The Love Series Complete Box Set (196 page)

He covers our hands with his, locking his eyes with mine. “And I promise the same.”

Chapter Twenty Six

August 15, 2015

“Holy hell, Reid! This couch weighs a ton.” I carefully maneuver my way down the back of the rented U-Haul truck.

Reid has the easy end, but he still jokes, “Sorry, man. It’s a sleeper, too.”

“I don’t care what it is. Please just tell me this is the last of it.” We drop the sofa on the front lawn of his and Maddy’s new home, catching our breath before lifting it again to try to bring it inside. I eye the door and then the couch.

“You sure this beast is going to fit?”

“Eh, if not, we can just bring it out back. Set up an outdoor home theater.” He’s laughing, but as I look back at the door once more, I think he might have that outdoor space sooner than he thinks.

On one last ditch effort, we somehow manage to get the couch into the house. Thankfully, it is in fact the last item. As soon as we drop it on the hardwood living room floor, both Reid and I crash down onto it, exhausted from a twelve-hour day of humping furniture out of their apartment and into their new home.

Since Maddy is about four months pregnant, she isn’t allowed to do more than unpack towels and blankets. Melanie, her newly engaged best friend, and Rachel are helping as well, but the guys have done all the heavy lifting.

Just as Maddy hands both Reid and me a few cold beers, Dylan and Bryan come jogging down the stairs, announcing that Braden’s Batman room is all set up. I still haven’t figured out how I got stuck with the furniture.

“All done?” Dylan asks, standing behind me, rubbing the knots out of my tired shoulders.

I tip back the longneck beer bottle, chugging down the cold brew. “Yep,” after handing him the empty bottle and swiping my forearms across my lips, I add, “and I’ll have another.”

I overhear tiny snippets of Dylan talking with the girls about who-knows-what. Honestly, I’m too tired to care. Reid’s words snap my attention back to the living room. He claps a hand on my shoulder; a similar look of exhaustion is mirrored on his face. “You guys are really good for each other.” Admiration for his surrogate brother shines in his words.

“Thanks, I think so, too.”

We hang around for a little while longer, devouring the pizza Reid and Maddy offered as payment for our help. The girls chat animatedly about what color to paint which room and what kind of curtains to get.

As for us guys, it’s simple. The cable guy came earlier. We watch sports.

Bryan, Melanie’s fiancé, stands and collects all of our paper plates. He looks down at his watch. “Let me take care of the router and modem in the office before we hit the road. Don’t want you guys to be without a phone or internet for the night.”

Melanie’s face melts in appreciation. As he walks away from us, she decides she’ll go help him, though I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know a thing about computers or technology.

“I think I’m gonna hit the road,” Rachel announces as she stands and gathers her bag and keys.

“Someone’s got a hot date!” Maddy taunts her and she immediately looks to me, almost afraid of what I’d say.

“I do not!” she huffs, pulling a shut-your-trap face at Maddy.

“He’ll find out eventually,” Maddy defends before sticking her tongue out at my sister. They’ve become close in the last couple of months, and I think being friends with Maddy has helped Rachel find her own place here in Elmira.

“Come on. I’ll walk you out.” I lay a protective hand on her arm and escort Rachel to her car.

When we’re outside, I stand with my arms crossed, trying my best to keep a straight face. She sees straight through it, poking me in the chest, telling me, “You’re an ass!”

“What?” I mock. “I had to at least make you feel a little guilty.”

Now she crosses her arms over her chest and spins around, giving me her back. “Rach,” I turn her back to face me, “I’m happy for you.” Popping a quick kiss to her forehead, I add, “Have a good time tonight, and be sure to call me tomorrow.” She smiles at my approval and I return a smile at her happiness.

Waving at her as she pulls down the quiet suburban street, my chest fills with a light feeling of contentedness. Lightning bugs flicker in the early summer evening, spotting the darkening sky with their neon green dots of light. Out for an evening stroll, a family walks past me, waving and greeting me cheerily. Despite looking like something out of a Normal Rockwell painting, this kind of life—quiet and peaceful, normal and routine—is exactly what I’d always wanted, what I still want.

When I walk back inside, it’s just Reid and Dylan on the couch. Completely enraptured in the baseball game on the TV, they don’t even hear me. When the game ends, Dylan looks at me, silently asking me if I’m ready to go home. I nod and we stand to leave.

“Thanks again, guys,” Maddy calls, walking down the stairs. She hugs each of us. “We wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much done as we did if it wasn’t for you two.” She curls herself into Reid’s side, and he kisses her head.

“See you guys at the cookout tomorrow, right?” Reid stammers, something odd in his voice, and says goodbye.

“What was that all about?” I ask Dylan as we walk out to his car.

He shrugs, before sliding into his seat. “Not sure,” he says as he starts the car. “Must be more tired than we thought,” he guesses and we pull away from the house.

“Grab that case of beer out of the fridge,” Dylan’s voice calls out from the bedroom as he finishes getting ready. We’re going to Lucy and Evan’s for a cookout. As the summer dwindles down, there aren’t many more opportunities for us to get together as a group.

