Open Road (3 page)

Reece handed the wine back wordlessly. He didn’t know what to say to that revelation. It was definitely the first he’d heard of it. He looked over, and Angus had the wine bottle bottoms up. He’d chugged at least a good cup out of it.

“Babe, you wanna slow down a little? You’ll get sick.”

“Reece, why don’t Brad’s friends like me?” Angus asked.

Reece decided it probably hadn’t been the best idea to give him wine. Wine for an already sad Angus was going to make him morose and melancholy.

“Hey, you want to order pizza?”

“Sure. Why don’t they like me? I’m nice, aren’t I? I’m just not good enough for them….”

“They’re dickheads.” Reece didn’t have much of anything else to say on the subject. Brad’s friends were stuck-up,
boring
like nothing Reece had ever encountered, and… basically dickheads. There really wasn’t a better word for it.

“Dickheads….” Angus giggled. “Heads with dicks on them would be funny looking. I think it would be hard to eat. Like for the dicks…. How would they eat?”

Oh Lord.

Reece saw Angus’s phone sticking out from his pocket. He plucked it out and put it in the cabinet above the fridge where Angus couldn’t reach it. He figured Angus would thank him in the morning. He was about three more chugs away from some singularly disastrous drunk dialing. It had happened more than once before. Reece thought about calling Cherry, Angus’s sister. She didn’t live too far away, and Reece and Cherry had spent many nights bitching about Brad the Boring when Angus was too busy with him to see them. He’d love to hang out with Cherry too, and he was sure she missed her brother as much as Reece did.

He figured Angus was about all he could handle though—at least in his current state.

“You want pineapples and olives?” Reece asked.

“Yessss, and sausage and mushrooms and pepperoni. Brad never wants to get sausage or pepperoni. Or pizza.” Angus screwed up his nose and pouted. “
Gluten free
….”

“Got it.” Reece was torn between laughing and wanting to find Brad the Bad, wherever he was, and punch him. He leaned over the couch. “Hey, Angus?”

“Yeah?”

He kissed Angus on the forehead. “Happy birthday. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

THE NEXT
morning was painful. To say the least. He and Angus had finished off two bottles of wine between them, and Reece wasn’t a big enough drinker to have that kind of night wash off his back. His head was pounding when his alarm woke him up, and his mouth felt like sour sandpaper, if that was even a thing. Only seconds after he silenced his alarm, his mother called. Of course. He picked up the phone with a groan. Reece loved his mother more than just about anything in the world, but talking in his current state was going to be a problem.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hey, Mom.” Reece tried to make his voice sound like anything but tired and hung-the-hell-over. Didn’t work. Even the pale yellow of his bedroom walls hurt his eyes. The thought of putting his feet down on the cold wood floor made him cringe.

“You sound a bit rough. Didn’t you sleep well?”

Sure, for the four hours he’d even been asleep. He and Angus had stumbled into his room and passed out at about two. He looked over and saw Angus snuffling into Reece’s second pillow. Brad was going to be extra pleased about that.

“I’m on my way to go pick up Kelly and Peyton. Do you want me to pick up Angus before I head over? Cherry’s going to meet us at your house at eleven.”

“Oh, no. I’ve got Angus. He’s here.”

“Really?” His mom sounded awfully excited about that.

“Ma,
no.
Why do you guys always start with that?” Reece didn’t have the mental energy to have the millionth conversation about how he and Angus had always belonged together. It was awkward. He was too hungover for awkward.

“You know me and Kelly—”

“And Cherry,” Reece muttered.

“Yes, and Cherry—”

“And Peyton sometimes too.”

“All of us. We just want you boys to be happy.”

“I am happy.” Sort of. “And Angus is happy with Brad.” Again, sort of. And most of the time Reece wasn’t that into guys at all beyond a glance or two. Except sometimes when Angus stretched and his shirt rode up to show pale skin and a cluster of tiny multicolored stars tattooed on his hip and Reece had to stop himself from wanting to taste the soft skin. Or when Angus laughed and threw his head back and his dark hair shone, or when he sucked on—
fuck
. It was so useless. So very useless.

“I know, dear. I’d better get off the phone, but I’ll see you at eleven. Be ready and make sure Angus is too.”

“Okay, Ma.”

