“Thank you, Dad. His brother’s an ass,” Chad said, finally looking back at his father.
“Back to personal. I’m certainly not one to talk about the secrets anyone holds, but there’s pain in hiding. I’m sorry I didn’t see this in you sooner.”
“Dad, I’m good. It was confusing when I was twelve, but I’m good now. I’ve been with men before Ducky. I’ve only hid it from you, Mom, and Chloe.”
“So Cate knew?” Dylan asked.
Chad hedged, not wanting to sell out his sister. He finally nodded and grinned. “She’s in fashion design, Dad. It’s an open market there.” That seemed to explain a lot to his father who laughed and nodded his understanding.
“Tell Ducky he’s trending on all social platforms. Modeling agencies are commenting on posts from StreamTrainer, asking if he has an agent. He’s famous now.”
“Oh God, no,” Ducky said loud enough for both he and his father to hear. Chad looked up to see Ducky’s horrified expression darting from around the corner of the hall back into the living room. “Dallas just said the same thing.”
Chad laughed at the true revelation on Ducky’s face. He adjusted the phone’s position for his father to see how resistant Ducky was to the idea of a modeling career, or whatever they wanted from him. He looked back to see his father’s bright smile. The exhaustion on his face had intensified. It was Chad’s undoing. “I was wrong to keep this from you. It’s all so personal and private. It was hard to let go of my secrets.”
Dylan shook his head, not letting Chad continue. Which wasn’t a bad thing, he’d probably grovel an apology for the next hour if given the chance. “I was about your age when I told your mom my truth. We forged a plan to support one another until we could get you guys raised. If it weren’t for Tristan, I know I’d still be hiding. You don’t have to apologize to me. I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger for you. All I’ve ever wanted is your happiness.”
Raw emotion laced each word his father said, causing a lump to form in Chad’s throat. “I’ve always been happy. You’ve given me a great life. I can say the last twenty-four hours rank as the very best of my life. Duck’s been an anchor to me since I first met him.” Chad looked away, staring off into the living room, letting the joy of love and friendship fuel his words. “My heart isn’t searching anymore. I got what I wanted—a stunningly beautiful, special guy who says he wants to be with me too. I’m good, Dad. Does that make any sense?”
His gaze went back to the screen, his father smiling and nodding. “I get it. I understand completely. That’s how I feel about Tristan. Go help Ducky deal with what’s on his plate. I’ll keep suppressing as much as I can. That’s our secret.”
Chad absently nodded, feeling the weight of the world lift off his shoulders.
“I’m glad you touched base. Keep your phones on.” His dad lifted a hand, waving goodbye, and the screen darkened.
Chad lowered the phone, laying it on his thigh, all his attention landed on Ducky who had stopped feet away. He had to have heard every word Chad said. The concern that had driven him to the living room, melted off his face, leaving nothing but love behind.
Ducky came forward, his cell phone was in his hand but angled in a way that suggested the call might have been forgotten. Chad could hear talking on the other end, but Ducky only focused on Chad. His love leaned down. Warm lips didn’t hesitate to press against his. The kiss was so tender and thoughtful that Chad didn’t want it to end.
“You good?” Ducky whispered, hovering an inch above his mouth, staring him unabashedly straight in the eyes. With no pretense, only honesty. Genuine love stared at him. They were stronger together, just as Chad had always envisioned them to be.
Chad slid his hand around Ducky’s neck, drawing him back for another tender press of lips. The move didn’t surprise Ducky, he easily went with it, opening as Chad slanted his mouth, deepening the kiss.
Ducky. The name reverted through his head as if his soul had a voice.
His gamer reared back, ending the sweet embrace. They stared at one another, puffs of breath mingling between them.
“My brother’s on the phone,” Ducky said and glanced down at the forgotten cell phone still in his hand.
Reality was back in a flash, interrupting their private peaceful paradise. He could hear Dallas’s chuckle on the other end of the video call. He looked down to see Dallas’s face filling Ducky’s phone screen, looking as amused yet concerned as his father had.
He got a playful wink before Ducky took off toward his bedroom.
Crazy-in-love didn’t begin to describe all this feeling flowing through him. Chad had no choice but to push up from the sofa and follow Ducky into his room, not wanting to be away from him for a single second. “Wait, I’ll go with you.”
Chapter 21
Hours after Ducky ventured into the world of StreamTrainer, he tore the headphones off his ears, tossing them onto the desk, and looked up from the workspace he’d created in his bedroom. His laptop sat in the center of the small desk, his phone with the screen facing forward slightly angled to the right, his tablet positioned in the same way to the left. He missed his bank of monitors at the office.
He glanced out the open window toward the ocean, surprised it was already close to dusk. He listened as he stood, stretching his back and shoulders, rolling his neck, hoping to release the tension from being hunched over his equipment. No noise came from inside the villa as he went in search of Chad. Dinner containers rested on the stovetop, closed tight, the smells were delicious.
“You in there?” he called, stopping by Chad’s bedroom. He was nowhere to be found.
That something special about their vacation had dimmed over the last few hours. If he were being honest with how bad things were with StreamTrainer because of his brother Donny, he should probably head back to Texas.
Dylan’s concern had seemed overkill until Ducky got a taste of what was happening inside StreamTrainer’s social media site. Donny may not have an account on the platform, but his malevolent presence and opinions about the LGBT community had upset the balance of their users. Class participation was down due to an uptick of user comments arguing with one another rather than attending classes, souring the safe place they had worked so hard to achieve.
All hands were on deck in their corporate office. The entire executive team had given up their project loads to be available to assist customer service and their site’s monitors fielding all the activity. The entire experience had taxed their already depleted service team.
