious, narrow gaze. “What’s going on, Tom?”
“I’ve already told Momma, Karen, and April.” He took a deep breath and draped his arm around Tyler’s shoulders. “Tyler isn’t just my roommate. He’s my boyfriend.”
Cheryl’s eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t say anything. Katie gasped.
Em went off the deep end. “How dare you! You can’t do that! That’s not right!”
He squeezed Tyler closer to him as much for his own comfort as to keep his lover quiet. “I don’t care what you think, Emily. This is my life, and this is the man I love.”
“You’re gay? You can’t be gay! You dated girls!”
Tommy didn’t feel like trying to explain the intricacies of bisexuality to her, so he kept it simple. “I love Tyler,” he insisted. “And if it upsets you, I’m sorry, but I’m not denying who I am or how I feel to make you feel better.”
Her mouth gaped, opening and shutting like a fish, before she yelled, “You can’t do this! It’s not right!”
“You said that,” Karen snarked. “Pick a new line.”
Em’s face reddened. She jabbed a finger at Karen. “You stay the hell out of this!”
Karen stepped forward. “It’s not any of your business.”
“Like hell it isn’t! He brings his filthy habits to our parents’ home, and you want me to turn a blind eye?”
Peggy stepped in, her face hard. “That’s enough, Emily Anne. You stop right there. This is my house and that’s my son and both he and Tyler are welcome here. Deal with it.”
“I don’t want my children seeing this!”
“Seeing what?” April chimed in. “What the heck do you think they’re going to do? When you were dating Clay, plenty of times Daddy threatened to hose you two down with the sprinklers. I haven’t seen these two do half the things you used to do on the back porch with Clay, so don’t you give us that crap!”
Karen snorted. “Yeah, remember the time he went and knocked on the windshield when the car was rocking and they didn’t know he was home?”
April giggled. “Oh, that was a good one—”
“Girls,” Peggy broke in. “Focus.”
“Sorry, Momma,” they echoed.
Cheryl weighed in. “I don’t have a problem with it,” she carefully said. “As long as he’s happy.” She looked at her brother. Tommy nodded.
Peggy looked at Katie. “Well, Kathryn Melissa? What say you?”
Katie shook her head. “I don’t agree with it, but like Cheryl said, if he’s happy, then that’s what’s important.”
Em obviousl
y realized she was outnumbered. “What the hell is wrong with you people? Have you not read your Bible lately?”
“I remember something about loving the sinner and not the sin,” Peggy quipped, “if I was hard-pressed to quote something off the top of my head without looking it up. Tyler seems like a very nice man, and considering your father despised Clay at first”—the man blushed but stayed silent—“then I would think you of all people should have a little compassion and courtesy.”
Em’s face reddened even more. “But he was a man. He wasn’t a queer!” she spat.
Peggy’s voice dropped, deepened. “Let me tell you something right now, missy. Don’t you ever let me hear you say that word, or anything else like it in that way, in or around my house or your brother or Tyler ever again. So help me Jesus, I’ll slap that self-righteousness plumb outta your hide if I do!”
Everyone fell silent, apparently not used to hearing Peggy Kinsey’s anger.
“Do you understand me?” Peggy screamed.
Em, for once cowed into silence, nodded.
“Then answer me, girl!”
Em’s soft voice was barely audible. “Yes, Momma.”
Peggy nodded, took a deep breath, and smiled. “Now then. We’re gonna have us a nice, friendly family dinner. Your brother is home, he’s brought Tyler home to meet us, and we’re going to sit down and show him true Southern hospitality.” She glared at Em. “Your choice, little girl. You stay and behave, or leave. Your choice.”
Em set her jaw, but she grabbed a casserole dish and stormed out of the kitchen to take it to the dining room.
Clay looked nervous, but offered up a smile to Tommy and Tyler. “Sorry. She’s been in a bad mood lately.”
“Yeah,” Karen snarked, “her whole friggin’ life. Don’t apologize for her, Clay. She’s a bitch. Don’t think we don’t know it.”
* * * *
Em behaved herself during dinner. The kids didn’t seem to notice her chilly treatment of her brother and his “friend.” Peggy volunteered to her grandkids, who ranged in age from three to seven and adored their Uncle Tommy, that they should call Tyler “Uncle Tyler.” Em’s face reddened, but she didn’t correct her mother.
When the men fell into bed that night a little before midnight, Tommy tightly held Tyler in his arms. “See, sugar?” he whispered. “It worked out fine. You’re family. Momma stood up for you. So did my other sisters. Em will come around.”
Tyler closed his eyes and inhaled Tommy’s scent, enjoyed the warmth of the man’s body. Far too tired and stressed to feel even slightly romantic, he was content to lie there, secure, safe.
Loved.
“I love you, Thomas.”
Tommy softly chuckled in the darkness and kissed Tyler before wrapping his body around him and settling in to go to sleep. “Love you too, buddy. Forever and ever.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tommy went online and checked his credit card balance. It would wipe out a lot of the progress he’d made paying down his balance over the past six months, but it was worth it.
Tyler was worth it. Even if the weekend in Savannah hadn’t gone well, he’d still planned on doing this. He wanted visible proof to the world that he was taken, that Tyler was taken. That Tyler was his guy.
He spent several days looking at different rings, trying to figure out what he wanted. He even remembered to try on Ty’s ring one evening when he’d taken it off to make meatloaf.
Tyler had looked amused. “What are you doing?”
