Peach Tree Manny: Gay Romance Page 7

  "See? I was right. This place is gay friendly," Rob said.

  "You've only met a handful of people," Julian pointed out.

  "That old guy had us practically married," Rob blurted out then coughed. What was he thinking saying that?

  Julian raised an eyebrow at him then saw that Danny had raised his hand and was patting the air.

  "Rob is coughing," Danny explained and he did the patting motion again.

  "Oh. I'm OK," Rob told him.

  "Don't worry. I'll slap him on the back," Julian assured Danny, but he only patted Rob a few times for his little brother's sake.

  Still, it was enough to make Rob stop breathing. He wanted Julian to just leave his hand there, maybe move it around in gentle circles, without any thought or intention, just as a way of showing him some affection. Of course Rob was crazy to think like that, and it wasn't like him to pass up an X-rated fantasy for something so small. Julian had the weirdest effect on him.

  Chapter 9

  After his reaction to Julian's touch caught him off guard, Rob took a moment to recover. He was a few steps behind as they kept going, so he jogged to catch up. Further on, he could see some picnic tables, and Julian pointed up the slope where there were some long tables with bench seats and a fairly small building. "That's L & L Barbeque. We can have lunch there."

  As the place came fully into view, Rob saw smoke and smelled it as well as the mouthwatering aroma of meat being cooked over a fire. L & L Barbeque had a tall chimney and plenty of outdoor seating. Still it was packed, with a line of people waiting to order at a window.

  As they stood in the back of the line, Rob got out his phone. "I have to text my dad about this place." After he got the reply, Rob had to laugh. "He wants samples, but he'll settle for pictures."

  They had to wait for their order, and Rob filled the time by taking pictures for his dad. He showed them to Danny before sending them.

  Once they were seated with plenty of messy food in front of them, Rob took more pictures. "Can I send my dad a picture of Danny nibbling on that roasted corn on the cob?" he asked Julian.

  "Sure. If it's OK with him," Julian said and they both looked at Danny, who didn't know what he was supposed to do.

  Rob now leaned toward Danny. "Is it OK to send my dad this picture of you eating corn?"

  "Your dad? OK," Danny said.

  Rob sent it and his dad texted back. "He says, 'That takes me back.'"

  "I could say the same thing," Julian said. When Rob looked at him questioningly, he continued. "My father used to bring me here when he visited, but my grandfather looked down on this place. I think he lived to find reasons to look down on everything and everyone."

  "He probably didn't know how to look good while eating with his hands," Rob said as he took a bite of his pulled pork sandwich.

  "What?" Julian said and gave him a confused smile.

  Now Rob had to pretend he wasn't talking about him, or checking him out. "It's a talent. Some people have it. Some people make a mess of themselves," Rob said like he wasn't admiring anyone in particular and how sexy he looked eating with his hands.

  The look on Julian's face told Rob that he had no clue he was a sexy bastard who banished all decent thoughts from his head. In fact, Rob had never noticed any awareness that Julian knew how hot he was.

  Rob thought they might head back to the house after they were done with lunch, but Julian looked at Danny and decided they should let him enjoy his day out.

  "I never had the chance to take him anywhere like this until now. He seems to like it," Julian said. "When I lived here, I never got to just wander around and explore."

  They were watching as Danny circled a hollowed out log, peering inside. "You missed out, but that means you get to discover all this with Danny," Rob said to Julian. He didn't mind a day outdoors at all, plus he got to see Julian's more laid back side though he still checked his phone all the time.

  Back in town in the late afternoon, they were on their way to Julian's car when a beige SUV parked right next to them. Inside it were all the Hayes guys, and the boys looked excited to see Danny.

  "I guess they're back," Rob said as the car door opened and he saw Wyatt stepping out.

  "Hi, guys. We're here to pick up some fresh cider from the store, hard and regular," Wyatt said as he opened the back door just as two other cars pulled up. A bunch of kids spilled out of the backs of all three cars. Mitch and Rico were there, and a redheaded woman got out of the third car with a little, redheaded girl who might have been six or so.

  Mitch and Sam went into the store, and the kids all gathered into a group to greet Danny and show him off to the little redhead.

