The O'Brien Way (12 page)

Sean sucked in a breath at the realisation that it really
didn’t
matter to him. Nothing about the
O’Briens
’ mattered, not their rules, not their approval, hell, not even them. He had a family right where he was and in the short time he’d known them, they’d given him more love than he’d ever thought he deserved.

Devlin finished off his coffee and stood. “I’ll probably head on back to Boston in the morning if I can get a flight. I know you don’t believe this now, but I really am sorry for everything you’ve been through.” He squeezed Sean’s shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen.

Sean waited until he heard the apartment door close before carrying his cup and the coffeepot into the kitchen. Staring at the mess he’d made on the floor, Sean knew it wasn’t the biggest mess he needed to clean up. He walked away from the kitchen without a backwards glance. Some things were simply more important than a job.

Chapter Eight

Sean jumped at the knock to the driver’s window. He pushed the sleeping bag he’d brought along away from his face and turned to see
Virginia
staring at him. He switched on the ignition and rolled down his window.

“Are you coming in or just planning to sleep in my driveway all day?”
Virginia
asked.

“Not sure if I’m welcome,” Sean replied.

Virginia
shook her head. “Well I’m not sure either, but you’re definitely not going to find out sitting out here.”

“Is William awake?” Sean asked.

Virginia
shook her head. “He told me before he went to bed not to wake him.
Said he wanted nothing to do with Christmas this year.”

“That’s my fault.”

“Yes, it is.
Now’re
you going to do something about it or not?” With those words,
Virginia
turned and walked back towards the porch.

Sean untangled himself from the sleeping bag and turned off the engine. He grabbed a small sack of envelopes and followed
Virginia
into the house.
Jilly
lifted her head from the sofa.
Shit.
Was it his imagination or did the dog look like she was scowling at him? Moby had mentioned to Sean a time or two what a good listener his dog was. Had Moby really told
Jilly
what an ass Sean had been? He pointed towards the dog. “I’ll make up with you in a few minutes. First there’s someone else who needs an apology.”

Virginia
took the gifts and set them beside the tree while Sean took off his boots and coat.
“Down the hall.
I’ll start breakfast,” she said before disappearing into the kitchen.

After a quick stop in the bathroom, Sean crept his way towards Moby’s room. He opened the door and stepped inside as quietly as possible. The early morning sun bathed Moby in a golden light. The picture would’ve been perfect if it hadn’t been for the closed, swollen eyes on Moby’s handsome face.

It gutted Sean to see the proof of just how much he’d hurt the man he loved. Taking a big chance, Sean removed his jeans and socks and slid into bed beside Moby. He didn’t reach for Moby right away. What if no matter what he said or did he’d damaged their relationship beyond repair?

The decision was taken out of his hands when Moby rolled over and snuggled against Sean’s chest in his sleep. Sean let his arms settle around Moby. “I love you,” he whispered, kissing the top of Moby’s head.

Moby’s cheek rubbed against Sean’s flannel shirt. Although the moment felt perfect, Sean knew his lover was still asleep. “Wake up, sweetheart. I have a few things I need to tell you.”

Moby’s arm tightened around Sean’s waist briefly before his entire body went rigid. He sat straight up and blinked several times before staring down at Sean. “What’re you doing here?”

“Praying that you’ll give me another chance,” Sean answered. “I love you more than anyone on earth, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”

Moby’s face contorted in confusion. “
Why’re
you telling me this now? Is it because you think it’s what I want to hear?”

Sean sat up to face Moby, settling the covers around his waist. “Remember those issues I told you I need to figure out?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I realised I was an asshole to even worry about them. I enjoy owning my own place, but I’m not in love with the pub. I thought I was. I’d actually done a damn good job of convincing myself that if it came down to it, I didn’t need anything but that place.” Sean reached out and put his hand on Moby’s blanket-covered leg. “I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s you I need, not stupid rules. From now on,
The O’Brien Way
of doing things is whatever I determine, not what was handed down by my
father.
”

“So I guess that means you spoke to him?” Moby said.

