Falcon tried to stop rereading Blane’s Grindr profile, but like a siren, the profile picture called his thumb to press it again.

Vet in the Knoxville area. Drinks, dinner, coffee, a movie? Let’s see if we click and go from there!

(I am not your vet, unless you own an elephant. Please don’t ask me why your cat meows so much. Also, get cat toys.)

It was sweet, short, and tantalizing. No other details about him like preferred position…

Sure, he was getting ahead of himself, but the flirtation yesterday was hard to miss.

He really had to get up.

Falcon pushed himself out of bed, leaving the phone there, and rubbed his eyes. One corner of his studio held a small kitchen countertop for coffee. The advantage of living alone, even if the place was tiny and served as both his work and living space, was that he could sleep naked. Morning wood be damned, he could get coffee before he dealt with it.

Falcon couldn’t remember his dreams, but he was fairly sure he’d fallen asleep with thoughts of Blane on his mind. Those sexy, strong arms, the muscles visible even through his uniform shirt; the sweet, wide smile and focused eyes. The growly grumpiness, and how quickly that gave way to a friendly, charming gentleman underneath. The tenderness he showed the animals when he was working around and with them.

Fumbling to put the coffee on, Falcon tried to stop those thoughts. He had a family meeting to go to—his Mom had called it, probably to see how else she could interfere with Rosalina’s planning.

Not that anyone meant ill by it, but it was still a lot of fuss and hassle that didn’t need to be made. His sister had things under control.

But he couldn’t be anxious and excited and checking Grindr every two minutes around them. The last thing he needed was questions about his future… or his past. If they figured out he’d been with Spencer? Ugh. He didn’t want any of that shit. The past should stay in the past.

It didn’t stop him thinking about Blane as he headed for the bathroom, warmth stirring in his body again. With the hot water streaming over his body and his soapy hand around his thickening cock, he let Blane’s quick smile and full lips come to mind again.

All right, all right. Just a quickie.

It didn’t escape his notice that, after his shower was done and he’d wrapped himself in his fluffy towel to get dressed, he kept thinking about Blane.

* * *

“Shoot me now, please.”

“Oh, don’t be overdramatic, Falcon,” his mother told him. She clicked her tongue as she unwound the silk scarf from around her neck and draped it over the back of the chair.

“Says the woman who named us Rosalina and Falcon,” he retorted with a grin. “Besides, you know wedding planning isn’t my thing. I don’t know why you even need me here.”

“You have excellent taste. And, my dear, there might be decoration requirements.” His mother looked toward Rosalina. “So, your wedding planner: does she have all the work farmed out? We can put our heads together and help save you money.”

His sister hesitated, glancing between them. “Well… we’re hoping to push up our savings rate. But you have much more important things to do for yourself on your own time.”

Falcon nodded slightly. “I can still help. I’m not working 24/7,” he told her. “How about setting up on the day?”

“Perfect,” his mother approved. “What about invitations? Are they designed?”

“Mom.” Rosalina’s lips twitched into a smile. “I believe this was supposed to be a family catch-up, not a wedding intervention. Jenny and I have it under control.”

“Oh, you know Mom.” Falcon leaned in to take more mini-cucumber sandwiches. When his mom decided to go fancy, she went all-out. The crusts were even cut off the tiny triangles. “Can’t resist.”

“You wonder where he gets his artistic inclinations from?” Rosalina agreed, looking at their mother. “It’s your fault.”

“I don’t do art!”

Falcon looked pointedly at the sandwiches, then around at the little backyard. It was the kind of backyard garden you’d expect to see in the pages of a magazine, or an idealistic Instagram feed.

“That’s not the same,” she insisted, but she was smiling.

“And you gave her the fashion thing,” Falcon gestured between them. They were both dressed in bright, floral colors, but neither of them looked tacky. He preferred to stick with simpler, cheaper clothes himself, since paint had that way of getting everywhere. “That’s art, too.”

“Nonsense,” she waved him off.

“Like it or not, Mom, you’re an artist in need of an outlet.” Rosalina nodded seriously and leaned in, folding her hands. “This is an intervention.”

