In a riot of laughter and cheers, Jon vogued down the aisle with his gaggle of siblings following him—slightly less expert in their poses, but they made up for their lack of skill with infectious enthusiasm. Jon’s mother followed behind, giggling along with the kids’ antics.
Jon brought the fun and jokes right on through the ceremony, up until he heard the heartfelt vows from Cooper that brought him—and half the room—to tears.
Hell, even I got a little misty-eyed. The whole room, floor to ceiling, felt filled with love and support and celebration, with all the possibilities of the New Year hovering over us all.
It got me thinking. Connecticut wasn’t that far from New York. The notion that Tyler and I had too much distance between us to form a relationship was bullshit. I could see now that my hesitation had just been my post-Miles trauma speaking. Besides, once I was done with my training, I could go anywhere for work, including right here in Connecticut.
As Jon and Cooper shared their first kiss as married men, we all clapped and cheered, and I couldn’t help looking at Tyler, who put his fingers in his mouth to blow an ear-splitting whistle. He turned to me, beaming, and shouted over the noise, “I’m so happy for them!”
“Me too,” I hollered back. But as he turned back to cheer some more, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him.
I knew now what I wanted. Exactly what I wanted.
Him.
The dinner afterward started out as a sit-down meal, but by the time the soup was over, most people had changed their seats anyway. Dancing commenced, with music from a top New York DJ, and after Jon and Cooper’s first dance, I watched Brandon drag Heath out onto the floor, while Elliot swept Ollie into a waltz. Weirdly, it worked with the beat of the music.
“May I?” I asked Tyler, putting out a hand to him as the music changed to a slow song. I led him out onto the dance floor, and I could feel the approving eyes of his friends on me. It was good to know I was starting to make up for that little snafu.
“I feel much better now,” Tyler said, sliding his hands up my shoulders. It gave me a thrill right through my body.
“I’m glad.”
“Thank you for coming,” he went on, “and for staying, despite everything. What I said before…” I gave him time to get it out. “I meant it,” he said at last. “There’s no one I’d rather have here with me.”
“Actually,” I started, holding Tyler’s gaze, “I’ve been thinking about you and me. I know you were only looking for a hookup when you started on Punishr—”
“Excuse me?” He laughed. “You were only looking for a hookup, too.”
“—but I was wondering if you might, you know. Be open to something a little more regular.”
Those crystal blue eyes were twinkling, and he knew exactly what I was asking him, but he wasn’t going to let me get away without saying it outright. “Something regular? What are we talking here, a dedicated day per month, or—”
“Come on, man,” I sighed. “Give me a break, here. I already survived the inquisition from your friends this morning.”
“But it’s so fun watching you squirm.”
I swept him around in a sudden dip, smiling down at him. “Oh, yeah?”
He grinned right back. “Yeah.”
“Fine.” I pulled him back up and pressed my forehead against his. “I mean going exclusive. Going from hookups to, well, whatever you wanna call it when you’re in a committed, stable, loving relationship with whips and spankings included.”
“But we can’t forget Big Blue,” he snickered, but then his face turned serious. “Uh. Did you say…committed, stable and loving?”
Well, damn. That had kind of slipped out, but there was no taking it back. Not that I wanted to. “You heard me, Blakely.”
He got this dewy-eyed smile. “Yeah. Okay. I’d like to give it a shot. Although it might be hard with me out here and you—”
“Nope. No worrying about the mechanics of it, not right now. Right now, we just do this.” I leaned down and pressed my mouth to his, kissing him hard.
“Where’s that actor guy—Xander?”
Later in the night, getting close to midnight, Tyler and I had found our way back to the tables and were playing footsies under the table while we waited for an appropriate moment to bail. I was resigned to the fact that we’d have to see in the new year. But after that…
“I think he and Ben went up to bed early.” Tyler grinned. “Jonny told me Xander’s been away filming overseas, so he had some jet lag. Plus he and Ben had some catching up to do.”
“Ah,” I said. A vision of “catching up” with Tyler floated at the edge of my mind. “I wonder if…”
