Royal

“Look at this poor guy,” Liam calls us over as he crouches down in front of one kennel, and puts his fingers on the bars. “Hi, buddy.”

Nash, Zade, and I head over to see the dog Liam’s clearly falling in love with at first sight.

He looks like a German shepherd mix, crouching toward the back of the kennel with a wary look in his eyes. One of his ears seems to be missing a big chunk and he’s got a scar across his muzzle.

“He doesn’t look very friendly,” I argue, taking in his fearful posture.

“It’s only because he’s been hurt. He needs love more than anyone,” Liam insists.

One of the shelter workers comes by and Nash asks if it’s possible for us to see this dog outside its kennel.

Once the kennel is open Liam turns so he’s not facing the dog head on and side shuffles a little closer and then sits down by the dog. The dog seems suspicious but curious, cautiously sniffing in Liam’s direction.

“It’s okay boy,” Liam coaxes in a gentle voice.

The dog belly crawls forward, ears flat against his head. Liam places his hand on the ground, giving the dog the chance to sniff it. His nose snuffles along the ground until it reaches Liam’s hand and then he darts out his tongue and licks Liam’s fingers. Liam smiles and looks up at me and I know we’ve found our new dog.

“Alright, let’s find out what we need to do to take this guy home,” Nash suggests, turning to look for the employee again.

We’d gotten our stuff moved into our new house two days ago. I know Nash wanted us to get more settled in before looking at dogs, but Liam was so excited it was impossible to tell him no this morning.

“What are you going to name him?” Zade asks.

“Fritz Von Pappin,” Liam declares without hesitation. “Von Pappin or Pappin for short, not Fritz.”

Nash laughs.

“I knew I liked you.”

“What am I missing? Who’s Fritz Von Pappin?”

“He was the Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, and his name is hilarious,” Liam explains.

“You guys are weird but I guess Von Pappin it is.” I shake my head but smile. “Now, let’s get the paperwork or whatever filled out so we can get home and get ready for the housewarming party before everybody starts showing up at our house.”

It takes a lot of convincing to get Liam out of the dog kennel. Once we do we find an employee and get the paperwork started. We’re told that it’ll take a day or two for adoption to be approved and then we’ll be able to pick up Von Pappin.

Liam pouts as we leave the shelter without his dog but Nash manages to convince him it’s better to have a few days to get everything Von Pappin will need so he’ll come to his new home with toys and stuff all ready for him.

 

The nice thing about having just moved in is that there’s nothing to clean in preparation for our housewarming party.

Nash goes out back to fire up our new grill while Zade makes sure all the food is ready to cook or serve.

I’ve been feeling bad about not fulfilling my end of the bet from the Fourth of July, so once I have the coolers filled with ice and drinks I head into the kitchen to find Zade.

I tap him on the shoulder and when he turns around I bury my face against his chest so I don't have to see the teasing glee on his face as I say this.

“My real name is Igneous,” I mumble.

“What?” he asks with a disbelieving laugh.

I sigh and pull my face back, glaring up at him I repeat myself.

“My. Name. Is. Igneous.”

“Like the kind of rock?”

“Yes. It was my great grandfather’s name.”

“Aw, don't be embarrassed of your name my little Iggy Pop, it's cute,” Zade chuckles.

“I fucking hate you,” I grumble.

“And I love you my little Iggy piggy.”

I groan and hide my face again as Zade continues to shake with laughter.

“What's so funny?” Nash asks when he comes into the kitchen.

“Nothing,” I insist.

“Yeah, Figgy Iggy and I are just hanging out.”

“Aw, you told him your name?” Nash comes up behind me and kisses the back of my neck. “I always thought Iggy was kind of a cute name. Can we start calling you that now?”

“Fuck no. You're going to forget this conversation ever happened and continue to call me my super sexy, not cute name- Royal.”

“Whatever you say Wiggly Iggly.”

I grab one of Zade's nipples through his shirt and give it a hard twist, which only makes him laugh harder.

“No fighting children,” Nash scolds in his signature daddy voice.

“Get that look off your face, everyone’s going to be here in a few minutes there isn’t time to fool around.”

“Fine, but you’d better make it up to us later,” I insist, pulling Nash in for a kiss.

“Always,” he promises.

A few minutes later all of our friends show up with drinks and food to contribute.

“I love this place,” Dani declares. “Can I help decorate?”

“Sure, god knows none of us have any decorating sense,” Nash agrees.

“Three gay men and no taste between you,” Dani laments.

“I’m not gay,” Nash and I state at the same time and then laugh.