“Mmhmm.” Falcon looked at Rosalina. “Pottery? Landscapes?”

Rosalina winked. “I was thinking experimental art. Performance art?”

“Oooh. If we can get Mom to pretend to be a statue on the front lawn…” Falcon hummed.

Their mother pinched both their earlobes, making them yelp and laugh, squirming out of her hold just like they were teens again and had been caught spraying the windows with Super Soakers. “Cheeky monkeys.”

“There you are!” Jenny emerged from the house and slid into the wide wicker chair, sharing the seat with Rosalina as she leaned in for a kiss. “What have I missed?”

“Only Mom deciding she wants to do your invitations, I think,” Falcon laughed. “Or otherwise desperately needs some outlet for her creative energies.”

“Well, I’m sure you could use an assistant,” Jenny suggested, grinning.

Their mother clicked her tongue and threw her hands in the air. “Oh, you’re as bad as them.”

“Why do you think I’m marrying her?” Rosalina smiled at Jenny in that “about to be newlyweds” way that made Falcon roll his eyes.

“I thought it was the great sex.”

All three of them stared. “Mom!” Falcon exclaimed while Jenny started laughing and Rosalina turned bright red.

“Ah, not so fun when the tables are turned, is it?”

Falcon groaned. “Tell me why I’m here.”

“Something to do with your eye for design. I think she’s asking if you got that eye for design from her, or something you haven’t told us.” Rosalina’s eyes twinkled.

It was far from the first time they’d made gay jokes. Hell, since her coming out in high school, the joke had been that he was more gay than she was. None of them knew how true that was.

“You’ll have to wait and see,” Falcon teased right back.

All the women sat up straighter in the same moment. “Are you bringing a plus-one? Mr. or Ms.?” Rosalina exclaimed. “I told Jenny to make sure there were two invitations printed for you… did you? Shit, did I tell you or did I just plan to? Are they printed yet?”

“We’re all sitting right here. You can tell him informally,” Mom urged. “Nobody will be checking cards at the door, will they?”

“Mom!” Jenny laughed. “I wasn’t planning on checking ID. I probably recognize my brother-in-law.”

Hearing Jenny called her Mom seemed to defuse her worries, and she smiled back at Jenny. “All right, honey.”

“Whoa,” Falcon laughed richly at the commotion he’d caused. “I was joking.” The way they seemed totally prepared to accept his news made him relax, though. It didn’t feel like hiding something. It just wasn’t their business.

Yet.

He kind of hoped he’d have cause to tell them soon. For now, he couldn’t keep a man more than one night anyway.

“You’re not bringing a plus-one?” All three of them looked disappointed. It was like a room full of sad puppies.

“We’ll see,” he deferred the conversation for another day. No need to explain that he was probably going to be sad and single until he found a guy who was interesting and kind and good in bed.

But it kept turning in his head, now that the idea had been suggested. What a ballsy move that would be, bringing a man to a wedding where his asshole ex was going to show up. That would be a hell of a way to show him he’d moved on.

Man, it wouldn’t even have to be his real boyfriend. Spencer would never know otherwise. All they had to do was play it up for the wedding. They could pretend to split up afterward, nobody would be the wiser. And knowing his sister, she’d be over the freaking moon, not feeling upstaged, if he used the opportunity to come out.

It wasn’t that bad an idea. Seeking potential dates might open his mind to other opportunities that he’d been subconsciously passing up since… well, since he was a teen. They didn’t have to be the perfect match for him, if it was for one day. Just someone he liked enough to want to see for that long.

Falcon just had to find someone who was willing to play along, and he knew who he wanted it to be.

Speaking of setting himself up for disappointment. There was no guarantee Blane would even want to hang out with him outside the park, let alone pretend to be his boyfriend at a family wedding just to piss off an ex. How weird was that for a first date?

It doesn’t have to be our first.

He pushed that thought out of his head. He had to wait for Monday and see what happened. There was no point in getting his hopes up now.

It never worked out in the end.