Page 12 of Once Upon An Ever After
Dawson rubbed the spot between his eyes, “So… I’m gay.”
“Well, you’re gay for Beau, but I wouldn’t worry so much about the labels. They’re not what’s important. What’s important is that you love a man who loves you, and you need to talk to him and figure out where you go from here.”
“I can’t. He won’t talk to me. Not right now.”
“So give him some time to cool off. Don’t push. He didn’t push you for a whole year, Daws. Give him time to wrap his head around this change in your relationship. He’ll come back to you when he’s ready to talk because he’s crazy about you. Besides, it’s not like he can avoid you forever, the wedding is the day after tomorrow and you two coordinated it together.”
Dawson nodded, “That’s true. He can’t avoid me at the wedding.”
“Just… try to look at it from his point of view too, okay? The man he’s been in love with finally crossed the imaginary line from friends to something more. He has just as much right to panic as you do because it does change things between you. You just have to decide if they change for the better and if you handle that change together if that’s what you want.”
“It is.” Dawson nodded immediately. “I wasn’t sure at first, but the more I think about it, the more certain I am, that Beau’s meant to be mine the same way Felix was meant for Gibson and Julian was meant for you. He’s my happily ever after.”
Bran smiled softly, “I’m happy for you.”
“What? Why?”
“You finally figured it out.” Bran’s grin widened, “And I get to rub it in Gibson’s face that I helped you instead of him for once.”
Dawson groaned. Bran laughed. And somewhere across town in a big house decorated top to bottom with Christmas lights, Gibson’s ears burned from being talked about by his younger brothers.
Chapter Six
Beau sat in the passenger seat of the unfamiliar SUV and fidgeted with his cufflinks for the millionth time. He was trying to work up the nerve to get out of the car and walk up to the big house where Gibson and Felix would be getting married. Only it had been nearly ten minutes since they parked and he still hadn’t made it past unbuckling his seatbelt.
Beside him, behind the wheel of the car, his date cleared his throat, “You don’t have to do this.”
Beau turned to look at the handsome man who had been conned into coming with him to this wedding. They weren’t strangers but they weren’t exactly close friends either. Tyson had been dating Jonny for a couple of months and they’d spent time at the apartment. When Beau had begged Tyson to come to the wedding with him and act as a buffer between himself and Dawson, Jonny had offered to be Beau’s date instead since Tyson had an afternoon shift at work.
Jonny was a nice guy and he cleaned up well. The suit and tie that Beau had put him in since they were basically the same size lent him an unexpectedly polished handsomeness. With his jaw cleanshaven and his hair neatly trimmed, he looked nothing like the eclectic hippie farmer that Beau knew him to be. To everyone in that house he would be just another guest, another good-looking man in a suit, and if he was lucky they’d assume Beau had brought a real date and wasn’t pining over the groom’s little brother.
“That’s just it.” Beau sighed, “I do. Felix would straight up murder me if I no-showed his wedding.”
“I know, I was just making sure you remembered that.” Jonny grinned. “Think you’re ready to get out of the car now?”
“Yeah. Okay. It’s not going to get any easier sitting here. Let’s go.” He forced himself to grab the door handle and push out before he could start doubting himself again.
It was going to be okay, he reminded himself as he walked beside Jonny towards the front door of the house. Today was Felix’s wedding day. Today was Gibson’s wedding day. Today was not about him or about Dawson. Neither of them would cause a scene that would distract from the reason they were all gathered here.
He just had to get through the next couple of hours being in Dawson’s presence without breaking down and then he could go home, curl back up in his bed where he’d spent the last two days, and cry himself to sleep again. It was a good plan. It had to be because it was the only one he had.
He’d stopped answering Dawson’s texts and phone calls after that night in the apartment and finally they had stopped coming. It was a relief, at least that’s what he had been telling himself. He needed some time and space to put his heart back together and he was thankful that Dawson hadn’t been barraging him with messages, but he was also more than a little hurt that Dawson hadn’t stormed his way back into the apartment and forced them to talk this out like the misunderstanding he’d secretly hoped it was once he recovered from his initial panic.
As the last two days passed and he had all of his time alone to think about it, the more he began to believe that whatever friendship he’d hoped to salvage was completely decimated.
He opened the door to the large manor home that Roman Frost owned and lived in. It was still hard for Beau to believe that his brother lived here too now. Ash becoming involved with Dawson’s uncle had been as surprising for Beau as it had been for anyone. He’d never known his brother to go for the older, damaged type, but Ash had fallen hard for Roman and the reclusive billionaire had fallen right along with him.
Beau held the door open for Jonny and then followed him inside, shutting it behind them. The inside of the house was full of people running in every direction. Waitstaff was carefully laying out the buffet style meal on the massive dining room table. A florist was on a ladder fussing with the white roses that dangled from the chandelier overhead. The sound of pots and pans clattered from the kitchen and someone shouted about a case of mislabeled champagne in with the wine. Beau stood in the entryway taking in the bustle that went along with a wedding and his heart gave a painful pang of loss.
He should have been here all day. He should have been here helping wherever he could. He had placed himself in charge of Felix’s wedding, named himself coordinator, and then bailed at the finish line because he hadn’t wanted to face Dawson until it became absolutely necessary. From the looks of it, everything was working fine without him but still, he loved his job and he loved Felix so missing out on all the wedding prep was going to haunt him for a very long time to come.
“So, where should we…”Jonny shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing around nervously but he was cut off by another voice above all the noise of wedding preparations.
“Beau?”
He looked up and his heart all but stopped at the sight of Dawson standing on the staircase. Good God, the man was gorgeous. Putting him in a tuxedo should have been illegal because it only added to the Price Charming vibe his dark hair and dangerously blue eyes gave. He’d paused on the stairs and the hint of a smile tipped at his mouth but as his eyes darted to Beau’s side the smile dropped away and he rushed down the remaining stairs with a look of pure thunder on his face.
“Who the hell is this?” Dawson demanded as soon as he was in front of them.
