Page 145 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

That might have been enough, but in his eagerness to find out how much fun they could have, he’d dedicated time to exploring.

The downside was that he put them both considerably behind schedule.

The upside was that he learned he was surprisingly good at hand jobs, and he absolutely loved the noises Nick made when he came.

So there was that.

“Our escorts have arrived,” Nick told him, tossing his towel on the floor.

It was Maria who spoke first. “Oh, good God. Were you both taking a shower? Jesus, I thought you military boys were about timing and precision.”

Nicole shook her head. “We told you they were going to start late.”

“It’s past six in the evening,” Maria pointed out.

“Right, late.”

“There’s late, and then there’s this. Mom’s having a fit.”

“Mom is always having a fit.”

While the two sisters bickered back and forth, Emily stepped around them to wrap Matt up in a hug. She peered up into his face and smiled wickedly.

“You have beard burn,” she told him quietly.

Matt’s hand came up to brush his cheeks. “Do I?”

Emily beamed. “No, but that answers my question.”

“You’re the devil,” Matt said with a laugh, pushing her away.

Maria eyed them suspiciously. “What are you two whispering about over there?”

Matt shot Emily a look. “Just how adorable you and Nicole are, bickering like little kids.”

“They’ve always done that,” Nick’s voice said from behind him as he thumped down the stairs.

“It drives Mom crazy,” Emily informed him.

“Not as crazy as if you guys don’t hurry your asses up and get to the main house,” Maria grunted.

“Someone’s not in the Christmas spirit,” Matt noted.

“And some of us have been up for hours helping Mom in the kitchen,” Maria grumbled as she stomped out of the house.

Emily shook her head. “Don’t mind her. She’ll calm down in a bit.”

“When she doesn’t have Mom on her ass all night, that is,” Nicole added.

Emily watched the two of them briefly before hooking her arm through Nicole’s and pulling her out of the house. “Come on, so Mom can fuss over you before dinner.”

Matt watched them go, screwing up his mouth thoughtfully. “Those two are trouble.”

“What’d they do?” Nick asked.

“Emily knows, tricked it out of me with the sort of ease Aidan would have admired professionally,” Matt said.

Nick snorted, placing his hand on Matt’s lower back. “That sounds like her. She’s the quiet and gentlest of the three, but she’s the most evil when she wants to be.”

“And tricky too,” Matt added.

Nick looked at him, taking his chin between two fingers. “You good?”

Matt turned into the touch. “I could ask the same of you.”

“When everything stops feeling like a vivid dream, I will be.”

Matt sighed, nodding. “I get that. But don’t worry, I’ll be here when you realize you’re awake.”

“Or maybe it’ll always feel like a dream,” Nick muttered, pressing a kiss to Matt’s temple.

Matt laughed, taking Nick’s hand and dragging him to the door. “If you’re going to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, do it in a dark corner of the main house while we have alcohol in our system.”

“I think I can arrange that.”

“Good.”

Thankfully, despite Maria’s tension about dinner, the meal went without a hitch.

Once more, he sat between Eric and Nick, and this time, without Nick’s awkward and slightly grumpy silence.

It occurred to Matt when he caught Nick watching him fondly as he chatted to Eric that the guy had probably been jealous of the attention Matt had been showing Eric.

It was an oddly charming thought, which was odd since Matt had never dealt with jealousy all that well with his exes.

But then again, none of them had been Nick.

Matt knew full well that the other man had no expectations or demands for Matt’s independence.

He apparently just got a little possessive over Matt’s attention.

Nothing threatening and weirdly thrilling.

And then there was the touching.

They’d never been afraid to touch one another before. It was one of the best ways they communicated and connected. Matt quickly discovered that whatever switch had been thrown in his head or dial turned up high had also changed how he reacted to their familiar touches.

Nick, squeezing his elbow to tell Matt he was still there, was still comforting, but Matt found himself lingering on the feel of Nick’s skin against his.

When Nick bumped him during a story Matt probably shouldn’t have been telling, he laughed but still found himself remembering how Nick’s strong body felt pressed against him.

