02-Let It Ride (23 page)
Authors: L.C. Chase
Karlee, Barrett’s youngest daughter, stepped closer and slipped her tiny hand over his, giving comfort, and his heart squeezed at the gesture. She leaned in and whispered, “But you’re crying.”
Eric wiped a thumb across his cheek, and it came away wet. He’d been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t realized he’d teared up. He smiled at Karlee. “I’m just really happy.”
She frowned in that exaggerated-yet-adorable way kids did.
“Sometimes when people are really happy, the emotion gets too big to keep inside,” he said. “One way to let it out is tears.”
Her frown deepened. “That’s silly.”
“I suppose it is.” He kissed her forehead. “But I’m really good. Promise.”
She studied him for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip, expression dubious, and then nodded. “Okay.”
He smiled, watching her skip out of the dining room back to whatever mischief the rest of Bridge’s nieces and nephews were getting up to. He turned his attention back to the people sitting around the table, and that overwhelming sense of joy spread throughout his chest again. Just like he had at last year’s birthday dinner for Bridge, Eric sat between the oldest and youngest Sullivan brothers, both laughing while Bill regaled them with a story whose punch line Eric had missed. Grandpa Abe made sure no one’s wineglass ran dry, while Lenora made sure everyone had full plates. There was another new addition this year, though, with Marty’s sister Lily joining the festivities after having finally been convinced that Kent was the man for her.
These were
his
friends, this was
his
family, and he couldn’t remember ever having been this truly, deeply happy in all his life.
He reached out and rested his hand on Bridge’s thigh, and without looking, Bridge slipped his hand under the table and laced their fingers together. He lifted their joined hands to his lips and kissed Eric’s knuckles, and Eric’s vision blurred again.
“Hey.” Bridge looked at him, those warm, sincere eyes barely visible through long bangs that Eric loved to slide his fingers through so much. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Better than.” And he was. He’d finally found that elusive place to belong, found the love he’d never believed himself worthy of. Found a true home with Bridge. With the cowboys who’d become his best friends. With the family who’d taken him in as one of their own from the very moment they’d met.
How he’d managed to get so lucky, he didn’t know, but it was real.
Bridge leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his lips, then stood up, pulling Eric with him. “Mom, we’re going to get some fresh air before dessert.”
Lenora’s face lit up, as if Bridge had just told her she’d won the lottery instead of that he was stepping outside. Someone cleared a throat, loudly, and a light flush filled her cheeks. Her gaze slid between him and Bridge, and then she casually said, “Of course, sweetheart. Take your time.”
“But not too long,” Marty said. Eric didn’t miss the note of excitement in his voice or the expression on his face, either. “Celebrations await.”
Bridge led them to a bench that overlooked a large fishpond in the back garden. The night was warm for early spring, and a low-hanging moon reflected in the dark pool, shimmering like diamonds.
When they stopped, Eric hooked a finger through one of Bridge’s belt loops, tugging him closer. “What was that all about?”
“What was what?”
“Don’t play coy with me, cowboy.”
Bridge only smiled and then cupped his face in his large, rough hands. “I love you.”
Every time Bridge said those words,
meant
those words, Eric felt as if his heart grew a little bigger, that the light in his mind shone a little brighter. He had finally gotten out of his own way, let the past go, and come to believe it, to trust in Bridge, in them. “I love you too.”
Eric slid a hand behind Bridge’s head and pulled him down. Their lips met in a slow, deep kiss. Bridge fisted one hand into the hair Eric had grown out a little, while the other traced down the side of his neck, over his collarbone to rest on his chest, and for just a second, Eric could imagine his heart literally in Bridge’s hand. Eric angled his head to deepen the kiss, slipped his tongue into Bridge’s mouth, and drew a deep moan from his eager cowboy. God, he loved how Bridge gave everything in himself every single time they touched.
The hand on his chest moved, made a crooked trail back up and over his shoulder, down his biceps, forearm, and to his hand. He attempted to twine their fingers, but Bridge evaded the move and held on to one finger. He broke the kiss, dropped his other hand from Eric’s hair, and stepped back half a foot. Eric tried to chase Bridge’s mouth, but something metallic shining near the end of the finger Bridge had captured drew his attention.
He glanced down, and his breath caught. His heart shot into high gear. He blinked. Moonlight glinted off a silver ring Bridge had pushed only as far as the nail bed of the third digit of his left hand. He looked up into eyes as dark as the night surrounding them, just as warm, comforting, safe . . . and full of love. Love for him.
“Say yes,” Bridge whispered.
“Yes. Hell yes.”
Bridge pushed the ring all the way onto his finger, and it was like the last piece of a puzzle finally slotted into place and fused there. He’d been happy with things as they were but hadn’t realized until now, with this ring, that there’d been one little kernel of doubt still floating around.
He wrapped his arms around Bridge, pulled them as tightly together as possible, and kissed Bridge for all he was, for every dream Eric had been afraid to reach for, and all the hope he’d tried to bury. He kissed the man who’d taught him he was worthy of it all.
A loud whistle and whoop shocked the kiss to an abrupt end, and Eric jumped back. Behind him, the entire family,
his
entire family, and his friends stood at the edge of the garden. Every face was lit with happiness and wide smiles, clapping, whistling, and hollering their congratulations.
“You all knew?” He turned back to Bridge and glared, but he couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out across his face.
Bridge laughed beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, and pulled him tight to his side. He leaned down and whispered in Eric’s ear. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Letting me love you.”
He turned in Bridge’s arms, putting into the kiss all the words he couldn’t speak just then.
On a warm spring evening under a moonlit sky, surrounded by friends and family, in the arms of the man he loved, he was finally home.
Check out book one in the Pickup Men series:
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Let It Ride
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Pickup Men
(Pickup Men, #1)
Love Brokers: Mister Romance
Riding with Heaven
Long Tall Drink
Cover artist by day, author by night, L.C. Chase is a hopeless romantic and adventure seeker. After a decade of traveling three continents, she now calls the Canadian West Coast home. When not writing sensual tales of beautiful men falling love, she can be found designing book covers with said beautiful men, drawing, horseback riding, or hiking the trails with her goofy four-legged roommate.
L.C. is a 2014 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for
Pickup Men
; a 2013 EPIC eBook Awards Finalist for
Long Tall Drink
; and a 2013-2014 Ariana eBook Cover Art Awards Finalist. She also won an honorable mention in the 2012 Rainbow Awards for
Riding with Heaven
.
You can visit L.C. at
www.lcchase.com
.
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