“And we do have great taste, just not in decorating,” Zade says, waggling his eyebrows.

Madden and Thane come in looking giddy. I know Thane was planning to talk Madden into trying to tattoo him today now that Madden’s hand wasn’t shaking so badly and the nerve damage from the gunshot seemed to be healing. I’m guessing it went well, based on their expressions.

Adam and Gage are being weird as soon as they walk in, standing far apart with obvious tension between them. And they’re followed by Owen, the new tattoo artist at the shop. I notice Liam’s gaze latch onto Owen as soon as he’s in the house. I’m going to need to have a talk with my brother about finding someone more age appropriate to be interested in. Surely there must be some nice guys at Rainbow House he could dip his feet into the dating pool with.

“Glad you guys all made it,” I say greeting each of our friends with a hug.

Drinks in hand, the night starts to unfold with a relaxed vibe that I wish I could bottle to remember forever.

The only black spot as we all eat, drink, and talk is the awkward vibe between Gage and Adam.

“I feel like I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you lately, how’s life treating you?” I ask Adam, hoping he’ll volunteer whatever’s up between the two of them.

“Same shit, different day,” Adam says with a shrug.

I notice for the first time a tightness behind Adam’s eyes that isn’t usually there. In the five years I’ve known him, sure he’s had his demons, but he’s always been a pretty positive guy.

“How’s Kira?” I test, hoping to gage his reaction. None of us can stand Adam’s crazy ass on-again, off-again fuck buddy. But he’s the one who has to like her, not us.

“No clue, haven’t seen her in two months,” Adam clips out.

“And that’s bad?” I attempt to guess.

“No, it’s fine. She tried to stir up drama, trying to get me to fight with some guy she was also seeing. I told her I was over her bullshit and to lose my number.”

“Oh, okay.” I take a sip of my beer, not sure where to take this conversation.

He seems annoyed about Kira, but not exactly upset. I glance over at Gage again and notice he’s watching us with concern. I know he’s been worried about Adam, and I can’t blame him.

“Listen, Gage is pretty worried about you. What’s been going on lately?”

“He is?” Adam seems surprised. He looks over at his best friend, his eyebrows creased. “Sorry if I worried you guys. It’s nothing major, I was just talking to someone online for a while. But they kind of ghosted.”

It doesn’t escape my attention that Adam doesn’t use pronouns. Might not mean anything, but you never know. I never would’ve guessed Nash could be bi either.

“That’s not that weird for someone online, right?” Gage reasons.

“I guess not,” Adam concedes, his shoulders sagging. “I’m worried about them is all. Anyway, I don’t want to bore you guys with this. Just know I’m fine.”

Gage looks like he wants to push the issue, but instead nods and claps Adam on the back.

“Talk to me next time, okay?” Gage pleads.

Guilt flashes across Adam’s face almost too quickly to notice it, and Gage doesn’t seem to. But I’d bet my left nut that there’s more going on than what Adam is admitting to.

“Oh, so let’s see the new ink,” I suggest, turning to Thane in an attempt to alleviate some of the tension in the room.

Thane lifts his shirt and shows off the tat Madden gave him.

“That looks awesome,” I praise, holding my fist up to bump Madden’s. “Kick ass, man. This mean you’re coming back to Heathens now?”

“Yeah, probably not full time though. I want to still have time for my painting and everything. Also...well, not totally sure this is the right time now…” Madden hedges, glancing over at Thane like he’s checking for permission for whatever he’s about to say.

Thane smiles and grabs Madden’s hand before turning back to the group.

“We’re getting married,” Madden announces.

Everyone erupts into cheers and congratulations.

“This is so exciting. Can I help you plan the wedding?” Dani asks.

“Of course,” Madden agrees.

“I’m still hoping to convince him to skip all the fanfare and go to Vegas,” Thane stage whispers.

“Vegas would be fun,” Zade agrees. “Can you imagine us in Vegas?” His eyes light as he directs the question to me.

Nash groans.

“Jesus, I’m going to have to get leashes for the two of you if we go to Vegas.”

“Oh, kinky,” Zade teases, pulling Nash into his arms and biting his neck.

I worm in between the two of them and enjoy both my men crushing me between them. My heart swells with pure joy. I never thought I could have so much happiness in my life and it came in the form of things I never would have thought to ask for.

My brother smiles over at us from his place on the couch where he’s talking to Dani, my men are kissing over my head, and my friends’ laughter fills our home. Life knew what I needed better than I ever could have, and it’s absolutely messy, perfect.

 

The End