Page 26 of Snowbirds
Gunnar separated from the rest of the group to join the three of them at the end of Buckley’s driveway. He slung an arm around the younger man and pulled him close. Smiling, Tyrone glanced up at him, affection and possibly love in his gaze. What the hell was going on here? Last Ivan had known, the Velvet Devils were not rainbow friendly.
“Knock it off with the protective stuff, Gunnar.” But Tyrone didn’t pull away, instead leaning into the older man.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Gunnar asked, staring intently at Ivan. “I have a damn good memory for names and faces, but I just can’t place you.”
Ivan opened his mouth to say something, but Tyrone got there first.
“Morrison was sniffing around the club a few years ago, I think. Didn’t go by Morrison at the time. Is that a new name or were you undercover?”
Gunnar eyed him warily, but the man wasn’t scared. Neither of them were. Ivan watched as recognition flared in his eyes.
“We’re here on vacation,” Ivan half raised his hands. “Well, to be honest, Chris was here first, and I crashed his PTO. Ivanismy real name.”
If they were going to pretend to be normal folk just enjoying the Arizona sunshine in late February, then so was he.
“PTO?” asked Gunnar, frowning.
“Personal Time Off,” Tyrone explained before Ivan could. “I was corporate for a while before I took over finances for Gunnar’s business,” he added.
The man under discussion still had one arm around Tyrone, and Ivan noted a small rainbow flag pin affixed to his leather vest. Well, well, well. He let himself relax a little more.
“So, Ivan, what brought you and the fed here?” Gunnar asked.
Chris shifted beside him. Ivan knew he wanted to protest his fed status, but facts were facts.
“Chris’s hippie folks live here. His boss forced him to take his vacation time. I followed him so I could woo him and proclaim my undying love.”
“For real?” breathed Tyrone, looking back and forth between them. “That is incredibly romantic.”
“Jesus Christ,” muttered Chris.
Ivan shrugged, but he also kind of wanted to plant one on Chris’s gorgeous mouth that second. He restrained himself. “True though.”
“Have you?” Gunnar asked.
“Have I what?” The already very weird discussion was getting weirder.
“Declared your undying love?” offered Tyrone.
Ivan glanced at Chris, who looked like he would rather stick a needle in his eye than continue this line of conversation
“I started to last night, but with Chris, I have to go slow. I don’t want to scare him off.”
“Ivan.”Gah,his name that way. “I’ve known you for years now. I don’t think you’re going to scare me off.”
“Yoo-hoo out there, it’s really starting to warm up. We’ve got iced tea and lemonade. Do you want to invite your friends over? There’s plenty of extra. We can all fit under the umbrellas on the patio, and Lance will turn on the outdoor fans.”
If Chris’s parents had been out at the community center, they were home now.
Chris grimaced. “My mother. She’s not going to take no for an answer.”
“You should know that Gunnar and the rest of us here”—Tyrone waved at the other three riders—“we’re all that’s left of the Velvet Devils, and we are extremely respectable these days. We give to charity: Reading Rainbow, The Trevor Project, The Garden of Peace Project, The Boys and Girls Club.”
“Tyrone is a financial advisor,” Gunnar said. “A very good one,” he added, his tone proud.
“We’ll be right there, Mom,” Chris called out. He turned back to the rest of them. “So, this is neutral ground? What happens in Surprise stays in Surprise?”
“Except for me,” Ivan added. He was not going to be part of a list that did not include him and Chris together.
