Page 15 of Home For Christmas

Colt gave me a gentle squeeze. “Jasper’s grown a lot in the last two years. He’s still more reserved than the two of you, but it isn’t a bad thing; nearly everyone is more reserved than you two. If you’re worried, talk to him when he gets in. If Jasper doesn’t want to go out, we can hang out here. The difference is no one told him last time. Ty dragged him to The Stick Pony and let him figure it out on his own. It was a lot. You’re right—it all turned out well, but before that there was a lot of pain.”

I didn’t like to let myself think about how wrong things could have gone, but going back to a bar with Jasper had a lot of memories surfacing. Ty dumped his plate into the sink and came to stand beside me. “Hey, let’s go to the living room. You can show me your trains. I’m sure you’ve got new ones around the tree. When Jasper gets here we can talk to him and make sure he’s comfortable with going to the bar. I’m going to bet you that, with Harrison and Greg along, he’s going to be excited.”

Declan nodded. “My husband can have some pretty harebrained ideas, but I think this one is pretty sound.”

Lips pressed against my temple. “Go show Ty your trains, buddy.”

I wasn’t feeling particularly little, but trains were always a great way to get me distracted. When I needed time to think or get my thoughts in order, I’d drive over to the hill that overlooked the train yard. It was my thing, and most people knew it.

Sitting on the floor in front of the Christmas tree, showing Ty the trains we’d picked up for that year, made it easy to forget about my nerves about Vortex that night. It still weighed on me somewhere, but it was hard to pull that worry to the forefront of my mind for a little while.

It took another hour before the front door opened again; we Scotts really were terrible about knocking. I’d been sprawled out on the couch watching a movie with Ty while Declan and Colt were making lunch in the kitchen. At thirty-six, I still hadn’t learned how to do anything in the kitchen more than reheating food, and with Ty not much better, we’d been relegated to the living room.

Harrison’s messy brown hair appeared in the doorway first, looking more like bedhead than like he’d done anything with it that morning. Knowing my best friend, he probably hadn’t done anything with it, more likely than not rolling out of bed and heading directly to the airport. “God, I hate mornings,” he muttered as he collapsed on the couch beside me with a giant yawn.

“That’s all we’ve heard since we got up this morning,” Greg said as he came into the house shaking his head.

“We can tuck them both into bed after lunch,” Colt said like it was the most logical solution.

Greg readily agreed. “Not a bad plan. Or we’ll be hearing him complain about being tired all day.”

“Hey!” Harrison grumbled from beside me. “I’m not the little here—Dare is! I don’t need anyone to tuck me in or be told when to take a nap.” His argument was less effective when he yawned through the second half of the protest.

“I wouldn’t mind joining.” Jasper yawned as he hung up his coat, his blond hair tousled but not to the same bedhead status as Harrison’s.

Harrison got a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Mmm, a nap suddenly doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea.”

I poked Harrison’s ribs with my elbow. “Just keep the sex noises to a minimum. It’s still strange to know you’re sleeping with my big brother.”

Jasper lifted a shoulder. “That would hold more weight if I hadn’t heard you and Colt in the barn last time you were home.”

Colt choked on water, but I looked back at my older brother. “There are people everywhere at home! Hell, Ty and Dec had taken over the cabin for their midafternoon romp. We needed somewhere to go!”

Greg groaned. “We made it”—he looked at his watch—“one minute and forty-eight seconds into the trip before you all started arguing about sex.”

Maybe Daddy had a point about the guest house being a need.

“It’s gotta be a record,” Declan mused as we all made our way toward the kitchen.

Hugs and greetings quickly morphed into seven men standing around the kitchen eating like we hadn’t had anything to eat in days.

“So, I’ve been trying to figure out something to do to celebrate y’all getting hitched. How do you guys feel about going to Vortex tonight?” I finally asked when I thought we’d all settled down some.

Harrison’s eyes lit up, but Greg and Jasper both looked confused. “What’s Vortex?” Jasper asked before agreeing.

With Ty and I involved in making plans, it was a good idea to clarify before agreeing to anything.

“The gay night club in Nashville. I’ve never actually been. Neil didn’t want to be the ‘token gay celebrities’ in Nashville. It’s supposed to be a ton of fun, though.”

I was going to ignore the fact that Neil had been a Grade-A douchebag and clearly thought too much of himself if he thought their going to a gay bar would be more noteworthy than the numerous times Colt and I had gone over the years. Aside from the first time we’d gone, it hadn’t even made Twitter, much less the news. “They’re having a Christmas party tonight.”

“Now I know why you said to bring a themed outfit,” Greg said thoughtfully.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” I might have been addressing the group, but I’d spoken directly to Jasper.

The smile Jasper gave me reached his eyes. It was genuine and open, and it was almost hard to believe that he was the same guy that I’d known before Harrison and Greg came into his life. “Honestly, I’m good. I think it sounds fun. Even better since Harrison hasn’t gotten to go before.”

At hearing Jasper say he wanted to go, a weight was lifted off my shoulders and they dropped in relief.

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