Sex in the Sky

Waking up with a big rough hand other than my own down my shorts is always a little surprising. It certainly doesn’t happen very often. Actually, it almost never happens.

For some reason Nick can’t resist my morning wood. In fact, he’s always grabbing at my package when he thinks no one is looking. I think it amuses him to see how much it embarrasses me.

Before I met Nick, I was accustomed to sleeping alone. I like my space, always have. Indeed, I rather enjoy being able to sprawl out all over my king size. But he likes to sleep over and I don’t discourage this behavior, in fact I mind at all.

Nick’s a very cool guy. I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like him. I believe that was the first thing that I noticed about him, the way he seems so absolutely amiable with everyone. Well, that and his eyes.

His deep set hazel eyes, constantly ablaze under a pair of thick, jet black eyebrows that perfectly match his short wavy hair. He’s got what I like to refer to as bedroom eyes. They seem to sort of slant down slightly at the corners giving him a heavy lidded, sort of sly, sort of sleepy, sexy look.

Oh, and then there’s his body! Even at first glance you can tell that he takes great care of himself. Since we met, we’ve both engaged in a sort of unconscious competition that keeps both our bodies looking really great. We’re about the same height, so its easy to match each other’s muscle tone and definition. Although I do out weight him by a few pounds.

At six foot, he’s very lean and muscular. But its his ass that really sets him apart. Its absolutely perfect.

The first time I really noticed him was at the sports bar where he works. He was wearing a pair of chinos and I just couldn’t take my eyes off that high, tight, round little ass of his. Every time he turned his back to me, I swear I could feel a little drool start to form under my tongue.

Then he spoke in that pleasantly mellow baritone voice of his and I could barely respond. Nick is handsome in a strong masculine way, much like his voice, his looks appeal to everyone.

You could never describe him as a pretty boy. Nick is all man. Very rough around the edges and sometimes very disgusting, just like me. You’ll never catch him primping or doing anything that will remotely enhance his image. He’s a studly guy in every respect. But he does have something of a boyish appeal about him.

From what I’ve observed, men, women, children, even pets seem to dig him. He just gives off a good vibe. He’s sexy, alluring and innocent all at once. You can tell right away that he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t take himself or anything else too seriously.

There was nothing in his manner that would lead me to believe that I’d ever have a shot with him. So, I didn’t even try. At least not consciously.

Curiously, and according to him, it was he, who first made a play for me, which I still find hard to believe. And again, according to him, all of his efforts to attract my attention had been summarily rebuffed. I don’t really remember it that way. But, of course I was somewhat preoccupied at the time.

Its amazing that we ever got together at all. Neither of us knew that the other liked guys.

Now, as he tightened his grip on my member, I instinctively reached down and held his hand still through the thin fabric of my boxers.

Seems I’d been having a very erotic dream and was pretty close to shooting when I awoke to his touch.

Just then his cell phone rang, Nick pulled his hand out of my boxers and answered it.

Minutes later, he was dressed and hurriedly on his way to the door.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m not sure yet.” He grumbled distractedly. “That was the manager at my trailer park.”

“You want me to come with?”

“Nah, I’ll call you when I find out what’s going on.”

Later that morning, Nick phoned to tell me that he was at the police station. I could hardly believe what he told me.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He assured me.

The day seemed to drag on endlessly as I waited for Nick to get back or call or something.

All the waiting around was driving me crazy, so I decided to go downstairs to workout.

By no means am I a body builder, I just like to keep fit. And since there’s room, I use the extra space on the ground floor behind the garage as a weight room, laundry and storage space.

Piling on the weight I completely forgot that I was home alone. It hadn’t occurred to me that doing decline bench presses with this much weight and having no one here to spot me might be trouble.

So, I went for it. After two sets I was feeling good and had forgotten why I was waiting. Sometime into my workout, I lost my concentration and no matter how much I struggled, I just couldn’t seem to heft the weight back up onto the rack.

Just as I was about to give up the sound of heavy boots shuffling across the concrete floor.

“Push!” A voice urge.

I opened my eyes to see Nick’s crotch right over my face.

He lifted as I pushed. Together we got the weight back up onto the rack above my head.

“Thanks.” I said breathlessly.

“What’s with all the weight?” He questioned.

“Never mind that, what did the police say?”

He cocked a quizzical eyebrow and simply turned toward the back door. I followed him out and up the back stairs to the deck.

Passing through the sliding doors he said, “You could have been trapped under there for a long time.”

“Forget about the weights, will you?” I said impatiently as I following him inside the house. “What did they say?”

“They found traces of some sort of incendiary device.” He said looking extremely serious.

“A bomb? Someone tried to blow you up?” I asked incredulously.

“Well yeah, my trailer anyway.” He shrugged. “Good thing I was here with you all night.”

Just then Jason walked in the door.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Someone blew up Nick’s trailer.” I said.

“Well, he looks alright to me.” Jason smirked. “Besides, who would want to kill a bartender from Santa Barbara?”

Narrowing his eyes and shooting him a look that made it clear that he was in no mood, Nick turned and went into my bedroom.

“This is serious, you little shit!” I snapped at Jason. “He could have been hurt or worse.”

“What?” Jason shrugged innocently. “I was just kidding around.”

Sometimes Jason has a way irritating me beyond belief. I couldn’t tell if he was really trying to be funny or if he was just being a snotty fucker because he didn’t care much for Nick. Jason often puts people off because he seems to think that he’s better than everyone else. A direct result of his father being rich and him being spoiled.

Ironically, his father, who was once my boss and is still a good friend, doesn’t care much for his son’s attitude either, which is how he came to be living out here on the west coast with me rather than still living in his dad’s house back in Ohio, where we’re both originally from.

Jason has long since gotten his own apartment not far from here, but still drops by my house unannounced and more frequently than I care for. I don’t say much about it because I owe it to his father, to keep an eye on him while he’s out here.

In fact, I owe his father, Andrew a great deal. He’s pretty much responsible for my great success in life, both personal and professional. He took me under wing when I worked for him and mentored me until I was ready to strike out on my own. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I am today, rich and powerful in my own right.

“What do you want anyway?” I asked Jason, barely concealing my contempt.

“I need a reason to come see you now?” He asked feigning offense. “I have to say, I’m more than a little hurt.”

This was another thing I was starting to dislike about Jason. The disingenuous manner he has of always assuming the role of the innocent, injured party. Lately, his transparent, insincere behavior has been verging on repugnant.

“Right. Sorry about that.” I said. “I’m just a little on edge. Why don’t you come back later. We’ve got some stuff to work out here, okay?”

“Yeah, alright.” Jason said as he left.

I went into my bedroom to find Nick lying on the bed with his hands behind his head. He appeared to be deep in thought.

“So?” I asked, eyeing him with inquisitive attention.

“So what?”

“So what the fuck is going on?”

“Don’t know yet. The police said they’d get back to me if they found out anything.”

“In other words, don’t call us, we’ll call you.” I said. “They don’t have any suspects?”

He just shrugged.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I don’t know.” Nick said after a moment’s thought.

“Does your ex know where you live, I mean where you used to live?”

“Who Nicole?” He shook his head. “She’s not that industrious. Besides, all of Nicole’s motivation and energy goes into being Nicole.”

“Yeah.” I nodded pensively.

I don’t know anything Nick’s ex, but I sort of trust his instincts. I down at him lying there, pondering the situation. Who would go to the trouble to blow up a place that he only barely lived in? Unless there was something he wasn’t telling me.

I decided to take a shower. I’d worked up quite a sweat during my workout.

While soaping myself in the shower, I thought about what to do next. By the time I was done and toweling off, I’d made up my mind.

Putting on a clean t-shirt and shorts, I sat down on the edge of the bed next to his prone body.

“I want you to move in here.” I said.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“You don’t?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged.

Having put forth the suggestion, I wasn’t so sure about the idea myself. I was operating purely on instinct and I knew if I thought too much about it I would be able to talk myself out of it. Still, I pressed on.

“Well, in actuality, you’ve already been living here since you moved out of Nicole’s place, haven’t you?” I asked rhetorically. “I mean that trailer was really nothing more than a storage shed.”

“It was more than that.” Nick objected, smiling at me for the first time.

“So what? You just don’t like it here?” I queried.

“Of course I like it here. That’s not the issue.” He said.

“Well what is the issue?”

“Its just that, that was ‘my’ place. My own space. You know what I mean?”

I did. I understood completely. Normally, I’m not so generous with my living space, but given the circumstances and the nascent nature of the relationship between Nick and I, this felt like the right thing to do. Still, I had reservations about cohabitation. But I kept them to myself.

“I see your point.” I said. “Okay, how about this then, you’ll look around until you find a suitable place. Taking your own time of course. I mean, I wouldn’t want you to end up in another shanty town, trailer park, like before. No offense intended.”

“Hey, I kinda liked that trailer.” Nick laughed.

“I’m just saying,” I shrugged, smiling, “you can stay here as long as you like.”

Nick just lay there, looking up at me impassively with those beautiful eyes. Then he smiled again.

“So what’s the rent like here?” He asked.

Looking him up and down, I was tempted to say something trite and unoriginal about trading sexual favors for his rent, but I thought better of it.

“You’re a guest, not a tenant.”

“Alright then.” He smiled, eyeing me warily. “Thanks.”

“Good, its settled then.” I smiled, extending my hand. “We’ll fix up the loft any way you like. You can sleep up there or wherever you want.”

Nick sat up, took my hand, shook it twice. Then he forcefully yanked me towards himself. His strength always surprises me. Even though we’re just evenly matched in size and muscle tone, Nick is amazingly quick and agile.

We lay there face to face for a second, his beautiful hazel eyes blazing into mine. The we both laughed as he pulled me into a headlock.

Nick knows how much wrestling arouses me. Its like foreplay for me.

Laughing, I immediately began to grapple with him for dominance.

In seconds, we were wrestling around on the bed like little boys, laughing and struggling against each other, Nick and I easily lost ourselves in each others’ friendship and camaraderie.

Before I knew it my dick was completely swollen and throbbing as we both expended enormous amounts of energy just to keep from being maneuvered into a subservient position.

Articles of clothing begin to disappear as we tussle with each other. T-shirts, shorts, underwear flying off one by one.

Somehow, I end up flat on my back with Nick straddling my chest, his long thick cock pointing straight at my chin. From this angle it appears quite huge. Before I knew it, Nick had his enormous cock head pressed to my lips, caressing and coaxing them apart.

Never having been a big fan of sucking dick, I considered balking at his request. But looking up at him, at his beautiful face and body, I couldn’t help being wildly turned on as I ran my hands over his amazingly sculpted torso.

Nick is extraordinarily good looking without the slightest trace of vanity or conceit. He has a magnificent body and an exceptional personality as well.

As our eyes locked on each other’s, it occurred to me that this man possesses a rather rare combination of human attributes. Statically, he’s the equivalent of a rare and endangered species. More importantly, he seems genuinely fond of me.

If anyone on the planet ever deserved a blowjob, it was Nick. Moreover, he’d do it for me without hesitation. In fact, he often does.

My tongue shot out to greet his massive knob pressing against my lips. I labored to bathe the crown and first few inches in saliva before opening my jaws wide, accepting his steely hard sword into my mouth. Its thick veins standing out in sharp relief along the enormous column of flesh gave me a great deal of erotic pleasure.

Nick’s strong hands caressed my head as my own hands squeezed and massaged his firm, round and muscular ass cheeks. My finger tips teased at his asshole while my other hand found and fondled his tightly wound testicles.

Gobbling and licking, I let Nick slide his cock over my tongue to the back of my throat again and again, stretching my lips wide with each pass. His dick and posture rigid with a singular purpose, I could feel that he was very close to release.

Abruptly he stopped all movement, as if to stave off his impending eruption. Slowly extracted his thick meat from my mouth he slid himself down my torso until he’s straddling my waist. Then he reached behind himself and found my swollen, straining cock just waiting for some attention.

Nick’s salacious eyes acknowledged my plea for immediate coupling. A little smile stole over his beautiful full lips as he positioned my dick head right against asshole.

First rubbing it around a bit to find just the right connection point, he planted one hand on my chest to brace himself, the other hand guided me into his hole.

With a tremendous force of effort, Nick pushed himself back onto my throbbing pole as a barking groan escaped his throat.

I could feel every tight muscle in his ass straining against the invasion as he forced my thick cock head past the threshold of his asshole and into his body.

Sliding inside Nick is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. Its almost like doing battle with him. His ass muscles constantly resisting the invasion of my tremendous cock muscle. Its always very intense and the friction is sometimes almost unbearable.

Holding an deep and forceful eye contact with me he pressed his hips down driving more and more of my long, thick shaft up into himself. As I invade his body, his eyes never leave mine. Those eyes, those beautiful eyes are so expressive and intense.

Hovering over me, Nick’s gaze seemed to bored into me my soul as he gave himself to me. The furrow in his brow, the flex of his strong leg muscles, the grip of his powerful hands on my chest as the heat of his hot hole envelopes my thick, pulsing rod was nearly overwhelming.

Once he’s taken all that he could, Nick leaned forward and embraced my torso. I hugged him right back and kissed his neck as I stroked and caressed the strong, lean muscles of his body.

My dick feels huge and potent wedged halfway up inside him. Its all I can do to keep from shoving more of my cock into him immediately. But I that would be extremely painful for him. The sweat pouring off his body and the slight tremble of his muscles tells me that he’s doing all he can to bear the pain as it is, so I give him a moment of respite to allow his widely stretched hole accommodate my hard cock.

Eventually, I started to work my hips and slide in and out of him. We held onto each other as I eased more of myself into and out of his body. The feeling is incredible. Hot, tight, amazing.

Nick’s body went rigid as he finally sat upright and began to work his ass up and down my cock. Again establishing eye contact, he began to jack his own hard dick. One hand on my belly and the other frantically stoking his own member, as he began a slow ride up and down my dick.

His knees planted firmly on either side of me, the heat from his butt steadily driving me toward the edge. Nick’s eyes, his body, the sweaty contact, everything about him seems to be conspiring to drive me wild.

Suddenly, his mouth dropped open and his eyes shot to the top of his head as he shuddered deeply. His hips rocketed jerkily as he unloaded all over me.

Each shot seized his body like a jolt of electricity was firing through him. The first shot reached my neck and chin, the second and third fired over my head as the trails of each shot land on my face and chest. His asshole strangling my cock with each contraction, sending wave after wave of pleasure through my body.

It was more than I could stand. I grabbed his waist and thrust upward with all my might again and again until I exploded deep inside his butt. His hot, tight ass ring still clenching around my rod only served to intensify the sensations already tearing through my body, up my spine and exploding in my brain.

“Oh God!” I screamed as my body seized violently.

Thrust after thrust, wave after wave, I throw myself into him. For one wild moment it seemed like it would never end. Wave after wave of sweet bliss crashed through my soul. I was nearly delirious. My hands grasping at him, my toes furiously grabbing curling and uncurling. My rapid breathing has sent me into hyperventilation and for a moment, there’s nothing. The entire world is blotted out of my consciousness and I’m floating there all alone.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, it begins to end, leaving me with a slight tingling sensation all over my body. I can feel it slipping away, yet I know that I want more. My dick is still hard and I resume my thrusting motion.

“Easy big guy. That hurts.” Nick calmly protests.

He began to disengage my still hard cock from his ass when I stopped him.

“Don’t move.” I commanded.

He leaned forward again and embraced me. We lay there on the bed, locked in each other’s arms for a while, me still deep in him. I can’t stop my cock from throbbing inside him.

Soon the moment passed, Nick palmed my face like a basketball and shook my head back and forth vigorously. We both laughed as he got up and headed off to the bathroom.

While he was gone, I just lay there on the bed, thinking. Wondering if I’d made a mistake.

Now that he officially lived here, I had to wonder if that would change our relationship in any way. I supposed it would but I didn’t care to think about it just now. Finally my dick was completely deflated.

After a while Nick came out bare-chested, with only a pair of boxers on and dropped a warm wash cloth on my face.

Just the sight of him made my dick start to jump and twitch again. Yeah, I made the right decision.

—

That night in bed, after he’d fallen asleep, I just stared at him. “My God, he’s beautiful, inside and out”, I thought. Those thick, bushy eyebrows, those full, cherry red lips, that tautly muscled body. And don’t even get me started thinking about that perfectly sculpted bubble butt.

I breathed in, trying to locate that calm detachment that I used in a courtroom. That was my gift. I wouldn’t show my hand at all during the trial. I made my arguments concisely, sticking to the facts so that even when I put a spin on things, no one seemed to notice. I refrained from allowing passion to enter my voice untill the closing arguments. It was how I reeled them in, just like Jackson had reeled in his line and me.

