Page 71 of Two for Charging

“But my A is in danger,” Hayes said when everyone had recovered from the very funny and not at all mean joke.

“If you say more racist shit or out anybody to the press,” Jax told him.

“If you do, the A will be the least of your worries,” Luca said pleasantly. He stared at Hayes, unblinking. “I will use your balls for target practice.”

Hayes shuddered. “Call off your guard dog, Breezy. I’m not going to do anything. I might not know shit about the—the gay agenda or whatever, but I’m not evil.”

Luca shrugged. “One cannot be too clear about how to deal with homophobes. Besides, the goal is a very big target. Better to practice using something tiny, such as your dick.”

Chris shifted in his seat. Mara leaned over Mooney to clink her glass against Luca’s, so no one was looking at him, and he used the opportunity to grab a pillow to cover his lap. His body had suddenly remembered his earlier, unfulfilled arousal, and his cock had plumped up a little. He wished he’d kept the Chewbacca costume on, rancid alcohol smell or no. His jeans were loose, but no pants were that loose. When did Luca threatening people become hot? And how could Hayes call Luca his guard dog and not guess that whatever was between them didn’t qualify as straight behavior? It didn’t make any sense. Besides— “I think Luca has more cat energy going on.”

“Soaking wet, pissed-off alley cat,” Mooney agreed.

Everyone laughed, which made Chris feel a little bad, but at least Luca laughed too. They were all still smiling when Howie came in from the kitchen.

“Party’s going strong here, huh?” he asked.

“Kid, you missed the reveal of the century.” Hayes threw back the rest of his whiskey.

Tom tensed up.

Jax smacked Hayes over the head. “What did we just talk about.”

“You said the press, not the team!”

“Guys,” Howie said slowly. “What’s going on?”

“How did it go with Dmitriyev?” Mooney asked, which was a relevant question and a bad distraction technique.

Howie shrugged. “Fine, I guess. I apologized for calling him a stupid fuck; he said some stuff about how things are different in Russia. He went home, by the way.”

“Good,” Tom said with an encouraging smile. “I’m glad you two worked it out.”

“Yeah, okay, but what happened here?”

Tom bit his lip, clearly unwilling to say anything himself. It couldn’t be because Howie had used the word “queer” as an insult last year, could it? He’d apologized to everyone.

“I think you should tell him,” Chris tried.

All eyes snapped to him.

“I think it would help?”

Mara elbowed Mooney in the side, and he stared at her for a second before jerking his head silently in understanding of whatever secret couple message she’d sent him.

“Uh, I think now you have to,” Mooney said. “He knows something’s up.”

“Guys?” Howie asked. The Peter Pan costume made him look paler than usual. He didn’t need help looking younger, but the dim lighting in the den tried its best to achieve the feat.

Jax heaved a put-upon sigh. “Tom and I are dating.”

“And I married Phil in February.” Ben raised his hand.

Howie blinked. His mouth dropped open.

“Also, I am bisexual,” Luca added. “But single.”

That didn’t sit right with Chris. He knew it was true, but it felt wrong to hear, uncomfortable and unpleasant. Luca should have someone. He’d be such a good partner—he planned the best friendship dates for Chris. The thought of him putting in even more effort for someone he actually liked made Chris’s stomach clench, so he turned to Howie to see his reaction.