I glanced around the empty living room. The house looked the same, even after all these years.
“It’s kind of strange to be back here.”
West wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me close. “And probably even weirder knowing you own it.”
“I don’t own it. You do.” I turned and draped my arms over his shoulders.
“We do.” He pressed a soft kiss against my lips. “That’s what happens when you’re married.”
Flutters of happiness exploded in my stomach, and I grinned at my husband.
West pulled my left hand off his shoulder and kissed the thin gold band on my ring finger.
Four years ago, West had surprised me with a night at a fancy hotel under the guise of helping me relax before presenting my dissertation. When we’d arrived, the room had been filled with candles, and rose petals had spelled out “will you marry me” on the king-sized bed. It had been the most perfect and romantic night of my life.
We’d gotten married a few months later in a small ceremony surrounded by our family and friends, and every day I fell a little bit more in love.
We’d weathered our share of bumps in the eight years we’d been together, but each one had only brought us closer.
Unfortunately, things with West’s family hadn’t gotten any better. His father had disowned him less than a year after we’d moved to California. West had put on a brave face, but I knew how much it had hurt him.
Luckily, my parents had welcomed him into the family with open arms, and my little siblings loved their uncle West.
Things with Gray hadn’t been as smooth. A part of me still felt guilty for what I’d put Gray through and how much he’d sacrificed for my happiness, but he’d found his own in an unexpected place as well. It would seem we Hawthornes didn’t do anything the easy way.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
I shot him a curious look, but before I could say anything, the front door opened with a loud thud.
“Get a room!” a loud, familiar voice boomed from the hall.
“Technically, we are in a room,” West said.
I spun in his arms, barely containing my squeal of happiness when Matt and Jax walked into the living room.
“Hey, little bro.” Matt held out his arms.
I detangled myself from West, raced across the room, and launched myself at him.
He caught me with a laugh. He gave me a huge bear hug and spun me around, lifting me right off the floor. He passed me to Jax, who hugged me tight, then put me down.
“What are you doing here?” I looked between the two men.
Almost a year had passed since I’d seen them. Jax had retired from playing professional baseball last year, and they’d settled in Canada, close to Jax’s family.
“We came to celebrate your graduation. Duh.” Matt ruffled my hair, a huge grin on his handsome face.
“Really?” I glanced at West, who grinned at us. “Did you set this up?”
“Maybe.”
“When did you guys get in?” I turned back to my friends.
“About the same time as we did,” another familiar voice said from the open front door.
Alex and Kai stepped into the house, their smiles as wide as mine.
“Get your ass over here,” Kai said.
I hurried over and threw my arms around them. They lived in Seattle, and we tried to get together a couple of times a year, but it had been months since we’d last seen them.
“It’s so good to see you guys.” I stepped back from our group hug. “Are Beck and Finn coming too?” I peeked around them just as the men in question came bounding up the steps and into the house.
Alex and Kai greeted Matt, Jax, and West with hugs and handshakes as Beck scooped me up and hugged me tight.
When he let me go, Finn stepped forward with a shy smile and hugged me, albeit less dramatically than the others.
Beck and Finn lived in Massachusetts, but they visited Beck’s family in Seattle often, and we got together with them and Alex and Kai whenever we were all in town together. The last time had been almost six months ago, and I’d missed everyone.
“This is…” I looked around the room as the others greeted Beck and Finn. “Wow.”
“What, you thought we’d miss your big celebration?” Kai slung his arm over Alex’s shoulder. “You’re lucky West called us. You can’t come to town and not hang out with us.”
Alex grinned and leaned against Kai. “Jesus. When was the last time we were all together like this?”
“When this guy retired.” Matt slapped his husband’s stomach.
“Oof.” Jax elbowed Matt in the side. “Watch it.”
“You’re getting soft now that you’re an old man.”
“You’re two months older than me, jackass.” Jax shot him an unimpressed look.
“Maybe, but which one of us is retired?”
“You two are like giant toddlers.” Beck smiled fondly.
“Keeps life interesting.” Jax grinned.
West came to stand next to me and kissed my temple. “Happy graduation, sweetheart. I figured it was the perfect time to get everyone together again.”
“Thanks. But it’s not like this is a big deal or anything.”
“Dude, you just got your second PhD.” Matt gave me an incredulous look. “Of course that’s a reason to celebrate. Do we call you Dr. Hawthorne or Dr. Doctor?”
