Chapter 9
When Rhys entered the small barn where he’d stored his and Andy’s motorcycles for the past five years, he expected his beloved Harley to be a grime-coated mess. The barn was in his parents’ backyard, and they’d offered him the space to store anything he didn’t want to look at but wasn’t ready to get rid of yet when he’d sold the house he and Andy had bought together and moved into the smaller townhouse. The barn had been practically empty except for Charles’s tools, lawnmower, and other lawn equipment. His parents had a basement for storage space as well, plus Viv purged the house of unused and unwanted items every two or three years, so Rhys didn’t feel guilty about using the barn.
To his surprise, neither his Harley nor Andy’s Yamaha were covered in dust. Both appeared clean, and when he checked, he found both had full tanks of gas, which he was pretty sure hadn’t been the case when he brought them over.
Looking at Andy’s bike was too painful, so he averted his gaze and focused on his Harley, giving it a thorough check.
“Your father has been taking care of them.”
Rhys jumped, startled by his mother’s voice, and he whirled to face her, his heart racing.
“You scared the shit out of me!” He pressed his hand against his chest.
Viv stood in the bard door, holding a small cooler. “I’m sorry,” she said, but her amused expression belied the apology. “I made sandwiches to take with you, and I put some chips and bottled water in here too. There’s enough for all three of you.” She held out the cooler as she approached. “I think this will fit in your saddlebag.”
“It should,” Rhys said as he accepted the cooler. It was one of the soft thermal bag models, not a hard plastic cooler, so he thought he could make it fit. “Thanks. We can park somewhere and have a picnic.”
Like he and Andy used to do, he thought with a little twinge of heartache.
“That’s what I was thinking.” Viv stepped closer and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Rhys smiled, not surprised that Viv could guess he was struggling with seeing the motorcycles, which had been such a big part of his and Andy’s life together.
“It’s tough,” he said. “I thought I was past all the firsts without him, but apparently not.”
“I imagine you’ve had to face a few firsts with Thomas,” she said, clasping his hand loosely. “Unless you’ve had a relationship I don’t know about.” She raised a questioning eyebrow.
“No, there hasn’t been anyone since Andy. Not in any capacity.” He paused and belatedly remembered to add, “Except Thomas.”
“If I could take away all your grief and pain, I would,” she said, releasing a soft, wistful sigh. “But all I can do is suggest focusing on the happy memories you have of Andy and making new memories of Thomas.”
“I’m trying,” Rhys said.
“That’s all any of us can do.” Viv squeezed his hand before releasing it and stepping away. “It was good of you to include Scott. Maybe he’ll help provide a distraction from thinking about Andy.”
“He invited himself,” Rhys said, unable to keep the sour note out of his voice.
“Oh did he?” Viv’s expression turned troubled, and she regarded Rhys in silence for a moment. “Maybe you shouldn’t mention any other plans you and Thomas have for the rest of his stay. He seemed quite interested in Thomas at the cookout. Not that Thomas showed any interest inhim, but I’d hate to see the past repeat itself.”
Rhys remembered the incident she was referring to all too well. It had happened not long before Rhys met Andy. He was twenty-eight at the time, and Scott was eighteen, with all the ignorance and arrogance of a young man who hadn’t been told no enough. Jerry was a specialist in pyrotechnic effects, and he and Rhys had met on the set of an action movie where Rhys was working as the stunt double of the lead actor. They’d hit it off and started dating. Rhys had invited Jerry to come home with him for a visit after the movie wrapped, and Jerry had said yes.
Jerry had also said yes when Scott seduced him.
Rhys still wasn’t sure how long they’d carried on, but it must have been a few days. Long enough for them to get careless, at least. He’d walked in to find Scott on his knees with Jerry’s cock in his mouth, and he’d thrown them both out and refused to speak to Scott for months. Scott had apologized when Rhys returned home for Christmas, and he seemed genuinely contrite. That and the fact that Rhys was dating Andy by that point — although he didn’t bring Andy home that first Christmas — were the only reasons Rhys had forgiven him.
“You mean to tell me you and Aunt Marion wouldn’t be on my case about leaving him out? ‘He’s your cousin. You should let him join in.’ That’s all I heard back in the day,” Rhys said, giving Viv a dubious look.
“Iwouldn’t. Not after what happened with Jerry,” Viv said.
“Good to know.”
“Scott is my nephew and I love him, but he can be competitive, especially when it comes to you,” Viv said. “I don’t want that kind of behavior to ruin your good time with Thomas.”
Rhys smoothed his hand along the seat of his motorcycle as he mulled over what Viv had said. Part of him felt a fresh pang of guilt over how supportive she was of his “relationship.” But there was another small part of him that was pleased by how she was protecting their relationship from a potential threat — and by the prospect of sharing an activity he enjoyed with Thomas.
“I won’t let Scott mess up anything with Thomas. I’m sure I can do that all by myself,” he said with a wry smile. With any luck, she would remember his words when she heard about their “break-up.”
“Don’t you dare,” Viv said, wagging her finger at him. “I can tell Thomas has been good for you.”