I started to tell him something mundane about the weather, when his lips suddenly closed the distance, pressing against mine. I felt myself start with surprise, but then every weak argument I was going to make just seemed to fade away. My ex hadn’t kissed me often. We had fucked in every way imaginable, but he had often avoided my mouth like some pre-Richard Gere Pretty Woman. J.C. was completely different. He seemed to want to possess my mouth, laying a claim with just his lips which rubbed mine apart, urging me to open as he flicked them with his tongue. I groaned as I let him do what he wanted. It’d been a long time since someone had shown such a spontaneous, genuine desire towards me. In the end, the only way I had been able to help Jonathon get it up was by plying him with alcohol. I didn’t have to worry about that with J.C. I could feel him pressing hard against the back of my body, rubbing as he fit himself firmly against my jean covered ass. There was thick material between us, yet just that one firm confident touch had my knees feeling weak.

I heard him moan deep in his throat when I turned so that I was facing him fully, our bodies now firm against one another. He had one hand behind my head, his thumb resting at the base of my jaw beneath my ear as he angled my face up. I let my hands slide under his tee shirt and I heard his growl of pleasure muffled by my lips as I stroked over the line of his spine, up the firm muscle to his shoulders. He pressed harder into me, backing me up against the bark of the willow tree we had been standing by. It was firm and scratchy beneath my tee shirt, but I didn’t care. Jackson Dupree was finally kissing me. I’d fantasized about this last night after Lucy had gone to bed, but I hadn’t even come close to the reality.

I had had other lovers. I had been with men who showed more finesse than J.C. and who had been better-looking and better built. But not one of them had ever made me worry about popping before he even touched me where I was already so hard that it hurt. He was in the same boat, if what was pressing into my thigh was any indication. It filled me with an unmistakably masculine satisfaction to know that I had caused that. It had been a long time since I could say that.

I felt my hips tilt up when his mouth left mine, trailing down the side of my neck as he gently bit down on the sensitive patch beneath my left ear. I almost lost it right there. Like most people, my neck and ears were amazingly sensitive. The only parts of me that were more responsive, were behind my knees and my nipples. Odd spots I know and only one lover had ever taken the time and patience to learn about them. I didn’t think that Jackson would have any problems finding them if this went on.

He was a sensual lover. Even though we were in plain site out on the riverbank where anyone could walk by, he took his time, his teeth scraping the pulse in my throat as he slid one hand down my body with the confidence of a man who knows what he wants. When he cupped me through the front of my jeans, my hand moved up to his shoulder to clamp down.

He stopped for a minute and then he met my eyes as if looking for my approval. In that brief moment, I knew that though his breathing was unsteady, if I asked him to stop, he would. He was showing a concern that few people had ever shown for me. Most people assumed that the confident exterior that I portrayed was the real me and rarely showed any extra thought to my feelings. By waiting for my approval, Jackson had proved he saw past that and beneath the lust, I felt a more dangerous emotion stirring that I would not give a name. I couldn’t. Not this soon in the game.

“Yes,” I breathed. “Yes, Jackson.”

His smile was such a slow, wicked affair, that if they had patented that and stuck it in a jar, they could sell the sex appeal for hundreds of dollars a bottle. He moved back up my body to kiss me again, even as his hand went to my waistband to undo the button of my fly. I groaned when he dragged the zipper down achingly slow, his tongue rubbing against the roof of my mouth, dragging my tongue out to play. When his fingers found me through my briefs, I moaned. My hands went to his jeans, unfastening them before pulling them down his hips. I felt my entire body tense when I realized he wasn’t wearing any underwear. I met his eyes and he offered an almost sheepish grin, as if he was embarrassed by the fact that there was almost 9 inches of smooth, thick, uncut flesh rubbing against my palm.

“Underwear gets tight,” he offered quietly. His ears were pink and I grinned as I stroked my hand down around him. He was hot, the veins pulsing gently beneath my palm as I dragged down to his base, my fingers dangling in the thick curly hair at the base. His teeth bit down on my shoulder and I groaned his name

“Jackson?”

That wasn’t my voice and both of us froze like deer caught in headlights.

“Holy Hell. Looks like we interrupted. Don’t you mind us. We’ll just go pretend we’re trees or something. Maybe take pointers. I don’t think I’ve ever done it up against a weeping willow. Oww what was that for? It’s a compliment!”

I met J.C.’s eyes as he groaned, leaning over me to let his head thunk against the bark of the tree for a moment bore he pulled back to look at me.

“God I’m so sorry. I swear it’s the curse of Saint Jude. Son-of-a-bitch is laughing today.”

He straightened up, but stayed in front of me long enough for me to zip up my pants again and straighten my clothing. It was a small but protective gesture that made my heart tighten again. The fabric was still tented but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Reluctantly, I tuned to see Remy and Lucy standing there. J.C.’s brother was grinning and Lucy had her hands over her face till J.C. zipped his pants. When she brought them down, she was red as a beet. Full body blushes ran in our family. I could feel myself turning into her mirror image. I groaned as she cleared her throat, trying to think of what to say. Remy beat her to the punch.

“Laissez Les Bone Temps Rouler!” Let the good times roll..

***Remy***

“Aww come on Jackson. How was I supposed to know that you were going to be showing him how the Hoover works?”

I grinned as J.C. groaned for what I thought was the tenth time today, but I couldn’t be sure. I had lost track after 7. I almost felt sorry for the guy, but then again, he was finally getting some action and I was the one who was playing with monk with Lucy. My sympathy only went so far.

“Jesus Christ, Remy. Couldn’t you have let me know you were there or something? Jesus.”

“How? By knocking on a tree? You were kind of involved, brother of mine.”

I grinned as I settled more comfortably on the toilet as I arranged the pages of the newspaper so that I could read. I preferred the Sunday papers because of the comics, but beggars couldn’t be choosers when they were trying to be good and regular. Jackson was in the shower and I heard the thunk of his head against the tiles. Poor guy was still smarting. I decided to help him out by giving a courtesy flush. He howled when the cold water came out of the shower-head, jerking around the curtain to glare at me. He was madder than a wet hen and I just grinned.

“What? You look like you needed a bit of a stiff breeze to help you out there. You might need some ice cubes in there too. I have to say, bro, poof or not, that’s mighty impressive. I thought I had the biggest Johnson in the family but yours definitely takes the cake.”

I ruffled the newspaper again, flipping to the obituaries which I always found funny as hell. It was amazing to see what kind of sweet as pie crap they could write about people who I’d known were mean sons-of-bitches in life.

“You better make sure you bring that extra large tub of Vaseline with you next time you go out with that boy. If you hurt him, Lucy will kick my ass.”

“Remy, do me a favor and shut up. Bad enough having to smell your stench without you abusing my ears too.”

“Now don’t you get testy just because they are turning a little blue, J.C. Not my fault you couldn’t find somewhere more comfortable. What was up with the tree anyway? Considering the size of your stash, you would have impaled that boy like a woodpecker.”

I grinned as he flicked water at me from the shower and then glanced at the door as Rene came in. Marie had always hated living with us, because we had privacy issues. The way we saw it, as long as you were in the shower all covered up, there was no reason why someone else couldn’t come in and take a piss or brush their teeth. Holding it caused prostate problems you know.

“What the hell are you two talking about in here? And damn Remy. What the hell did you eat?”

“A gentleman never tells. And we were talking about the size of J.C.’s dick. Did you realize that sucker’s like 10 inches long? We have a brother with a python cock. If I’d known that when we were growing up, I would have started filming you during your sessions with the Gilmore twins, J.C. We would have made a bundle.”

“His dick’s what?”

“Ten inches long at least.”

“Seriously? Hell and I thought my 7 ½ wasn’t bad. Let me see, Jackson.”

“Hell no! We are not having this conversation,” J.C. roared. “Get the hell out of here both of you. Can’t a man shower in peace?!”

Both of us ignored him as I flipped another page and Rene squirted toothpaste onto his brush.

“What the hell is his problem?”

“Caught him making out with Lucy’s cousin down by the river. If she and I had showed up a few minutes later, we would have found out why Simon made such a good baseball pitcher in high school.”

Rene grinned and I grinned back. J.C. was groaning.

“Really? Well congrats brother. About damn time. As far as Light Leroy’s go, Walker’s not bad. Kinda like him and having a lawyer in the family would do us a heap of good next time we have a brawl down at Paddy’s place.”

“Jesus Christ! I just met the man. You two are getting as bad as Marie.”

“What? Just because we want you to settle down? People who don’t get laid turn strange, J.C. It’s a proven fact. You want to end up a recluse living alone with nothing but a few cats to keep you company?”

“How the hell would I ever get to that point with you two living here? Why don’t you worry about finding your own places to live and stay the hell out of my love life.”

“Because then we would be speeding up the recluse process and we got enough talk about this family without adding that to the mix,” I said sagely. I flushed again and ignored J.C.’s howl.

“Jesus Christ! I am going to kick your ass when I get out of here. If you want to talk about romances, how about we start talking about you and Lucy. I have never seen you so far up a girl’s ass before.”

“J.C.’s right, Remy,” Rene broke in as he spit out into the sink. “Hershey highways are his thing not yours.” He grinned as J.C. rolled his eyes and disappeared behind the shower curtain again. “You were following her around like a puppy last night at Marie’s.”

Now it was my turn to get real involved in my newspaper. Puppy my ass. I hadn’t followed her around that much. “I like the girl. So what. You know how I am.”

“Yea we do and you weren’t acting like yourself yesterday. Every time her cup was empty, you got up to refill it. You looked like a fucking jack-in-the-box with how often you were up and down.’

“I was just being hospitable.”

“Yea right. So you get in her pants yet?”

“That’s none of your damn business and don’t talk about Lucy that way.”

I heard the shower switch off and then both J.C. and Rene were just looking at me. They exchanged looks before identical grins started to sweep across their lips. I knew that look because I had given it often enough. So I just flushed, then started to fold up my paper.

I didn’t know what was going on with Lucy. I mean, I was as far from a virgin as you could get. If a girl in this town ever showed up on my doorstep with a baby and said it was mine, I couldn’t plead that she was the Immaculate Conception, that was for sure. Between Rene and me, we had put the fear of God in parents throughout Louisiana. Their daughters were taught that if you met a Dupree, you did not make eye contact and you walked away as quickly as possible. Course that just made our lives easier, because forbidden fruit was always sweeter. The girls came to us.

We were playboys. I knew it. Rene knew it. Jackson knew it. Hell all of New Orleans knew it. But Lucy, there was something different about that girl and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

She was beautiful of course, but that wasn’t it. I knew a lot of beautiful girls and most of them were willing. Lucy had locked her knees tighter than the Virgin Mary’s after she found out J.C. was gay. She hadn’t even looked twice at me with a hint of that look that said, take me I’m yours.” She was smart. Real smart. I guess you couldn’t expect to be stupid and become a lawyer, but she was sweet too. She was nice to Marie and all of us and even though she made more money than everybody at that table last night except for Simon Walker, she wasn’t snooty about it. She was funny and when she laughed, well she just about made my heart melt. And that was scary as shit because I’m not a romantic. That’s J.C.’s territory. Me, I’m a love em and leave em kind of guy. So why did the idea of Lucy leaving, leave me in a foul ass mood?….

***Lucy ***

“So, had a good day?”

I smiled when Simon cleared his throat and stuffed a piece of pie into his mouth so large, that I had to worry about remembering how to perform the Heimlich in case he choked. Of course after today’s incident by the river, he probably would have preferred choking to the embarrassment of talking about being caught with his pants down (literally!) with Jackson Dupree.

I hadn’t known what to think when I saw them together. I thought I’d be a little jealous because even though I knew that he was gay now, I had always had a huge crush on Jackson. Out of all of his brothers, he had been the one who was always nice to me. He was gentler than Rene even though they were twins. He was 10 years older than I was, but he had never treated me like a nuisance. He had let me tag along on their adventures, even when the others wanted to leave me behind. I’d been half in love with him back then and had cried more because I was being forced to leave him when my parents died, then I did at their funeral.

I hadn’t felt any jealousy, but I was mortified for intruding on such a private moment. I knew that Simon was gay and honestly I didn’t care when he kissed his lovers in front of me. Simon wasn’t an exhibitionist and he was always discreet in public. But what I had seen when Remy and I went around the bend, was the kind of passion that should have set the rivers of the bayou to boiling. J.C. had had Simon pinned against the tree, but rather than just using him like all his exes had, he had seemed to be looking into his eyes, one hand cradling his head. He was being gentle and though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, I’d seen the look in Simon’s face. That look was what worried me most, because I had seen that look before. That look meant Simon was half gone on J.C. already and I didn’t want him getting hurt. I may have adored J.C. Dupree, but I loved my cousin more.

“Come on, sweetie. Just talk to me. You always have been able to before.”

“Christ, Lucy. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. I thought that you were going to the interview today.”

“I know honey. I’m sorry that I lied, but I wanted you to spend time with J.C. He’s a good man and you really haven’t dated anyone since Jonathon ”

I let that trail off as Simon looked down. I settled one hand over his on the table and squeezed gently. I knew that that wound was still a painful one and if I could have gotten away with murder, Jonathon O’Neil’s body would have been lining the bed of the bayou. He had cheated on Simon. When he and I had come in from shopping together one afternoon, we’d found Jonathon on the kitchen floor with his secretary.

His female secretary.

Simon had been devastated and sold the house. It had taken him years to get over that and now I was protective of him even though he was 14 years older than I was. When my aunt had passed, he had been left without the only other person beside me who really understood him. My uncle was a good man, but a hard one. He hadn’t taken Simon’s coming out well. It was like he considered the fact that his son was gay, a personal insult. I sometimes worried that Simon was trying to find his father’s approval through he men he chose to date, because they were all the same; emotionally attached dicks who had no regard for the feelings of a man I knew to have a gentle, sensitive heart.

Simon looked confident on the outside. He was a brilliant lawyer and he had no problems making friends because he had a way with people. But that was the public image. I knew that on the inside, he was actually very shy and a romantic. He wore his heart on his sleeve and unfortunately it made it that much easier for insensitive, arrogant assholes like Jonathon O’Neil to pluck it, then crush it like a frail daisy.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about this now.”

“No. It’s ok. I just…” He paused, looking down at the piece of half eaten blackberry pie on his plate. “I don’t know what I am doing here. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen between us.”

“I know, Simon. You were both railing so hard against it last night that Marie and I didn’t even count on there being a kiss.” I paused to offer a grin as I gently squeezed his hand. “But apparently there was that and then some.”

I chuckled when he groaned, feeling my heart swell with love for this man. I adored him. I honesty did. I had never been close to my uncle and now that my aunt and both my parents were dead, Simon was really all that I had left. I wanted him to be happy and it tugged at my heart to know that he had so much love to give and couldn’t find anyone worth sharing it with.

Love was hard for anyone to find, but through walking with him on his journey, I’d learned that it was a million times harder for gay people. They couldn’t just date who they wanted. They had to worry about rejection on a much larger scale since their pool was more limited and then once they got past that step, they had to worry about the rejection they would get from society. Personally, I didn’t see what the hell it mattered if someone was gay or straight. As long as they were good people, what they did inside their own bedrooms was their own business.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“A lot,” he admitted. “I don’t know what it is about him. Maybe it’s that you told me so much about all of them when you came to live with us that I already feel like I know him. He’s just easy to talk to, you know?”

“Mmm hmm. I know. I was half gone on him for years when I was a kid. He’s a good man. He had his wild moments, but for the most part he was always a good man. Marie told me that he cleaned up his act after their momma died. He used to go to every P.T.A. meeting there was for her and stayed up late to help her with her homework. She told me he was working two jobs for awhile trying to support them all. The State wanted to take Marie into foster care, but he made it work. He pushed her to go to college and now she’s married and happy. He did right by his family.”

Simon offered a nod as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Yea, I got that sense from him. His family’s so different from ours. I mean they fight and Marie fusses at all of them, but they honestly seem to love one another. I have the feeling if I hurt him, I would have 3 angry siblings on my porch with shotguns, screaming for my hide.”

I grinned. “Yes, they are a close bunch. I think that’s why I loved them all so much when I was growing up. They’re all a bit hog wild and as protective as a mother bear about her cubs when it comes to each other, but once they adopt you in, that’s it. You’re family.”

“It must be nice to be that accepted and not judged.”

I felt my heart tug again as I sighed, lifting his hand to my lips to press a kiss to his knuckles.

“Sweetie, Uncle Simon loves you. He’s just a proud man and he lost your momma. Knowing you won’t pass on his family name is just something he has to get over eventually. That’s all. It has nothing to do with you. You are a good man and you deserve to be happy. Don’t let him keep you from that.”

“I know. I just..I’m afraid, Lucy. I haven’t been with anyone since Jonathon and you saw how that turned out. Here I am almost 40 and afraid of dating. It’s pathetic.”

“I know, baby. But it’s not pathetic. He hurt you bad. But this is a different situation. I’m not that well acquainted with the man that J.C. is now, but I knew him until he was 19 years old. He was a good man then and he’s a better man now from what Marie says. He’s not Jonathon. Besides, if he hurts you, Marie knows that I will castrate him and make it into a hamburger patty and then feed it to him.”

