Fifty-One
I’ll Be There for You
Ryan
“Christmas is at our house this year,” Lexi says, looking at Beau beside her at the dining table in Anthony and Chance's condo. “We'd love to have you all, if you don't have other plans.”
“We'll be there,” Anthony says as he passes the breadbasket to Tyler. “I'll come help you cook. It'll be easier for us to have the year off from hosting.” He nods toward the baby monitor sitting on the counter. My bros have their hands full with two babies.
Beau clears his throat. “You know, there's a house in our neighborhood that just went up for sale.”
Lexi perks up. “Ooh. Yes. It's perfect, too. You guys will love it. Anthony, the kitchen is divine.”
Anthony hums. “I don't know—"
“We'll look at it this week,” Chance says.
Anthony’s head turns to look at his husband. Chance just shrugs. “Ant needs a better kitchen, and our kids will need a good school.”
The way Anthony looks at him after that gives me all the feels. His cheeks pinken—and for a second, it’s just the two of them in the room. But this time, instead of yearning for what they have, I’m grateful that I’ve found it myself.
“I'll be there too,” Jen says. Then she gestures to Harper and Cricket. “Are you both going to be in town?”
Cricket nods her head. “Yes. We'll be here. We're not talking to our parents right now after the way they've treated Ryan.”
I sigh. “Cricket—"
“No,” she says, stopping me. “What Dad did is bullshit. But Mom's just as bad. She never stood up for you. We're not spending the holidays with them.”
Harper nods in agreement. “Yep.” Then she points at me. “We're going to need to use your condo a while longer, Ry.”
I wave her off. “Use it as long as you want. But what about your business?”
“We have everything taken care of for a while. Our assistant back home is handling all the on-site details.” Then she points her fork at Anthony. “This lasagna is fucking ridiculous, by the way.”
The entire table burst out laughing. Anthony's lasagna is legendary. He just smiles modestly and takes another sip of wine.
“I can't stop eating,” Tyler says with a mouthful.
I reach over and ruffle his hair. “Thanks for coming today.”
His face lights up. “Are you kidding? You'll never get rid of me now.”
“Good.” I wink at him.
Beside me, Spence's hand slides onto my thigh beneath the table. A gentle squeeze. Warm. Steady. We decided not to tell Tyler about Betty until later. Let him have tonight. Let him laugh, eat too much lasagna, and enjoy being surrounded by people who care about him.
“Speaking of real estate, Butters,” Anthony says. “I drove by the gallery where some of Chance’s paintings hang the other day.”
I look at him, confused.
“There's a fine dining space for lease where Fired Fork used to be.”
My eyes widen. “Oh man. I loved that restaurant.”
“It's a great space too,” Jen says.
Anthony nods thoughtfully. “How do you feel about going in together on a new restaurant concept?”
