Chapter Seven
They only spent a couple hours at the lake. They had dinner and then headed back to the rental house. Chris was a little quieter than he had been before. Beckett wished he hadn’t had to bring up his behavior when they were younger but it was important to him to apologize. If they were going to have any kind of friendship from here on out, it was imperative.
Eventually things began to lighten up. The conversation was likely still on both their minds but they had a good night.
It was like old times, in a way. They drank a few beers out on the deck again. When they wanted a snack, they popped a frozen pizza into the oven.
They played cards and talked shit and just spent another night getting to know each other again. In a lot of ways, it felt like they’d never stopped knowing each other.
This time, they headed to bed around eleven. Beckett found himself wondering if Christian was able to sleep any better tonight than he had last night before he dozed himself.
The next day they lounged around part of the morning before showering, eating breakfast, and heading to Landon’s brother’s house.
“You don’t know any of these people, right?” Chris asked as they drove.
“Not except Landon,” Beckett shook his head. “I know Rod will be there. Rod’s his partner. He said it’s Justin’s house and he lives with his partner too. I can’t remember if he told me the guy’s name and then there’s Bryce. He owns the motorcycle repair shop that Landon works at. I don’t know if there will be anyone else there.”
Christian nodded and then looked out the window. “It’s so damn green out here. It really is beautiful.”
Justin lived outside of town. There’d been nothing but trees for miles as they weaved their way through the countryside. “You sound like you forgot what the country is like.”
“Nah. I remember. And don’t get me wrong, I love Los Angeles. I’m not sure I could live anywhere else permanently again but I do miss this sometimes.”
Beckett thought about Florida, where he’d made his home for over ten years. He liked it there too, but he didn’t feel the same passion for it that it sounded like Chris felt for LA. “You’re really happy there.”
“I am,” the answer came immediately. “I found my tribe out there—friends from work, the apartment complex where I live, Quinn. Took me a little while to settle in and realize it was okay to be myself. Moving to California helped with that.”
Beckett tried not to let the sadness weigh down his bones. He was happy for Christian…but he wanted that too. He should have had it ten years ago. He wished he could have experienced it with Christian when they were young, the way it should have been. Beckett wanted that and motocross.
He fought hard not to let himself focus on Christian’s mention of Quinn. Fought not to let out a possessive growl, because Chris wasn’t his. He’d given him up a long time ago.
“In five hundred feet, turn right,” the GPS on his phone told him.
“Looks like we’re there,” he grunted as his jealousy of Quinn, of what Christian had, flooded his over-stimulated body. He’d gone through a hell of a lot of emotions in the past couple weeks.
“Looks like we are,” he replied as they pulled into the driveway. “Jesus, his house is gorgeous.” It was a large, colonial-style house with beautiful beams, and a wrap-around porch.
“Yeah, it is.” They got out of the car and headed for the house. They’d stopped on their way to grab a pair of swimming trunks for each of them, since they hadn’t brought any along. When they stepped up onto the massive porch, Beckett could hear music and laughter coming from the back yard. He raised his hand to knock just as the door was pulled open.
“I was instructed to keep an eye out for you,” the dark-haired man in the doorway said. “I’m Justin, nice to meet you.”
It was odd to see him. He looked a lot like Landon. Beckett couldn’t imagine going through what their family had. “Beckett, nice to meet you.” They shook hands. “This is my friend Christian. He came out from LA to spend some time with me.”
It was then that another man walked in from the back of the house with what looked like a lab-mix by his side. As soon as the dog saw them, it came bounding for them, tail wagging and tongue sticking out.
“Ireland, come here, girl.” The guy with the backward baseball hat called just as she jumped onto Christian, her front paws on his belly, demanding attention.
“Shit, sorry. She’s a little spoiled,” Justin told them.
“She’s a sweet girl,” Christian said, rubbing her head as she fought to lick him like crazy.
Beckett chuckled. “I get it, girl; I like him too.” He reached over to pet the dog and Christian winked at him.
“Hey. We’re glad you could come. I’m Drew,” the newcomer announced. The guy was all muscle—wearing swimming trunks and no shirt. It was obvious he spent a lot of time working out, which Beckett could appreciate. He’d fallen in love with it through his own training.
They made their introductions before Justin and Drew led them into the house. Pieces of the puzzle began to click into place from previous conversations he’d had with Landon. He remembered Landon telling him that Justin had fallen in love while here before their dad passed and then packing up and moving in with Drew.
Ireland bounded beside them as they made their way through the house and toward the back door. He saw the pool, which was currently empty, a hot tub, a deck, and another dark-haired man he didn’t recognize.
“Look who we found,” Justin said as they stepped out. Beckett’s eyes hit Landon first. He sat in a chair with who Beckett assumed was Rod, on his lap. He was smaller than Landon, younger, with short hair and dark eyeliner around his eyes.
Rod put his hands on his cheeks like the kid from Home Alone, jumped off Landon’s lap and shouted, “Oh my God! It’s Beckett Monroe!”
Beckett felt his face warm up. Landon shook his head and chuckled. From everything Landon had told him, Rod kept him on his toes and he could see that his friend hadn’t exaggerated.
Rod grinned, “I’m kidding. I don’t know shit about motocross. I just didn’t want Bryce to feel alone if he nearly blows his load in your presence.”
Landon couldn’t control his laughter now, as he held his stomach and leaned forward in the chair. The man sitting beside him was cracking up too, as Beckett’s eyes darted between all of them, not sure what to say or how to react. “Um…”
“Excuse us while I drown him and then hide the body.” The man who’d been pacing swooped in and scooped Rod into his arms.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interested in you that way, Bryce! Before Landon, yes, but it’s too late now,” Rod told the man who apparently might be jerking off to thoughts of him later today and Landon laughed harder.
“We can’t take you two anywhere,” the man beside Landon said, before both of them stood up. “Put him down, Bryce.”
“But I really want to drown him.”
“Not with all these prying eyes,” the man told him.
“Please, Nick? Please can I drown him?” he asked before setting Rod down and saying, “You never let me have any fun.”
Landon reached him by then, his face red, Beckett assumed from laughter. “Sorry, my crew is crazy and Rod is the craziest of them all, especially when you get him and Bryce together. This is obviously Bryce who may or may not be a big fan of yours. He promised me there would be no jerking off, though.”
“Everyone thinks they’re a comedian,” Bryce responded before holding out his hand. “They’re clean. I’m really not as bad as they say.”
“Eh, I get the allure,” Beckett teased, wanting to play along. Landon introduced Nick next. He was the man who’d been sitting beside him. He and Bryce were together, and Nick was apparently a chef and had made some of their food for today.
“And this, of course, is Rod,” Landon introduced him last.
Rod gave Beckett a smile as bright as the sun. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. It’s great to meet you, though. Landon has told me a lot about you.”
“It’s good to meet you too,” and it really was. “This is Christian. He’s…my oldest and dearest friend.”
Everyone said hi to Christian and then Landon wrapped his arms around Rod from behind, and whispered something in his ear. Rod laughed. Drew pulled out a few more chairs and Justin and Nick were obviously ribbing Bryce.
He realized then that just like Christian, Landon had found his tribe, his crew. Beckett had that in the moto world, but not in his personal life. It wasn’t the same…but he wanted it. He really fucking wanted it.