He grinned and squeezed my hand back and I felt myself relax. He had a beautiful smile, just like an angel. It had been awhile since I saw that smile and I was happy that being in my old hometown where I had so many good memories, was bringing that out in him. It made me remind myself to light a candle to Saint Jude, the patron of lost causes because right now, it seemed that Simon had just been a bit confused, not completely lost.

“He’s better looking than Jonathon too.”

“Oh hell yes! In spades. He and Rene are twins but I always thought J.C was the better looking one. Just has a way about him.” I grinned as I tilted my head to one side, resting my chin between my hands, elbows resting on the table. “You two look good together. Course what I saw this afternoon was more than I ever want to see of you again. I love you, cuz, but my virgin eyes near popped out of my head today.”

He blushed and I chuckled as he got busy with his pie.

“Yea well if you keep hanging around with Remy, I’m sure that your eyes will probably be the only thing that stays virgin about you for long.”

I could feel a blush coming on and I cleared my throat. “I beg your pardon. We are talking about your love life here, not mine.”

“We know where mine stands. I’m a romantic fool and falling for a man I don’t even know because I adore his family and my father’s an asshole. It would make a great Jerry Springer show, but its old news. Do you like Remy?”

He waited for an answer and I tried to choose my words carefully, because I honestly I wasn’t sure how I felt about Remy Dupree. He was handsome as the dickens, that was for sure. Not one of those Dupree boys was anything but good-looking and he was charming. Marie said that her youngest brother made the Devil look like a saint, but so far aside from him running his mouth, he hadn’t stepped out of line with me. By contrast, he had been sweet as peach pie. It made Marie suspicious, which made me suspicious by default. But so far, I found myself enjoying the time that I had spent with Remy. He had grown up a lot since I had last seen him all those years ago and I was curious about the man that he was now.

Marie said he worked at the Piggly Wiggly even though he had a 4 year degree from a culinary school and that intrigued me. I was a lawyer-we liked a mystery because we liked research and putting things together to make a case. Remy Dupree was my new case study and by the way Simon was grinning at me, I was pretty sure he knew it too.

“I like them all. They’re the only family I have besides you.”

“Mm hmm. Sorry but I don’t see you sitting as close to me as you do to him. Kind of glad about that too because it’d be creepy.”

He laughed as I leaned over the table to slug him in the shoulder. He was still laughing when I heard a slow, sexy as sin voice behind me.

“Looks like I got here just in time. Some domestic abuse goin on over here though it’s the first time I’ve seen it in reverse. Gotta love the feminist movement.”

I grinned up at Jackson who winked as he tipped his cowboy hat towards me. I kicked Simon’s ankle gently when I saw him hold his breath and forget to let it out. He finally did in a soft choking sound and I smiled when Jackson immediately patted him gently on the back.

“Easy there, darlin. Guess city boys aren’t used to down home cookin. How you doin. Lucy? Seen my scoundrel of a brother around anywhere?”

“Actually I haven’t. We’re going to a movie later tonight. Need me to give him a message?”

“Yea. Ask him about Steel Magnolias.”

“Pardon.”

His grin deepened till dimples flickered. “The movie. He has a thing for it. Cries every time Julia Roberts dies. He can’t help himself. It’s playing at the old drive in tonight. You should ask him to take you.”

He grinned and I had a feeling he had just made me his deliverer of some family payback. I chuckled, then nodded.

“Sounds good. It’s one of my favorite movies anyway. Have a seat. We were just having a piece of Mabel’s famous pie. I missed this place when I was in Baton Rogue. They have bakeries out there, but none that come close to her secret recipes.”

I watched as he looked at me, than at Simon whose cheeks were pink. We were sitting in a two-seater so he either had to slide in next to me, or beside Simon. I grinned when he moved beside Simon, his rangy form sliding easily into the booth. I waited till he was comfortable, then immediately stood up.”

“I actually have some errands to run before they close the stores on me. J.C., would you mind giving Simon a ride to the motel tonight? I need to get ready for my date with Remy.”

Simon gave me a look, but J.C. interrupted. “Sure thing, Lucy. I’ll make sure he gets home safe.”

“Thanks, J.C. Just so you know, I love this man you’re sitting next to. If you hurt him, I will mash you up into corn mush, you hear me?”

He saluted, even as Simon groaned.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Simon, smile, sugar. Looks like it’s goin to be a good day for you.”

I winked then stood and walked towards the door. I paused to look back at them, my grin widening. “Oh and J.C.?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Nice ass. Not that I’ll ever see it again.” I grinned, then left them staring.

***Jackson***

When Lucy left, I just grinned at Simon who was groaning. Poor guy. I knew how he felt. But at least he only had one overprotective relative to meddle in his life. I had four plus Marie’s husband Frankie. He couldn’t top that.

I chuckled as I patted his back, letting my hand slide down for a moment. I lingered longer than I should have, but he didn’t seem to mind when he looked over at me. I offered the trademark Dupree smile as I felt his thigh pressing against mine.

“Guess I should move on over to the other side.”

“If you want to. I’m actually kind of comfortable right now…”

I smiled when he looked down and then flagged Mabel down to bring me another piece of pie. She smiled when she looked between Simon and I and I grinned when she swept my hat off of my head. Mabel had known my family since we were all knee high and still had that Sunday school teacher glare down pact.

“Mabel I would like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Simon Walker, Lucy Adair’s lawyer cousin from Baton Rogue. Simon, this woman right here the best damn cook this side of the bayou and hotter than a jalapeno.”

Mabel chuckled as she swatted at me, then offered her hand to shake Simon’s.

“Nice to meet you, honey. Don’t you listen to this rapscallion here. He’s a good boy, just likes to sass. How you doin with your pie, sugar?”

“It’s wonderful, Mabel. Thank you.”

She smiled, then looked back at me. “I like this one. Nice and polite. You could learn a thing or two from him.”

I grinned as she set the piece of pie down, nodding at Simon as I let my gaze flicker slowly down his features. “Yes ma’am, I reckon that I could.”

When he blushed, I leaned over a little like I was going to reach for my glass if iced tea, my lips almost brushing his ear. I could feel him tense alongside the line of my body and I felt suddenly possessive of his reactions. I liked that I could make his breath shallow out like that and I wanted the only name that he breathed to be mine. It was strange because normally I’m not the possessive type. But when Simon Walker’s eyes met mine, I thought I might be willing to become that type. After that episode by the river this morning, I definitely thought I was on the road to becoming that guy.

I don’t know what happened today. I hadn’t been planning to put the moves on Simon Walker. It had just sort of happened. He’d been so warm against me and when he had caught my gaze, I’d known he wanted me to kiss him. He just couldn’t bring his yuppie self to take the step, so I had done it for him. And Lord, but I was glad that I had. I was less happy that Remy and Lucy had interrupted us, but now I knew for certain that sooner rather than later, I was going to have Simon in my bed beneath me.

“What’s the matter darlin? Mabel’s pie not sitting well in your stomach?”

“Shame on you, J.C. Dupree. You’re turning out to be the kind of guy my mama warned me about.”

He scolded, but he was grinning so I shifted one hand beneath the table, resting it on his thigh. He released his breath in a soft sight and I felt my little soldier salute, ready to go marching off to battle.

“Yea well, I never said I was a saint. Just a reformed sinner. You’re making it real easy to want to sin again, sweetheart.”

I felt him shudder from my suggestive words and when my hand crept up an extra inch, I could just feel the edge of him thick and ready though his jeans. I wanted to yank them down and finish what we had started by the river. Simon Walker was a reserved man, but I knew that he felt the heat between us as much as I did. All the evidence was clear in his eyes and the way he caught his breath. He wanted me and I wanted him so much that my body had been one big hard-on since I’d gotten home. Course it had gone down for a while when Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum interrupted my shower, but now it was back at full force.

His hand had been so gentle on me when he’d stroked me down by the bayou and the memory of his tongue curling around mine as he drew it into his mouth made me shudder and I could feel myself twitching against the confining material of my jeans. My knuckles rubbed gently against him as I turned my hand and his eyes closed for a minute before he stopped my hand with his.

“Jackson ”

Aww Hell. What was I doing? We both deserved better than this. The last time I had been this close to scandal I had been in high school. Betty Morgan had dragged me into the back pews of Saint Clara’s. But that had been a different time and as terrible as it sounded, I hadn’t care about her the way I was starting to care for Simon Walker. I know that I had just met him, but I enjoyed being around him. When he talked about the cases he had worked on, it was with so much conviction that it made me swell with pride even though he wasn’t mine to be proud of. He’d told us last night that he only tried to take on cases where he was convinced the defendant was innocent. He didn’t like to compromise his own morals. I respected that and here I was trying to take advantage of this good man in a diner. It was a new low, even for a Dupree.

“Hell, Simon, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Hell. I don’t know what came over me. Even I’m not usually this big of an asshole.”

I sighed heavily as I moved my hand, preparing to slide out of the booth. His hand caught me around the wrist and I looked down, expecting him to tear me a new hole.

“J.C., that’s not what I meant. Take me home with you.”

I could feel the surprise crossing my features as I blinked. Once I got over the shock with that rapid Dupree recovery time, I grinned.

“You sure bout that, darlin?”

“Yes. Take me home with you.”

He slid out of the booth, leaning slightly forward so his words would be for me alone. I knew that we were being watched by half the people in the diner, though they were pretending that they weren’t looking, but I didn’t give a shit. Today, all my inhibitions were flying right out that window.

“I want you to fuck me, J.C. It’s been a long time. Teach me how they do it down here in the Big Easy.”

Well Hell. How was I supposed to turn that down? I looked back at him and he had a smile on his face as if he knew exactly what effect his words were having on me. Simon Walker had officially moved from just a sexy man I intended to take to my bed, to a man who I was taking to my bed. Only thing he didn’t know, was that I was considering not letting him out of it for at least a week.

“Hey Mabel, we need that pie to go…”

” Hope you enjoyed part one-not much rewrite here, but the second part is quite different then the original submission. If you read the original and enjoyed it, you might want to take a peek at part two of this one. Thanks and as always, votes and feedback are appreciated.”

I sighed as I rubbed one hand over my face and then got out of bed to get a glass of water from the bathroom. Halfway there, I stripped over his pants and stubbed my toe against the doorframe. I bit down hard on my lower lip to avoid shouting, one hand curling into a fist that I pressed against my mouth.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Hell, J.C., you’ve gone and done it this time. Fallin in love with a man you barely know. Real nice work here, fella. Hell’s bells.”

I shook my head as I went into the bathroom to get my water.

“J.C.?”

I arched a brow as I heard Simon’s voice, still thick with sleep. He shifted, one arm reaching back as if to make sure that I was still there behind him. I turned off the faucet, then came back to the bed. It creaked as I got back in with him and shifted back to my spot, my body lined up behind his as I smoothed one hand through his hair to push it back from his face. When he didn’t have gel or anything in it, it flopped down over his forehead, the back parts sticking up in a cowlick I found sorta cute.

“I’m right here. Had an itch I had to scratch for a second, that’s all.”

“Mmm well you scratched my itches pretty well, I thought.”

I chuckled, then nodded. “Yea we work real good together that’s for sure. You all right? Need anything? Food, water? Sunlight?” Hell, what was the matter with me? He wasn’t a plant.

“No. I’m fine. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. What is it?”

He was so quiet for so long that I though he’d fallen asleep before I heard his voice, softer than before. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“What you just said before…I heard you. I wasn’t asleep ”

Damn. I closed my eyes for a moment. Of all the ways that a man imagines telling someone that he’s more than half gone on them, muttering to yourself after you’ve almost yanked the nail on your pinky toe clear out of the nail bed, is not one of them.

I let out a breath slowly, because I wasn’t sure how I should answer that. Now I’m not saying that I’ve never lied before because hell, that in itself would be a lie. I’m a Dupree. Enough said. But I didn’t want to lie to Simon even if it was shooting myself in the foot by opening myself up to rejection.

“Yea I meant it. I’m sorry, Simon. I don’t know what I’m doing here. Since I met you, I don’t know if I’m upside down or right side up half the time. You’ve got me all kinds of mixed up, sweetheart.”

He was silent for a few minutes and then he rolled over to face me. I met his eyes and waited for the “it was great sex, J.C, but ” speech. I steeled myself for it, trying to keep my expression relaxed though inside my heart was hammering. He kept searching my eyes for a minute before he leaned in to brush his mouth over mine. I let him control it because I was still tense, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He pressed his slim body into mine, urging me to return the slow passion that he was putting into that caress of his mouth against mine. I thought to hell with it, then slid my arm around his back to cradle his head as I deepened it by stroking my tongue along the seams of his lips till he opened for me. When he did, I was lost. Chances were that this was going to end up like Deputy Henry all over again, but I didn’t care just now

He broke away first, leaning his forehead against mine as he closed his eyes. I could feel his heart beating hard against my chest and I smoothed his cowlick down till he relaxed a little.

“You don’t need to say anything, Simon. I just…”

“Shut up J.C.”

I looked down at him in surprise when he looked up at me, his hand on the side of my jaw, ignoring the stubble that abraded his palm.

“Don’t start making excuses for why you said it. If you tell me that you said it because you mean it, then I believe that. Don’t try to run away from it. I don’t want you to because I know how you feel-all mixed up like your head knows it’s too fast, but your heart is saying it’s right.”

He paused and now it was me who had not a word to say. He smiled as he looked down for a minute and then met my eyes again. In his, I saw the clear blue of the Caribbean and all the calm people claimed to find on those white sand beaches.

“I know it’s how you feel because I feel the same way. I wasn’t expecting this to happen and I didn’t expect you. But I found you and I’m happy I did. I’m falling hard for you, J.C. I have been since I met your crazy family.”

He grinned and then brushed his mouth slowly over mine again. I think he was expecting me to say something eloquent, something fitting to the moment, but when I opened my mouth, all that came out was, “Well hot damn!”

He started laughing and after a minute I joined him. I pulled him over on top of me so that I could prop up against the pillows to give my neck the support it needed and look up at him at the same time. I ran my hands over his back and then curled one arm behind my head, the other on his hip.

“Yea well you realize they are goin to adopt you now. I don’t know if I should tell you what that means because it might make you hightail it outta here. Though I like this view, Mrs. Applebee might have an attack of the vapors.”

I grinned as he chuckled. When he smiled, he was transformed from the serious lawyer to the man that I had fallen for hard and fast like some damn Romeo.

“Yea well it’s better than them coming after me with shotguns because they think I hurt you.”

“Shotguns? Hell no. They’d use axes. Easier to hide pieces of the body.”

I goosed his ribs and he goosed me back till we started wrestling around like a couple of kids. After a few minutes, the playful mood deepened into something more intense and as I watched his chest heaving beneath me, my eyes darkened and I lowered my mouth to take his, curling his tongue into my mouth before I stroked my hands possessively down his sides. He moaned beneath me as I stroked over his narrow hips and dragged him down closer beneath me. He groaned my name, arching his hips up. I could feel him urging me in but I didn’t want to hurt him. I tried to reach over for the lube but he put one hand down on my ass and pushed me forward so I slid into him. He was still slick from the last time around and I slid in surprisingly easy. I groaned and had to bit my tongue to keep from exploding right then and there.

“Jesus Simon You’re going to end it too soon again.”

He smiled up at me then rolled us over so that he was straddling my hips. At this angle he could control the depth and speed. When he plunged down, I felt my eyes rolling back into my head. He was shuddering above me as he pushed down to take me even deeper. I was worried about him taking me all, but he didn’t seem to care. Eventually I just stopped thinking and gave into sensation.

He leaned over as he rolled his hips down, tongue stroking over my nipples. I knew after last night, that that was a hot spot for him, but I’d never considered it was one of mine. Yet when he flicked his tongue hard and fast, I felt myself swell, arching up deeper into those hot walls of his. My hands settled to his hips to guide him down and he seemed to like that. He liked giving over control to me and I was all too happy to take it. I didn’t usually mind sharing and switching roles. I like variety. But this man brought out something possessive in me. He made me want to protect him, to take care of him and yes, to make him mine. But not like a thing that I owned. Rather, I wanted to love and cherish him because I thought that he was worth it.

He shuddered over me and I reached one hand between us to start stroking him as I slid in and out. I knew when I hit his prostate because he started making small noises that I found sexy as hell. I growled as I brought his hand to wrap around his length, then wrapped mine over his. Together we stroked him higher and higher into pleasure until he cried out and I groaned as we went over that edge together. He squirted heat all over our joined hands and when he collapsed over me, I smiled and deliberately licked my fingers clean. He shuddered again, then kissed me deep.

Afterwards, we just lay together, his head on my chest as I stroked fingers through his hair. It felt silky despite the fact we were both sticky and I pressed a kiss to the top of his head, before I gently eased him off of me.

