“Bacon and Sausage?” Nina echoed.
“Yeah. Like the names? I’m going to suggest they rename the puppies. And maybe the names will stick even after Wesley has managed to turn them back into dogs.” Mischief twinkled in Blake’s eyes.
Eddie nudged him in the ribs. “You do that and Haven is going to have your hide.”
Suddenly a tingling spread over his back and Eddie tried to ward off the bolt of desire that shot through his body. He didn’t have to turn around to know who was approaching.
“What is that about Bacon and Sausage?” Thomas’s voice sounded from only a few feet behind Eddie.
Only turning his head by a fraction to acknowledge Thomas’s arrival, Eddie answered, “Blake’s getting himself into trouble again by insulting Haven’s puppies.”
“Well, they’re not puppies right now. More like ham and pork rinds,” Blake shot back.
Thomas gave him a questioning look. “Do I want to know what this is about?”
Nina shook her head. “No, you don’t. It’s just Blake being silly. Again.”
“You’re calling me silly?” Blake asked. “That’s outrageous!”
As Nina and Blake continued arguing about what constituted silly, Thomas stepped closer to Eddie. Eddie felt as if little charges of electricity were jumping from Thomas’s body to his.
“Hey.” The husky tone with which Thomas had spoken the single word made Eddie’s throat go dry in an instant. He dared not respond, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to utter a coherent sentence. Ever since he’d sucked Thomas in the garage, he knew something was going to change between them. When he’d felt Thomas’s finger inside him for a brief moment and had come uncontrollably, he realized that he’d crossed a bridge from which there was no way back. And it scared the shit out of him. Because if he continued on this path, it would mean that his entire life had been a lie.
Eddie was about to return Thomas’s greeting, when somebody started clapping loudly to gain everybody’s attention. He turned to the source of the sound like everybody else, and noticed that Oliver and Ursula stood at the door to the living room, looking at the assembled.
“Thanks all for coming,” Oliver started. “I know this was short notice, but I figured if I tried to coordinate ahead of time, our schedules would have been even more chaotic. Anyway, I didn’t want to wait any longer.” He smiled at Ursula, whose hand he was holding. “I’ve asked Ursula to marry me, and she said yes.”
The crowd broke out in cheers. A few wolf whistles bounced around the room, some of the assembled started clapping, and the ones standing closest to the happy couple hugged them, congratulating them.
“Guess Cain owes me a hundred bucks,” Thomas remarked, smiling.
Eddie nodded. “You were right.”
“Thomas, you knew?” Nina asked.
He turned to her. “The signs were all there.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Thomas saw him buy the ring.”
Thomas chuckled. “Thanks for undermining my superiority.” He ruffled Eddie’s hair.
Immediately Eddie pulled back. Shit! How could Thomas just touch him like that in public?
His gaze shot to Nina to see if she’d noticed it, but she seemed to be staring in Ursula’s direction, trying to get a glimpse of her hand, which sported a massive diamond solitaire ring.
“Well, another bachelor off the market,” Nina commented and looked at Eddie. “She’s such a nice girl. So, little brother, how about you? Are you seeing anybody special?”
Panic surged through him. Nina had just handed him the perfect opportunity to come clean, to confess everything and tell the world that yes, indeed, he was seeing somebody special. And that this somebody was standing right next to him.
“And she’d better be at least as nice as Ursula, or I’m going to be very disappointed,” Nina added. “I wouldn’t mind becoming an aunt one day. Did I tell you about the baby shower?
Yvette’s baby is the cutest I’ve ever seen.”
Eddie couldn’t swallow past the lump that had formed in his throat. Nina had no idea about his leanings. How could he tell her that he liked a man? That there was no chance of him ever becoming a father, because he couldn’t imagine ever being with a woman again.
“There’s nobody right now,” he choked out, feeling like an ass for not having the courage to confess what he really felt.
From the corner of his eye he saw Thomas’s shoulders tense and his face turn expressionless.