  "He is a new! And he does have ears like a teddy bear," the redheaded girl exclaimed. "I'm gonna hug him."

  "Hold up. Ask permission," the redheaded woman told her as she came over. She offered her hand to Rob. "Hi, I'm Lara Salinger. I already know Julian though I don't know if he knows me," she said and raised an eyebrow at him.

  "It's nice to see you again," Julian said, but Rob couldn't tell if he actually recognized her. "This is my assistant Rob Gerric, and this is my little brother, Danny."

  "Nice to meet you, Danny and Rob. This one is my daughter Gloria. Say, 'Nice to meet you', honey," she instructed her kid.

  "Nice to meet you. Now do I get to hug him, Momma?" Gloria asked impatiently.

  Danny looked up at Julian, but he just smiled uneasily and told him, "It's up to you, Danny."

  Danny turned to the little girl and put his arms out. The two of them hugged, and they both looked happy. Julian gave Rob a funny look. He didn't know what to expect from his little brother these days.

  Gloria showed Danny a bag. "We got candy."

  "It's grown-up candy for the scary teacher," Sammy reported.

  "Chocolate covered espresso beans. It's the only sweet Noreen likes," Lara said.

  "You love her," Rico said while Rob wondered if Julian knew who they were talking about. Off his confused look, Rico told him, "Don't believe me? Ask little red. She knows all and tells all."

  Lara wasn't allowing that. "Nope," she said and covered Gloria's mouth so she couldn't say anything incriminating.

  With all this back and forth, Julian was at a loss, and Rob kind of enjoyed that look on him. Cool and in charge looked good on him too. Everything did.

  "Candy is not all we got," Rico said. "We came across this new Italian deli and Wyatt went nuts. Bought everything in sight."

  "We discovered it after we already had lunch. I might have overdone it a little so we're having a sandwich party. You guys want to join us, help us eat some stuff and meet the dogs?" Wyatt asked.

  "Dogs?" Julian said and looked down at Danny like he wasn't sure how he would feel about that.

  At the mention of dogs, Danny looked at him as well. "Doggies. Can we, Julian?" the little guy asked.

  "You scared of dogs?" Rico taunted Julian.

  "No. I was worried about Danny," Julian told him. He then turned to Rob. "What did you want to do?"

  "I'm up for it," Rob said. He had decided to stop wondering if and when Julian wanted him to join in. It was better to take every opportunity to encourage Julian to socialize. That way once Rob was gone, Julian would have people to hang out with. The thought made him kind of sad, but he would just focus on helping out Danny and Julian and not feeling sorry for himself.

  "It's officially a sandwich party. Just follow us to our place," Wyatt said as Sam came out of the store with Mitch carrying a crate with cider.

  "We have some stuff to drop off so we'll be stopping at home then we'll meet you," Rico said and he waved to them as he left with Mitch and Sammy.

  Everyone was climbing back into their cars, but Julian still looked unsure. "Are we really going?"

  "They have doggies," Danny said as Julian buckled him into his car seat.

  "Doggies and sandwiches. It's going to be some party," Rob said as he got in the back seat with Danny.

  "We're
going to a party," Danny said, looking excited.

  "It seems like we are," Julian told him. He didn't seem as excited, but that only confirmed to Rob that he needed to do this.

  Following the two cars that were going straight to the Hayes's, they drove a little ways out of town then stopped at the end of a curving driveway. They had arrived in front of a good size, single story house behind a green fence. There was a garden to one side that was mostly turning yellow, but someone was obviously taking good care of it.

  Everyone else went in ahead of them while Julian was still unbuckling Danny. When the three of them reached the front door, it was already open and two dogs were greeting the other kids. Noticing the newcomers, the dogs came over to greet them too. Worried about Danny's reaction to the dogs, Julian stepped forward protectively.

  "They're nice dogs," Sam assured him but he still reached down to hold on to a little, fuzzy, white dog.

  Danny didn't show any fear though. If anything he looked eager to be released so he could meet them.

  While Sam held on and petted the white dog, DJ held on to the little brown dog so Julian and Danny could get close and get acquainted.