“Come on. Let’s get cleaned up a little.”

He came obediently and I reached for his hand to lead him into the bathroom that I had renovated about a year ago. I didn’t have many luxuries that I indulged in, other than classic muscle cars that I liked to restore in my spare time, but I did enjoy a good soak after a long day at work. The other bathrooms in the house had stand-up glass showers, but I had a tub as well as the shower. The tub was one of those 4 footed, deep antique styles. It faced the wall that I had extended into a miniature deck so I could look overt the river. Nobody could see in, but the view I had of the bayou, made it worth plunking down the extra bucks.

I saw Simon’s eyes widen as I filed the tub with warm water and bubble bath that Marie had given me last Christmas, claiming it would soften my skin. It smelled a bit fruity for me, but Simon seemed to like it as I sunk into the tub first, then gently pulled him in front of me so he could relax against my chest. He rested his head back against my shoulder and after a bit of maneuvering, we were able to both be comfortable. It made me glad I had invested in the extra large tub though I had been ragged on something fierce by my family when they’d helped install it.

We just enjoyed the heat wafting up around us, his hand lightly stroking over my thigh not trying to excite, just soothe. “J.C.?”

“Yea?”

“I know you didn’t want to talk about it before, but I’m curious now. Why did you wait so long? You’re a handsome and intelligent man. You must have people chasing you all the time.” I shrugged a little, leaning back as I looked towards the ceiling. I didn’t mind telling him honestly, but it was something that I had never really talked about with anyone. I mean my brothers and Marie all knew and they cursed Henry’s name good, but I had never told them about the nights that tears had come as I wonder what I had done wrong.

“It was a bad time. I came out kinda late in life. I was afraid my family wouldn’t accept it, so I waited till Marie was settled in college. I had my first real relationship with a man only 4 years ago, though since it was only one night I guess it cant classify as a relationship.”

I paused and I felt his hand reach for mine, silently curling his fingers within mine. It made me smile and I rested my chin on the top of his head for minute.

“He’s a cop. A deputy in this town. I didn’t know he was gay till I saw him in the one gay club here in town. We had one night that was pretty amazing for me, because it was when I woke up for real and realized why so many of my relationships with women failed, even when I tied to make it work.”

“What happened?”

This was the painful part because it meant actually admitting how much Henry had meant to me and I could feel myself tense, but Simon had asked so I told him. I didn’t want to keep anything from him.

“Well we had an amazing night. Fucked in every way imaginable and then when morning came, that was it. I kissed him and offered to make him breakfast. I went into the shower to clean up and when I cam back, he was gone.”

“Just like that?”

“Yep. I thought he was downstairs maybe starting breakfast but nah. He was gone. He didn’t leave a note and his car was gone. I saw him in town a few times after that, but we never talked about it.”

“What? You never asked him why?”

“No.”

Why not? You deserved to know.”

“Simon, I really didn’t want to know. I was imagining the worst. That I was bad in bed, that maybe he was drunker than I thought and regretted it. I was just glad that he didn’t announce it to the whole damn town. I guess I figured it was just easier to let it go.”

“But you didn’t let it go. If you had, you wouldn’t have been so afraid to try again with someone else. That was 4 years ago, Jackson. That’s a long time to be alone.”

I shrugged as he turned a little to look into my face. I saw concern there, but there was also anger. Not at me, but for me. It made my heart twitch again that he was that concerned. I expected it from my family, but nobody except the boys and Marie had ever given that much of a damn about me. When I looked into those deep blue eyes of his, I saw a man who was willing to fight for me and it made me have to clear my throat before I became a damn sentimental sap.

“I had another lover but that was also a one night thing. I told him I didn’t want more and he didn’t press. He was just passing through town. It was convenient because I knew he was leaving. I knew what to expect.”

He was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Well, I know how it feels. My ex, Jonathon O’Neil, he’s a lawyer in Baton Rogue. We were introduced by a mutual friend at a party. We got together pretty quickly and were together for two years. I thought everything was going so well. We had everything in common and my mother liked him. We bought a place together and were talking about getting matching rings even if we couldn’t make it legal.”

He paused and I had a feeling that the ending to this story was going to be a real whopper. I also had the feeling I was going to want to kill someone real soon. Did I mention that we Duprees are known to have a few felons in our family?

“I had been out shopping with Lucy. She went ring shopping with me…I had picked out the bands and was so excited about showing him. I couldn’t wait to get there. I had everything planned out, from the dinner I was going to make, to the romantic night spent showing him how much I loved him…” He paused again to take in a slow breath and I felt his hand tighten down on mine. “When she and I walked into the house, we found Jonathon on the kitchen floor. He was having sex with his secretary, Angela ”

Damn. A moment ago I had been feeling sorry for myself and now when I heard the pain in his voice that he was trying so hard to conceal, I wasn’t. I was pissed off was what I was. I mean, Henry was a dick about how he had treated me. I could admit that as much as anyone else did. But at least he had only done it for one night. This O’Neil, whoever he was, had taken Simon’s heart, then torn it apart. I mean, the kitchen floor? Come on now. The Duprees had invented the art of subterfuge. We could teach a cat burglar something or two about sneaking in and out of bedroom windows. And if there was one thing we knew, it was that you never had sex in someone else’s place that didn’t have doors that locked and at least two exits to slip smooth as an eel out of. Jonathon O’Neil had wanted to get caught and though that was his business, I was starting to consider Simon’s feelings mine.

“Baby, I’m sorry. But cliché as this may be, I’m sayin it anyway. You’re a hell better off without the prick, cause if you were still with him, I wouldn’t be here with you now.”

“I know,” he said softly, looking up at me with a half smile. “Though I wish in a way I was, because then I know he would end up on the bottom of the bayou seeing as I’ve been adopted.”

He grinned and I chuckled. “Ayup. In pieces. I told you that axes work well.”

I felt my jaw tighten when he leaned back against me, getting comfortable. Physically, he was a strong man. Emotionally too, if he had managed to survive something like that. But just like I considered my family mine and under my protection, Simon had now found himself in that same spot. My hand smoothed over his arm as he made a contented sound and I wondered just how deep I had gotten myself in.

“It didn’t break me and it brought me to you in a way, so I’m grateful.”

“Yea.”

I paused for a moment, not sure how to bring it up. Frankly, I probably was jumping the gun again, but I asked anyway because I was a Dupree and we didn’t beat around the bush. It just complicated things.

“So how we gonna handle this? You livin in Baton Rogue and me down here? I mean is this just a temporary thing?…”

He stiffened and then sat up so he could turn to look at me, his head tilting to the side as he studied my expression. For a moment there, I saw the side of him that the courtroom must; cool, assessing and completely confident. Right then and there, he wasn’t the kind of man who I wouldn’t have messed with because at that moment he was the kind of man who had intimidated me for most of my life.

“I didn’t think it was. Do you want it to be?”

“Hell no. But I gotta be a gentleman and give you your options. If it were up to me, I’d tie you to my tailpipe and keep you there.”

He grinned and it softened his features again as he leaned against me, his eyes closing. I felt him relax and I was getting there myself which meant we needed to get out of this tub before we both fell asleep and drowned. Wouldn’t that have made a great obituary piece; “two fruit loops drown trying to wash off their “milk.”

Yea, reaaaal juicy news right there.

“We’ll just try to make it work however we can, J.C. We’ll figure it out,” he mumbled. “Promise?”

Now I will admit that I hesitated for a minute because the fact was that no Dupree ever made a promise lightly. We could charm our way out of a paper bag and never really lie, but we would spin the truth six ways from Sunday and get away from making promises any way that we could. When we finally did make them, they were for keeps. Making a promise to this man, meant putting myself out there again. Was it worth it?

When I felt Simon’s lips brush my arm, I thought so.

“Yea, I promise darling. We’ll make it work. Always more than one way to skin a cat…”

***Remy ***

“Hurry up Remy. What the hell is the problem with that door?”

“It’s locked and the spare keys ain’t beneath the mat, you moron. Where the hell are yours?”

“Since when do either of us carry keys around with us?”

Rene swore as he pushed past me on the steps to yank the piece of paper that I’d missed, from the front door. He stared at it for a few minutes before a slow grin eased over his lips and he offered a whoop of laughter.

“He finally did it. Bout damn time too. Thank you, Saint Jude!”

“What the hell you talking bout, Rene?”

My brother grinned at me, but didn’t answer as he passed me the paper and then started walking back towards the truck. I arched a brow as I read the note that JC had left and then grinned. Well the sun shines even on a dog’s ass sometimes. My big brother had finally shown some gumption. He was a Dupree after all. We’d been starting to wonder. I chuckled as I shoved the note into my pocket, then cupped both hands over my mouth to yell up at his bedroom window.

“Hey, J.C., don’t you forget that Vaseline, brother. We wanna treat that boy real nice and remind him why we’re called the Big Easy.”

I rotated my hips towards the window, laughing as Mrs. Parker’s lights came on. Rene and I were grinning like a couple of fools as we got into the truck and pulled away, but we were both glad for J.C. He hadn’t been involved with anyone since that damn Deputy Dick and fairy or not, he was my brother and a damn good man. He didn’t deserve to sit at home alone for the rest of his life, waiting for his dick to shrivel up and fall off from disuse. I didn’t know if this Walker fellow was going to be “the one,” but by the way he and Jackson looked at one another, they were both already half gone. The heat between them made me jealous. Not that I wanted to pet the pecker or anything, but it had been a long time since a woman looked at me with that kind of wanting. Not just the kind that inspires one night, but the kind that makes you want to stay a few. Still, I was happy for J.C. though I woulda been happier if Lucy had had as big a thing for the Dupree’s as her cousin did.

I pulled two cigarettes from my pack of Marlboros then lit up, offering one to Rene as I took a long drag off of the other. The nicotine felt damn good even if we were homeless for the night. It was a warm night, but there was no damn way I was sleeping in a pickup truck cab with my brother. The man had a more restless sleep than anyone I had ever met in my life. He spread out like a damn starfish.

“Now what?” “Well we can spend the night in the truck.” I grinned when he offered me a look. “Yea that’s out. What about the Hennessy twins? They never mind us comin over at all hours.”

“They’re in Lafayette tonight. Some concert or something.”

“Megan Foster?”

“Her husband’s in town this week.”

“Jodie Kennedy?”

“Boyfriend’s in town.”

“Well hell! J.C. finally gets lucky and we end up as celibate as two damn monks.” Rene shrugged and then grinned as he made a sudden right turn. “Well there is one other option.”

“What’s that?”

He didn’t answer, just grinned that damn fool grin of his that I had invented for when you were up to no good, then just kept driving through town till we reached the Cassidy Motel. It was where Lucy and Simon were staying. I knew that, because I had dropped her off here earlier tonight after the movie let out. Fuckin Steel Magnolias. That Julia Roberts was a damn fine actress. Always brought a tear to my eye.

I arched a brow at Rene who grinned as he got out of the car.

Aww Hell.

“Rene, what are you doin? That girl’s probably asleep.”

“It’s only 11:00 o’clock, Remy and besides, she has a spare room open now since Walker’s over at our place. It’s only right to be charitable and give two orphans a place for the night.”

He chuckled as I shook my head. Now don’t get me wrong. There was nothing more that I wanted to do than spend the night with Lucy Adair. Ever since she had come back to town that was all that I had been thinking of. But there was a difference between wining and dining her over dinner and candlelight and showing up with my brother in tow. Kind of killed a mood right there.

I cussed under my breath, then cut him off when he went to knock on the outside door to her room. I shoved him out of the way, gesturing for him to keep his sorry ass out of sight for a few minutes while I worked the magic that Lucy seemed to be immune to. It was damn disconcerting, especially considering that every other woman in the Southern states seem to flock to it like flies to honey. I must have been losin my touch.

I knocked and then waited. After a minute or two, I heard her voice and cleared my throat. It suddenly felt dryer than a desert in there. “It’s me, Lucy. Remy Dupree.”

I heard the sound of the lock and then she opened it. I let my breath out in a whoosh like I had when I was 14 and seen my first pair of boobies that didn’t belong to a flat-chested schoolgirl. She wasn’t wearing any of that Victoria’s Secret stuff, but the old baseball jersey was doing a damn good job of sending this Cajun boy’s imagination down a happy trail. It was sliding half off one shoulder and her legs were long and bare beneath. She didn’t look sleepy so I was assuming that I hadn’t woken her, but I still felt kinda guilty which was a new one for me. Dupree’s didn’t do guilt.

“Hi there, Remy. You all right? Is Simon ok?”

She looked concerned, but I nodded real quick because I didn’t want that pretty thing to worry. Girls like her should only ever smile, preferably at me. I cleared my throat, all thoughts of the twins fresh outta my mind right now as I tried to concentrate on her face and not those two soft globes beneath her shirt.

“He’s fine. Actually he’s staying the night at our place. J.C. locked us out so I’m guessin that they ain’t playin Parcheesi.”

She arched both brows in surprise and then offered a smile like sunrise over the bayou. Holy Hell! What was wrong with me! Dupree’s didn’t do romantic language and metaphors. I was turning into a goddamn Shakespeare here. What the hell had I eaten? Musta been something in the water.

“Well that’s good. I’m glad for both of them, though if J.C hurts Simon I will be comin after you, Remy Dupree.”

She thought that was a threat? A beautiful blonde chasing me? Hell J.C., forget the Vaseline!

“Well Miss Lucy, I’m glad we’re on the same page cause if your fancy pants cousin breaks his heart, we Dupree’s might have to show him the other side of the bayou.”

She chuckled and then wrapped her arms around herself, pushing up her breasts enough that I near went cross-eyed. “Agreed. What are you doin here anyway? Came all this way just to tell me that?”

“Well actually, we can’t get into our place so we thought…”

“We,” she interrupted and then stepped back in surprise as Rene popped out of nowhere. She looked from me to him and back and then shook her head. “Oh, no. You boys cannot stay here. How would that look?”

“About as interesting as it looks that we can’t get into our house cause your cousin is sleeping in our bother’s bed. Well probably not sleeping but doing enough to put me and Remy in therapy for the rest of our lives. Come on now, Lucy. Turning us away ain’t a real Christian thing to do.”

“And destroying a woman’s reputation is the Christian thing to do?” Rene and glanced at one another, then grinned. “Now don’t you try that, Lucy. You were hanging out with us since you were just a pint sized thing. You’ve got no reputation to speak of that ain’t linked with ours. You’re just as done in as we are. Probably even more, cause you couldn’t convert us.”

“A priest couldn’t convert y’all,” she muttered a she stepped back to let us in. “All right but behave yourselves. Simon’s room is the one next door. I think I have an extra key in here somewhere. Close that door behind you before someone sees you.”

As she went to get the key, I looked at Rene. He grinned and nodded. The good thing about growing up in a clan that was closer than a can of sardines, was that we knew what the other was thinking without words half the time. Lucy came back with the key, then offered it to Rene. Maybe that was subconsciously a good sign? Get rid of him but not me? Oh please God, I will never skim from the collection plate again if it is a good sign.

“Remy, Rene, can I ask you guys something?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“How longs it been since J.C was in a relationship? I mean a real one?”

“Bout 4 years.”

“Four! Why?”

“Well it’s a long story but the short of it he got together with a cop from around here. Damn ass broke his heart. Went after him then decided in the morning he wasn’t light in the loafers no more. Never explained why or nothing. Messed J.C. up in the head good.”

“That’s terrible. Sounds like what that bastard did to Simon. His ex cheated on him with his secretary, Angela. I wanted to kill him myself, but Simon wouldn’t let me near him. I called in a few favors and got the IRS after him, the cheap bastard. ”

I grinned as she frowned. The girl had spunk. She always had. Lord but I wanted to know what she looked like beneath that shirt.

“Well murder’s a messy thing. We took matters with Deputy Moron into our own hands.”

She quirked a brow in question and Rene grinned as he picked up the rest of the story.

“Well he had this Thunderbird that J.C. had restored for him. Beautiful piece of machinery. Anyway, we went out one night after J.C told us what happened and we bought some shrimp.”

“Shrimp? Wait a minute. Do I even want to know what ya’ll did?”

“Probably not but you know it will eat at you I we don’t tell you. Besides, it’s an old crime. We can’t be prosecuted for it now I don’t think.” “Lord have mercy… Go on. ”

I grinned. “Like we were saying, we got some fresh shrimp. We put it down deep between the bucket seats and under the carpets. It was summer and well you know that when that Louisiana sun comes up, it starts things baking.”

Rene’s grin widened and bless her heart but Lucy started laughing. She just shook her head, clutching her sides as she doubled over.

“Oh lord but that’s a good one. I wish I had thought of it. That musta stunk to high heaven.”

“Yes ma’am. They couldn’t figure out the source of the smell but that car wasn’t in it’s usual spot the next day. Probably still at the scrap heap.”

She grinned. “I have to hand it to you boys, The Dupree’s still know the most about revenge. Son-of-a-bitch deserved it. Good men you both are.”