“Just one doctor.” I snickered, even as my face flushed.
“There’s a fuck ton of doctors in this room.” Jax looked around. “Finn, Kai, Eli with the double credentials. Then there’s us.”
Matt chuckled. “We really are the dumb jocks of the group.”
“You really are.” Alex grinned. “But we love you guys anyway.”
“Don’t be so uppity, Mr. Alexander. Your hubby’s the one with the title, not you.” Matt lightly punched Alex in the shoulder.
“Is it just me, or is it weird to be back here?” Beck looked around the living room.
“It’s not just you,” Alex and Matt said.
“To think this is where it all began. How we all lived here when we figured out who we are and who we were meant to be with.”
Finn wrapped his arm around Beck’s waist. “Feels like a lifetime ago but also like it was yesterday.”
“Want to do a tour, for old time’s sake?” West asked the group.
“Before we do that, we have an announcement.” Finn blushed bright pink.
“Holy fucking shit.” Matt clapped excitedly. “You guys are getting—”
Jax covered Matt’s mouth with his hand. “How about we let them announce it?”
Beck smiled affectionately at Matt, who looked properly abashed, even with Jax’s hand still over his mouth. “Good to see you haven’t changed.”
Matt winked.
“But yeah.” Beck looked at Finn, who was staring back at him adorably. “I asked Finn to marry me, and he said yes.”
The room erupted in cheers, and everyone rushed forward to congratulate and hug them.
“Thank you,” I said to West as the others peppered Beck and Finn with questions about their engagement and upcoming wedding.
“Of course.” He kissed my hair.
We might all live in different places and lead different lives, but we were family, and it meant the world that everyone had come to celebrate my graduation.
When the group calmed, we wandered through the house that had been our home eight years ago. We laughed and joked and reminisced, mostly about all the places we’d caught each other fucking and the times when Beck and Finn, and Matt and Jax hadn’t realized that the rest of us had front-row seats to their sexcapades because they’d forgotten that sound travels.
The room I’d lived in had been converted back into an attic, and was used for storage now. It was one of the first things West had done when he’d bought out his father and taken over ownership of student housing two years ago.
The acquisition had been a bittersweet moment. West had followed in his father’s footsteps and had gotten into real estate. Only he focused on building and maintaining affordable housing. He had properties all over California and a few here in Washington state.
One of the reasons we’d come back, outside of celebrating completing my program, was so West could check in on his properties.
His father’s shady practices had finally caught up with him, and after news of his more illegal activities had hit the media, he’d been forced to liquidate most of his assets. The school had bought the land they currently used, and a good number of his downtown properties were now owned by locals. West had bought out his share of student housing, the house he’d lived in when we’d first met, a block of apartment buildings on the east side, and their family home on the hill. Things had changed drastically, and West’s father no longer had a stranglehold on the town.
West had spent the past few years fixing up the properties, and he’d demolished the house on the hill. In its place was brand-new housing for teen mothers and youths who found themselves displaced while they got back on their feet.
My family lived in the Queen Anne house, and my parents managed the student housing properties.
We’d both felt strongly about trying to right the wrongs of his father, and I loved how we were able to work with our family and give them the life they should have had all along.
While West had been busy setting up his businesses, I’d gotten my master’s, then my first PhD. I’d spent a year working at a pharmaceutical company but had taken a research position at Stanford after getting burned out. I hadn’t become a medical researcher to push pills on people, and on a whim, I’d decided to get another PhD in physics.
Now that I’d finished my program, I’d accepted another research position at Stanford, this time as the head of my own team.
“Does The Blue Door still do trivia nights?” Matt asked as we left the house. “We should totally enter one of their tournaments and clean up on prize money. For old time’s sake.”
“The Blue Door doesn’t exist anymore.” West locked the door. “It’s changed hands a few times since they closed. I think it’s a sports bar now.”
“Too bad,” Matt said. “Could have been fun.”
“We could always play pool again.” I made sure to keep my expression innocent. “I haven’t touched a pool stick since the last time we played.”
“Yeah.” Matt chuckled. “Like I’m going to believe that again.”
Kai snickered. “Still a little shit stirrer.” He ruffled my hair. I batted his hand away playfully. “I seem to recall you hustling that group of bikers when we went out last time you visited.”
“Not my fault they underestimated me.”
West slipped his hand into my back pocket. “And they were the ones who demanded they go double or nothing.”