“And Rich says hello.”

Reece smiled. He liked his mom’s second husband. He had since the day he’d met the guy. “Tell Rich hi from me too. And thank him again for the Trail Blazers tickets. I had a blast at the game.”

“Did you take Angus?” his mom asked. Seriously. Nobody in the world was as persistent.

Reece had to chuckle. “No, I took Carly. You know the woman I was dating? Because I date
women
?” Which was true. But still there were those moments… the ones where he wanted to kiss Angus more than he’d ever wanted to kiss anyone else in his life. Plus, the reality about the basketball game was, Angus
had
been planning to go until Brad threw a fit about him hanging out with Reece again. Didn’t mean he had to tell his mother that.

“I know, darling. I know.”

His mom sounded like she knew a lot more than just what he’d said.
Shit.
Why did moms have to be psychic?
Reece hung up the phone with his mom and slipped out of bed to retrieve Angus’s mostly dead phone from the cabinet on top of the fridge. He tapped in the passcode and saw a veritable mountain of texts from an irate Brad. He called Brad right away. Reece didn’t love the guy, but he was probably worried.

“Angus,” Brad barked when he picked up the phone. “Where the
hell
are you?”

“Brad, this is Reece. Angus is fine, but he’s asleep. He got a bit upset last night, drank too much, and passed out on my couch.” Not exactly true. But Angus had a big night that night. Reece didn’t think starting World War Brad was a good idea.

“I’ve been worried
sick
.” Brad sounded a lot less worried and more pissed off. Reece gritted his teeth. It had been a long ten years of gritting his teeth.

“I’m going to wake him up in a little bit and send him home to shower for brunch. I just wanted to let you know he’s okay.”

Reece hung up the phone and glanced at the messages. He noticed they didn’t start until after dawn…. Brad had been worried sick all right. So sick he didn’t start texting Angus until morning.

He ambled back into the bedroom. “Babe, you’ve gotta wake up.”

Angus was sprawled nearly sideways on Reece’s bed, black hair fanned in a shiny fringe across the pillow, pale pink lips parted slightly. He was fully dressed in his T-shirt, jeans, and even socks. He was going to feel like hell when he woke up.

“Angus? The moms are on their way. You need to go home and get showered and changed.” He reached out and shook Angus’s shoulder.

“No brunch,” Angus muttered. “I’ll puke.”

“It’ll be good for you, babe. Soak up some of the wine. C’mon. Let’s get you home.”

Angus gave him a death glare and rolled himself to a sitting position. “How long do I have until they get here?”

“About two hours.” Reece handed Angus his phone. “Brad’s pretty pissed.”

“
Shit,
” Angus muttered. “He’s not going to let me forget about this for the rest of eternity.” He made a face.

“Babe? You sure you want to go home?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll just suck it up and get a lecture. He does have a right to be pissed. I should have called him.” He deflated a little bit. “This is just the kind of stuff he brings up whenever I ask about kids. He doesn’t think I can handle them.”

Nothing like a thirtieth birthday to remind Angus he still wants a baby someday….
Reece knew it had been one of the main sources of contention between Angus and Brad the past few years.

Angus shook his head and stood. “Not the time for that. I’ll go get ready for brunch.”

“Okay. You’re fine to drive?” Reece asked.

“Yeah, of course. I’m fine. I’m just hungover.” Angus pushed on his eyeballs. “Why did we drink last night?”

“
Please
. Don’t blame that on me.”

“I have to blame it on somebody.” Angus chuckled, then groaned. He picked up his keys and pocketed his phone. Reece noticed he didn’t even check it for messages. Probably didn’t want to see whatever he figured was on there. “See you later, babe.”

“’Kay. See you in a little while.”

REECE STRUGGLED
through his shower and dressed in a button-down over a T-shirt with some nice jeans. He doubted the moms planned for anywhere super fancy. As a group, they tended to pick places with good, simple food and squishy booths, rather than the trendiest choice with all the trappings. He shoved his feet into his newest pair of dark Converse and flopped down onto the couch to wait for everyone to get there.

He was half-asleep when he heard a key jiggling in the lock. It was too early for his mom to have made it all the way to Portland from Astoria, so the only choices were Cherry or Angus. It was the second one.

