“Then we’ll catch up with you later at Moonshiners,” Zane said as V stepped up to join them.
“You two have fun. Don’t get caught.”
“Never,” Zane laughed.
V grinned, looking over her shoulder as Zane led her away and Beau overheard her say, “What were y’all talking about?”
As they moved closer to the exit, Beau laughed at Zane’s response, “He suggested that we go get dessert.”
As more people filed out of the L&D waiting room, Beau fell into step, following them down the hall to the nursery where they would all receive the first glimpse of Kaleb’s and Zoey’s son. He made sure not to get caught up in the crowd, lingering behind as he kept an eye on Ethan. Something he found himself doing often.
At first, Beau had tried to play off his attraction to Ethan. Having lived nearly twenty-six years of his life being confused about what he wanted, forcing himself to fall in with the norm and not understanding why he couldn’t seem to find happiness, he had been a little overwhelmed by the initial draw he had to Zane, and now Ethan. Only with Ethan, Beau’s intrigue was magnified by a million, and he found his thoughts overwhelmed by the man. Sometimes, at the most inopportune times. But it was that original pull that made him realize exactly what he had been avoiding all his life.
In fact, the night he had been with Zane was when the weight of the world had fallen from his shoulders, understanding finally dawning. Did it hurt to realize that he was infatuated with his best friend? Damn straight it did. Worse that Zane was his best friend. But Beau knew going in that he wasn’t in love with Zane, just curious, so in a way, experimenting with Zane had been a blessing. Zane and V had offered him a safe environment that allowed him to understand himself more so than if he’d been with a stranger that he didn’t care about.
So what did he do after that whirlwind realization? He went on a date, of course. With a guy.
What a fucking disaster that had been.
There he was, shy as hell, nervous that he was actually at a turning point in his life that he finally understood, but had absolutely no clue as to how to handle it and he found himself on the worst first date in the history of dates. Aside from the fact that he spent an hour of his life that he would never get back talking to a man who wanted to do nothing more than figure out the mechanics of how the two of them could actually be together, Beau had found they had nothing in common.
Nothing.
After an awkward dinner with Joe, when Beau assured him that yes, he would probably fit, however, no, he didn’t actually want to try, Beau had thought his night couldn’t get any worse.
He’d been wrong.
As he was planning his escape, Beau saw a man he recognized sitting in a booth at the opposite end of the row. Blake Henley. The lying, cheating bastard was with a man – one that very much was not Ethan – at the very same restaurant. And yes, Blake was all over the mystery man. Had the two men been any closer, it would’ve been considered public indecency he was sure.
So, Beau could thank Joe for turning him off of potentially dating. And to this day, he hadn’t talked to anyone about it. V had tried to persuade him to talk a time or two, but he damn sure didn’t want to clue her in on the clusterfuck that had been that evening. He wanted to pretend it never happened and try the whole first date thing again.
One day.
Maybe.
That’s when his hang up with Ethan Walker began. Whether it was because he had finally embraced his attraction to men, or whether he was just concerned because he had seen Ethan’s supposed boyfriend with another guy, Beau found himself thinking about Ethan. All the damn time.
By the time he had mustered up enough courage to talk to Ethan, he realized too much time had passed to share the little secret he harbored. And now… Well, now he would look like he was just trying to interfere.
Had it not been for the fierce passion he had witnessed in Ethan’s beautiful blue-gray gaze on more than one occasion, Beau might’ve given up on the man. But the chemistry was there. And it was intense. Far stronger than anything he’d ever experienced in his life and it irked the shit out of him that Ethan was being so damned stubborn.
Not only did Beau find himself physically attracted to Ethan, he found that – thanks to the few occasions he’d had the opportunity – he could talk to him. Based on Beau’s limited experience, he knew that was rare.
Speaking of Ethan…
Beau eased behind the crowd gathered in the hall, keeping to the wall opposite the glass windows that offered a direct view into the nursery where it appeared a nurse was taking care of baby Walker. The oohs and ahhs from everyone were a dead giveaway.