“Yea well, we take care of our own. Anyway, I’m gonna hit the hay. Remy you comin?”

I glanced at Rene and refrained from flipping him the bird only because Lucy was standing right there. He could seduce half the girls in the county but couldn’t show some discretion and finesse for my sake, could he. I looked back at Lucy who was also waiting for my answer. Well now wasn’t this a nice kettle of fish.

“Yea, I guess so unless Miss Lucy’s afraid of the dark and needs a big strong Dupree boy to watch over her?”

Please God.

“I think I’ll manage. Goodnight boys.” And bam. That sound was the one of a door closing on me. Hell, slamming shut on me was more like it. Even when we were back in Simon’s room later on, I couldn’t sleep. Rene had no problems by the sound of his snoring, but I had been lying awake for over an hour and my lids weren’t even starting to get heavy. Every part of me was wide awake, including the little soldier between my legs that was telling me that being shot down wasn’t any reason to give up. I’d lost one battle but that didn’t mean I should throw away the war. We Dupree’s were slackers, not quitters.

I took in a deep breath, then said to hell with it. I wasn’t going to get any sleep with Rene snoring in my ear or kicking me in the ribs anyway. Being shot down again by a pretty woman would be the highlight of my night.

I slid out of bed and threw a tee shirt on over the baggy shorts I slept in, then padded next door again. This time I was firmer in my knock because she’d already shot me down once. I could handle it a second time.

It took her longer to answer the door this time but when she did, I put one hand on the doorframe to prevent her from closing it on me. She looked surprised as she looked up at me, but she didn’t say a word. She seemed to be waiting for me to say something. But hell if I knew what to say. I was fresh outta words tonight. Dupree’s didn’t do well with talk. We were men of action. So I leaned down, one hand tangling gently through her hair to cradle her head as I brought my mouth down on hers. And God in heaven, but I was finally kissing Lucy Adair and it was damn fine. She could have slapped me now and I would still have been happy as a clam. But she didn’t hit me. Instead she opened for me when I urged her lips apart to deepen the kiss that tasted of mint toothpaste, like she’d just brushed her teeth. I broke away first, but wasn’t letting go of her. She just grinned as she pulled me inside with her and then locked the door.

“Its about time, Dupree. I was beginning to think your reputation was all just small town gossip.”

“Hell no, child. Hold on to your hat cause this cowboy’s come to the rodeo!”

HELLO Sweet Home Louisiana!

***Simon***

When I woke up, the light was starting to creep in through the bedroom window. I glanced at the clock and it was after 8am. J.C. was still asleep, one arm flung over my waist, his hand resting on my hip. He had held me all night like he’d promised to do. If I hadn’t already fallen in love with the man, I would have right then and there. I know it was fast. Maybe too fast, but the fact was that I was almost 40 and not some teenager. I was a man full grown and I knew what I wanted. If I found that in someone after not even a week, well I thought I was old enough to make my own choices. I carefully eased out from beneath his arm, pulling on his tee shirt and shorts since they were closer to my side of the bed then mine were and then quietly moved downstairs. I wanted to start breakfast before he got up. After what he had told me last night about his ex, I wanted to create new morning-after memories for him. It was a gesture that was a bit overly romantic maybe, but he had given me a second chance at happiness last night, so breakfast was the least that I could do for him.

His kitchen was surprisingly well laid out and the refrigerator was well stocked despite the fact that three grown men who all ate like vacuums, lived here. I got out the milk and eggs and then started making the mix for pancakes. My mother had taught me to make them just right; brown and fluffy and so light that they fell apart in your mouth.

I hummed as I cooked, getting out bacon to start frying it up. The smell of comfort food brought me back to when I was a kid and my mother had made breakfast for me. It brought back memories of home and belonging and that was how I felt right now in the home of a man I had only just met, but still felt I knew well.

After we’d gotten out of the tub last night, we had spent a while just talking, asking one another the kind of mundane first date questions that help you get to know one another. We talked about his family and I told him about my father. He had just listened to me until I was tired of talking and then we fell asleep with him holding me curled into the front of his body. Jonathon had never wanted to do that. He said it was “too gay,” which was something I had never understood. He could sleep with a man and suck his dick but he didn’t want to show him any kind of real affection? J.C hadn’t shown any kind of inhibition last night. Every time I moved, he waited for me to adjust then just drew me in closer. He made me feel safe and protected, like I didn’t need to be in such tight control when I was with him. It was something I hadn’t realized till last night that I needed.

I flipped the bacon, then jumped in surprise when I felt strong arms slide around me from behind. I had been so busy that I hadn’t heard J.C. come into the kitchen. He kissed the top of my head, then the side of my neck before he glanced over my shoulder to see what I was making.

“This is a surprise.”

“I hope you don’t mind. I just wanted to do something for you.”

“Course I don’t mind. You can make yourself at home here. That’s what I want. When I didn’t see you upstairs for a minute I just thought…”

“That I left?” I said quietly. When he nodded, I turned to brush a kiss over his mouth and yanked gently on his ear.

“No. I would never leave without saying goodbye, J.C. I promised you that remember?”

It was his turn to nod and he offered a gruff kiss to the top of my head before he pinched my ass and went to get the eggs so he could start scrambling them. We worked together in comfortable silence, feeling no need to talk and fill the stillness with meaningless chatter. It was a good feeling to be that comfortable with someone. I knew that I was going to be smiling all day today and that Lucy would grill me as soon as she saw me, but I didn’t care.

“So what are your plans for today?”

“I have to go into work for a few hours and make sure that Rene didn’t burn the place down. But I’ll be back around 5pm or so. I’ll make you dinner if you want to stay.”

“I’d like that. That gumbo recipe of Marie’s was amazing. I’m going to get fat at this rate.”

“Nah, darling. I’ll make sure you get your exercise.”

He winked and I felt my heart flip flop before I playfully pushed him away so my bacon wouldn’t burn.

“I need to go to Baton Rogue tomorrow morning. I got a call on my cell from my secretary.” I paused to scoop the eggs onto a plate and laid the bacon beside it.

“Actually, would you want to come with me? It would only be for a day or two. I just need to pick up some of the files I didn’t bring with me for that case I told you about.”

“You really want me to go?”

“Of course I do. Why else would I ask you?”

He offered a half smile and then reached for a piece of bacon. He liked the crunchy ones like I did.

“I know. I just wanted to be sure you were all right with us being on your turf since you have a big position up there and all.”

Ah so that was what this was about. I set the plate down, then reached for his hand so that I could kiss his knuckles like he’d done to me last night.

“J.C. I am not ashamed of you. I want to be with you and I don’t care who knows about it, ok? Just trust me. I am proud of you and of us. I want you to come with me so I can show you my place. Please come?” I saw the hesitation in his eyes, but then he relaxed and pressed a kiss to the top of my head before he stepped away and rubbed his hands together.

“All right. That’s settled. Now let’s eat fast because I have 20 minutes before I need to get out of here and it only takes me 5 to shower and change.” He grinned. “Do the math.”

***Jackson ***

I hadn’t been to Baton Rogue in about 3 years. The last time that I had been here I had gotten into a scuffle at a bar with a guy who had stepped out of line with Marie. There’d been some name calling, including that ever so creative three letter word that starts with an F and ends with a G and then I had set him on his ass. I’d spent a night in a cell and that had been the last time that I had ever wanted to go to that part of Louisiana. But Simon had invited me so I had packed my stuff. I’d gotten here a few days later then I had anticipated because Marie went into labor the day I was supposed to leave. I had a new nephew and Marie was already starting to light candles for the kid. She was convinced that between the boys and me, he would be spending his first birthday in a 2×4 cell. We all assured her that that would never happen; we would teach the kid to avoid the law. No Dupree got caught unless he was drunk. Alcohol and our natural stupidity didn’t combine well.

Simon had gone on ahead of me to handle his business and when I pulled up to his place, I had a moment of discomfort. The house was easily the place of my house, Marie’s and my garage combined and the path was lined by Magnolia bushes. It looked like one of those picture postcards that Yankee tourists would always send their friends to show them where they had stayed in the South that they saw through Hollywood’s eyes in movies like Gone with the Wind and Sweet Home Alabama; an elegant, genteel south. I missed my family and my backyard as I walked up the steps but I sucked it up. I knew Simon and no matter what this place looked like, I knew that he wasn’t some uppity asshole. I knocked, then waited for him to come to the door. I quirked a brow when it was opened by a slender woman in a maid’s uniform straight out of a movie. I swept my cowboy hat off of my head and cleared my throat, looking past her when I heard Simon’s voice.

“You made it. How was the trip?”

“It was all right, Simon. Ma’am,” I said to the woman who just quietly moved away. I cleared my throat again than looked back at Simon who leaned in to brush a kiss over my mouth. I relaxed when he touched me. All right, so I could hate his house and be uncomfortable about the fact he had servants, but as long as he was himself, things were ok.

“That’s Anne. She was with my family since before I was born. She decided to come with me when I moved. Let me help you with your bags. I had a guest bedroom set up for you where you can keep your things. It’s just down the hall from mine.” That stopped me colder than if he had dumped a bucket of ice water on me. A guest room? The shock must have shown on my face because he stopped in his little tour, looking back at me.

“It’s just down the hall from mine. Just for appearances, J.C. My father’s in the middle of a re-election campaign. You can still spend the nights with me in my room. I’ve missed you holding me.”

He moved towards me as if he was going to reach for me, but I stepped back. I held up one hand, sliding my hat back onto my head. I can’t claim to have as short a fuse as Remy or Rene, but the Dupree temper is famous throughout the south when we get good and worked up and I was on my way there. I mean, I was an easy going guy but separate bedrooms? I was 34 years old and my boyfriend was telling me that I had to sleep down the hall because he was afraid his daddy wouldn’t approve?

“What does your bedroom have to do with your father’s campaign? Something I’m missing here?”

“J.C Don’t be like that. It’s nothing bad. He just came by yesterday when Anne was cleaning up for your arrival and asked me who was coming down. I told him about you because I’m not ashamed of you and he mentioned that you might not want the spotlight either, considering the fact that all of us are under a microscope right now. It has nothing to do with how I feel about you.”

Hell if it didn’t. I wanted to snap back, but I bit my tongue. It wasn’t the time or the place right now to tell him that I thought his father was an interfering, arrogant son-of-a-bitch. I didn’t have to love his family to love him. He had told me all about his father and no matter which way you sliced it, his father was an egotistical jackass, who was more concerned with his image than his own kid. I hadn’t voted for him in the last election and doubted that I was going to this time around either. But Simon was looking at me with a pleading look so I let it go for now. I wasn’t here to make more problems for him, even if I didn’t see the point of us hiding after we had struggled for years to find the courage to come out in the first place. It was going to be a long 2 days, but I’d make it work. I just needed a shower and a beer and I would be set.

Maybe not in that order.

“Fine. Show me where I’m staying then.”

***Simon***

I knew that J.C. was angry. He hadn’t said much after our exchange in the hallway. In fact, he had been pleasant and charming as always, but I could see in his eyes that something had changed. I wasn’t sure how much yet, but I knew that I had screwed up. I had told him all about my father and how difficult it had been for me to come out to him because of his political position. Needless to say, he hadn’t been thrilled. But I had dealt with his disapproval for so long that I took it like I always did and just tried harder to gain his approval. I hadn’t realized just how much I had sacrificed till that moment when Jackson had looked at me and I had felt all of two inches high.

He hadn’t brought it up again, but I knew that I had to do something to show how sorry I was, or I would just widen that crack that had started between us until it became a chasm as wide as the one between me and my father.

Jackson deserved better. He’d come to see me and I had started us off by making him feel like an outsider, instead of the man I wanted to explore life with. So I decided to make reservations at one of my favorite restaurants near the capital building for us. I went all out, arranging for a special wine to be held for us at dinner. Afterwards, I planned to show him around town. I wanted everything to be special so that he would remember tonight instead of this afternoon.

I told him what the plans were, then left for a few hours to run some errands. I went straight upstairs expecting to see him, but he wasn’t there. I felt a moment of disappointment, my heart heavy because I knew that if it hadn’t been for me, he would have been waiting there for me in my bed to yank me in. But I bit the bullet as my mother would have said. I’d messed up and now I had to fix it. I showered and changed into my favorite gray suit with the subtle pin-stripping and a pale blue dress shirt and gun-metal gray silk tie. I was used to dressing like this daily, but my fingers felt clumsy as I made the Windsor knot, then tightened it. The man I saw reflected in the mirror was tall, handsome and looked like a million dollars, but I knew until I saw J.C. and was able to apologize, I’d feel an inch tall. The only problem with this scenario was that Walker men weren’t good with groveling.

I moved downstairs to the foyer to wait for him, straightening my cufflinks restlessly until I heard him clear his throat. When I turned and saw him, I paused, trying to stick a cufflink where it wasn’t supposed to go. He saw it and grinned slowly as if pleased by the effect he had on me, as he ambled lazily across the hall, then reached for my arm to fix the link for me.

I had never seen J.C. in anything but worn jeans and tee-shirts. I had thought back in New Orleans that he wouldn’t fit into my world, because I couldn’t imagine him fitting in with the trends here, but I had been wrong. Very wrong.

He was wearing a black suit that was probably off the rack, but fit him perfectly across his broad shoulders, accentuating the leanness of his waist and hips. He’d cut his hair shorter and shaved the five o’clock shadow that I had gotten used to, so his skin was smooth and I could catch a whiff of aftershave. His tan was accentuated by his neck black Stetson and the deep red of his dress shirt and black silk tie. He looked young, fit and masculine and enough to be dangerous. I knew that there wouldn’t be one female eye that wouldn’t turn his way tonight, especially if he offered that slow smile that spoke promises I knew he could capitalize on. All I could do was stare at him a moment, before I felt my body tightening. I cleared my throat as he finished adjusting my cuffs, then straightened. He smiled and I offered the single white rose that I had brought for him. I know it was a hokey gesture and by his grin he thought so too, but I didn’t know how else to cram in, “Hey J.C. I was a total asshole and I’m sorry but sometimes my mouth overloads my ass and even lawyers make mistakes, so would you forgive me?,” all into a non-verbal gesture. So I just held it out and waited for him to tell me to go to hell.

Instead he reached for it, breaking the stem to tuck it into his lapel before he held out both hands.

“Thank you. So what do you think, darlin? Good enough for a night out on the town?”

Any better and we would never make it out to the town. For a minute all I could think was that I didn’t deserve this man. I had made him feel like hell when he had traveled all the way out here for me and yet here he was, still making the effort, patient with me. His expression was still a little exasperated around the edges, but loving. It was more care than anyone except Lucy had ever shown for me and I felt my throat tighten before I nodded.

“You look wonderful, Jackson. Red’s your color.”

“Yea well, thank Marie. She dragged me out shopping the day before I got here. Said I couldn’t represent New Orleans in Levi’s and that all devil’s looked good in red. Course that means Rene and I match now, but what can ya do?”

He grinned, relaxed and I reached for him to pull him into my arms. He didn’t back up, just kissed me properly until my body started to respond, then pulled away with a knowing wink.

“Later.”

That one word held so much promise and as I reached for his hand, I found myself wondering just how soon later would come.

***Jackson ***

I’d been pissed. I’ll admit it. Ever since Simon had told me that I would have my own room at his place, I had considered going back home to New Orleans where my family didn’t give a rat’s ass what people thought about us and we stuck by one another like white on rice no matter what. My temper got the better of me and I had actually packed all my stuff back into the truck when he’d left, but then when I got behind the wheel, I hadn’t been able to turn the key to start it up. I had a full tank of gas, a chip on my shoulder and yet no desire to drive away from the man that was complicating my life when we Dupree’s liked it nice and easy. I’d sat there in the driveway for about a half hour before I thought about what my mama would have said to me. Rene and I never got to have many long talks with her about life. Remy was closer to her, but I remember that she used to play this one record over and over again and it was her motto every time one of us came home all broken up about a girl.

“You can’t hurry love, no you just got to wait. Love don’t come easy, it’s a game of give and take….”

That’s what she’d always sung to me with that warmth in her eye that made me choke up till I told myself to be a man about it and just bite the goddamn bullet. I got a haircut and shaved, then changed into the clothes Marie had picked out. The last time I had worn a suit had been for my Mama’s funeral, but Simon had seemed to like it. The boy had almost made an extra hole in his suit jacket.

I grinned at the memory as I looked over at him where he was ordering desert. So far the night had gone perfectly. He’d gotten reservations at some place that was so ritzy that for a moment I felt like a kid again, looking over the tracks at the part of town that the Dupree’s just didn’t go into because we weren’t their kind of people. But true to his word, he reached for my hand and he didn’t let it go when we walked into the restaurant. He pulled my chair out for me, then sat down. We got a few stares, but staring I could handle. People had been staring at me and my brothers for some reason or another since we were kids. Whispering was easy too. Lord knew we gave people enough to talk about. I could handle it. I was more concerned that Simon wouldn’t be able to, but he ignored it. He focused on me all through dinner as we talked about what we wanted out of life and I told him stories about my family that I had forgotten till they started spilling out of my mouth. At some points he laughed so hard that people turned to see what was going on, but eventually they went back to minding their own businesses and talking about time shares or whatever it was that rich people liked to talk about.

