CHAPTERONE
“I’m going to murder you!”
Ah, ’tis the season.
Nothing said holiday spirit like a good old-fashioned murder threat. One of these days, his husband’s brothers-in-arms might go through with it. Ace had that effect on people. Right now, he was having that effect on Joker. Because if you were going to tempt fate, why not do it with the most explosive of the bunch?
“Is it my fault you decided to step into the center ofthatparticular roll of lights?” Ace asked, moving away slowly.
“The floor is nothingbutrolls of lights, Anston!”
Joker wasn’t wrong. An ocean of Christmas lights covered the concrete floor of their expansive garage. Ace just happened to pull on the strand of lights attached to the roll Joker had stepped in. He’d yanked, and well…here they were. Meanwhile, Chip—Joker’s Belgian Malinois—had decided the strings of lights were evil and, therefore, must be destroyed. Any time a strand of lights moved, he pounced like a giant black rabbit. Thankfully, he didn’t see the need to bite the strands, only to land on them with his front paws, killing the beast dead and saving his people from being attacked.
Colton sighed. He’d expected this. Quite frankly, this was only the beginning. As sweet as the sentiment was, nothing good could come of his husband wielding a staple gun. As a former Green Beret, Ace was an expert at many things. DIY was not one of those things. Mostly because Ace had a habit of trying to enhance whatever home improvement he’d decided to work on. Merely fixing the thing was not an option.
This usually resulted in incidents like the water pressure being so strong that the shower head exploded, embedding itself in the tile wall. Good thing his husband had killer reflexes and had ducked in time. Then there was the time he “fixed” the dishwasher. Colton had turned it on, only for it to start shaking. He’d quickly jumped out of the way moments before the machine shot out from its space beneath the counter. Water wenteverywhere.
Joker growled at the uncooperative roll of lights in his hands. “Tell me again why we’re decorating your ginormous mansion when your obnoxiously rich husband has professional decorators who come out every year?”
Again, not wrong.
“Because this way, it’s more personal. You get the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself,” Ace replied through gritted teeth as he attempted to untangle another giant ball of lights.
By “yourself,” Ace really meant “with a small army of former Green Berets.”
“This was rolled perfectly last year and in a box! How is it tangled? Stupid lights.” Ace huffed and put the roll on the floor. Picking up a new one, he plugged it in. Nothing happened. “Motherfricking shirtballs! I checked every single one of these last week!”
There was something not quite right about his husband’s colorful rants against the backdrop of “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes.
“Yeah, this one’s not lighting up either,” Joker said, his frown deep. He placed it on the floor, and it rolled, which, of course, drew Chip’s attention. He sped over and pounced. The roll of lights soared off the garage floor in a glorious arc, hit the inflatable snowman, ricocheted, and smacked Ace in the head. He reeled back, and Colton jumped to his feet.
“Ace—”
Too late.
Ace tripped on the roll of lights behind him. He turned to catch himself only to tangle his feet further until gravity triumphed, and he hit the floor. Hard.
“Owwww.” Ace groaned, and Joker laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. Chip stood over Ace, tail wagging and tongue lolling out. “What? You don’t get praise for that. I thought we were buds!”
Chip barked, licked Ace’s face, then happily trotted away to Joker, who patted his head. “Good boy.”
Colton helped Ace up. He could practically see the wheels turning in his husband’s head. “Why don’t we take a little break? I bet Red’s Christmas cookies have cooled off.”
As expected, whatever terrifying idea Ace had been contemplating vanished at the mention of Christmas cookies, much like the brief winter breeze they’d had this morning. They were back to eighty degrees in December.
Like every year, there was little chance of a frosty Christmas in Florida andnochance of a white Christmas. They headed inside the cool, air-conditioned house, the sound of their family’s laughter and chatter warming his heart and making him smile.
When Colton had first met Ace, he’d never expected to fall in love with the man, much less inherit the kind of family he’d spent a lifetime wishing he had. They were a complicated, boisterous, and quirky group, and Colton wouldn’t change a thing.
As usual, their gentle giant, Red, was cooking, baking, and singing along to the holiday music while his boyfriend, Laz, decorated cookies and cupcakes. Ace’s cousin Lucky and his cowboy, Mason, were inspecting the Christmas tree. Lucky had strong opinions on what should and should not go on the tree. Tinsel was absolutely out of the question. Something about waking up from a nap and being covered in it? No doubt Ace had been involved.
Jack sat on the couch with his laptop, creating a complex music and lighting sequence while his boyfriend, Fitz, snuggled with his fluffy black poodle, Duchess. Leo’s joyous laughter was infectious as he chased and played with Chip, who’d dashed straight for his favorite human the moment they’d stepped inside. Meanwhile, Leo’s fiancé, King, conversed with Joker’s boyfriend, Gio.
Joker was the last person Colton would have expected his best friend to have fallen for. The two were so different. One was a former Green Beret explosives expert turned bodyguard, the other a billionaire philanthropist who’d traveled the globe helping people. Colton had worried for Gio, afraid Joker would break his heart, but in the end, the two were perfect for each other.
At times, Colton couldn’t believe how their family had grown over the last few years. He was so happy the rest of the Kings and the Wild Cards found love, especially with the men he’d come to care for so deeply.
Ace wrapped his arms around Colton as Joker joined Leo and Chip in play. Gio gave the command to Cookie, relieving his Golden Retriever from his service dog duties so he could run off and join the fun. He bounded happily, his fluffy tail wagging happily and tongue lolling out.
