Coming Back

  Addie gave him a look that asked if they should stay or go. He was an adult. This was his business and there were the people he cared about most in the world all within shouting distance. There were few places that were better than Twisted Steel for Mick to be face-to-face with his parents.

  He nodded, indicating it was okay for them to wander off. He knew Addie had a Friday evening thing she did with her friends and that James used that time to sit in the quiet, just enjoying the time alone.

  “I know you have to run. But I’m so glad you came tonight,” Mick told the Franklins.

  “Now that Jessi’s finally home, I expect we’ll see you more often.” Addie gave him a look that dared him to even think about doing anything else. It wasn’t necessary, though. He always seemed to find his way back to the Franklins’ doorstep.

  He smiled, kissing her cheek after she hugged him.

  “We’re so proud of you, Michael,” James said in Mick’s ear as they embraced.

  Mick grinned at them. “I’ll see you both soon.”

  Without even a glance at Mick’s parents—who’d barely roused themselves to respond to the Franklins’ hello—James and Addie headed over to where Adam and Jessi stood chatting with Duke and Carmella.

  “What do you think?” Mick asked his parents.

  “I think a lot of young ladies should be covering up their bodies instead of letting all and sundry see their underpants,” his mother muttered.

  As Mick happened to like seeing ladies in their underpants, he had no real complaints. And, as his mother was really just complaining to complain, he let it go.

  “I meant about Twisted Steel. What do you think of the new showroom and all the work here?”

  Mick wished he didn’t care what they thought. But he did. They were his parents. He wanted them to respect him.

  It wasn’t that they didn’t love him. They did. Mick was certain of that. But they didn’t know how to love him without also making him feel like being bisexual was the worst sort of thing he could ever be.

  He served his country in the army. He had a great job and was now a business owner. He’d made good choices when it came to his career at last. Mick wanted them, just for once, to notice that.

  “It seems to be successful,” his father said. “The paper said profits were up over a quarter from last year.” He nodded.

  “This new showroom means we’ll now have our old showroom space to use for expanded administrative and shop use. Already there’s a demand.”

  His dad had read the article, though. It made Mick happy.

  “I’m surprised to see those Franklins and that Gulati boy around. I thought you were finished with them, Mick.” His mother frowned.

  “They’re my family too. You should give them a chance. They care about me.”

  His father’s brows angled down, judgment on his features. “They don’t care a thing about your immortal soul. They’re too happy to damn you without a thought. He’s a lure to your homosexuality and she’s the source of it all. We never should have allowed you to be around them.”

  The vehemence in his father’s tone, the edge of hatred in it had Mick rising to defend Jessi and Adam before he closed the subject. “That’s untrue. It’s also something I don’t want to talk about with either of you. I love Jessi and Adam, and I have since I was a kid. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin too.”

  “You have a family the Lord saw fit to bless you with. If you spent more time with us and less with outside influences, you’d have a wife and children by now. Instead you’re covered in tattoos and surrounded by temptation,” his father said.

  “This has been a pretty good visit so far, so let’s stop now before anything else hurtful gets said. Please,” Mick added.

  He did need to talk through all this stuff with them, but not in the middle of a party and certainly not when he was in the same place with Jessi and Adam for the first time in years.

  His parents nodded, frowning. They made their excuses, including a few about why some of his siblings weren’t there. His older brother and sister had come by earlier. They would be there for him, even if they didn’t always understand his choices.

  The rest of his biological family was a grab bag of messed-up relationships. He was working on letting go of it all. But that was way off in the future. Right then it still weighed on him.

  By the time they’d left, so had the Franklins. He tipped his chin and grinned at Asa and Duke after a quick hug of both men’s girlfriends, and found Adam and Jessi.

  “Ready?”

  “Are you sure? There are still people here,” Jessi said.

  “There are. Most of them work here and are hanging around for free booze and food. The guests are gone. The photographer has headed out. Where are we off to?” He wanted to be with them. Away from everyone else. Felt like he had to or lose his nerve.

  “Come to my house,” Adam said. “I’ve got food and a wine cellar.”

  Mick grinned at him. “We gonna need that much booze?”

  Jessi snorted. “Whatever it takes to get you two talking at long fucking last.”

  They both goggled at her.

  “What? It’s not that I never say the F word. It’s a great word, after all. I’m just more judicious than you two are.”

  How he’d lived years without her wasn’t something Mick wanted to think on just then. She’d been his heart for so long, and then he’d cut her off. That absence had been a raw wound that had never healed.

  But there she was and he let himself love it. Love her.

  “You’re absolutely correct, Jessilyn. You’re far more judicious than us in all ways, I’d wager.” Mick kissed her forehead.

  Adam gave them both his address and they left to follow him to his place.

  He was nearly to his bike when Duke and Asa called his name.

  Mick could have pretended not to hear them, but as he’d decided to finally talk to Adam and Jessi after all this time, he might as well be open with Asa and Duke too.

  Within reason.

  He kept walking to his bike, but waved to acknowledge them both.

  “So, you want to tell us something? A few things?” Duke asked as they met up at his bike.

  “A lot of things,” Asa added quietly.