I felt myself relaxing because the food was good, even though Remy could have taught them a thing or two about thickening a roux properly for the gumbo and Simon was acting more like the man that I had met down in the Big Easy.

I grinned when I shifted slightly beneath the table, my knee brushing his deliberately. I had been doing it all night; small, casual gestures that the masses couldn’t misconstrue, but their meaning wasn’t lost on him. I could see the heat starting to simmer in his eyes, but we still had another course to sit through, plus coffee and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

“You’re a tease.”

“Nah. I always deliver. Just in my own good time.”

“When would that be?”

I grinned but didn’t answer as the waiter brought over our desert. We’d ordered different things so we could share, though I wasn’t much of sweet eater. Rene would have torn both plates up. Simon had the tiramisu and I had ordered the peach cobbler a la mode. Without thinking, he pushed both plates to the middle so we had equal access. He might have screwed up this morning, but the considerate man I had fallen hook line and damn sinker for, was back.

“Simon… I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.”

I paused with a bite in my mouth, chewing as I glanced up at the man who was talking. Simon had gone still and when I glanced over, I saw Governor Simon Walker Sr. of Louisiana, standing there with a good-looking older woman on his arm. He never looked towards me, just stared at his son with the kind of look that I remembered getting from my mama when I had been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. Apparently I was the cookie and I couldn’t say that I liked it one bit.

“We made dinner reservations, Father. I guess we all had the same idea tonight. Hello Miranda.”

He slid to his feet and I followed as he shook the woman’s hand, then glanced back at me. “Jackson, this is my father, Governor Walker and his fiancee, Miranda Jarvis. Father, this is my..friend.. Jackson Dupree.”

He hesitated and we all caught it. But if there was anyone that couldn’t believe he’d said it, it was me. Not again. Not after this afternoon and everything else he’d said. Damn it to hell.

I forced a smile as I offer my hand to each of them, my shake firm. Governor Walker had a firm shake too and held on for a moment longer than necessary, like he expected me to say mercy. Instead I just maintained eye contact with that trademark Dupree confidence that most people called sass and let go when he did. I was used to being bullied most of my life because of who my family was. Governor Dipshit didn’t have any juice sour enough to turn me away.

“Pleasure to meet you both. Simon’s told me a lot about you, Governor. Do you want to join us?”

“The pleasure’s mine Mr. Dupree, but no, thank you. We have our own reservations.”

He smiled but it could have chilled an Eskimo’s ass. There was absolutely no warmth whatsoever behind it and I could feel Simon tensing beside me. I wanted to reach for his hand but didn’t want to make the situation worse.

“Well we don’t want to keep you from it.”

There was silence, Miranda and glancing at one another before we looked to Simon and his father who were silent as they stared at one another. I had the feeling a lot more was going on then I knew about, but I let it go. It wasn’t my fight tonight. Some things were private. Of course not everyone thought so and what happened next was the moment where I knew tonight wasn’t going to end well.

There’s two kinds of men that a gay man should never fall in love with. One is a straight man, which is petty damn obvious and the other is a man who has very conservative parents in any high profile elected position. Neither situation bodes well for longevity.

A camera flash went off from the next table and a round cheeked older woman came over with a sheepish smile, her elderly husband beside her.

“I’m so sorry, Governor. I haven’t figured this thing out yet. I’m Margaret Perth and this is my husband Jerry. We voted for you during the last election and just wanted you to know you have our vote this time too. I’m sorry about the flash.”

“That’s all right, Margaret. How about a photo? We can even have my son in it. Mr. Dupree, you don’t mind taking the picture do you?”

He was suddenly as jolly as Saint Nick and I felt my smile turning plastic as I reached for the camera.

“Of course not. Everybody squeeze in together. That’s it. Now smile.”

I took the picture, blinding everyone for a moment with the flash. There was quiet applause as if people were actually impressed that Governor Asshole had stopped to take a picture. They applauded a man who bullied his son. You had to love the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

“Thank you so much, Governor. Would you mind just one more? I want to show these to my granddaughter. She’s voting for you too.”

“Of course. Mr. Dupree?”

“No, I’d like one of all of you if that’s all right. You too honey,” she said as she smiled at me then gestured me in. I glanced at Simon then reached for his hand, but Governor Walker cleared his throat discreetly and I stopped midway.

“You know, this really should be a family picture. I’ll just stand over here.”

“J.C., get into the picture.”

“He’s right, son.”

Nice to know I had dear old dad’s approval.

“Oh it’s all right, Governor. His friend can be in it. It will make a nice picture.”

I could see the Governor’s jaw tense, but he forced his smile like a trooper and the flash went off again. Margaret thanked us then ambled back to her seat happy with her prize. I couldn’t say the same for the rest of us who looked at one another for a moment in uncomfortable silence, before the Governor leaned over slightly so only Simon and I could hear what he was saying.

“Don’t you ever put me in that kind of situation again, Simon. Do you understand me? This may be a game to you but I am up for re-election. I do not want my son’s private life plastered over the front page the next time I make a speech about family values.”

Aww hell.

“Begging your pardon, Governor, but last time I checked, you had plenty of gay constituents that are raising their own families. Good people of the south who support you. You saying they’re wrong?”

“This doesn’t involve you, Mr. Dupree. This is between my son and I.”

I glanced at Simon for a moment who was looking down at the floor. I was waiting for him to jump in but he staunchly studied his shoes and I could feel my temper flaring. The Dupree temper is legendary when it gets going and after the day I had, hello nurse. Here I was.

“Well actually it does involve me since I am in love with your son and we’ve stared seeing one another. His business is my business.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“A man who actually gives a shit about something more than what other people think of him and that includes putting Simon before myself. Can you say the same?”

I could see his face flushing, his neck straining with tension. Miranda put a hand on his arm but Simon didn’t support me one way or the other. I wanted some kind of reaction. Anything. Even if he would have told me to back off, I would have been happy. I just wanted proof that he was actually seeing what was happening. But he just stood there silently.

“Is everything all right, Governor?”

We all turned as the maitre D appeared, looking pointedly at me as if he was wondering whether he was going to have to call the police. I would have advised him to call an ambulance if my brothers had been around, but instead, I looked back towards Simon and nodded.

“Yea, everything is fine.” I reached into my pocket for my wallet, throwing a few twenties on the table before I turned back to the Governor. “Good luck on your campaign. Don’t count on my vote. Nice to have met you ma’am.” I glanced at Simon, then just walked away, leaving everyone staring. If I would have slugged the Governor, they really would have had something to talk about, but then I would have ended myself up in jail for a man who sure as hell wasn’t worth it. I had thought Simon was worth it, but as I walked away from the restaurant trying to find a cab, I was wondering what the hell I had been thinking.

I was hurt and pissed off and frankly I felt like a fool for thinking that Simon Walker could cut the apron strings long enough to try and live life with me. Men like him, were in a whole different category than men like me and it wasn’t because of genetics. The only difference was in the choices that we made. The fact was, that I was tired of trying to make everyone around me happy and was finally willing to live my life the way I wanted to for me, not for anyone else. Simon wasn’t even halfway there.

“J.C., wait.”

I turned to see Simon coming out of the restaurant. He jogged across the street to catch up with me and I slid my hands into my pockets because there was less chance of me swinging. I didn’t want to hurt him, but hell if I could say that I wasn’t angry enough to.

“J.C…you didn’t have to leave.”

“The hell I didn’t. I seemed to be ruining the mood in there. I’m just going to take a walk. I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t do this, J.C. My father and Miranda left. Let’s just finish dinner, all right?”

“No, it’s not all right, Simon! What the hell was that all about? Last time I checked, you were a grown man and could make your own decisions. But while we were in there, I could have sworn that you had your head shoved so far up your father’s ass that it was like watching a ventriloquist act.”

“That’s not fair, Jackson. I didn’t know that he was going to be there tonight. I wanted you to stay.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you stand up for me?! Or for your damn self? Jesus Christ, Simon. You stood there and watched that man tear us both apart and all you could do was stand there like the good ol’ boy he wants you to be!”

I could feel my temper go and I had to turn away for a moment, biting down hard on the knuckles of my left hand before I said something that I was going to regret. Things weren’t supposed to be like this. Simon wasn’t Henry, but I was feeling some déjà vu all over again. Only this time, I would have been happier if Simon had left the morning after because it wouldn’t have hurt so much.

“Jackson it’s not like that. I don’t have the luxuries of being accepted the way you are by your family.”

“I accept you, Simon. When the hell did that stop being enough?”

“It’s not like that, J.C. It’s not about you. I have to fight for every inch of my father’s love and I know that he can be an asshole but it’s an election year. Once it’s over, things will be different.”

“Oh, so until then I have to go back into the closet all nice and quiet so that you and your Daddy can be nice and comfortable?”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Yea, well I’m sorry darlin, but that ain’t in the cards. I hid who I was for 6 years. I’m not doin that again for nobody. Not even for you.”

I felt my jaw tense as his eyes met mine. I could see the pain in them, but it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t stepping forward to close that gap between us which was all of three feet, because he knew as well as I did, that the real gap was a whole hell of a lot wider and deeper than just that little stretch of cement sidewalk between us.

“Jackson, let’s talk about this back at home. I don’t want to make a scene here.”

“Or what? Someone might see? Someone might come by and see that good ol’ Simon Walker Junior is turning his back on one of the only people who gives a shit about him? You think those people in there care about you or your father? Really care? Here’s a newsflash, Simon. They don’t give a rat’s ass about you or the problems that you have with your father and they don’t care who you’re fucking. It’s not about them and it sure as hell isn’t about your father! It’s about you! You give me this whole sob story about how your ex did you wrong and you feel like you can’t express yourself, but it’s bullshit. The only person stopping you is yourself.”

I shook my head and then turned to walk away. He grabbed my arm and I could see the tears making his eyes shiny as his fingers dug into the sleeve of my suit. I was torn, because my first instinct was to pull him into my arms and comfort him, but I’d put my heart on the line since I got here and he had done nothing but walk all over it. It was time to stick it back in the box where it belonged and maybe lock it up for another four years.

“J.C., I’m sorry. Just please understand that he’s the only real family I have besides Lucy. You have Remy, Rene and Marie.”

“You had me,” I said quietly, then pulled my arm away before I walked away. I heard him call my name behind me, but I was past caring. At least that’s what I told myself because if I turned around again, I’d never make it back home to bathroom dialogue and Marie’s arms where life just didn’t hurt so much…

***Simon ***

I’d watched him walk away. I knew that I should have gone after him again that night, but instead I just stood there outside the restaurant that should have been the perfect backdrop for a night of romance and had instead become the arena where the gauntlet was thrown down and I just watched as the lions tear J.C. apart.

He’d accused me of not fighting for him and he was right. I wasn’t proud of it, but he was right. I had just stood there and let my father do to him, what he had done to me all of my life. Jackson had gone up against him trying to defend me and I had repaid that loyalty by standing there like a damn statue, just like my mother had whenever my father had gone after me in front of her. I should have gone after J.C. and kissed him until he couldn’t push me away again and then found my father to tell my father to screw himself. I hadn’t. Instead I had gone back inside and sat at the bar till about 2am.

J.C hadn’t been back at my place when I got home that night. All of his stuff was gone from the guest bedroom and Anne said that she’d heard his truck at about midnight. I’d just stood there in the doorway for a long time and tried to tell myself that it was for the best. We weren’t part of the same world and he couldn’t understand my need to keep ties with the only family I had beside Lucy. I mean, I know that he was right about my father being a jackass. There wasn’t a man alive that was more stuck in his ways than my father, but he was still my father.

“Your father and not the man who you could spend the rest of you life with, Simon.”

I glanced up at Lucy as she interrupted my thoughts, then sighed as I shook my head. She had come back from New Orleans the night I’d called her and let her know what had happened. She told me that Jackson had already made it home and apparently his family had put me at the top of their most wanted list. I couldn’t blame them. They had every right to be angry. Someone had hurt the man that they loved and they felt that was punishable by maiming and lynching among other things. Since I loved him too, I had to agree.

“It’s over, Lucy. He’s back where he belongs and I’m back where I belong.”

“Now just what in blazes is that supposed to mean?”

“Lucy, leave it alone.”

“No. You listen to me, Simon Walker. I am not going to let you sit here and feel sorry for yourself, or throw away something that could be wonderful because you want to sulk. So you and J.C. had a fight. So what? People fight all the time. Just call him and tell him you’re sorry. Better yet, get into your car and go down there and see him.”

“Lucy, he doesn’t want to see me. He made that really clear that night at the restaurant.”

“He was angry, Simon.”

“I just stood there, Lucy. I let dad tear me apart and then when J.C. jumped in to defend me, I just stood there. I can’t blame him for not wanting to talk to me now.” I sighed, letting my head drop into my hand for a minute before I used both to push my hair back. I was wearing my glasses today, because my eyes felt strained. My whole body felt tired, as if it was stretched too thin. I had been working two cases back to back for the last two weeks straight. I slept at the office because I didn’t want to go home and be reminded of J.C. I had Anne bring me fresh suits to the office and I used the washroom facilities there. I knew that I looked like hell, because I’d been asked just this morning by my bosses if I needed another vacation. I guess I should have taken one, but the last thing I wanted was more time to think about how badly I had messed everything up.

“Baby, it was a mistake. You’re human. You’re allowed to screw up from time to time. Just tell him you’re sorry.”

She paused for a minute to thank the waitress for our cups of coffee, then settled them both in front of her. When I quirked a brow, she just added sugar and milk to both of them. I like mine black.

“You don’t need caffeine,” she said by way of explanation. “You’re wired as it is. If I makes you feel better, I spoke to Marie and she told me that he’s as big a mess about it as you are. Said he came home piss drunk the other night and passed out on her couch.”

“It’s not that simple, Lucy.”

“Of course it is. Silly gay men have to try and complicate things when life is complicated enough. Shush,” she said, holding one finger up as she took a sip of her coffee. “Simon, do you love him? And tell the truth because you know I know when you lie.”

I was a good lawyer and could lie easily to most people if I had to, but Lucy had always been able to tell when I was trying to keep something from her. She’d called me Pinnochio as a kid, because she could call me on a bluff every time like clockwork. Today was the first time I wished that she wasn’t so perceptive.

“Yes, I love him, Lucy.”

“Then tell him, you silly ass, before you really go and mess things up.”

“What about my father?”

“What about him, Simon? Look, he’s my uncle and I love him too but the fact is that he is an ass and he will probably always be an ass. You can’t change that, but you also can’t try and change yourself for him. If you do. you are just going to keep throwing happiness away with both hands.”

She paused as laid her hand over mine, squeezing lightly. I could see the concern in her face as she paid our bill, then took another sip of what should have been my coffee.

“I love you, Simon and so does J.C. We all just want you to be happy. If you are happy now honey, then that’s all right with us. But if you’re not, just bite the bullet, sugar…..”

- - - - -

“Hi Frank. It’s Simon. Is Marie there?”

“Simon?” There was a long pause and I could imagine that Frank was probably peering around the kitchen wall to make sure that the woman I was looking for, was out of earshot. It wasn’t saying much for my chances of pulling this off, but whoever said that love was easy, had never been in love with a man whose family would be all to happy to bury you in the backyard and piss on your grave when it needed watering.

“Ooo boy. What do you need to speak to Marie about? You’re not exactly her favorite person right now. Actually, frankly speaking, I had to take away the hatchet from her last night. She’s bout ready to carve you up for Thanksgiving dinner, Simon. What in hell did you do wrong? No one’s talking any sense round here. Just a lot of door slammin and talk about shrimp.”

Shrimp? Knowing the Duprees as well as I was starting to, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to touch that one with a ten foot pole. Honestly, I probably didn’t even want to be within 100 yards of those boys and Marie, let alone 10 feet. But I had gone and fucked a duck as Lucy would have said and I had to make it right one way or the other. J.C. was worth that and more and if what I was planning to do tomorrow didn’t work, I didn’t know what would.

“I know, Frank. I fucked up bad this time but I am trying to make it right. I just need your help.”

“I don’t know, Simon. They’re madder than a nest of hornets. I haven’t seen them this bad since deputy Hen…” he broke off in mid-sentence and I heard a door slam in the background before I heard muffled voices. I could pick out Marie’s above the rest, asking who it was and Frank to his credit, tried to make up some excuse but the man wasn’t quick on his feet. There was the sound of a scuffle and then Marie’s voice was piercing my eardrums like a q-tip pushed in too deep.

“What in hell do you want?”