“What are you doing back here so early?” That had to be the quickest shower and change in history.

Angus shrugged. “I figured if I sat down at home, I’d pass out and not make it to my own birthday brunch.”

Which was probably code for
Brad was pissed, and I wanted to get out of there
.

Reece chuckled and patted the cushion next to him. “Have a seat.” He had a feeling there was more to the story than that, but he wasn’t going to ask.

They were both half-asleep when the doorbell rang. Reece struggled to his feet and opened the door to find the whole crowd on the other side—his mother, tall, blonde, statuesque, and entirely too chipper; Kelly, Angus’s mom, in one of her long skirts and a sweater; Cherry, with her bright red hair that was at least partly natural, tapping her foot with her usual level of impatience; and sweet Peyton, who was a twenty-three-year-old carbon copy of Angus. They were laden with gifts and smiles.

“Hey,” Reece said with his own smile. “Come on in.”

He stepped aside and let his family pile in. Because even if Angus’s mom and siblings weren’t blood relatives of Reece’s, that’s what they still were—family. They had been since the day two emotionally bruised women happened to move onto the same street with their children and decided to be best friends.

Angus, who’d had his eyes closed, was pulled off the couch by his younger siblings and attacked with a huge hug and boisterous birthday wishes.

“Hey, guys,” he said, hugging back. When Reece looked over again, he had a huge grin on his face. Apparently not even a killer hangover and whatever had happened between him and Brad when he got home could stand strong under the onslaught of enthusiastic sibling love.

Reece’s mom came over and put her hand on the small of his back. He slung his arm around her shoulders and watched the Loughlins greet each other.

“I’ve missed you, sweetheart,” his mom said. Reece felt better since she had Rich. It had felt like a lot of years that she was completely alone after he left for college. Still, he could get back to Astoria more often. Cherry and Angus were far better at it than he was.

“I miss you too, Ma.” He ducked, though nowhere near as far as he had to duck for Angus, and kissed her head. “I’m glad you guys are here for the party.”

“Where’s Brad?” she asked.

Reece rolled his eyes. “Please don’t bring up Brad. He told Angus weeks ago he’d rather just do the night event. Something about tennis.”

Reece knew it was mostly about how Brad didn’t like Reece or Cherry, and he was fully aware both moms would’ve been completely happy if Reece and Angus got married and Brad disappeared. Ironically, they both ignored the part about how Reece had never dated a single man in thirty years. Reece wondered just how much of his insides were showing even though he tried to hide them.

BRUNCH WAS
fun. Noisy but fun. Reece was content to sit back and watch like he usually did. They all had their roles in the family—Angus was loud, creative, and rarely stopped moving. Cherry was opinionated and about as fiery as her hair. Angus always teased her for being a cliché. Kelly and Peyton were cut from the same cloth, gentle, artistic, and soft. Reece and his mom were the practical ones, the caretakers. Ingrid tended to organize the whole group into activities, while he made sure Cherry and Angus were keeping up with the stuff they tended to ignore—like bills.

Reece had fun watching, though, and offering a comment here and there. They didn’t get enough time with all of them together like they had been practically his entire childhood. It really felt like coming home.

His mom nudged him. “You’re being quiet. Are you having a good time?”

“I’m always quiet,” Reece said with a smile. “But yes. It’s great to have all of you guys here.”

“I wish there was more to offer you and Angus and Cherry back in Astoria. Peyton’s going to be leaving in a few years too, probably. There isn’t much in the line of work for him at home.” She frowned. “I hate that you’re all gone.”

“Hey. None of that. It’s Angus’s birthday. We can be depressing another day.”

Ingrid laid her head on her son’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it’s hard for me to reach your shoulder now. I remember when you used to be smaller than me.”

“It’s been a long time since then, Ma.” Ingrid was nearly five-ten, but Reece had shot up back in eighth grade and hadn’t stopped growing until he was six foot three. It was a rare day when someone else made him feel small.

“I know. My big brawny baby boy.” She kissed his shoulder.

“You two are corny,” Cherry said from across the table. Like she didn’t make the trip every couple of weeks to go home and visit her mother.

“Shut it, CP.” Her name had evolved over the years from Charlotte to Cherry to Cherry Pie to its current form of CP.