Owen stopped talking abruptly and Seamus felt his stomach clench. Why he wouldn’t come? That actually hurt. He and Solomon had grown close this year and he’d expected his support for something like this.
“Let’s not be hypocrites, Owen.” Rory looked amused. “You were a hetero-manwhore until a little birthday tequila, and you flipped fast enough. Also for the record, you didn’t invent switching teams for love. Or lust for that matter. I’ve lost count of how many men I’ve—”
“It isn’t the same thing, Rory. Jeremy was someone I’d known forever. Someone I trusted. We don’t know anything about this guy, and Seamus genuinely wanted to beat the shit out of him the entire time we were there. He had his Hulk face on.”
“It’s true, he did,” Bellamy joined in, green eyes sparkling. “He still does on occasion. He’s got a temper, this one. It’s very sexy.”
Tasha’s jaw dropped as if they’d just revealed something fascinating. “Stephen, they fight.”
Seamus rolled his eyes. “Only when he’s being irritating.”
“Or you’re being stubborn.”
“I wanted to hit Trick every day for the first few months,” Jen said with a sappy grin. “And he loves to rile Declan up. It does make the sex pretty explosive.”
Seamus put his head in his hands and groaned when his family all started talking at once.
“Whoa. That doesn’t help at all.”
“Jesus, Jen. We told you no details. Ever.”
“Are my ears bleeding?”
Tasha lifted her glass to toast her sister-in-law. “I love hearing about your man sandwich, Little Finn, but these cavemen never will. You’ll always be the baby girl to them.”
“I’m fine with it,” Rory protested, sending Jen a wink.
“We really need more women in this family,” Jen muttered, letting a laughing Trick pull her close to his side.
“Here, here.” Wyatt raised his beer. “Don’t worry, Jen. I’ll get to it eventually. One of us has to.”
Noah muttered something only Wyatt could hear and Seamus saw him react like he’d been sucker-punched. The last thing he wanted was for those two to come to real blows or say something they could never take back, so he started talking. Telling them what they came to hear. “I don’t have an explanation, if that’s what you’re waiting for. I…I had an experience in high school and I thought I had to choose between that and having a family. I chose. But since then I’ve never—well, I haven’t been in the closet for years or sneaking guys in through the basement or anything like that. This just happened, and I’m still not entirely sure what it is. Beyond the obvious,” he added swiftly when Bellamy opened his mouth to respond with something graphic. “Thoreau says I’m something called a late-blooming gay.”
A wave of surprised laughter washed over the full table, breaking the tension.
“I think we need new t-shirts,” Rory said, still chuckling.
Bellamy put a supportive hand on his thigh and squeezed. “Saw what you did there, peacemaker” he murmured. “But you forgot the M for monogamous.”
He didn’t forget it. But using that word in this company would only prolong the torture. “I hope you’re satisfied now and we can all move on.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” Stephen asked. “Do they know? Have you introduced him to the kids?”
Anxiety instantly tightened his chest and Bellamy must have sensed it. “I only showed up a few days ago and we didn’t leave things on the best of terms—my fault—so I’m thinking he didn’t want to talk about me with anyone.”
Was Bellamy trying to help smooth things over with Stephen?
“As for your parents and the kids, I’m sure he would prefer to talk to them himself when they get back from the cruise. In his own time and without any help.”
Seamus saw the rest of them nodding in agreement and felt stunned. Bellamy was helping. Being protective. I’ll be damned.
“When do you go back to New York?” Owen again. Why was he being such a shit?
“He goes back whenever he wants to,” Seamus said in a tone that warned his brother not to argue. “It’s not my business and it’s none of yours.”
“Wrong,” Bellamy corrected, sending Seamus a look so hot it made him shift in his seat. “It’s entirely his business, and I’m not going anywhere unless Seamus runs me out of town. That means you can all expect me at the next Finn Again.”
“How do you know about… You know what? Never mind.” Seamus shook his head, frowning. “But stop saying things like that. They’ll take it out of context.”
Trick laughed. “You mean we might think you want something serious instead of a long-distance fuck buddy? That’s so out of character. You’re usually such a player.”
“Enough, Trick,” Stephen said, his lips quirking. “We wanted to make sure he was all right, not get kicked out of his bar.”
He wasn’t used to being the center of so much attention. Stephen thrived on it, Owen sought it out, but Seamus preferred being in the background. It was where he’d always been. Anything else felt off and he didn’t know how to handle it.