  Riley was standing by to do the introductions. "That's Barney and that's Brownie," he said, and of course, Brownie was the brown dog.

  Then Gloria threw her own two cents in. "They are nice to hug," she said and then she demonstrated.

  "You want to hug them?" Riley asked Danny.

  While Julian looked apprehensive, Danny nodded.

  "Maybe start with petting them," Rob suggested more to put Julian's mind at ease than for Danny's sake.

  Rob showed him and saw for himself that these were sweet dogs. With Julian still holding his hand, Danny came over and stroked Barney's back then Brownie's. As he did it, he laughed.

  "Now can I hug them, Rob?" Danny asked Rob, who looked at Julian.

  Reluctantly he agreed then watched the whole operation like a hawk. It went fine though, and Danny was a happy little guy as he hugged the doggies and they sniffed at him.

  "He's good at hugging," Gloria declared.

  "She is the hugging expert," Wyatt said as he and Lara came out of a door that led to the kitchen.

  "And there's Noreen now," Lara said waving to someone behind them.

  Through the open door they could see a petite brunette coming up the drive. There was a big contrast between the two women with Noreen being skinny and small and Lara being tall and very curvy.

  "This is Noreen Kurtz," Lara said as Rob and Julian shook hands with her.

  "That's the scary teacher," DJ whispered to Danny as he, Julian and Rob were introduced to her.

  Despite her reputation, Danny shook hands with her just fine. DJ was impressed.

  "You're not scared of the scary teacher?" DJ asked him.

  "No," Danny said.

  "He's a brave one," Wyatt said and he winked at Noreen. She seemed used to all this scary teacher stuff.

  "Now you met everyone," Wyatt told Julian and Rob. "Let's go build some sandwiches."

  "You do the building. I'll do the drinking," Noreen told him.

  "We have hard apple cider," Lara told her.

  "You know how I feel about sweet booze," Noreen said.

  "We have beer," Sam said.

  Lara and Noreen stayed in the dining and living room area with the kids and the dogs. All the guys ended up in the kitchen. Rob and Julian were shoulder to shoulder as they tried to stay out of the way. When Rico and Mitch arrived, they joined them in there and Rob and Julian ended up jammed even closer together. Rob had absolutely no problem with that.

  But seeing that the kitchen was packed, Julian tried to escape. Rob was going to follow his lead. He was thinking they might find a quiet spot to sit together, but Rico cut them off.

  "Not so fast, you two, or do you want a sandwiches with everything on them?" he told them.

  "That's no joke," Mitch said seeing the mountain of food Sam and Wyatt were still unpacking.

  "This is Wyatt's doing," Sam claimed while Rob and Julian gave up and just hung out with beers in their hands.

  "You are not innocent in all this," Wyatt threw in. "You got every kind of olive and pickled pepper. And caponata."

  "We need something to put on the sandwiches other than meat," Sam said.

  "Look at them arguing like an old married couple." Rico gave them an indulgent smile. Then he snapped at them. "We know you're married. Stop flaunting it."

  "You have some reason to be jealous?" Mitch challenged him in a growly voice.

  Rick jumped. "No," he said hurriedly. He then gave his fiancé a grin and swooped in for a kiss.

  During all that, Julian and Rob stuck close together like they had a mutual defense pact.

  "Take your pick over here," Wyatt said to the two of them and gestured at the food.

  Julian only glanced at the choices. "Anything is fine," he said recklessly. Rico was already rubbing his hands together and wearing an evil grin.

  Rob stepped up ready to save Julian from himself and from Rico. "If there's anything you hate, now is the time to speak up," Rob told him as Wyatt listed too many different combinations for them to choose from.

  "You see why we needed help eating this stuff," Sam said to Julian. "I'll make your sandwiches."

  When Rico and Wyatt got to work, Rob could see that Sam was really doing them a major favor. The other two were both making super tall sandwiches, trying to outdo each other.

  "That's what Sam saved us from," Rob said to Julian.

  "Are you guys competing?" Sam asked when he saw what his husband and Rico were doing. "You're done. I'm confiscating your supplies."