  “I know I’ve been putting you off about this whole thing. And I know I promised to tell you. And I will. It is a truly long and complicated story, though. Right now, I’m on my way to Adam’s place to talk with him and Jessi, so it has to wait. I’ve loved Jessi since I was that lonely seven-year-old who she dragged into her birthday party because she saw him watching from the trees.”

  Duke’s expression softened and then hardened. “I want to talk about your parents too.”

  “One giant life-altering thing at a time. I’m not a wizard,” Mick said.

  Asa’s laughter startled them both.

  “As for Adam? Well, that’s complicated too, but loving him was one of the things that sent me back to the army. And more. Jesus, a lot more.” Mick blew out a long breath.

  “Don’t keep them waiting. We’ll be around when you’re ready.” Duke tipped his chin before hugging Mick.

  “So, both of them? This isn’t a love triangle situation, right?” Asa asked him.

  Mick grinned, glad it was dark so his blush was invisible. “Yes, both. No love triangle.”

  “Yeah, this sounds like a big bottle of tequila and cigars on the deck sort of story,” Duke said with a snort.

  A rush of gratitude hit him. Without these two men and their brotherhood, he wouldn’t be standing there.

  “At least one bottle.” Mick grabbed his helmet.

  His friends stepped back as he got on and keyed the engine to life.

  “Call me if you need anything. I know things are still shaky with your brother,” Mick told Duke. His younger brother had been going through some rough times and had been in the hospital.

  “For now it’s okay. Carmella and I are going to dinner with my parents and my sister before
they all go back home tomorrow morning. Good luck.”

  “Thanks,” he said to Asa and Duke. He didn’t need to add anything else.

  Jessi knew where Adam lived, of course. She sent him cards a few times a year, never wanting to fully let go. She might have done a computer street view thing, maybe.

  Her stomach tied and untied knots as she sat in her car. And then he came out from the garage and pointed at her car and the space next to his.

  “It’s fine. I can park here. Then Mick can take the spot in the garage,” she said as he approached her side.

  “Mick is on a motorcycle. He’ll fit anyway. You, inside the garage. It’s safe. It’s out of the weather.”

  “You’re very bossy.”

  He arched a brow. “Nothing has changed in that regard, no.”

  Sighing, she pulled her car into the spot he’d indicated and then got out when he opened her door.

  “How hard was that?” Adam asked.

  “Not any harder than it would have been to park in the driveway,” she muttered.

  “Saucy as usual, I see.”

  “Don’t get smirky with me.”

  Adam paused and then he pulled her into a hug. “I hate how long it’s been since I’ve felt this way,” he whispered.

  Oh how she wanted to remind him it was his own fault. But she knew it would only wound, and she thought they’d all wounded one another enough for a lifetime.

  “Mick’s coming,” she said instead.

  “Okay, you’re weird, but you can’t possibly know.”

  “I can hear a beefy motorcycle engine approaching. I’m guessing that’s him.” She didn’t argue with the weird thing. She was totally weird and one hundred percent okay with that.

  “Ah.”

  Soon enough a big bike turned at the end of the street, heading their way. This was a change she totally approved of. He looked badass and gorgeous as he followed Adam’s direction and pulled into the garage.

  “See? Room for everyone,” Adam said, closing the bay doors once Mick had keyed the engine off.

  “I should have had you ride with me. Your suit!” Jessi said as Mick joined them to walk into the house. Then again, his suit was fine. He probably rode in all sorts of clothes and stuff.

  “Everything is cool.” He grinned and then they both paused at the entrance to the main part of the house.

  Jessi left them both standing as she wandered into the living room, where the ceiling was open to the second floor. A fireplace dominated one wall with floor-to-ceiling windows to either side.

  She cruised past the built-in shelves, loaded with books and small pieces of art, skidding to a halt as she reached something she recognized.

  A hand-lacquered box she’d created with some gold and lapis caught her eye and she picked it up.

  Adam spoke, “I really can’t believe you never told me you did this sort of thing. Imagine my surprise when I was in a gallery and saw this with several others. It was your signature, they had it blown up and in a frame in the display.” Adam joined her and soon enough, Mick, without the jacket or his suit coat, showed up on her other side.

  “I might have told you if you hadn’t avoided me for years.” Jessi put the box back, pleased it had a home here on his shelves.

  “Fair enough. I bought them all. Two of the collection had already been purchased, so I tracked them down.”

  “Adam! That’s a lot of money for something I’d have given you for free.”

  He sighed. “Except you deserve to be paid for them because they’re amazing.”

  “Thank you.” It was flattering that he’d been with her even in some small way. But at the same time, she returned to the way he’d held himself back.

  “I don’t know about you two, but I need out of this tie and something to drink and eat,” Mick said, interrupting the tension.

  “I did promise, didn’t I?” Adam looked them both over. “I’ve got some workout pants and T-shirts if you want to change, Mick. Jess, you look beautiful. But if you’re uncomfortable or want to relax, I have some of your clothes so you can see if those fit. Otherwise we can make do with safety pins and my clothes.”