“That was a good night,” Alex said. “Nothing like watching a bunch of bikers in leather chaps crying into their beers because they got their asses kicked by a science nerd.”
I smiled serenely.
“So we were promised dinner.” Matt looked between me and West. “You can’t invite athletes for dinner and not deliver the goods.”
“Dinner?” I asked West.
He grinned. “I rented out Cravings for the night. Figured we’d have some dinner and catch up. And I have it on good authority that Tabby has been busy trying out new diabetic-friendly cake recipes, so you’d better save room for dessert.”
“Cake?” Matt and Alex perked up.
“You had me at dinner.” Beck grinned.
“Same.” Jax pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. “Everyone got a ride?”
We all nodded.
Matt took off toward the street. “Last one there gets the check!”
“Think again, fucker!” Jax raced after him.
“They really are giant toddlers,” Alex said.
“Still got that golden retriever energy,” Beck said. “I think Matt’s rubbed off on Jax. He’s a little more enthusiastic than usual.”
Alex and I snickered.
“I’m sure Matt’s rubbed off on Jax plenty over the years,” Kai drawled and dug a set of keys out of Alex’s pocket.
“Just say you wanna touch my dick, Dr. Alexander.” Alex waggled his eyebrows at his husband. “No need to pretend to go for the keys.”
“You guys do the doctor role-play thing too?” Beck asked.
“Oh my god.” Finn covered his face with his hands.
“Hell, yeah.” Alex grinned, and Kai twirled the keys around his finger.
“Us too. Only West is usually the one playing the doctor role.”
“You can take the boys out of college, but you can’t take the college out of the boys.” Finn dropped his hands. “You realize we’re thirty or close to it?”
“Some of us are way older than that. I mean, Kai here is almost forty.”
“You’re going to pay for that one later,” Kai said to Alex, his voice dripping with heat. “I’m thirty-three.”
“Don’t worry, Kai,” I said sweetly. “Age is only a number. And forty is the new thirty.”
“You’re lucky I’ve known you since you were born.” He slipped his hand into Alex’s. “Come on, children. Let’s go have some dinner and try to behave like adults.”
“Yeah, right.” Alex snickered.
“Have you met us?” Beck grinned.
“We’ll see you there?” Kai turned to West, who nodded.
“Where’d you guys park?” Beck asked Alex.
“Down the block.” He pointed to the left.
“Us too.” Beck took Finn’s hand in his. “See you there?” He glanced at us.
We nodded, and the four of them took off down the street.
“Thanks for this.” I wrapped my arms around West’s waist.
“Of course.” He held me close. “And this is only part one of my surprise.”
“Part one?”
“Yup. I rented a cabin for a few days, and we’re all going to head up there tomorrow and have an unplugged weekend of catching up and relaxing. I made sure there’s a telescope for Beck and Finn to geek out over and a poker set so we can watch Matt and Jax battle it out while Alex and Kai try to outbluff each other. I also packed our noise-canceling headphones for after because I remember what happened last time we riled everyone up, then went to bed on the same floor.”
I laughed as the memories of my friends loudly and enthusiastically enjoying their nights came back to me. “And what about us? Is there something special for us too?”
“I may or may not have packed our remote-controlled plug.”
“Really?” I licked my lips. “And which one of us is going to be wearing it?”
“I thought you should get that honor the first night. Then I’ll take my turn the next.”
“A fine plan if I’ve ever heard one.” I leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” He smiled at me. “And I’m so proud of you.”
I flushed hot.
“Come on, we should get going.” He brushed another kiss against my lips. “We don’t want to leave Matt and Jax unsupervised for too long. Especially around food.”
“Good call.”
West took my hand and led me down the street toward where we’d parked.
If someone had asked me eight years ago where I thought I’d be today, I would have said I’d be a lonely workaholic trying to fit into a world I didn’t feel a part of.
Now, I was a happily married man with a family, friends, and a whole community of people. I embraced the parts of me that were different, and I’d figured out that the world was what you made of it.
Things weren’t perfect, and there would be plenty more bumps in the road, but knowing that I’d be facing them with West made every day an adventure.
Not only did I have the love of my life, my biggest cheerleader, and my best friend by my side, but we’d built the life we wanted and were making a difference in the world, one step at a time.
Eight years ago, I’d fallen in love with my brother’s rival, and I couldn’t be happier.
