Put a Ring on It (19 page)

“Okay. Text me where.”

“E-mail me the list, and I’ll see what I can handle—”

Kieran’s groan cut Theo off. He turned, trying to get a read on Kieran’s tight expression.

Theo played it back in his head. Everything was going perfectly. Kieran seemed excited about the wedding, and even Theo’s dick was staying on cue. What had Theo said to piss Kieran off?

Kieran relented with an explanation. “How did ‘We’ll talk later’ become ‘I’ll take care of it’?”

Theo couldn’t see how offering to take on some of the boring parts could be an issue, but he was too happy to argue about it. “Okay.”

That look was easy to read. That was Kieran’s what-the-fuck glare.

To demonstrate message received, Theo swung over to sit on the edge of the bed, dragging the sheet across his lap. Maybe he should raise one hand like a Boy Scout. “I won’t make any plans not related to work before dinner.”

Kieran nodded and started for the bathroom before he let out another soft groan. “Thanks a lot.”

Theo’s patience slipped. “What now?”

Kieran turned and arched his brows. “For the beard burn. I’m going to be walking funny. Again.”

“Oh.” Theo’s jaw was a little stiff, but he managed a big grin. “You want me to kiss it better?”

Kieran huffed a sound like a laugh. “That would probably be counterproductive.” He narrowed his gaze. “Don’t make me sorry I made you coffee.”

“You did?”

Kieran hated to make coffee, complaining that using Theo’s espresso maker was too much like being back working at the cafe.

“It must be love, then.” Theo kept his tone light.

Kieran crossed the room to squat in front of Theo. “What do you think me braving the wrath of Marilyn Delaney-Schwartz to get this was for?” He put his hand over the ring on Theo’s index finger.

“Not to mention random muggers on the D train?”

Kieran looked down for a minute, then back up, and Theo’s heart sped up. He couldn’t stop himself from pushing, but if Kieran just looked at him like that all the time, eyes wide open and shining, his guard down, Theo would never need reassuring.

“I want this,” Kieran said. “But I’m still scared. The whole idea of doing this freaks me out for a million reasons, but it’s not because I don’t love you.”

Theo nodded.

“I need to be a part of what’s happening.”

“Okay.” Theo got it.

“Now, if you make me late, I’m going to dump all the coffee in the sink.” Kieran got up and walked toward the bathroom door. “So stop fishing.”

THEY WERE
all waiting for him again. Even Dane was already there, Theo saw as he followed the hostess through the dark and blissfully quiet restaurant. Though Theo had been a deliberate twenty minutes late, it was still a little early for the power lunch crowd.

“Could I get a bottle of Pellegrino, please?” Theo asked as he slid into the dark leather chair. Maybe the fizz would do something to calm his stomach. It wasn’t just the hangover. The decision hanging over his head had him hamstrung. Not that he was violating his promise to Kieran. This was a decision Theo had to make alone. Just like Kieran would.

After Jax registered his complaint about wasting time and starving, Gideon leaned toward Theo. “A little too much celebrating with the little prince?”

“Keep in mind karma is a bitch,” Theo told him.

“I can handle my liquor,” Gideon said as the waitress brought over the bottle.

“And your love life?” Theo muttered behind a smile as Jax and Dane gave the waitress their orders.

Theo glanced down at the menu and ordered a shrimp risotto, then handed the card back to the waitress and poured sparkling water into his glass.

“So, you’re really doing this?” Jax got right to the point.

“Two weeks from yesterday. March second if you’re looking for a date. I—” Theo had to stop for a sip before he could finish. It had never occurred to him that he’d do this without them. Without any of them. But nothing had gone the way he’d imagined since he started things off with that nod to Geoff. “It would really mean a lot to me if you guys were there.”

“In Hawaii,” Gideon clarified. “At your wedding.”

“Actually, Maui, but yes.” Theo smoothed the tablecloth next to the bottle. He couldn’t meet any of their eyes.

“I thought you hated Casey McMann,” Jax said.

“All the more reason to stick him for plane fare.”

Jax shuddered. “I’ll be in first class, thank you anyway.”

“So you’re coming.” Theo turned to him.

“Assuming I don’t get a pilot between now and then.”

“Of course we’ll be there,” Dane said and stretched across the table to kiss Theo’s cheek.

“Spencer is more than welcome.”

