Page 2 of The Boyfriend Gamble

I’d done research into my own family history and had come up with very little. We’d come from Ireland, but any Irish connection was long gone. My parents weren’t great patriots. In fact, they hated all politicians and whined about everything. Kind of grumps. They suited each other. I’d gotten out as soon as I’d graduated from high school. They also weren’t my biggest fans. Having ahomosexual sondidn’t suit their sensibilities. Although they tolerated me, I couldn’t find any love. Any meaningful connection.

Nita and Kade, on the other hand, hit the parent jackpot. Rob and Donna were the kindest and most gentle people I’d ever met. They accepted their gay son and slightly eccentric daughter as if that were the most natural thing in the world. If they fought, I never witnessed it. Their emotional attachment was clear in their physical affection.

I was jealous. I wanted that with someone special.

Fanciful.

As my fingers touched the edge of the pool, I surfaced and drew in a deep lungful of air.

Toes appeared in my line of sight.

My gaze traveled from enormous feet to lightly dusted calves. Then up to thick thighs, board shorts, a yummy bare chest with a light dusting of bronze-colored hair, a corded neck and, finally, to the face I held so dear.

I swallowed. Hard.

Kade smiled that knowing smile, then launched himself into a smooth dive, hitting the water with barely a splash.

I hadn’t realized he was still awake.

He’d had a couple of beers after the hamburger dinner.

Mine had been vegetarian, of course. I still hadn’t convinced any of my friends of the value of eating less meat, but I was determined.

After a moment, Kade surfaced. He swam over to me. “Hey, pint.”

Oh my God. He’d started calling me pint when I first came by. At what, age four? His six feet no longer towered over my respectable five foot eight, but he never stopped with the nickname.

He cocked his head. “It’s a term of endearment, Tanner. I don’t give nicknames to people I don’t like. Or people I’m indifferent about it.”

And perhaps he meant that to reassure. To comfort. To soothe.

It didn’t. “I know I’m not as big as you and Cameron.”

Kade shrugged. “So what? I think you’re perfect the way you are.”

My breath caught. Was he…? “I should get out.”

“Nah. Stay. It’s still warm out, even at this hour. Let’s hang out.”

That sounded like a really bad idea. I hadn’t spent any time alone with my crush in about twenty years. I’d studiously avoided any situation where we might be the only two in a room. Hadn’t been difficult. I only visited when Nita was home, and she kept an eye on me. Surely, as a twenty-eight-year-old lawyer, I didn’t require a babysitter.

Still, she babysat.

Kade smiled. “You’ll survive without Nita to protect you.”

How had he read my mind? Not the protection part, of course, but the Nita part? “I’m good friends with your sister.”

“I always thought you’d marry her.”

I sputtered.

He held out his hand. “Well, you didn’t come out until your first year of law school. At twenty-one.”

“We don’t all have your courage.”

His breath caught. “Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way.”

“You didn’t need to come out at sixteen, Kade. I mean, you probably knew your family would be supportive. But you must’ve also known the kids would be ruthless in their torment.”

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