There’s a very short list of things that would scar him for life. Walking in on his parents having sex: never happened. Having to sit in a van with a stoned Little for two days: happened more than once. And now he could add walking in on Scary fucking Tank while Elijah jerked off to that list. He was sitting at the bar trying to drink that vision away waiting for his cousin and his men to finish whatever they were doing. Because the three men barely paused when he opened the fucking door.

“Eye bleach, my friend, eye bleach,” Twitch whispered as he poured him another double.

“I may need therapy.” He downed the double and tapped his glass on the bar top.

“No, you’ll need therapy when you walk in on double penetration. How Elijah takes those two, he must live with a plug in.”

“Twitch?” He looked at Twitch.

“What?”

“Never mention Elijah with a butt plug so he can take my cousin’s dick ever again.”

“You’re such a prude, it’s shameful.”

“I’m not a prude.”

“Whatever you say. You know, it’s probably not a good idea to get drunk in your uniform.”

“I’m off duty, but fuck, you’re probably right.” He slid the drink away to the rail and sighed as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

“So, what made you desperate enough to come see Scary?”

“He’s family.”

“Want to mend those childhood rifts?”

“Well, it seems like he’s all the family I got.”

He tried to ignore the phone call he’d made to his mother earlier, but it just kept coming back to him. Part of him thought if he’d told her that he’d found his happy ever after that she’d maybe be at least a little happy for him. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known. He wasn’t going to hide what he felt for Ellison and Eric, or that one day he’d marry them. Lily would perform the ceremony. Even though they were already pretty much living with him, he hadn’t asked them to give up their place. He still wanted them to have freedom.

“Did you take notes?” Scary’s amused voice made him groan.

He didn’t want to turn around. He’d never be able to look at them again.

“Drinking on the job, Sheriff, it couldn’t have been that bad. My men are sexy together.”

He shot a glare at Elijah. He’d heard the stories of the straight-laced and proper Elijah before he’d married Scary and Tank. They’d corrupted the beautiful man and Elijah didn’t seem to mind.

“He’s my cousin and—”

“Relax, walking in on someone is inevitable. Crave and Twitch like the women’s restroom on breaks a bit too much.”

“Thanks, doesn’t make me feel much better, Elijah.”

“Wasn’t meant to. Alright, Scary, Tank, don’t forget Juvie’s first show is tonight at eight.”

“Would we forget our daughter’s first gallery show?” Scary asked.

He watched Scary and Tank say goodbye to their man. They were so in sync with each other. Touches and kisses were equal—the love between them unconditional. It still shocked him to see his beast of a cousin that gone over someone. Scary had sworn relationships weren’t for him. Maybe it was just Elijah and Tank. He’d felt Scary’s love for Tank was hidden for decades. He’d noticed things back then but hadn’t thought too much about it until he’d found out Scary had married Tank and Elijah.

Elijah left, and Scary turned to him. “These visits are becoming too frequent. What we fucking do now?”

“Nothing, besides if y’all did, Peaches would get you off free and clear with minimal effort.”

“True. So, what’s up?”

Tank took a seat, and Scary sat beside him. Tank didn’t interact with him much, but that was old wounds. He didn’t think the man still forgave him for locking Scary up. Twitch set the two men up with pints.

“I don’t know, just got off the phone with Mother.”

“Pleasant shit I’m sure.”

His mother and father turned their backs any time Scary came into a room when they were kids. Their disdain for Scary’s mother transferred to Scary. His parents hadn’t even attended the funeral. He’d gone, but Scary didn’t let him close. Yet he’d stayed at a distance as he watched the big man grieve with Tank beside Scary.

“I told her about Eric and Ellison.”

Scary snorted and took a sip of the pint. “I bet that made her go into an undignified meltdown.”

“You could say that. She uninvited me for the holidays.”

“I’m sure that hurt your feelings.”

“Not so much. I didn’t want to go anyway. She wasn’t going to let me bring a date.”

“Unless said date had tits and a pussy, no fucking way she would’ve let them through the door.”

“Can’t help it stings a bit though.”

“Of course it does. Mama knew about me, said I needed to find a nice man, even grandma said the same. I don’t know how your dad and my mama came from the same woman.”

“I told Eric and Ellison I was going to talk to my mother about maybe—”

“They’ll understand. Besides you got enough fucking family just from the Crews. It’ll be all fucking good. Lily and Peaches for all their fucked-up quirks are the best mother figures most of us could get.”

“Yeah, that, I’ve had to learn to ignore a lot of shit with y’all since I took over as Sheriff.”

“We’re a little fucked-up. Not everything we do is all that legal, but smoking a little weed every now and again, maybe making a few bodies—”

“No, I don’t want to know about disappearing bodies.”

“Prude,” Twitch whispered, and he shot the little man a glare.

“I’m not a prude. I’m just…things are so fucking different here. I go from living by the book, no deviations and now, I don’t know.”

“You got a helluva fucking gig, man. Not to mention two young men that love your old ass. You don’t need your parents bullshit.”

“I just don’t—”

“I know what you don’t want to do, but your parents being dicks ain’t got shit to do with what you got with Sin and Saint.”

