He left Harper and walked into the library, then the living room, seeing nothing awry. In the family room he spied high heels alongside a pair of men’s loafers. His heart kicked up a beat. What the hell was going on? He kicked off his sneakers, and barefoot, padded to his grandparents’ room, where the doorwas half-open and he could hear moans and groans of people having sex.
“Oh, baby, you make me crazy. Fuck me harder,” a woman gasped. “You’re so big. Give me that dick.” The bed creaked, and a man grunted.
“Such a sweet, hot pussy.”
Christ, was this really how straight people had sex?
“What the fuck!” Colson slammed open the door. “Who the hell are you—” His voice caught as he took in the scene. His father’s naked ass pumping up and down on top of a very young woman, whose eyes grew wide when they met his. She began to scream.
His father glanced over his shoulder. “Shit.” He withdrew and sat on his heels.
Avoiding the sight of his father naked, Colson crossed his arms. “Is that all you have to say?” He winced as the woman continued to wail.
“Shut up, Alicia.” Without remorse, his father wrapped the sheet around his waist. “And what the hell are you doing here?”
“Me? You have the fucking nerve to ask me whatI’mdoing here? This ismyhouse. I don’t have to ask what you’re doing. How long have you been sneaking over here to bring your girlfriends?”
Alicia had stopped screaming, and apparently unaware she sat bare-breasted, glared at his father. “Hammy, you said this was your house.”
“Get dressed, sweetheart. I’ll be with you in a minute.” His father left the bed and put on his briefs. He stalked outside of the room, and Colson followed. “Why are you here, Colson?”
“The hell you think I’m going to answer to you,” he sputtered. “You better get your ass dressed and out of here or I’ll call the police.”
His father sneered at him. “Do that. Alicia is the police chief’s daughter. I doubt he’d want the news spread over town she was spreading her legs for a bottle of Dom Perignon and a trip to Tiffany’s.” His smile was thin. “And don’t think you have anything to hold over my head. Your mother knows I have…friends. She doesn’t care. In fact, she prefers it. I haven’t shared her bed since shortly after you were born.”
He heard the wheels of David’s chair, and Harper appeared in the hallway. His father’s gaze flicked to them. “Who is that?”
“You are in no position to ask me anything. Get dressed and get out of my house.” He left his father to join Harper and David. “My father has been bringing his girlfriends here for God knows how long.”
Harper’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, yeah? The man who called you a degenerate?”
“Imagine that.” His lips thinned and his father turned around and slammed the bedroom door. Less than five minutes passed before he emerged, barefoot and in a sweatshirt and jeans, with Alicia, who clung to his arm. “You left your shoes in the family room.”
His father and Alicia swept past them without a word, but Harper was right on their heels. “You must’ve forgotten to introduce yourself. I’m Harper Rose, your son’s boyfriend. I thought maybe Colson was exaggerating how horribly cold you were to him, but I can see now it’s worse than I even imagined.”
His father slipped his feet into his shoes and waited while Alicia put on her heels. “And I’m supposed to care about your opinion, why?”
“Because this is your son,” Harper thundered. “You brought him into this world, and you were supposed to care for him and love him. Protect him from harm. Instead, you were his greatest threat.”
“I don’t have to listen to your bullshit.” He jerked his head. “Alicia, let’s go. I’ve called for the car and it’s out front.” He strode out of the room, Alicia scampering after him.
“But you will listen because I’m not finished.” Harper dogged his steps. “Coward. That’s what you are. An old fool who could’ve had a son anyone would be proud of, but you chose hate instead of love.”
“That’s rich,” his father sneered. “Someone like you, preaching about love.”
“Someone like me? What the fuck do you know about me?” Harper planted himself in front of Colson’s father. “I’m an NYPD detective, and even now I would save your bigoted ass if I had to. Someone like me takes care of his brother who can’t walk or talk because I love him. Someone like me, a gay man, loves your son so fucking much, he’d do anything in the world to make him happy. I’dgivehim the world, everything…anything I could. Because he is so damn worth it. But you can’t see it because you’re too blinded by one thing. Sex. You and your kind think everything revolves around what we do in the bedroom, but you have no idea.” Harper paused for breath, his chest heaving, and Colson stood riveted. “It’s how he makes me feel inside my heart that matters most.”
“I’m not interested.” His father knocked Harper aside as he passed by him, and Colson could feel Harper’s restraint from across the room. Harper followed him, and Colson was torn between staying in the room with David and leaving him to watch the unfolding drama. He chose a middle ground andstayed in the doorway, where he could keep an eye on David, yet still see Harper, who was far from finished.
“Make sure you look at Colson one last time because as long as I’m here, you won’t be allowed near him.”
The door slammed, and Colson began to shake. Harper rushed to his side. “I’m sorry.” He held him close. “I’m sorry.”
Colson clung to him. “No, don’t be. I’m not. Everything you said is true. No one can hurt us because we love each other.”
After reassuring David that everything was fine, Harper kissed him. “And the best thing of all?” He shook with laughter. “Your father left those bottles of Dom. Now we can celebrate in style. On him.”
“Every day is a celebration when I get to spend it with you.”