  “You have my clothes?” She didn’t know why, but she was surprised and then deeply touched.

  “I had things at my old place. You were there all the time, if you remember. I just brought it when I bought this place two years ago.” Adam led them upstairs and into a bedroom.

  Adam disappeared into a closet and brought out a stack of things he handed to Mick, and after a brief look through a drawer or two, he indicated she look. “In here. I’m going next door to ditch this suit so I’ll meet you all downstairs in a few.”

  Mick knew he should go in the other room. Even before anything sexual had happened, they all would have changed in the same space without a thought. The three had been that close.

  But that was before.

  He was grateful to have something more comfortable to wear, and as a bonus the fabric smelled like Adam. But sweatpants did zero to hide a hard-on, and he’d had one since Adam walked through the doors at Twisted Steel earlier that evening.

  After he managed to hang the suit and the shirt, Mick turned his attention to the other side of the bedroom where Jessi’d been standing, staring into the drawers.

  How many times in his life had he watched Jessi doing something as ordinary as choosing what to wear? Granted, she usually hadn’t been wearing a dress as sexy as the one she’d chosen for the grand opening. But Jessi made everything into a delightful ritual.

  She didn’t just grab something to put on her body; she pondered Jessi-stuff, like if the day would be cloudy she needed to wear a shirt that had a certain color, or a skirt that reminded her of a flower, whatever. Because it was Jessi, it could be anything at all that inspired the choice.

  She dug around a little, pulling a T-shirt free, followed by a pair of funky dad pajama bottoms. Jessi was a clothing thief. Those pants were likely to be a pair she’d lifted from her father years before.

  “Can you unzip me, please?” she asked him, looking back over her shoulder.

  Not trusting himself to speak, Mick went to her, unzipping the gorgeous dress she had on, unveiling a slice of bare skin as he did.

  “Holy shit!” He opened the back of the dress wide and took in the ink she bore. “Wow, Jess, baby, this is gorgeous.”

  Wings took up her entire back, the bottom tips reaching to her waist, the outer edges at her shoulders, wrapping around her upper arms. At the base of her skull they came to a point, touching artfully.

  She shimmied a little so the top of the dress came free and he could see the whole thing.

  Mainly in sepia with tones of gray to accent the feathers, the touches of lilac, green, and pink here and there made the wings seem iridescent, as if they caught the light. The detail work was stunning, giving the feathers a three-dimensional quality. It must have taken up hours of her life to have it done.

  Because it was Jessilyn, there’d be a reason for this choice. But it suited her, beautiful, magical, strong.

  Adam came in, moving to them immediately to look over Mick’s shoulder at Jessi’s back.

  “I could tell you had something big back here,” Adam said, his voice vibrating where he leaned against Mick. “Did you give him the story yet?”

  Mick turned his head to smile at Adam over the shared memory. “I was about to ask.”

  Jessi let the dress drop totally, stepping free of the material. She shook it a little before laying it carefully on the top of the dresser.

  Adam swallowed audibly as they stood there staring at Jessi in nothing but a tiny pair of panties.

  She hadn’t turned to face them so they were afforded only the barest glimpse of her breasts while she put on the pajama bottoms.

  “You both know how I feel about my angel dreams.” She pulled the shirt on—Mick recognized it as one of his—and turned to face them.

  “I was riding my bike along a creek trail one day and su
ddenly there were dragonflies everywhere in this little marsh. Zipping all around in the sunshine. Their wings were so pretty. I nearly crashed!” She grinned as she walked past them and out the door.

  They followed her because she’d start talking again, whether they were there or not, and he wanted to hear the rest.

  “Kitchen is to your left,” Adam called out.

  At the bottom of the stairs she waited for them.

  “Did you design this yourself?” she asked as Adam flipped on the lights. “Oh!” She did a slide across the hardwoods in her socks that had Mick trying it himself.

  Adam weaved his way through them, opening his fridge to peek inside. “I’ll tell you the story of this house after you finish telling us about your tattoo.”

  “Well, that was it, you see. One of my friends in Portland is a tattoo artist. I’d been planning to do the wings for my birthday and then the dragonflies came to me. A sign. I rushed back home and called to make the appointment to get the work done. I feel like they keep me safe. That’s the story of my wings. The plumeria on my wrist—ooh, I need some of this!” She dumped a bunch of cheese and deli stuff on the counter before returning to the fridge. “Came after a trip to Oahu and Maui. I made a wedding dress and some other custom pieces for a client. Her father-in-law retired from thirty years of tattooing! Imagine. Anyway, he did the flowers on my wrist.”

  Adam looked through the items she’d put out on the counter. “I can do something more complicated than sandwiches.”

  Jessi patted his butt on her way past. “We know. I don’t even think we need to assemble anything, just bring the crackers and some bread and go from there.”

  CHAPTER

  Four

  Like wayward ducklings, they responded to her directions and before long they were sitting on Adam’s couch, readying the first shot of whiskey.

  Jessi held her glass up. “Only connect.”

  The heat of the liquor helped burn through the lump of emotion in Mick’s throat. E. M. Forster’s words had been their toast since she’d read Howards End back in high school.