  Since Sam took away the sandwich fixings, Rico and Wyatt started sneaking slices from each other's sandwiches. They were jostling each other until Sam stepped in.

  "You are this close to starting a food fight," Sam said as he got between them. "It might not look like it, but this is supposed to be a dinner party. What are Rob and Julian going to think?"

  "Jules does look like he's judging us," Rico said as he squinted at Julian.

  "Jules? God. That better not catch on," Julian muttered to Rob.

  Rico had heard him though. "Aha! You hate it. Jules it is."

  "Never show him your weaknesses," Mitch advised.

  "Is that the mistake you made?" Rob asked and Mitch laughed.

  "I did. My weakness was him," Mitch said as he smiled at Rico. Touched and a little embarrassed by his words, Rico tried to act cool and Mitch laughed at him. It seemed like Mitch was his weakness too.

  Mitch was ready to make sandwiches for the kids when they all crowded into the kitchen. "What kind of sandwich for Danny?" he asked.

  "Is it a growned-up sammich or a kid sammich?" Danny asked.

  "You want a kid sandwich?" Wyatt said then he looked at his boys. "You heard him."

  Riley got his meaning right away. "We get to make sandwiches," he said excitedly.

  "Make a mess, you mean," Sam said while Riley was jumping in place.

  DJ was quieter but his eyes lit up as Sam and Wyatt set up what they needed on the small kitchen table. It wasn't just the Hayes boys. All the kids clustered around the table and got in on the fun, even Danny.

  "They are going to need close supervision," Sam said and glared at Wyatt a little.

  "The dogs will lick up the mess," Wyatt said with a shrug. For now the dogs were being kept out of the way in the living room with Lara and Noreen.

  Next to Rob, Julian was holding himself back from helping Danny's clumsy effort at sandwich making. Sam was already there making sure the sandwiches came out edible. In the chaos of the kids making sandwiches, DJ was being careful to do everything right while Riley loaded on the mayo.

  "Easy, Ry, it's not frosting," Wyatt told him.

  Gloria showed Sammy and Danny how to make a secret smiley face inside the sandwich with ketchup, and they were amazed.

  Rico just wanted to make trouble. "You going to make a sand
wich for your big brother?" he asked Danny.

  "I already made him one," Sam reminded him.

  "Did you put mustard?" Danny asked Sam. "Julian likes mustard. What do you like, Rob?"

  "Pickles," Rob told him.

  "Pickles?" Danny said while looking up at Sam.

  "We'll have some pickles on the side," Sam told him.

  Rob caught Julian smiling at that and he smiled too. "Danny is making sure we're taken care of," Rob told him. He could tell that Julian was amazed at how well Danny was doing.

  Assorted sandwiches and sandwich triangles went to the dining table along with various other things on the side. The kids' food got set up separately on the coffee table. Rob and Julian watched as Danny got taken over there by the other kids.

  "That's our kids' table," DJ said to Danny.

  "You come and sit with us," Sammy told him.

  "Don't let the dogs eat your sandwiches," Sam warned the kids.

  "I'm gonna sit with the kids at the kids' table," Danny reported to Rob and Julian.

  "That's good. Can we visit you there and say hi?" Rob asked.

  "I don't know. Maybe," Danny said uncertainly like he thought the rules about grown-ups going to the kids' table might be strict.

  "OK. Be good," Julian told him.

  Rob nudged him a little as they went to take their seats at the dining table. "He's going with the flow."

  "I'm just not used to seeing him around so many people," Julian said.

  "Things are pretty relaxed here. I think he's responding to that," Rob told him, leaning in so he could keep his voice low.

  "Very relaxed," Julian murmured like the word was alien to him.

  "Your little guy has abandoned you," Lara said as Julian kept glancing over to check on Danny at the coffee table, or the kids' table as everyone called it.

  "You lost him for good," Wyatt told him. "The children of the corn have him now."

  "Don't make the kids sound creepy," Sam told him, keeping his voice down so the kids couldn't hear.

  Through all that, Rob and Julian both kept an eye on Danny to make sure he was doing OK. He was the quietest of the kids, but he piped up to join in their chatter now and then. The other kids treated him like he was everybody's little brother.