“Yeah.
And to be honest, I’m not sure I care to do it again anytime soon. It might sound selfish to you, but at this point in my life, I don’t think he deserves another chance to get to know me.”

Moby’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry that I asked him to come. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“I know, and despite how things turned out, I’m glad you did what you did. It was about damn time I woke up to who he really was and is. He’ll never change because he has no desire to, but I refuse to travel down that path with him. It’s time I start living my life for me instead of always trying to gain his approval.”

Moby leant forward and wrapped his arms around Sean. “It sounds like your night was even harder than mine.”

Sean shook his head. “That’s not true. I don’t think my dad has the power to hurt me like I did you. I’ll never be able to forgive myself for what I said and did to you.”

Moby moved to straddle Sean’s lap. “I forgive you. Now shut up and kiss me.”

Sean moved his hands to Moby’s ass and squeezed as he took his lover’s mouth in a deep kiss. Moby may have forgiven him, but Sean knew he was far from forgiving himself. He took the kiss deeper as his hands separated the cheeks of Moby’s ass and began to circle the puckered skin of his hole.

With a moan, Moby pulled out of the kiss and climbed off Sean’s lap. “I have something for you,” he said, opening the bedside drawer. He came back with a box of condoms and a new bottle of lube wrapped in a large red ribbon. “Don’t worry. This isn’t your only present,” he said, handing them over.

“You’re the only present I need.”

“Really?
Because you’ve already got me, so I guess I’ll take the others back tomorrow,” Moby said with a chuckle.

Sean held up the bottle of lube. “What about this? Can I keep this?”

Moby crawled back onto Sean’s lap and nodded. “You can do more than keep it, you can use it. Now,” he added.

Within moments, Sean had the bottle opened and his fingers coated in lube. After readjusting Moby, Sean pushed two fingers slowly inside him. His gaze went to the large bruise on the side of Moby’s neck as he continued to slide his fingers in and out of Moby’s warmth. “There’s something else I promised you for Christmas,” he said before taking the skin of Moby’s neck into his mouth.

Moby tilted his head to give Sean better access as he began to ride three of Sean’s fingers.

“Breakfast is ready,”
Virginia
called through the closed door.

Moby’s head jerked towards the door. Unprepared for the quick movement, Sean didn’t release his hold on Moby’s skin soon enough. “
Ow
!” Moby cried, his hand going to his neck.

“Sorry,” Sean apologised.

Moby grinned and leant in for a quick kiss. “Are you sure you’re not a vampire?”

“Promise.”
Sean removed his fingers from Moby’s ass and wiped them on the sheets. “I forgot to tell you your mom was making breakfast.”

Moby scrambled off the bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor. “I wanted to give her
her
present before breakfast.”

“I’m sure it can wait until afterwards,” Sean said, confused by Moby’s sudden rush to get out of the bedroom.

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same.” Moby pulled on a T-shirt and bent over to give Sean another quick kiss. “Get dressed,” he said before grabbing a large box from the corner of the room and racing out of the door.

Sean crawled off the bed and reached for his jeans. Was Moby’s excitement normal for Christmas morning? He thought of the gifts he’d purchased for Moby and his mother and began to second guess his choices. Sean had gone for practical but surely Moby wouldn’t be so excited to give his mom a practical gift. “Well, shit.”

* * * *

Moby set the unwrapped box on the kitchen floor and kissed his mom on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

Virginia
grinned. “I see Sean managed to climb his way out of the hole he dug himself into last night.”

“Yep.
Now, I need you to go into the living room and stay there until I call you in.” He took his mom by the shoulder and gently prodded her out of the room.

“But breakfast is going to get cold,” she tried to argue.

“No it won’t. I’ll be quick.” As soon as his mom was gone, Moby opened the box and began to unpack the set of china he’d found at a second-hand shop in town. Although it wasn’t new, it was still in great shape and at a price he could afford. He quickly washed three each of the dinner and bread plates before reaching for the large platter at the bottom of the box.

