Page 92 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Gavin paused and gave Tommy a once-over, adjusted his sky-blue tie, and smoothed his shoulders. “You look hot,” he said.

“That’s good, ’cause I feel like an idiot.” He resisted the urge to loosen the tie again, mostly because he thought Gavin would smack his hand if he did.

With a little laugh, Gavin said, “We’ll go get our seats. Break a leg.”

“He’s getting married, not opening on Broadway…” Ben said, slinging his arm around Gavin’s shoulder.

“Well, I didn’t want to jinx him with wishing him good luck.”

“Tommy’s already jinxed,” Gene said. “There’s nothing we can do for that.”

Fair. “Thanks, asshole.”

“Anytime.”

They went around the side of the house and left Tommy to himself. He didn’t want to go in with the others, wanted to have a second with Bobby, just the two of them. So he paced around on the front step for a minute, wishing he had prepared real vows, knew what he wanted to say, instead of hoping the right thing would just fall out of his mouth in the moment, but who the hell could put into words all the things he wanted to promise Bobby? Tommy didn’t make promises often, didn’t make promises unless he knew he could keep them. So, yeah, doing it on the fly was the worst idea he’d ever had, but it was too late now.

He must’ve stood out there too long because Judy came around from the side yard and scared the shit out of him. “You change your mind?” she asked, and Tommy actually jumped.

“Not a chance,” he said, letting out a shaky breath.

She beamed at him and stepped closer, wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “Good,” she whispered. “Because I’m looking forward to having you for my son.”

And goddamn it, why did she have to say something like that? His own parents had never even said shit like that to him. His eyes stung sharply, and heat rose from under his collar. “I’m lookin’ forward to that too,” he whispered, stunned at the truth of it. He laughed wetly when she looked at him in surprise. “Never thought you’d hear me admit that, huh?”

“Not in a million years.” She hugged him again and then pulled back. “You look so handsome. Bobby is a lucky man.” And with that, she turned to go back around the house. “Don’t make him wait too much longer, though,” she said over her shoulder.

He wouldn’t. But Tommy knew, between the two of them, he was the lucky one. And Bobby was a crazy fuck for wanting to marry him.

And with that thought in mind, he opened the door and went inside, through the hall, into the living room, where he found Bobby standing tall, shoulders back, his uniform freshly pressed, cap tucked under his arm, and goddamn, he’d never wanted to pull Bobby aside and fuck him in a coat closet more than he did in that moment.

Bobby shot him the most incredible smile, let out a huff of a laugh. “Thought you maybe decided not to go through with it.”

Tommy nearly made a joke about wasting all that money on the wedding or never hearing the end of it from the kids and Judy, but instead, what came out of his mouth was, “You look fucking amazing.”

“So do you,” Bobby said, and stepped closer, taking Tommy’s hand. “Think anyone would notice if we went back to our place real quick so I can tie you to the bed with this?” he asked, tugging on Tommy’s tie.

Cool. Gonna walk down the aisle with a hard-on, no big deal. “I’m gonna need more than real quick for that,” Tommy said, pressing closer, breathing in the scent of Bobby’s aftershave, his shampoo.

“You keep rubbing against me and we’re gonna have to send everyone home.” But he didn’t pull away; instead, he tipped his head and caught Tommy’s mouth in a hard kiss, the kind that would go somewhere if they let it.

Tommy didn’t want to, but he broke it with a small groan. “We should probably get out there, then.”

“Yeah.” Bobby did step back then, held tight to Tommy’s hand. “You still sure?”

“Never been more sure about anything in my life.”

Bobby didn’t respond, just smiled as he put his cap on, opened the sliding glass door, and tugged Tommy out onto the back porch, onto a sky-blue runner lined with white flowers. Colleen was there, looking prettier than Tommy had ever seen her, with Max in a little suit that matched Tommy’s and Zoe in a fluffy dress that swished and bounced with every step she took, her hair curled and pulled back off her face.

After a point in the planning, they’d stopped telling Tommy anything because he kept balking at the cost or telling everyone they didn’t need anything fancy. Judy, her patience worn thin, finally told him, This is the only wedding my only child will ever have. Tommy bowed out then, told them all to do whatever they wanted, and now, looking out at the garden, at the decorations and flowers and everything in bloom, the arch draped with wispy fabric and flowers and vines, all the kids shiny and clean and dressed up like they were the ones getting married, Tommy was glad because, yeah, Bobby deserved something like that. And, hell, maybe Tommy did too.

Music started to play, a song Tommy recognized but couldn’t place, and the twins walked down in front of them, Zoe sprinkling pale flower petals from her little basket, Max concentrating on the satin pillow in his hands with their rings tied together as Colleen took her seat in the front, next to Mike and Collin and Carrie and Davey, right in front of Gene and Gavin and Ben. And Cal. On Bobby’s side, Judy sat in front, next to an empty seat, a placeholder for Bobby’s father, and beside that was Bobby’s partner and his wife, next to a guy Tommy had only met a few times, Bobby’s best friend from school. Behind them was a sea of blue, and Tommy wanted to laugh because the only time that many cops showed up for one of his family functions was if someone fired a gun.

Once they got to the end, Judy’s friend, who also happened to be a minister, stood patiently with a small smile on his face. Zoe hugged Bobby’s legs, and Max glanced to Colleen before stepping aside.

“You ready?” Bobby whispered.

“Been ready. You?”

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