“He’s your father-in-law, not mine,” Lance replied with a shrug, eyes glinting with humor. Tanner smacked him again. Much harder this time, casting a dark look in Dave’s direction.
“Well—” the older man said. “I wouldn’t go quite that far—but now that we’re on the subject—”
“Let me stop you right there, Dave. I appreciate your flying me out to see Dr. Carson today, but whatever you and my mom are up to, I really don’t want to know,” Tanner said, his words nearly drowned out by Lance’s laughter.
“Right—yes. How about we just—enjoy the view for a while,” he suggested, and everyone groaned in agreement.
And so, Tanner managed to overcome his fears while holding the hand of his most belovedhope and dream. And really, wasn’t that the best summary for their love story? Nothing in Tanner’s life was the same as it once was. He’d beendeployed, lost everything that had made himhim,and been forced to start completely anew. But somehow, his new life might just turn out to be much, much better than his old one had ever been. He knew many obstacles remained to be dealt with. The wild unknowns of adulthood were spread out before him like an endless plain. And yet—if Lance was by his side, Tanner believed he could come out on top. Conquer every uncharted terrain they might come across. If only Lance kept holding his hand.
Hell, what a mushy, sentimental motherfucker he’d become. Yet another reality to get used to, courtesy of his very own beautiful, incomparable Lance Kingsley.
There were no flowers, no home-cooked meal, and no fancy wine, but as Lance turned to smile at him, Tanner felt like this magic moment was greater than either of them could have ever hoped for.
“I love you,” he announced over the open channel.
Lance blinked in surprise, then frowned, wondering if this was Tanner’s exit line before doing something crazy like jumping out of the helicopter. But Tanner reached for Lance, laughing joyfully, and said it again, since it felt so good.
“I love you too,” Lance responded happily, and it sounded exactly as Tanner had known it would—like the most obvious statement in the history of the world.
Epilogue
One year later
“Tanner!” a gravelly voice called out, bouncing off the walls of the shop, “You’ve got a visitor!”
Tanner paused to set down the Allen key in his right hand and straightened up, back muscles screaming as he attempted to stretch them.
A few feet away, Zion—his emotional support dog—raised his large black head from the ground. He’d been snoozing deeply, and his right eye drooped a little with lingering fatigue. He yawned, displaying a wicked set of pearly whites that would make shark proud, and stretched out his back legs. Tanner spared him a smile but gestured for him to settle back down. He wiped his greasy hands on his coveralls and turned to face Big Pete.
His boss was a gentle giant of a man with the mug of a bulldog and the heart of a Lab. He was an old friend of Jeff Delaney—yet another one——and he’d kindly taken Tanner on as a favour to Jeff. He’d only been on the job a few weeks, but they already got on like a house on fire.
“Visitor?” He never got visitors at work.
Pete shrugged and pointed behind him, where the extraordinarily handsome Lance Kingsley was standing there holding a familiar insulated black bag. He was looking around curiously, having never set foot in the aircraft repair shop before, but as soon as his gaze met Tanner’s, he smiled excitedly.
“Hey, you forgot your lunch,” he said, like Tanner hadn’t already put two-and-two together. Tanner snorted and smiled back at his boyfriend. Dressed in his usual work outfit—chinos and pinpoint Oxford shirt—Lance stood out like a sore thumb among all the workers in coveralls. Tanner suddenly wishedthey were alone so he could strip it all right off him. Fuck the packed lunch, he’d rather feast on Lance.
He whistled for Zion, knowing the large Lab-Chow mix would be glad to get a visit from his second dad. It had been Lance’s idea to get Tanner an emotional-support dog. At first, he’d flat-out refused. It had sounded so—needy. But then, while training for his certification, an engine had backfired while he’d been bent over in the cockpit of a helo, and his mind had been sent right back to flying in the sandbox and plummeting at startling speed towards the ground. It had taken 20 minutes of sitting in stone cold silence before he’d managed to claw his way back to reality, and by then, he’d managed to traumatise most of his colleagues and teachers. That night, Lance had enrolled him in a program that found veterans support animals. Six months later, as he’d been recovering from his last surgery, Zion had come into their life. Built like an M1 Abrams tank and fiercely loyal, Zion looked pretty damned intimidating but was really just a big ole marshmallow who worshipped his two dads. Adopting him was one of the best decisions Tanner had ever made. Second only to kissing Lance.
The large black dog now on his heels, Tanner closed the distance between him and Lance as he shared a glance with his boss.
“Pete, this is Lance, my boyfriend—Jeff’s stepson. Lance, this is my boss, Pete.” He reached for the bag in Lance’s hands. “Thanks—but you didn’t have to bring this all the way down here.” He felt bad that Lance had taken time out of his morning to do this for him.
Lance gave a chuckle as he crouched down to pet Zion and scratch behind his ears. The dog’s tail wagged frantically as he “talked” to Lance in his funny grumbly-growly language, as though he hadn’t seen Lance in years. In reality, he’d been snuggled next to him in bed only a couple hours ago.
“Yeah right, and let you go hungry and crabby with your coworkers,” Lance said, shaking his head as if that would have been an absolute disaster.
“Ha! He’s got you there! Kid sure does get hangry,” Pete agreed, extending a hand to Lance. “Pleasure to meet you. Jeff speaks highly of you.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, especially since you agreed to give this wildass a chance,” Lance replied, laying it on thick to annoy Tanner, as he rose and shook Pete’s hand.
“It’s really been a challenge,” Pete joked before punching Tanner’s shoulder amicably. “I’ll leave you boys to it, then,” he said, nodding at Lance once more before leaving them alone. Well, alone wasn’t the right word. They were still in the middle of the shop and Tanner’s colleagues were nearby, working and mostly minding their own business, only occasionally glancing in their direction.
“Sorry for barging in without calling you first. I planned to leave your lunch at reception, but your boss wouldn’t hear of it.” Lance sounded uncertain, wondering if he’d done the right thing.
“It’s no problem. Pete doesn’t mind when partners drop by,” Tanner said, shrugging. “Josh’s girlfriend hangs around all the time.” He gestured towards a guy a few feet away. Josh looked up at the mention of his name and gave them a quick smile before going back to work.
“Right, sure, it’s just—” Lance glanced around, looking uncomfortable. It took Tanner a second to figure out the problem, but when he did, he gave a wry laugh and shook his head.