Sean came wandering into the kitchen, almost tripping over
Jilly
. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yes,” Moby answered in relief and held out the china “You can take those old dishes off the table and replace them with these.” He snapped his fingers at
Jilly
. “Go lay down.”

Jilly
dutifully rose to her feet and
laid
back down in her special corner of the room. Moby strode towards the table and quickly removed the serving dishes. After transferring the food, he stepped back and eyed the table,
cringeing
when he noticed a small chip on one of the bowls. He reached back and turned the bowl until the defect wasn’t as noticeable and smiled. “Okay, Mom.”

Virginia
stepped into the room and gasped. “What have you done?” she asked as her hand came up to cover her mouth.

“Merry Christmas,” Moby said. He was proud of himself for finally getting his mom the perfect present.

Virginia
dropped into her chair and ran her hand over the delicate yellow rose pattern that rimmed the dinner plate. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

“Someday I’ll be able to buy you a new set, but until then, I hope this works.”

Virginia
looked up at Moby with tears in her eyes. “Don’t you dare try to replace
these.
New or not, they mean more to me than anything else you could ever replace them with.”

Moby smiled and bent to kiss his mom’s cheek. “I’m glad you like them.” He took a seat and looked up at Sean who was still standing silently by the table.
“Something wrong?”

Sean shifted from foot to foot before finally leaving the room. Moby was about to go after the man he loved when Sean came back into the room, carrying a sack. “I have to apologise for the presents I brought. They aren’t like yours.”

Moby stood and crossed to Sean. He wrapped his arms around the sad-looking man and kissed him. “Never apologise for a gift. The important thing is that you cared enough to get them in the first place.” He kissed Sean again. “Besides, you’re the best gift I’ve ever received.”

Sean grinned and held up the sack. “Glad you think so because I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed in my shopping skills.”

Moby held out his hand. “Okay, give me my present so you can enjoy your breakfast without worrying so damn much.”

With a resigned sigh, Sean reached into the sack and pulled out an envelope. “This one’s for you.”

Moby went back to sit in his chair and opened his gift. He pulled out a sheet of paper with Gill’s Garage printed at the top.

“It’s a gift certificate. I noticed the other day that your tires were getting pretty bald. I thought maybe it would be safer for you to drive back and forth to work if you had a new set,” Sean explained.

Moby had to take a deep breath before he could respond. He reached across the table for Sean’s hand. “You were so wrong.”

“I was?” Sean looked worried.

Moby nodded. “This is an incredible gift.”

“You really think so?” Sean’s frown disappeared.

“Yep, I really do.”

Sean smiled for the first time since leaving the bedroom. “Cool.” He dug back into the bag and came out with another envelope and handed it to
Virginia
. “I hope I’m not overstepping anything by giving you this. It’s kind of another IOU like William’s.”

Virginia
chuckled. “You can call him Moby in front of me.”

“You know?” Moby asked.

“Why they call you that? No, but I’ve figured out you like it better than sharing Bill’s name,” she explained, easing open the envelope.

Moby crossed his arms and grinned. His mom’s acceptance was growing at an incredible rate. With each day, she opened her world to views outside those of her husband.

Virginia
pulled a key out of the envelope and looked at Sean. “What’s this?”

Sean cleared his throat and glanced at Moby before answering
Virginia
’s question. “I leased Logan’s Cycle Shop. Since their business took off and they built that new building across town, this one’s been sitting empty.”

“You want me to open a motorcycle shop?”
Virginia
asked, clearly puzzled.

Sean chuckled and shook his head. “If you walk out the back door of O’Brien’s, it’s right across the alley. I thought maybe Moby and I could fix it up into like a small house or something. That way when you finish your shift, you can go home and not have to wait for Moby to clock out. Of course I’m not saying you have to move or take it or anything. I just thought…you know…with the way things are going with Moby and I…”