She paused for a minute, then started talking again but not to me. “Go give Adam his bottle, would you, Frank? I have it prepared in the kitchen. I don’t want my child hearing the unchristian things I am going to say.”

“You’re on your own, Simon. Sorry,” Frank yelled and I exhaled as I prepared myself for the tongue lashing that I knew was coming. I just had to keep my eye on the ball and remember that I was doing all this for J.C. and not for anyone else. If that meant that I had to endure being torn apart good and proper by his family, then that was what was going to have to happen.

“Listen, Marie, I know that I am probably not one of your favorite people right now, but I need to talk to you about J.C.”

“Oh sugar, no. You’re on a whole different list than that. You’re on the I-got-one-last-nerve-and-you’re-getting-on-it- list. J.C.’s not here and even if he was, I wouldn’t let you within twenty feet of that boy, so you just leave my family alone. You did enough already.”

“Marie, please just listen to me. I know that I made a terrible mistake and I need your help to fix it.”

“Do you know that I have never seen my brother cry, Simon?”

I sighed as she continued, completely ignoring me. Obviously she had a piece to say and we weren’t going to get anywhere until she said it. She was the matriarch of the family and I knew that until I made my peace with her, I wasn’t going to ever be allowed near J.C. again. They may not have had a mother, but that tiny woman on the other end of the phone was the glue that kept them together and she was their heart and soul. I had gone and put a big hole in that heart and she didn’t sound like she was in a very forgiving mood.

“He didn’t even shed a tear when my momma died. All the rest of us were a wreck, especially Remy, but not J.C. He’s never been really good with expressing his feelings. He just bottles things up, because he is a good man who always put the needs of his family first. I don’t believe he didn’t cry because he was unfeeling. I think he just wanted to be strong for all of us, because we needed him to be our rock. But you know what, Simon? He is still human and when that boy came home to me in tears that night, I knew that better than anyone. So don’t you dare call here and act like you have any right to know anything about this family anymore. It wasn’t you that comforted him when he broke down. It wasn’t you that stayed with him all night trying to convince him that he hadn’t done a damn thing wrong, except fall in love with a man who has his head up his daddy’s ass.”

For a few minutes, I couldn’t say anything. I felt my own throat get tight, because I knew that what she was saying was true. I hadn’t known him long, but I did know that J.C. put everyone else before himself. Even that night at the restaurant, he had gone after my father at the expense of his own emotions and he would have continued to fight for me had I just helped him. For a minute, I considered just hanging up and forgetting about it, but I was tired of playing ostrich with my head in the sand.

“I made a lot of mistakes, Marie and the reasons why don’t matter. All that does, is that I know that I screwed up good and royal. I hurt the man that I care more about than anything else in this world and I didn’t even do it for a good reason. I am more sorry than you can possibly know and I want to make it up to him, but I can’t unless you help me. Please, Marie. I have an idea how I can turn this around, but I’m going to need you and the boys to do some work on your end to get him down here. There’s going to be a big press conference in Baton Rogue tomorrow. My father’s giving a speech on family values and I’m expected to speak. I need you to make sure that J.C. is there.”

She was so quiet that I couldn’t even hear her breathing and I sighed.

“Marie, please. I need your help or I am going to lose him for good. I might deserve that, but he doesn’t. He deserves a good man who will love him for the rest of his life and I know that I haven’t done much to prove to you that I am that man, but I am. I love him more than anything else and I am willing to prove it tomorrow if given the chance. But I can’t do it without you. He trusts you. If you tell him to come, he will come. Please.”

For a moment there, I thought that she was going to hang up. I guess I couldn’t have blamed her if she had, but I knew that if I heard the sound of that dial-tone in my ear, it would be more than just one bad phone call. Without J.C., I was just half of myself and there’s never been only half of a man that survives for long.

“I’m not happy with you, Simon. I hope you know that.”

“I know it. I’m not real happy with myself lately. But this isn’t about me. It’s about J.C. I need to tell him that none of this was his fault. If he wants to tell me to fuck myself, then that will be his right. But I am not that damn Deputy and he needs to know that I was the one who screwed up, not him.” “You know about that?”

“Yes. He told me. This wasn’t his fault. None of it was. I screwed up. Look, Marie, I am not trying to prove anything here. This is just way past due and both J.C and I deserve better than me selling myself short. My father is a cold and unfeeling son-of-a-bitch and I don’t want to end up that way. I love Jackson, Marie. I messed up, but I am putting myself on the line here because he needs to know that I am doing everything I can, starting now, to be nothing like my father and it would be a lot easier with him beside me.”

There was more silence but it was shorter this time. The sun shines even on a dog’s ass sometime.

“I’ll talk to him. I am not going to promise anything because this is his decision. If he doesn’t show up, then you leave him alone, Simon. Do you understand me? It will be his call, not mine or yours.”

“I understand, Marie. I know that this is my last chance. Just do what you can. I over-nighted some press passes in case he decides to show up. It’s an open forum but those will guarantee that he and whoever comes with him, gets in.” Because I sure as hell wasn’t stupid enough to think that he would be coming alone.

“All right.”

That was all she said before I heard the dial tone, but I knew that it was the best that I was going to get and for now that was going to have to do because I had a speech to prepare that was probably going to the most important one I had ever given in my life…

- - - - - - -

“Afternoon, Irene. Is my father in?” “Yes he is, Simon. Just one moment.”

I waited as my father’s secretary buzzed him to let him know that I was there, then gestured me in. I offered a smile before I walked into the office where my father had been residing for the last few years. His secretary had seen him more often than my mother and I did after he got elected and I was as familiar with his office as I was with my own.

When I walked in, I saw him sitting down behind his desk. He never bothered to get up when I entered a room but today it was all right. Sitting down would be easier for me anyway. This meeting was going to be hard enough.

“Good, you’re here. I was expecting you an hour ago. Is that the suit that you’re wearing? You should have worn the gray. Gary told me that voters respond better to it, but it will have to do. Switch ties with Jeffrey instead. The blue looks better.”

I held my tongue as his latest campaign peon started removing his tie and silently reached for mine. So far this wasn’t going the way that I had expected it to. I was tempted to tell Jeffrey just what he could do with his tie, but as a lawyer I knew that sometimes you had to pick your battles so that when you got your moment you could run full out with it. This wasn’t the moment.

I removed the tie and tossed it at him, then took his and started retying the knot into the new one. My father was moving around the room shouting orders to the campaign people who were milling around, trying to organize every aspect of this re-election that would make my father look like the best man for the job instead of a self-absorbed, controlling asshole. They worked magic and since everyone was 99 percent sure that he would win in a landslide, they were worth every penny they charged.

“I need to talk to you about something, Dad.” “Governor, we have to get going. The car is waiting downstairs.”

“Here are your speech notes, Governor. The Family Planning Group and Family First is going to be there and we added a few points we think you should make. Simon, these are your notes. Look them over.”

“Dad, we really need to talk.”

“Talk to me as we walk, Simon. Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

He started walking with his flunkies flanking him and I glanced at the clock before we walked downstairs and out to the waiting cars. The press conference was being held down in front of the new library steps. I knew from getting a copy of the day’s schedule that the conference came first and then lunch with the Family First group. I was supposed to be giving a short speech at the conference about family values and my stance on strong American standards. I hadn’t written the speech that was on the color coded note cards and it would have been obvious to anyone who knew me since there wasn’t one mention of me being a Gay-American in them even though I was supposed to be playing down the same sex card. My sexuality had never been made public knowledge. My father had made good and sure of that. He had even gone so far as to arrange female escorts for me at charity dinners and public functions. I should have been enraged, but I couldn’t even find that anger anymore. It wasn’t until we had arrived at the location and were bustled out by security that I realized that I hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to my father about J.C. or tell him what I was planning today. I also realized that it didn’t matter because no matter what I said, he would only ever hear what he wanted to. I could sit there and rage at him all I wanted, but it would never make one bit of difference. All I would manage to do would be to raise my own blood pressure and I sure as hell didn’t need that today. Not when I was planning to make a move that would ensure that there was no going back into the closet where he could label me however he wanted to.

I smoothed down my tie as I followed my father up the steps, his campaign managers talking in my ear the entire time over the applause of the crowd as my father waved and moved towards the podium. He was to make his speech first and then I would make mine before we opened it up for a short question and answer session that would of course be moderated by the security team and campaign managers. We couldn’t have people asking too many questions that would make the Governor look anything less than the fine upstanding heart and pride of Louisiana.

I felt my throat tighten and I suddenly felt woozy. I used to get terrible panic attacks in high school when I was a kid but it had been years since I felt that panic at being in a public forum. I exhaled hard and took my place at my father’s right, standing just behind him while he waited for the applause to die down before launching into his speech.

I had heard all of it before but as he went on, I realized that my father was a master of bullshit. He spun it like a spider spun her web, drawing everyone in to where he wanted them. He was a puppeteer and I was tired of having my strings yanked.

“…As I have already reiterated, this campaign will focus more on the family and keeping the heart and soul in Louisiana because if we start losing that, we lose ourselves. Family is where everything starts and ends. I know that without the support of my family, well I wouldn’t be the man that I am today.” He paused and smiled at me and I smiled back on reflex as he clasped my shoulder, the epitome of the loving father. My mouth hurt from the strain.

“So with all that said, I am going to turn the podium over for a moment to my son, Simon who has written a few words to share with you all today on his stance on strong family values and the moral code that we both adhere to in order to guide our own lives and help uphold the laws of this fine state as well as we can.”

“Do your strong family values include poofs, Governor? Last I heard they’re movin right on up in the world.”

I froze and I felt my father’s hand clamp down hard on mine as our gazes held. He was looking at me as if he thought that I had something to do with that lazy drawl which rang out with startling clarity, creating a murmur among the crowd as people turned back to see who the speaker was. I didn’t have to look to know that Remy was making his public appearance. I hadn’t planned that part but I should have known better than to think that the Dupree family could ever be predictable .

I pulled my hand from my father’s as we both looked towards the crowd. I drew a hard breath in when I saw Remy, Rene, Marie and Frank standing there. Frank looked like he wanted to disappear and Rene and Remy looked ready to shoot me between the eyes. They could have done it and I wouldn’t have stopped them because I was too distracted with looking towards J.C. who was standing there beside Marie.

He was wearing his usual LEVI’s and a white tee shirt, his cowboy hat firmly on his head and pulled low enough over his eyes that I couldn’t make out his expression until he looked up and our eyes met and held. There was a silent challenge there and if I could have moved off of the podium and gone right to him I would have, but there was still unfinished business between us.

“Excuse me? Who is this man? What newspaper are you with, Sir?”

“We’re with Rights for Gay Americans, Governor. We heard that you and your by right there were planning on talking bout strong family values so we figured we should just pop on by seein as Simon plays for our team and all. He actually made a real big donation to one of our “campaign managers,” just the other day. Ain’t that right, Simon?”

There was silence for a moment. Not even my father’s campaign crew could have planned for this and I sure as hell hadn’t. For a minute, all I could do was stare until I heard the murmurs go through the crowd. I could already see the headlines and as camera flashbulbs started to go off, I knew that this was going to make the front page of every tabloid for the evening specials. My father recovered faster than I did and he gestured to security to start moving to escort them out. I glanced back at Jackson, then to my father and put one hand on his sleeve.

“Dad, wait.” “What is going on here, Simon?,” he hissed. “Did you plan this to embarrass me? This is not the time and place for these kinds of shenanigans. Don’t you give a damn about this election?”

“Governor Walker?”

We both turned to see a slender female reporter from the Daily Bugle holding a notepad in one hand, her microphone in the other. “Governor Walker, are you going to answer these allegations?”

“I hardly think that they are allegations, Ms. Dewitt, is it? Just a prank for some attention. Though we do advocate equal rights for all Americans, I know for a fact that these people are not with any legal group. Security, can you please escort them off of the premises?”

“Are you saying that it’s true that your son is gay, Governor Walker? Doesn’t that go against the speech you gave a few months ago advocating marriage only for traditional couples of one man and one woman?”

“We are not getting into semantics today, Ms. Dewitt. I did say that I believed in the traditions of marriage. Marriage is a word from the bible and it does advocate one man and one woman for the purposes of pro-creation. I do however believe that same-sex couples should be given equal rights within the guidelines of domestic partnerships. You will find that quote in that same article. Security.” “Governor Walker, is your son Simon Walker a believer in the same rights?”

“Governor Walker, in a speech you gave in a church just a few months ago you said you believed in family values and loving them no matter what. Do you love your son even though he seems to have a different definition of family?

“Governor Walker is not taking any more questions,” Jeffrey broke in smoothly, trying to do damage control as the forum began to fall apart with murmurs and reporters asking questions. I hadn’t expected this to happen and as security began to make their way through the crowd and the campaign managers started to escort my father off of the platform, I steeped forward.

“Wait. I’d like to answer that question myself.”

My father turned and I could see in his eyes that this was the moment that I had thrown down the gauntlet. All of my life, I had done what was expected of me. Now I was finally ready to do what was right and I was trying to find the breath to do it as I turned back to face the cameras and curious stares. I was addressing every single person that had come out here today, but here was only one man who I was looking at as I spoke the words that had come from my heart and not pre-planned note cards.

“Security, wait. Everyone just wait a moment. I have a few things to say and hopefully it will clarify a few things. It also might make things worse but as someone once said to me, sometimes we have to do what’s right and everyone who doesn’t like it can go to hell.”

There were a few titters from the crowd and I watched J.C’.s face as I started talking.

“I know that you are all probably wondering what happened here today. I apologize for all of the commotion. None of this was intended. What happened though is something that I myself have to take sole responsibility for because I made a mistake and rather than dealing with that, I walked away.” I paused, seeing Jeffrey place a restraining hand on my father’s arm, from the corner of my eye.

“The people you see down here in front of you are not from any gay advocacy group though they are advocating for a gay American. Two of them to be honest. The man down there in the cowboy hat is named Jackson Dupree. He’s a gay American who has stronger stances on family then any other person that I have ever met in my life. He loves every member of his family and they are standing right there beside him. He would do anything for them because he is a good man.” Pause. “He’s also the man that I love.”

Chaos erupted again and I saw him smile for a brief moment before I looked back at my father. It was only a moment that our gazes held but in that brief bit of time I realized that he was no longer the indomitable man that I had feared for so many years. Now I had the power. I could have destroyed him by telling everyone here the truth about how he had bullied his only son since the day he was born, trying to make him into something that he wasn’t and when he failed to become that man, he had written him off. It would have obliterated any chance that he had of re-election. I could have that revenge today if I wanted it, but what kind of man would that have made me? A man just like my father?…

“Please, everyone just settle down for a moment. I need to have this said and as I said, I apologize that it’s come out this way but I am not ashamed of it or of the man I am in love with.” Pause. “Today we came here to discuss family values. This man right here is someone who we should all use as a role model. He raised his family by himself when their mother died. He put his own life on hold to make sure that his sister got through college and he did the best he could to make sure that his brothers grew into good men. They aren’t perfect but they are all good people. They stand by one another and support each other and that is what both my father and I have been proudly advocating during this campaign.”

I stopped talking for a moment but for once not one murmur interrupted the silence. I was sure that the papers were already seeing reprints of this story, but I kept going because I had committed myself and there was no backing out now.

“My father has been a good governor. He has done the best that he can to uphold the laws of Louisiana and provide a strong presence in our government to do the best he knows how, for the citizens of this state. He has always publicly advocated the importance of family and doing the right thing. My father is a good man. But he is also a politician and that means that he is constantly in the spotlight which puts his family in the glare by default.”

I paused again, then glanced from J.C. to the others. “I have been a politician’s son for most of my life and I know that the political arena can be an ugly place with smear campaigns being launched from opposing sides. I didn’t want to become a source of ammunition against my father. I wanted his campaign to be about what he believes in, not about his son’s sexuality and yet at the same time, I used it as an excuse to hide from my own emotions and spare me from being put beneath a microscope. It was the worst decision that I have ever made in my life. I am in love with Jackson Dupree and until I walked away from him because of stupid pride and fear, he was in love with me too. I can’t speak as to his feelings anymore, but I wanted to let him know that I still love him. I hurt him by trying to be what I thought I should be, instead of being the man I promised him I was. He didn’t deserve that. He deserves a hell of a lot better and I am not sure that I am the right person to give him everything he should have. But I can say that I am willing to try, because family values start with love and sometimes loving someone means just giving enough of a damn to step out of your comfort zone and take a leap of faith. Being a lawyer, I go into every case believing that I can win. I don’t know if I will be able to win J.C. back today, but this isn’t about the outcome. It’s about coming clean and letting him know that I made mistakes and starting now, I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it right.”

I paused again and J.C. looked down. I felt my throat swell and then looked back over the crowd. I didn’t look at my father because I was tired looking to the past. My future wasn’t real certain right now but there was no turning back.

“Thank you all for coming out today and I apologize if I have offended anyone. I just had to do what was right. Thank you.”

