“I know, Sal. I know.”
And Angelo did. The last few months had been a train wreck, but loving Dylan had never been so easy, because Dylan loved him back, and together they were stronger than anything else life threw at them.
The ceremony drew to a close. Joe, dressed in jeans, a white shirt, and braces, tossed his grandfather’s hat into the air. It landed on Rhys, and Jevon’s uproarious laugh filled the barn to the rafters, seeping into every soul in the room, filling what little space Joe and Harry’s love had left behind.
Angelo laughed too, turned to Dylan, and kissed his cheek. “I wish I’d caught it.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s a good hat.”
“Dick.” But Dylan’s smile told Angelo he’d heard the words unsaid:One day, baby. One day.
Maybe, at least. Marriage had never crossed Angelo’s mind before the twenty minutes of pure joy he’d just lived through, but he wanted the smile on Harry’s face to be Dylan’s, and the smouldering happiness in Joe’s roguish eyes to be his. Dylan deserved it—they both did.
The party moved to the bar. Jevon and Dylan helped Emma fetch long-forgotten bottles of homemade wine from the house and order enough pizza for a small army while Angelo sank into a couch with Rhys, watching the world turn around them.
Angelo knocked Rhys’s arm. “All right?”
“Think so.” Rhys shook his head slightly. “Is it me, or have the last few weeks been totally fucking bananas?”
Up until a week ago, Rhys had been working on an air ambulance, so Angelo was willing to bet Rhys’s life had been crazier than anything that had happened on the farm, but he nodded anyway. Insanity was subjective. “It’s all good now, though, right? You and Jevon know what you’re doing, me and Dylan are getting there... Emma too. And those two goons?” He jerked his head at Harry and Joe who still fended off emotional relatives. “Like we didn’t already know they were made for each other.”
“Disgusting, ain’t it?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve been meaning to have a proper conversation with you, though,” Rhys said after a protracted silence. “And I probably should’ve done it before we got busy in your living room.”
Angelo snorted. “We’ve never worried about shit like that before. Remember the Mother Love Bone night last Christmas? I don’t think me and you exchanged more than two words before then.”
“Yeah, well... that’s gonna change, mate. I—uh—I’m a pretty shit friend, and I’m not going to be around much once I’m back on my feet, but I’m hoping you and me can fix it all up before I go away. Harry said you’re good with ankles, so I was wondering if you’d help me out with some physio?”
“You don’t have to pretend to like me to get some physio.”
“I do like—” Rhys began to protest before he caught Angelo’s grin and flicked his ear. “Prick. Dylan’s way nicer than you.”
“I know, but of course I’ll help you out with your rehab. I was going to offer anyway, but I thought you might want Harry to do it. And, I’m not a physiotherapist—not yet, anyway. I do rehab programmes and muscle recovery.”
“You know as much as I need,” Rhys said. “Besides, me and Harry would kill each other if we had to spend regular, forced periods of time together. I love him more than anything, but he gets on my nerves.”
Laughter burst out of Angelo’s chest. “How canHarryget on your nerves? He’s the nicest bloke in the world.”
Rhys gave Angelo a comically flat-eyed stare. “My point exactly. He’s so fucking reasonable I want to brain him half the time.”
“Thenyou’rethe prick.”
“Tell me something new.”
Angelo laughed again as someone somewhere turned some music just loud enough to amp up the party without disturbing the horses on the other side of the farm. An old rock beat filtered out of hidden speakers and into Angelo’s veins. His muscles twitched, desperate to move, and in a moment of reckless abandon, he didn’t question it.
He nudged Rhys again. “Can I dance with your boy?”
“Sure.” Rhys waved his hand. “It’s only fair, seeing as I’ve hadyourboy’s balls—”
Angelo sprang from the couch before Rhys could finish his crude sentence and crossed the fast-filling-up barn to where Jevon was setting out pizzas on the bar. “Wanna dance?”
Jevon didn’t take much persuading, and Dylan, Toby, and Lacey soon joined them, though Jevon was the only one who could keep up with Angelo.