Dane gave a half smile. “I think he may be out of the country then, but I’ll let him know. I meant all of us.” He looked at Gideon.

“How could I miss it?” Gideon’s tone implied the exact opposite of enthusiasm.

Theo laughed. “You and Kieran will get along perfectly.”

Dane choked on his iced tea.

Gideon smacked him on the back, and a weird look passed between them.

Theo couldn’t be bothered to interpret it. They were coming. Kieran would have his family, and Theo would have his. That was all that mattered.

“Plus one for you?” Theo asked Jax.

“Uh—”

The waitress arrived with sesame-coated breadsticks and dipping sauces. Jax tried to send her back with it, but Dane grabbed the basket midair. “I want it, thanks. You’ll have to demonstrate some willpower.”

“You and me both,” Theo agreed with a sigh. He couldn’t hide under a sweater in Hawaii.

“Him I get.” Dane pointed a breadstick at Jax. “What’s your issue all of a sudden?”

“Maybe he’s desperate not to look old and saggy in front of his hot young fiancé.”

Theo flipped Gideon off.

“I thought that was the point of getting married.” Jax stole one of Theo’s lemon wedges for his water. “You don’t have to impress him anymore.”

Gideon’s brow shot up, the one with the scar bubble on the edge. “Have you met Theo?”

“We got off track.” Theo nudged Jax with a hip. “Plus one?”

Jax released the breadsticks from his lustful gaze and turned back to Theo.

“Just me.”

Dane started to say something, and Jax cut him off.

“Not because I’m worried about people knowing. I’m going to be there with Theo, aren’t I?”

Dane held up his hands in surrender.

Jax went on, “But since Spencer’s not coming, it’s kind of the last chance for the four of us to….” He shrugged.

A bachelor party really wasn’t Theo’s kind of thing. “I’m not sure about male strippers.”

“I think Jax just means for things to be the four of us. Don’t worry, Theo. Nothing will happen to challenge your idealized monogamy. Though I don’t think they have any roller coasters in Maui. I suppose we could bond doing a zip line over a volcano.”

Gideon didn’t even bother to respond to Dane’s crazy idea. “If Theo gets a vote on no male strippers, I’m saying no more rounds of Never Have I Ever.”

Theo’s stomach lurched. That had been the last time too much ouzo had made him puke.

“Agreed,” Jax said quickly. “I’d rather do the zip line.”

“Truth’s that scary?” Dane asked.

Before they could get into another argument over Jax’s choices about how out was safe for his acting career, Theo interrupted. “Wait. I don’t want to leave anyone out. Gideon, if you want to bring someone—”

“No,” Gideon cut in before Theo could finish his question.

The waitress came back with their lunches, and Theo managed to get down two tasty shrimp before Jax brought up the question Theo had been dreading.

“So who needs to send the tux to the cleaners?”

Theo quickly shoveled in another shrimp, buying a little extra time as he chewed. It wasn’t that he loved or trusted any of them more than the others. They had all been there, each offering a different kind of support through every emotional or professional crisis of Theo’s life.

So he told them the truth.

“I can’t. The idea of picking one of you—it’s like picking between my hands.”

“The one you jerk off with, duh,” Dane said.

Theo laughed and shook his head. “That lets all of you off, then. I mean it, though. Will you all stand up with me?”

“If that’s what you want, sure,” Jax answered.

Dane was smiling, and Gideon rolled his eyes, which was as good an agreement as Theo supposed he’d get.

“Should we order some champagne?” Jax suggested.

“I have to get back to work,” Gideon said, despite having finished his second glass of Crown Royal.

“I doubt a glass of champagne will have much effect on my ability to measure water salinity, but I think I’ll pass too,” Dane said.

For an instant, Dane’s face looked hard and thin, but whether it was because of work stress or Gideon’s flat statement Theo couldn’t tell.

“Thanks for suggesting it, though.” Theo kissed Jax’s cheek.

“Theo, I’ve been meaning to ask—” Gideon pulled Theo’s hand off his water glass. “—what is this monstrosity you’re sporting?”

Theo pulled his hand back and looked down at Kieran’s ring.

“Is that his high school ring?” The lines were gone from Dane’s face as his eyes lit with laughter.

“I do believe the legal age for marriage in Hawaii is eighteen.” Gideon adopted a stern tone. “I can’t be a party to something illegal.”