“I’m going to marry them at Christmas.” He hadn’t said that aloud. When they’d talked about having kids, all that shit he’d put to the back of his mind—the things he knew he couldn’t have—came back to him. He hadn’t lied to them when he said he wanted to one day, but one day in the near future. And the look on Ellison’s beautiful face when he talked about a daughter. He wanted that happiness to come true for them. He’d already had a private talk with Lou, but he told her to keep it quiet.

“Okay, wait the fuck up, info like this would’ve spread like the plague.”

“I ain’t asked yet. I got them rings today on my lunch break.”

“Well, Camden Pelter hardass extraordinaire has met his matches.”

“I’d like for you to be best man.”

“What, me, I don’t—”

“Come on, Scary, you’re the only blood family I got left, and we might not get along or really like each other all that much, but I’d really like my family there.”

“Then I’ll be there. Lily and Peaches will lose their shit when they find out they get to plan another wedding.”

“I’d complain, but Lily and Peaches plan amazing weddings…and kidnappings.”

“We all have our talents. Speaking of talents, Juvie is going to be looking for us.”

Tank and Scary stood, and he could see the pride they had for their daughter. Juvie was twenty and making a go of it with metal sculptures. He’d noticed a pattern when it came to the crew kids—they were encouraged to do their own thing. No limits were set on what they could do.

“How’s the art thing working for her?”

“She loves it, and it keeps her semi-out of trouble. Unfortunately, she’s not a juvenile anymore, so we got that bail fund started.”

They headed for the door together, and he caught the door Tank held open for him, then Tank took off for their bikes.

“She’s a good kid.”

“Yeah, she is, she’s still working through some shit, but it is what it is. She didn’t have the best start.”

“Go, I have to head home, but my boys might not be there. I’m sure they wouldn’t miss a crew kid’s special day. Tank still hasn’t forgiven me.”

“That’s never going to happen. Tank has a long memory. You locked me up, but also let that fucker who tried to kill him go.”

“I didn’t have—”

“It’ll work out. Now, go home to your men.”

He waved Scary and Tank off. He had a lot of regrets, but he’d been great at his job. Since moving there though, it didn’t seem as important. That didn’t bode well for his continued job as Sheriff. The town was different. He didn’t look the other way like Thorpe had. Yeah, he let a few things go here and there, but he fought his battles where he could. He’d gone head to head with Peaches too many times and come out the loser.

He strode across the lot to his Sheriff-issued vehicle and started his short trip home. He was going to ask his boys to marry him. It wasn’t going to be fancy and probably not all that romantic, but he only had a few more months until Christmas. Not a lot of time to get everything planned. He wondered if he was crazy for doing this since they hadn’t dated more than four months. He wouldn’t deny it felt right and he sure as hell wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to have what he’d always wanted. So many years he’d denied what he’d dreamed of having, and he wasn’t going to do that anymore. Yes, Eric and Ellison would always come first, his priority, and if they were able to add to their family, then that would be great too.

It was all coming together. He just hoped nothing came along to fuck it up. He’d waited too fucking long for this, and the time he’d wasted denying himself and his boys—no time for regrets. All that was left was to put his plan into action. He smiled as his brightly lit house came into view. Both his SUV and the boys’ car were parked out front.

This is what he’d been waiting for. It wasn’t about anything other than waiting for Eric and Ellison. This was right and worth any risk. If he only had a year or fifty with them, he’d fucking cherish each one. Now, to ask his boys to marry him.

When he rushed inside, he heard Eric and Ellison’s voices coming from the kitchen. Their soft laughter filled his house. He removed his belt, stowed his service weapon in his office safe, and made his way to the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway. Eric and Ellison were working at the stove. The table was already set.

“He’ll be home soon.”

“Daddy won’t be mad if dinner isn’t ready as soon as he walks in the door.” Eric bumped Ellison with his hip.

“I know, but he always has dinner ready when we get home. This doesn’t look like the picture on the recipe. What did we do wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. All those pictures are professionally taken. It’ll taste fine. Now, who’s going to make dinner late?”

“Daddy makes this look so easy.”

Ellison was getting better, but his baby had moments of insecurity still. He’d have to work harder to make Ellison more secure. He cleared his throat the minute he saw Ellison’s shoulders drop and he seemed to pull into himself.

“Something smells good.”

“It’s—”

“Ellison.”

“Thank you.”

“That’s better.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny bag that held the two rings. “Come here. I have presents for you two.”

“Presents!” Eric grabbed Ellison’s hand.

Once they stopped in front of him, he took a deep breath and dropped to his knees. “Now, I know we talked about waiting until all three of us were ready, but I love you two, and I want to know if you’d like a Christmas wedding?”

He observed their expressions as they shifted from shock, to confusion, and then huge, bright smiles spread across their full lips.

“Yes,” they both squealed.

He stood as they held out their left hands and he slipped the simple white gold bands on their fingers. He pulled the other bag out and handed it to them.

“Your turn.”

They both took the matching ring and together they slid it on. Eric and Ellison jumped and threw themselves against his chest, he barely caught them and then hugged them tight as he carried them into the kitchen.

He whispered as he kissed Ellison’s neck then Eric’s, “Lou will be expecting our call in January. Let’s have dinner and celebrate.”

They didn’t say anything, only nodded, and never loosened their hold on him. He wasn’t ready to put them down yet, soon, but not yet. The night wasn’t about the job to come or the dangerousness of it, it was all about his boys, and they said yes to marrying a cranky, old Sheriff.