It was strange, it was exciting. And it wasn’t helped by the fact that the Engels had decided to serve alcohol with the meal. Something Nick, much to Matt’s amusement, passed on. Matt hadn’t drunk too heavily, but it was enough to find his thoughts light and his body tingly.

By the time they had torn through dinner and dessert, Matt was laughing louder than usual and talking more rapidly.

And the whole time, there was Nick, watching him with amusement and no small amount of affection.

Matt, feeling bold, reached out and squeezed Nick’s thick thigh.

He found he loved the feel of Nick’s strength and the grunt of surprise Nick gave before giving him a dirty look.

The kind that meant behave, of course, but Matt thought it might have been the other kind of dirty too.

When the dinner was officially over, people began separating from the crowd and spreading out from the main house.

Matt had looked on, offering no help whatsoever, when Nick had been dragged off to help clean up the kitchen.

He’d even given a cheeky wave, which earned him a look that spoke of later retribution from Nick.

Matt wasn’t sure if that was really the threat Nick intended it to be.

“He doesn’t look as angry as before,” Eric noted as he walked beside Matt.

Matt laughed. “Probably not. He wasn’t having a very good time before. He’s better now.”

“You two seem really close,” Eric noted.

Matt stepped into one of the dens, glancing at Eric in surprise. “Do we?”

Eric nodded. “You both just...gravitate to one another. You guys look like you’re having whole conversations even when you aren’t saying anything. It’s actually kind of cool.”

“We’ve been through a lot,” Matt said, pouring another scotch. He wasn’t sure where the stuff came from, but it probably cost more than his rent. “It’s hard not to be close when you’ve been through some of the things we have.”

“That makes sense,” Eric said, watching him.

“Plus, it’s just...how we are,” Matt said with a shrug. “Nothing has ever really been hard, not when it came to the two of us.”

“You said you guys were on the same team,” Eric said.

Matt nodded. “It’s...more than that, but that’s a big part. The rest is just how we are, how we’ve always been.”

Eric sighed. “It must be nice to have someone like that in your life. I’ve never been with anyone I felt that way about, that I was that close to.”

Matt glanced at him, cocking a brow. “You think we’re together?”

Eric blanched. “Aren’t you? Oh, shit, I’m sorry, I just…the way you guys are and the way he was looking at me the other night.”

Matt laughed. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not wrong. At least, I’m pretty sure you’re not.”

“Pretty sure?” Eric asked.

Matt shrugged. “Us being...a thing, is new, like, really new. And he’d probably have a stroke if he knew I was telling someone.”

“Okay, so why are you telling someone else if he’s unsure?”

“He’s not sure because?—”

Well, probably because he’d wanted it for so long and to have it seemed too good to be true.

He was sure Nick was still hung up on the whole Matt was supposed to be straight thing.

Personally, Matt wasn’t all that hung up on the idea.

If he’d found guys attractive overnight, he would have celebrated a new avenue for finding someone to spend his life with.

That he discovered he was attracted sexually to the same man he could easily spend his life with was perfect.

“Because he’s him. He’s a thinker, he thinks everything right into the ground. Then he digs it back up and examines it again. You just have to let him do that while showing him he has nothing to worry about.” Matt grinned. “Nothing I haven’t had to do in our many years of friendship.”

Eric grunted thoughtfully. “There’s a story here, one I’m missing.”

“And you know what, when the dust has settled and everything’s been figured out, I’ll tell you. Maybe you can come see us out at the fort and we can find you a nice…” He looked Eric over, “girl?”

Eric snorted. “Yes, girl, thanks. Some guy hit on me last month because he’s into ‘twinks,’ whatever that is.”

Matt looked the guy over, evaluating his slight frame and pretty features. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“See, that’s what other people said!” Eric proclaimed in frustration. “Which does fuck all for my dating life. Apparently, if I was into dudes, I’d be set.”

Matt laughed. “I wasn’t really into guys until recently, and it’s only one guy.”