“Ready?” Dylan sneaks up behind me, planting a chaste kiss to my cheek as he grabs his keys from the counter. Freshly showered and smelling of soap and everything heavenly, Dylan looks incredible in a fitted baby blue polo, khaki shorts, and flip-flops. He’s been working out more, using the excuse that he gets to spend more time with me at the gym, and it’s definitely showing.

When we pull up to Lucy and Evan’s, I notice a change in Dylan. It’s subtle, but noticeable. His leg bounces; his spine straightens. The smile on his face that’s usually causal and lopsided, is now forced and odd. “You okay?” I ask, dropping a hand to his nervous leg.

“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go.” Even his words sound off, rushed and slightly higher pitched. I shrug it off—something could be going on at work that he’s not telling me about just yet. As far as he’s come and open as he is about everything, he still has stuff to work out—so do I.

As I lace my fingers through his, I let my eyes scan over him. He’s not perfect, and neither am I. We’re far from it, in fact. But we’re trying, so damn hard some days that it’s exhausting. But when he squeezes my hand and searches my face, asking, “What?” with a soft smile, and crinkle at the corner of his eyes, I know it’s all worth it.

“Nothing,” I dismiss his question and simply squeeze his hand back.

The soft click of the gate unlatching precedes the loud “Surprise” that welcomes us into the back yard. Like a fool, I look behind me, thinking that there must be someone else following us in. “Happy Birthday!” Dylan says as some of the loud cheers subside.

I look over at him, confusion clearly evident on my face. “What? My birthday was two weeks ago.”

“You were still in a cast,” is the explanation Dylan offers as Rachel rushes over to us, leaping into my arms.

“Happy 30
^th
, old man!” Her voice is full of excitement, as she squeezes the life out of me.

Scanning the yard, I see all of the people who are important to me and Dylan huddled around us. Everything is draped in “Over the Hill” decorations. “You did this?” I look between Dylan and Rachel. They don’t need to say a thing; the proud and accomplished look on their faces says it all.

After saying hello to everybody—and I mean everybody, co-workers from the gym, old Mrs. Keating, Maddy and Reid, Melanie and Bryan, Lucy and Evan, Adrian and Troy, along with some of my old fighting buddies, even John and Elise, Dylan’s old college friends—Dylan pulls me to the side and introduces me to two people I’m more than surprised to be meeting.

“I’d like you to meet my parents, Ben and Jillian.” Though nervousness begins to consume me, Dylan’s mom instantly makes it go away, engulfing me in a tight embrace.

“It is
so
nice to finally meet you. We’ve heard so much about you.” Jillian holds me at arm’s length. Her eyes bright—the same color as her son’s—are shining with tears of happiness.

Ben extends his hand, shaking mine firmly, adding a solid pat to the back. “It’s a pleasure, son.”

There’s so much about them that reminds me about my own parents—their kind openness, their hearty laughter, their genuine love and concern for their son. But, perhaps the most astounding thing about them is their willingness to accept me in their lives just as Dylan has in his.

Dylan and his father walk to the cooler to grab some drinks and his mom pulls me to the side. “I just had to say thank you.” She sits in a chair and prompts me to sit next to her.

“For?” I ask, nervously fidgeting with the grey, plastic tablecloth.

“For making him happy.” Her simple answer speaks volumes. “He deserves to be happy, even though he thought he didn’t for so long. It took him far too long, and he wasted too much time thinking he wasn’t worthy. You’ve shown him all the things he couldn’t see on his own.” Her kind smile is impossible to dismiss, her powerful words, impossible to ignore.

Her eyes travel behind me just as Dylan’s hand claps down on my shoulder. “You two okay?”

Covering his hand with mine and looking up at him, I simply say, “Perfect.”

With lots of good food and company, the party passes by in a blur. Toward the end of the night, Lucy comes out with a huge sheet cake in her hands, and everyone starts in on a chorus of “Happy Birthday” as Dylan stands next to me.

The feeling of warmth that washes over me as I look around the yard is one that I’ve never experienced before. These people, some of who have only recently become important to me, have openly welcomed me into their lives. While I never wanted for a family of my own, I’ve missed it terribly in the last two years. They’ll never be replaced, but with people like this, their absence is a lot less painful.

After I blow out the candles, and everyone’s clapping dies down, Dylan clears his throat, holding his beer up for what I assume is a short speech thanking everyone for coming.

“I’d like to thank everyone for coming.” Totally predictable. I peer over at him, offering him a wry look, which he ignores. “Since I met Conner, my life has been,” he rubs his chin, pretending to be lost in thought, “different,” he settles on. He ignores my playful nudge to the side, barely noticing it at all. “Different in the best of ways.” His blue eyes shimmer, a deep sapphire like the clearest of oceans. “I never knew how empty my life was until Conner revived it. We’re all here today to celebrate this man,” he laces our fingers together at our side, “so I just wanted to take a minute to tell you all not only how much I love him, but how thankful I am every single day for having him in my life.”