The cameras flashed as I stepped away from the microphone and walked towards the steps. The reporters silence was broken by shouted questions but I was done answering them. I had probably ruined my chances of any partnership at the firm, but for the first time in my life, I felt like I was completely justified in the choices I had made.

My father caught up with me on the last step, his hand on my arm to make me pause and look up at him. He didn’t say anything but I could see the disapproval in his face. He wanted to call me out but he didn’t. Even now after all that had happened, he was thinking about saving his career first and his relationship with his son came somewhere after that.

“I am not going to apologize for what I said and what I did, Dad. You can choose to accept it or not, but the fact is that it was the right thing to do. I don’t give a damn about your campaign or if you win this election or not. The only reason I didn’t call you out was because it would have given you a reason to come after J.C. and his family. I did it for his sake, not yours. My personal life is none of your business anymore and if you ever try and come after him again like you did that night at the restaurant, you will find our family secrets plastered all over the front page.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” I said quietly. “I’ve wanted your approval all of my life and it took losing someone that actually cares what I think and who wants the best for me, to realize that what I’ve been looking for doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t need you anymore, Dad. I know who I am and I know what I want. I want J.C.”

I looked past him as his campaign manager came up to us and then I pulled my arm away and started making my way into the crowd, escorted by a police officer. I didn’t see J.C. or his family anywhere and I felt my body tensing as I was led out towards where I had parked my car. I paused when I saw it with four flat tires and what looked like bushels of lawn-mower mush and smelled like fertilizer, shoved into the front and back seats till it started coming out the windows. I just stared for a moment and then turned to see J.C. and company standing by a red pick-up truck. Remy grinned at me and Rene offered a casual wave with one hand, a shotgun in the other, I kid you not.

Despite the fact that my car was totaled and they probably wanted to lynch me, I grinned. I had never been so happy to see chaos and I reached out to stop the officer with me from calling the damage in.

“It’s ok, Officer. I’ll arrange for a tow truck to come and get it later.”

“Are you sure, Mr. Walker?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

He looked between me and what had once been a brand new Porsche and then just shook his head. Chances were that he would be telling this story tonight and wondering just what was wrong with a man who smiled after his dream machine had been totaled. But he nodded and then walked away, cancelling the call while I took in a deep breath then bit the bullet as my mother would have said.

I’d never been very good with apologies. It was a terrible trait that I had inherited from my father and the one that had most often hindered me. I was a lawyer and I was used to winning. Since it was so rare that I lost, sucking up the fact I had made a mistake and facing it, were two things that I’d always needed work with. Yet after what I had done today, it didn’t seem as hopeless anymore.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I walked towards them, then stopped a few feet in front of J.C. who pushed up the brim of his cowboy hat and met my gaze. I got a faint smile before I looked to the others.

“Guess my speech came a little too late.”

“Better late than never though it don’t look like you’re gonna be goin home in those fancy wheels tonight. Guess ya better make other plans.”

Rene grinned and Remy saluted me.

“Didn’t think ya had it in you, Simon. You’re a regular Romeo when you get good and goin. Bet that little confession of yours is gonna make it to the front page. Gonna make a good story ta tell down at the Piggly Wiggly on coupon day.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“We didn’t do it for you, though you dress up real pretty.”

“I know that I messed up. I said it up there and I will say it again if I need to. I just need you to know that I realize what I did, J.C.”

“You know, just last night, Marie was telling me I should shoot first at you, Simon then ask questions later.”

“Well that was yesterday. Now hush your mouth and let the man talk. He’s groveling. Always a good first step to make.”

I grinned despite myself as Marie interrupted, slapping Rene upside the head before I looked at J.C. again and he just paused as if waiting for me to say something. My first instinct was to be annoyed that they were dragging it out this much, but the fact was that I deserved it and more and sometimes when you loved somebody, you just had to suck it up.

“J.C…” I stepped closer to him, hesitating because I wanted to touch him but wasn’t sure I had the right anymore.

“I’m so sorry I fucked up. You were right in Baton Rogue. I didn’t fight for you and I didn’t fight for myself. But I want to change that. I’m not good with words and frankly I was dying up there. I’ve probably ruined my chances of ever getting promoted at my firm once this hits the papers and my father’s going to cut me out of the will I’m sure. I don’t have much to offer you anymore except myself, but I love you, J.C. I meant what I said up there in front of all those people and I don’t care who knows it. I won’t ever let anyone hurt you like I did and I will…

“Shut up, Simon.”

I shut up as he straightened up from his lean and I could see the calm emptiness in his eyes that told me I was too late. I had gone and screwed this one up the worst way possible and I’d lost him in the process. It was what I deserved, but it still cut deep and I felt myself swallow hard before I looked down at the ground.

“You are selfish son-of-a-bitch, a pretty boy and a pain in my ass.”

I looked down.

“Hell, I was almost tempted to let Rene shoot you until you went up there and poured your heart out. I know that it wasn’t easy and I know you’ve probably gone and fucked a duck real good by letting it all hang out. I can’t say that I would have done that.” He paused and I felt my heart sink. “But I love you and I need you. I’m glad you finally got your head out of your ass long enough to see how much.”

I looked up and he smiled and then offered me a hand to pull me closer. I glanced at his siblings who weren’t making moves to leave anytime soon. They were all watching with a whole lot of interest to see what I was going to do. If I wanted J.C., his family obviously came with the package. If I couldn’t handle that, then it was me that was going to go packing.

I ignored the others as I pulled J.C. into my arms. He offered a slow grin that I covered with my mouth as I kissed him good and proper right there on the street where anyone could see, until I heard Remy hoot and Marie tell us that we were going to set off someone’s car alarms with all that heat. I pulled back first and J.C. plunked his cowboy hat down on my head.

“You ever hurt me like that again and Remy won’t have enough pieces to use the shotgun on, darlin.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, J.C. I’m home now. You don’t piss where you sleep.”

“Amen to that! Now he’s talkin like a Cajun. I’m nominating him honorary coon-ass.”

I grinned at Remy who whooped and applauded and then looked back to Jackson who opened the door to the front seat of the pick-up. I slid up into the seat and he shut the door before going around the other side. Rene was whistling Dixie as he and Remy jumped into the bed of the truck and Marie and Frank moved off to find their own car.

It was complete chaos, but life had never felt so right.

I was home.

*** Jackson ***

By the time we finally got back to my place in New Orleans, Simon had been turned upside down and inside out by my family. The poor boy hadn’t known what hit him once he got into the midst of the Dupree clan. They rode him hard and put him up wet. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had turned tail, but he stayed right there beside me and eventually started giving as good as he got.

When Marie had suggested going to Baton Rogue, I had almost broken a cardinal rule of my own and told my sister to go to hell. She may have always had my best interests at heart, but sometimes it was hard to see that when your heart felt like it had been smashed apart with a sledgehammer. The last thing that I had wanted to do was go to Baton Rogue, but she had anticipated that. She’d told me that Simon was sick and in the hospital and as angry as I was, I had closed down shop within a half hour and had my bags packed in another ten minutes. It had only been when we were driving in the car that she told me the truth. I’d been good and pissed the entire ride but after she and Frank had managed to drag me out of the car, I’d been glad that I’d come.

Marie and the boys had wanted to tear him limb from limb and then plug the holes with buckshot, but they had settled for destroying his car. I had plans to try and restore it, but it was going to be a job and a half. The boys had been real liberal with the fertilizer and it had finally cleared up the mystery of who had destroyed Deputy Henry’s Thunderbird.

I had known that Simon was a good man at heart, but it wasn’t until he was standing up there on that podium in front of all those people, confessing his love for me, that I realized that he could be a great man if he was just given a chance and an occasional kick in the britches when he needed it. He had held my gaze for most of the speech and though he didn’t call his father out as the son-of-a-bitch that he was, it didn’t matter because he had done all that I expected of him-he had realized what he wanted and went after it no matter what the personal consequences to himself. He had put his desires first. That was all I had ever wanted him to do. We couldn’t choose the family we were born to, but we could make out own families from the people we chose to love. I was just lucky enough to choose the people that I had been born related to.

I glanced at him sideways as we walked into the house and I flipped the light switch on. He’d been quiet on most of the ride home and I could hear the wheels turning in his head as if he was trying to figure out what was going to happen next. He couldn’t help himself. It was just the way that he was. He was a planner and I wasn’t. That wasn’t ever going to change, but we made adjustments for one another. We accommodated the other because that’s what love was about. You laughed, you cried, you talked and you fought and then you made up again.

I set my hat down on the bottom of the staircase banister and then turned to look at him. He was standing there with both hands loose at his sides as if he didn’t trust himself to make any kind of move. I gave him a free pass tonight, considering he had just taken on my family head on.

“Strip.”

“What?”

“You heard me darlin. There’s too many clothes on you right now and I intend to change that. So let’s go. Off.”

I grinned at the expression on his face and then moved over to help him by pulling his tee shirt over his head. before I undid the button on his jeans. I held him by the fly as I started backing up the stairs to my bedroom. He followed because he didn’t really have a choice, but by the time I closed the bedroom door behind me, I didn’t need to guide him anymore.

What had started off as a game, got serious real fast. He kissed me and I let him, my own tongue stroking along his to suck it into my mouth as I pushed him down on the bed beneath me. I normally didn’t care about whose body was where, or doing what, but tonight I had initiated control and I planned to keep it.

I nipped his lower lip then moved down his body with slow enough kisses that he groaned from the tease. I could feel him trying to wriggle beneath me, already impatient. I wanted him just as much, but I delayed. Call it my own form of revenge. I wasn’t as good a shot as Rene was, but I had other talents and I planned to use every one of them at some point tonight, on Simon Walker Jr.

I leaned back for a moment and then reached into my night stand. I heard him ask me what I was doing, but I didn’t answer. The metallic click of the cuffs as I locked one end around one of his wrists and the other end to the headboard of my bed, was answer enough. I grinned as he looked at me in shock and I slid off the bed so I could pull my own tee shirt over my head, before I pulled down my jeans and stepped out of them.

“Compliments of Deputy Dipshit. He left them here that night. I held onto them because I figured I could get some use out of them. Seems I was right.”

I lowered my hands to my hips, one stroking down the center of my body. His gaze followed my fingers as they moved down my cock, stroking it down to the tip before I came back up again to pump it slowly. His breath caught, a low moan easing from between his lips as I let my head fall back, standing there with my feet firmly planted on the floor a bit apart to brace myself as I stroked those fires hotter.

“J.C….Let me taste you. Please.”

“Easy, sweetheart. You made me sleep in this bed for two weeks without you, torturing me. This is a little bit of payback.”

“Pay me back with your dick in my mouth.”

I grinned, then deliberately slid my fingers in my mouth so he could watch me taste them until he growled. He strained against the cuffs as I slid back onto the bed, pinning him beneath me as the mattress dipped beneath our combined weight. I gently pushed him down as my knee wedged his thighs apart and he immediately opened winder, tilting his pelvis up so he could offer me a direct angle. I rocked slowly against him, teasing myself as much as I teased him by running my thick head up and down between his cheeks. I could feel his heat already and he groaned as I bent down to slide my tongue down the side of his neck. He tasted like his aftershave, faintly of sweat and fully of home.

I felt a possessive stint settle into me as I met his eyes. He tasted like home to me because he was as much home to me now, as my family was. I needed him in my life and now that he had come back, I wasn’t planning to ever let him go. Sometimes people only got one chance in life to find the love they were meant to have. I had been given two. I wasn’t counting on a third so this one had to count.

“You want me, darlin?”

“You know I do.”"

“Mm just for tonight then?”

“No..for as long as you want me, J.C. I can transfer from Baton Rogue down to our smaller office here in New Orleans. I don’t care where I am as long as you’re there with me. I promise that I will…”

I don’t know what he was going to promise, because I never let him finish his sentence. I covered his mouth with mine, swallowing his protests and silencing them with the stroke of my tongue as I urged him to show me with his body and the whimpers he fed into my mouth, how much he loved me.

I could feel him hard and ready between our bodies, pressing into my belly. My hand stroked down his body to arch his hips up, so I could push forward and with one thrust, I was buried in him to the hilt. I groaned when that tight ring of muscle urged me in, his inner walls milking me as I stroked into him harder. All I could feel, all I could taste, was Simon and I was going to make damn sure that all he thought about tonight and every other night for the rest of his life, was me.

I bit gently beneath his chin and he cried out my name as I rocked into him. Every time I flexed, he groaned, his one free hand clutching my ass to try and bring me impossibly deep as he cradled me between his thighs.

“You feel so damn good, Simon.”

“Good. Don’t stop J.C. I don’t ever want you to stop.”

“Good, cause I wasn’t planning to until you pass out. We got all night and tomorrow and the day after that and the day after…”

This time it was him that silenced me as he leaned up to claim my mouth in a hard kiss. I grinned as pleasure tore through me, building hard and fast enough that I was losing control earlier than I had planned to. So much for macho boasts about all night.

I groaned as he tightened around me, squeezing down even as I bumped over his prostate and pleasure flooded his expression.

“You’re so goddam tight, darlin. You’re gonna break me.”

“J.C….”

He called out my name before he exploded, sticky heat oozing between out bodies to join us even closer. I kept thrusting, feeling my eyes roll back into my head as I braced my weight above him on my arms which corded with the effort of trying to keep the movements steady. I kept stroking into him over and over, feeling his body protest on every backwards stroke. He was still talking to me, telling me how much he loved me and how much he needed me. I shuddered when he told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and planned to tie us together every legal way that he could figure out.

I fell in love with him all over again at that moment and my body exploded. I cried out his name as I sped up, stroking hard and fast two more times before I half collapsed over him. I just lay there for a few minutes, trying to learn how to breath again. When I could finally move, I started to slide off but his free hand kept me there. I smiled and then reached up to undo the cuffs. When he was free, his other arm slid around me as well to hold me close.

“So this is how they do it in the Big Easy?”

“And then some, darlin. And then some…

——

We made love all night and into the next afternoon, only getting out of bed when Remy tried to make dinner and ended up burning my best pot and setting off the fire-alarm. Having police sirens yank you out of bed and firefighters come up to your front door, kind of ruins a mood. But considering that Remy had gotten his heart broken by Lucy’s refusal to stay in New Orleans because she thought he had “commitment issues,” I couldn’t really be too hard on him. The boy didn’t know which side was up and which was down anymore. I told him to go after her, but he’s a Dupree and that means he’s a stubborn ass. Marie said she would light a candle to Saint Jude for him since she said it worked for me. He gave us both the finger, then drove Frank’s brand new tractor into her willow tree. She’s making him eat out in the kennels with the dogs till further notice.

Rene is still working for me and catting around enough to make Marie consider lighting a candle every day for him, instead of just once a week. Marie and Frank are still together and working on their second child. My nephew Adam, is turning two in a week and Rene and Remy have been trying to teach him to say condom, when we all sing the Birthday song. Marie’s been doing a lot of head slapping around the house. Frank just works the barbeque and keeps everyone supplied with cold beers. He’s the only smart one out of the lot.

Governor Walker got re-elected and in his acceptance speech, he thanked the support of his family and mentioned his strong stance on family values and advocated equal rights for gay Americans, especially his son and his “friend.” He and Simon haven’t spoken since.

Simon went back to Baton Rogue the week after he’d professed his love for me, but he was back for good two weeks later. I had offered to move to Baton Rogue for him, but he told me that he was tired of living life for someone else and wanted to try living it for us for awhile. He started working for the state as a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney. He took a huge pay cut, but we didn’t miss the money because other parts of our lives improved when his stress levels dropped.

We sold my house and bought a larger one by the water, with one apartment down in the basement for Rene and another one over the garage for Remy. Both had their own private entrances, which meant that Simon and I locked the doors to our place when we wanted privacy and the walls were thick enough that we could ignore the knocking when the boys got locked out of their places.

It’s been almost two years and counting since that night we met at Marie’s. We all still gather together there every Sunday for dinner. Simon and I had been through a lot together from the beginning and we continue to be. Like any couple, our problems didn’t end that day that he stood at that podium and promised never to hurt me again. He’s upset me since then and I’ve done my own share of hurting him too. But we sulk, we yell and then we find ways to fix it. Real life isn’t a fairy tale with perfect endings. It takes work and so does real love. But all of the arguments are worth it when I sit back and look at him helping Frank with the barbecue in his new uniform of worn Levi’s and tee shirts, or laughing with Remy and Rene as they try to teach him to ride a tractor. I love him more very night that he falls asleep in my arms, or I fall asleep in his and we wake up a little older and sometimes more tired, but richer than we would have been if he were still making six figures a year.

With family, some chaos, a lot of love and a cold long-neck beer, life is sweet in Louisiana.

” I hope you enjoyed this rewrite. I did have it looked over this time and if there are typos, I apologize, but at least we had two pairs of eyes this time! Thanks again for all the support and feedback is welcome!”