“No.” Nick shook his head. “That’s not it. I envy that about you, that you’re full speed ahead. You don’t worry about shit the way I do.” Nick wished he could be more like that. He was trying to be.

“It’s not always a good thing, and it gets me into trouble sometimes. I don’t want to get myself into trouble with you, Nick.” Bryce’s insecurity briefly showed.

“You won’t,” Nick said, meaning it. Fuck, he loved this man. His reaction today was a reminder why. “I’m nervous, too.”

“We’ll be okay. You’ll win them over. They’ll be surprised I landed you.”

Nick laughed, shaking his head. Somehow he didn’t think things would go down that way. It didn’t matter how nice Nick was, he knew how much Bryce’s mom loved Christi, and how much she wanted her son to love Christi as well.

***

The conversation was light as Bryce ate his lunch. That was to be expected, he figured. They had a lot of shit on their minds. After he ate, he walked Nick out to his car, thanked him and told him that he’d see him in a few hours.

Bryce watched as Nick drove away, stood in the parking lot for a few minutes before he got the balls to go inside. Nick was wrong about him. Yeah, Bryce often just reacted, but he thought about things; it was usually just after the fact.

He hoped like hell the men in his garage didn’t give him shit.

It wouldn’t change things, but he really needed some parts of his relationship with Nick to be a smooth transition. He didn’t want to lose people over something that shouldn’t fucking matter. Why the hell did anyone give a shit about who he or anyone else loved?

Everyone was quiet when he got back into the shop. Everyone worked on their bikes, and Bryce went back to work on his. Every so often he’d feel eyes on him. He’d turn to look, but whoever had looked at him would’ve turned away.

After about an hour of silence, Bryce couldn’t take it anymore. He shoved to his feet. “Alright, let’s hear it. If anyone has a problem, a) fuck you, and b) I want to hear about it right now. We’ll get this shit out on the table, and then it’s over with. Nick is mine, he’s my boyfriend. End of story.”

“I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t give a shit who is or isn’t yours. Didn’t expect it, but don’t care. Do you have my Allen Wrench?” Tim asked.

“I have my own Allen Wrench, fucker. I don’t need yours.” Bryce smiled at him, appreciating the fact that Tim wasn’t making this into more than it should be.

“Then shut the hell up and let me get back to work.”

“Not a problem for me, either,” Chuck, one of the part-time employees said. “Hell, it looks like you have yourself a nice girlfriend there. He cooks for you, brings it to work for you. See? I always knew it was bullshit when they said one person in a gay relationship wasn’t a woman and the other a man. Bet he never has a headache when you want to fuck him, either.” Chuck laughed, and everything inside Bryce went rigid.

“What the fuck did you just say?” His throat was so tight he could hardly get the words out.

“Ah shit, Chuck,” he heard Tim say in the background.

“What?” Chuck replied. “You can’t tell me the rest of you weren’t thinking it. And you,” he looked at Bryce, “can’t tell me that’s not the way it is. I wish I could get my girl to bring me lunch at work.”

Bryce didn’t realize he’d even moved until he had Chuck held against the wall, his forearm against Chuck’s throat.

“Bryce,” Tim called.

“Back the fuck off, Tim. This is between us.” He pushed tighter against Chuck’s throat. “You don’t know shit about him. Don’t ever fucking talk about him like that again, do you hear me? It takes more of a man to take it than to give it, and let me tell you, I go fucking crazy for his dick. Nick is all man. More than you, asshole.”

Bryce pushed off of him, then grabbed for this neck. “What the fuck? I was just giving you shit. I didn’t mean anything by it,” Chuck said.

Bryce’s chest hurt from breathing so heavily. Part of him knew Chuck was just a fucking idiot who hadn’t meant anything by it, but it didn’t change the way he felt. He’d beat the son-of-a-bitch’s ass if he ever said something about Nick again.

Still, deep down he knew this was more about him and his hang-up. He wasn’t half the man Nick was.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Something wasn’t right with Bryce. Nick knew it the second he’d come home after work, and it became more and more obvious as they drove to his parents’ house.