Eric scrunched up his nose. “Maybe that’s what I need?”

“Don’t ask me,” Matt said.

“What’s dick like? Is it weird? Is it weird having another dude’s dick touch you?” Eric asked.

Matt tried not to laugh but failed miserably. He was spared having to answer by the sharp sound of someone clearing his throat. When he looked over his shoulder, he laughed even harder when he spotted Nick standing in the doorway to the den, brows raised.

“Of course, that’s when he walks in,” Eric muttered, staring at the floor, red in the face.

Matt honestly didn’t know what was funnier, the mortified look on Eric’s face or the confused annoyance on Nick’s. He winked at Nick, saluting him with his drink before patting Eric on the back.

“You’re allowed to run away if you want. I won’t think less of you,” Matt told him, unable to hold back his grin.

“A wise man takes the tactical retreat offered to him with gusto,” Eric muttered, scurrying out of the room with a glance toward Nick as he passed.

Nick waited a beat before sighing. “Do I want to know why he was asking you about other people’s dicks?”

Matt turned, leaning against the back of the nearby couch and smirking. “I want to tell you he was trying to get in my pants, but that would be cruel and unnecessary.”

“Mm, probably. I’m sensing a ‘but’ somewhere in there,” Nick said, cocking his head.

Matt shrugged. “But I reserve the right to use that sort of joke in the future when you’re more secure about you and me because I can’t help but love seeing that jealous look on your face.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Mm, you are a little.”

“Not.”

“Are.”

Nick huffed, looking away finally. “A little.”

“Don’t be,” Matt told him.

“This from the guy who said he might want to make me jealous in the future,” Nick pointed out.

“And if you say don’t, then I won’t,” Matt said, shrugging.

Nick looked up again. “You said in the future.”

Matt smiled. “I did.”

“When I was feeling more secure.”

“About you and me,” Matt repeated.

Nick approached slowly, shoulders rolling. “You’re still thinking like that, huh?”

“About you and me? Always, Nick. Always have, always will. It just has an altered definition in my head,” Matt said, setting his glass aside.

And oh, that crooked grin came back to Nick’s face, stealing Matt’s breath.

He didn’t think about the large house full of people as Nick took his face in both hands and kissed him soundly.

All he noticed was Nick’s body against his, the insistent press of his lips, and the soft noise of pleasure escaping his throat.

He had no idea how the hell he had missed what was between them, but he was so goddamn glad he’d finally found it.

“Always going to be us, huh?” Nick asked softly.

“I sure the fuck hope so,” Matt said breathlessly.

And then came that look . Nick’s eyes darkened, and the wry twist to his lips somehow spoke of a sudden spike of hunger. The sort of hunger Matt had never seen Nick aim toward him before but which dove straight to his groin with a flare of heat and need.

“Still want to learn more about being with a guy?” Nick asked in his husky voice.

“Willing to teach?” Matt asked.

Nick pressed forward and Matt shuddered as he felt the thick outline of the man’s cock pressing against him. “More than willing.”

“Then let’s skip the family pleasantries and go somewhere more private,” Matt told him.

A soft but indignant gasp broke the haze around them.

Matt peered around Nick’s broad shoulders and couldn’t help his choked laugh at the woman standing in the doorway.

Nick’s Great Aunt Lily stood outside the den, her customary glass of wine clenched in her shriveled hand.

Matt had always thought she looked a bit like a human vulture, all sharp edges and evil eyes.

At that moment, though, she looked more like a startled dodo, wide eyes and awkward shuffling of her feet.

“And with that, we’ll let the family gossip take over,” Matt said with a laugh, taking Nick’s hand and dragging him out of the room.

“Evening, Great Aunt Lily,” Nick said pleasantly as they passed her.

“There’s some scotch to die for in there if you want to skip straight to the hard stuff,” Matt offered.

“Oh, tomorrow should be interesting,” Nick muttered as they left the fumbling woman behind.

“I’m more interested in tonight,” Matt said.

Nick’s squeeze of his hand was all he needed to know he wasn’t the only one.