Chapter Eight
Alec
Hours into the party, Alec stood on the periphery with one hand in the pocket of his slacks, the other holding a cocktail glass that had seen better times. The ice had melted long ago. The watered-down cocktail held no interest. Honestly, neither did the party.
This was unlike him. Why did he feel disconnected?
Shame replaced all other emotions. Why was he wallowing in self-pity as the picture of a life he’d always wanted played out before him? For months, he’d worked hard to make this a joyous evening. To give his adopted family all the love, peace, and joy of the season. Based on the laughter and conversation, he’d achieved his goals. So why were his thoughts spiraling lower and lower?
He glanced directly at Keyes, the only other person in the room to be faking a good time. The worry lines around his eyes and the corners of his lips grew more pronounced with each passing hour. Alec had given him those wrinkles. It wasn’t fair. Keyes showed Alec love daily, at least as much as Keyes had learned to share. Alec had taken on a partner who had been badly abused by the world. Keyes’s mental health was a shaky, turbulent battle every day.
Alec noticed Arik, his employer, scan the room as if searching for something. Then their gazes locked. He lifted the watery drink in a toasting gesture before taking the tiniest sip. He fought to keep his face neutral at the awful taste. He seriously needed to rethink his drinking choices.
Arik went to where Keyes sat and bent to whisper in his ear. They both glanced at Alec. Keyes’s shielded expression made his thoughts unreadable. That bothered Alec too. Why was Keyes hiding? Arik left Keyes to take determined steps toward Alec. Whatever pushed Arik was sure to be annoying.
Luckily, the front doorbell rang. Never had “saved by the bell” been a truer statement. Since Alec was the closest, he swiveled around, looking above the door at the large wall clock. Ten thirty. Quitting time for the teen working the cocoa machine for holiday revelers, offering the perfect diversion to get out of Arik’s path.
Alec discarded the glass on a nearby table and reached inside his pocket for cash. He opened the door to see the young man, surprised to see him holding the heavy drink machine. Keyes had carried the heavy piece of equipment in and out for the last few nights. The money he’d doled out from his clip was forgotten. There was no way Alec could reasonably hold the machine.
“Why don’t you guide him to the garage?” Arik suggested as he snagged the money from Alec’s hand and tucked it in the young man’s pocket. Arik clamped a hand on Alec’s shoulder as if it were perfectly natural for him to give directions, even outside the workplace and not in his own house.
Alec glanced back at Arik to say that very thing when he noticed all eyes from the living room were on him.Hmm. Maybe his adopted family needed to be unadopted for sticking their noses in a place they shouldn’t. Alec mashed his lips together, holding the thought inside, and looked at the neighbor.
“Can you carry it to the back garage for me?”
The kid smirked as if the machine weighed nothing and nodded.Smartass.
“Maybe we should show him the way?” Arik suggested, reaffirming Alec’s decision to never invite him to a party again.
Except he hadn’t invited Arik. Arik had invited himself. And with more force than necessary, Arik pushed him through the door and started down the walkway toward the driveway.
“The garage is in the other direction,” Alec said, poking a thumb over his other shoulder toward the main garage.
“Hear that, guy?” Arik called over his shoulder. The kid did a one-eighty and headed in the opposite direction, but Arik didn’t change course.
“I’ll place it by the door.”
“Perfect,” Arik answered as they continued toward the driveway. Maybe he had overdone the lights with the way they twinkled off a silver bumper parked on the side of the house.
“You’re close to the airport,” Arik said. “Had any problems with them over the sheer volume of lights on the house?”
“Ha. Ha. Not an original joke,” Alec said dryly. “Where’re you walking me to?”
“Like normal, I’m taking matters into my own hands,” Arik said. “It’s painful to learn how dense my head of legal is. I might’ve paid too much to get you on my team.”
“What?” Alec paused, confused. “What’re you talking about?”
“You tell me,” Arik said, using a hand on Alec’s shoulder to shove him toward the driveway. From this angle, he saw a shiny open motorcycle trailer with a partial gleam from a bike strapped on top.
Alec’s mind glitched. The bike was stunning.
It had to be a Keyes and Dev creation, but it was different than any other motorcycle he’d ever seen before. The image beforehim was magical. Something unseen pulled him closer to the trailer, lost to the beauty of design and color.
The outside floodlights popped on, giving him a better view of the beautiful build. He only turned away from the vision in front of him when he sensed Keyes nearby. His guy took a couple of steps toward him, stopping at the passenger side door of the truck towing the trailer. The TDTK logo ran from where Keyes stood down the length of the bed, then onto the trailer. Their friends stood behind Keyes, close enough to take part but also giving them space. All eyes were on Alec.
“It’s beautiful,” Alec said. “Is this the carbon fiber you used to talk about?”
Keyes huffed a nod, sticking his fingers into his front jeans pocket. “I knew you’d know that. Merry Christmas.”