“Are you taking a cue from my old sitcom days?” Jax joined in.

Theo ran the other hand through his hair. “It’s—temporary. It was kind of a joke because I gave him that other one.” It hadn’t been a joke at all, not really. Not the feelings behind it. “We’re going shopping for a real one later.”

“Which reminds me. Theo, you really need a prenup.”

To quiet the discomfort from his tiny bit of disloyalty, Theo stared back at Gideon and said, “Kieran insists on one. I told him I didn’t want one, but he’s the one who insisted.”

“Then he’s as smart as you said.”

“Smarter,” Theo told him.

Bringing up Kieran switched the scene mood faster than a blue gel on a light. Theo stabbed a shrimp and did his best to bring things back up. “Guys, I’m not moving anywhere. Kieran and I have been together over a year, and all of us still hang out. I’ll still come to the Cyclone.”

“Like you did this year?” Jax pulled out his wallet and dropped a fifty on the table.

“That was last-minute.”

“It’s fine, Theo. We all have to move on sometime. Let me out.” Jax nudged him. “Sorry to run, but I’ve got a—”

“Nooner?” Dane suggested.

“An appointment,” Jax said, but the dark flush on his cheeks and mumbled correction convinced Theo that Dane was probably right.

Theo let Jax out of the booth with a promise to e-mail details as soon as they were settled.

After he was out of sight, Theo pushed aside his risotto. “Am I the only one who thinks he actually may be seeing someone he’s not telling us about?”

“Why? What did he tell you?” Dane asked.

“When I called about the wedding date, he told me he was still in town. When I said I was surprised that he’d stick in New York this time of year without working, he said he’d been thinking of relocating.”

“See, Theo, if you waited, your despised celebrity hound could be on the hook for a second wedding.” Gideon lifted his glass and finished off the last few drops.

Dane shook his head. “Not going to happen. Not as long as he still thinks he’s going to get bigger roles if it’s not public knowledge.”

Theo kept his mouth shut about talent being the real reason Jax had trouble finding the kind of roles he was looking for, but he couldn’t deny Jax’s concern. Times were changing, but not everyone could pull off coming out and not being stuck playing gay characters—or caricatures—for life.

The restaurant was filling up for lunch, so they paid and went out into the cold.

“Shit, is it only one? Feels like it’s about four.” Dane pulled on his hat and gloves. “I know this is what you’ve always wanted, Theo. And if you’re sure—”

“I really am.”

“Then I’m happy for you. Move.” Dane pushed Gideon out of his way and kissed Theo, holding him in a long, hard hug after. “It’s not too late for us to get one good time in together under the wire,” Dane whispered in Theo’s ear.

“Slut.” Theo squeezed him tighter. “Thank you.”

Dane exchanged a glance with Gideon, then slipped away, heading east on Tenth Street.

Theo stopped Gideon from hailing a cab. “I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Pick Jax.”

“What?”

“Ask Jax to be your best man. He’s the one it matters most to.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask. Kieran’s grandmother is pretty into Jewish rituals. And I found this thing online, a
ketubah
?”

“Never heard of it.”

“It’s like a prenup, only it’s more like make-your-own vows. It can be a legal document and describes what each person will do in the marriage. I know family law isn’t your thing, but can you check around for me?”

“Theo.” Gideon pulled him into a space created by the posts of some scaffolding. “I—you’d better be really fucking sure about this kid.”

“I thought that’s what the prenup was for?”

“That only protects your money.”

“Are you actually admitting there’s something else worth having in life?”

Gideon shook his head. “Fine. I promise I won’t ask again as long as you both sign the prenup.”

Theo nodded. Gideon wasn’t as hard as he tried to be. He and Kieran did have a lot in common, including the suspicion that the world was out to get them. But no one had done the kind of number on Kieran that Dane had done—still did—on Gideon. Kieran’s walls were nowhere near the plasma force field, death-ray trap Gideon’s were.

Gideon pulled Theo close and kissed his forehead before stepping back. “And since you owe me a favor, ask Jax.”

HAWAII DID
not suck at all. If getting married meant dealing with being on display for people to poke at, Kieran could handle it in Maui. The Ho’omaka’ana Resort should find a way to make smells come off their website. They’d never have an empty room. Even his family seemed less annoying in Maui.