“Just curious.” He fitted the ring on several fingers. It comfortably slid onto his pinky, albeit a little snugly. “Just seeing, that’s all.”
He finally located a band he fell in love with and fought his blush as he told the sales clerk he wanted two of them in different sizes. She seemed to take it in stride, without batting an eyelash. The intricate, entwined vine pattern etched in the gold was perfect, exactly how he felt about Tyler.
Entwined.
Totally part of Tyler, like Ty was totally part of him, impossible to tell where one started and the other ended. That’s the way he preferred it.
She returned with a ring sizer, figured out the sizes, and fetched two different bands. He tried the one for him and it fit. The one for Tyler, just a hair snug on his pinky, would most likely fit Tyler perfectly.
He handed over his AmEx card and didn’t bother looking as she rang them up. It would take him five months at his current salary to pay for them, but he wouldn’t dare tell Tyler. He didn’t want Tyler paying for things like that. He wanted to take care of Tyler.
He didn’t care that Ty said he wanted to do this for him, support him until his career and reputation took off. Dammit, he could make it on his own.
And he wanted to take care of Tyler.
His guy.
His.
He sat in his truck and stared at the rings, his gut a nervous, knotted mess. Tyler was expecting him home in an hour for dinner. He couldn’t put this off, couldn’t wait and plan it to be all romantic like Ty might. He needed it done, now, before he chickened out.
Tyler appeared pleasantly surprised by Tommy’s arrival. “My, you’re early.” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. We need to talk.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “You heard? Dammit! I told Eddie to keep that blasted mouth of his shut!”
Confused, Tommy stared. “What?”
“I told that man not to say anything. He probably couldn’t wait to spread the news.” Tyler grabbed Tommy’s hands. “This changes nothing between us, do you understand?” He cupped Tom’s chin in his palms and drew his face down to kiss him. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Okay, can we back up a few steps? What the hell are you talking about?”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “He didn’t tell you?” Tyler turned and smacked himself in the forehead. “Dammit!” He blew out a deep breath and turned back to Tommy, a huge grin spreading across his face. “My agent called this afternoon. There was an auction for the rights to Alarming Thoughts.”
“Auction?”
Tyler nodded and recaptured Tommy’s hands. “Yes. A very active one, from what I understand. One of the publishers bought it! They’ve offered a two-million-dollar advance, and they want the next two books for two million each!”
Tommy felt like the wind had been socked out of him. He staggered and grabbed the counter for support. Holy fuck! On the heels of that, the realization that now he couldn’t go through with his plan. Ty might think he was being opportunistic, trying to cash in. He’d wanted to ask Tyler if they could combine their finances and have legal papers drawn up for powers of attorney for each other, and other things like that. To finally be as legally “married” as they could be.
Not now.
“What’s wrong?” Tyler asked.
Tommy forced a smile and shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. That’s great! That’s fantastic news for you.”
“For us!” Tyler’s smile faded. “What’s going on?”
“I’m in shock, that’s all.”
“This changes nothing! This is as much yours as it is mine.” Tyler squeezed his hands. “I love you. You’re my heart and soul. This changes nothing.”
It changed everything.
Tom carefully pulled away from him. “Ty, it’s your money, not mine.” He turned to the window over the sink, trying to collect his thoughts. How would he take care of his guy if his guy was taking care of him? That’s not how he wanted it to be.
Tyler pressed against Tommy’s back and wrapped his arms around him. “Love, this is what we’ve worked so hard—what’s this?”
Tyler’s hand had traveled down the front of Tommy’s slacks and found the bulge the ring box made in his pocket.
Tom stepped away. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Persistent, Tyler slipped his hand inside Tommy’s pocket and came out with the box.
He swore and grabbed for it. “It’s nothing. I was going to—”
/>
“What? What were you going to do?” Tyler held the box out of reach.
Tommy stepped back, his face reddening. “It doesn’t matter now,” he mumbled.
Tyler grabbed Tommy’s hand and marched him into the living room where he sat him on the couch next to him. “Please,” he begged, “tell me!”
Tommy took the box back. He couldn’t look Tyler in the eyes. “It doesn’t really matter now,” he softly repeated.
“Now what? That you’ve found out I’m rich?” Tyler’s tone turned bitter. “I’ve got money now, so you think you’re beneath me? Do you really think so little of me or my love for you that you would believe that?”
“No!” He swore and made himself look at Ty. His lover’s blue eyes looked full of pain. “I love you! I don’t want to lose you. I was going to…” He couldn’t finish.
Tyler’s face softened. He reached out and stroked Tommy’s chin. “Going to what?”
Now feeling self-conscious, but figuring, What the hell, he dropped to one knee and opened the box. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. I spent the last few days looking around until I found what I wanted.”
He removed one of the rings and took Tyler’s left hand. “Look, I don’t want your money. I’m willing to sign anything Bob puts in front of me. I just want to take care of you. I want to be with you. As stupid as it sounds, I’m old-fashioned. I want to take care of you, not the other way around. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No one’s ever made me feel like this before, and honestly? Now I wish you hadn’t sold that fucking book because I don’t want you to think I want your money. I want to be the one taking care of you.”
He took a deep breath as he slipped the ring on Tyler’s finger. “We can’t get married, but would you marry me anyway? I mean, like this, at least? Make it unofficially official and do all the paperwork and stuff? Do you think you could spend the rest of your life stuck with me?”