“Here. Why don’t you give Jordan to me and go dance with your wife?” Maddox offered. It didn’t look like he was catching up to Ben anytime soon, so the least he could do was to be helpful.
“Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one.” Kyle carefully transferred the sleepy toddler to Maddox’s lap. The kid snuggled in against Maddox, evidently over his earlier dislike, and something shifted in Maddox’s chest. This is right where I want to be. Across the room, Ben glanced over at him, a strange smile on his face. And for an instant, everything was okay again and Maddox could pretend this really was his family, that he was Uncle Maddox, that this was his future with shared tender looks and promises for later.
But then one of Camilla’s relatives, a fresh-faced guy in his twenties with dark hair and high cheekbones and confidence for days, tapped Ben’s arm. Ben said something to the guy, then looked back at Maddox, question in his eyes. Maddox did the only thing he could and made a little “go-ahead” gesture. Wasn’t like he could publicly stake a claim to Ben, not after he’d been the one to say they needed to be discreet today, and wasn’t like he could be the one to dance anyway. And Ben needed to dance—needed to let off steam in a way Maddox never had, needed an outlet for all the day’s unwanted emotions. Maddox wasn’t going to deny Ben his fun, even if it was torture watching him laugh and dance with the other guy.
Eventually, one of the female cousins cut in, and then Ben was dancing in a group of people. Not that the tension in Maddox’s chest relaxed any. And when Ben and the guy drifted away in the direction of the bar, Maddox was only too happy to give Jordan back to Marilee and Kyle who had returned from the dance floor, all breathless and cuddly with each other.
“We’d better get him up to the room.” Marilee giggled like the teenager Maddox had first met, not the staid mom she was these days. “I’m probably done too.”
“Yeah, you are.” Kyle adjusted the sleeping kid so that he could put an arm around her. “You going to need a hand putting the brakes on Ben?”
“Our mother left a while ago, but that didn’t seem to slow him down any.” Marilee shook her head. “I wish he wasn’t so angry toward her still. It’s been almost two decades.”
“He’s fine,” Maddox said, loyalty making his chest rise up. “And nice as she seems, he’s entitled to his feelings.”
“You’re a good friend.” Marilee’s smile was lopsided and she swayed a bit on her heels as Kyle led her away.
Friend. Maddox really was getting tired of that word. Bones creaking from sitting so long, he leaned on the cane to make his way toward the bar. He wasn’t surprised to find Ben and the guy he’d been dancing with deep in conversation over drinks at one of the cocktail tables around the bar. But he was a bit taken aback by Ben’s wide smile when he caught sight of him. Waving him over, he pulled him close when he reached Ben’s side.
“Finally escape the kids? I’m sorry, man. I should have come rescued you sooner.” Ben had the too-earnest voice of guy who most certainly had taken the edge off his earlier black mood.
“It’s okay. Your sister and Kyle went up to their room.” We should do the same, he tried to add with his eyes, even though Ben seemed plenty happy right where he was, darn it.
“This is Luis—he’s Camilla’s cousin’s kid.” Ben indicated the guy across from him. “And this is Maddox. The guy I was telling you about.”
Oh, that couldn’t be good. Maddox kept his expression bland as he extended a hand. Luis’s grip was sure and strong, and Maddox didn’t think he was imagining the flicker of interest in his dark eyes. Crap. What had Ben been saying?
“You’re the not-date date.” Luis winked, taking a fraction longer to release his hand than was strictly necessary. “And the reason I couldn’t convince your friend here to invite me up.”
If it was possible to murder a word, Maddox was going to throttle friend before the night was done. And he didn’t like the guy’s confident grin one bit either.
“That would be me.” Maddox reserved his harshest stare for Ben, who just shrugged. The bastard.
“Unless...” Luis trailed a finger across the glass of the tabletop. “Maybe the three of us could score a bottle of champagne? Take it upstairs? Get to know each other better?”
Oh fuck. Maddox should have guessed that this was what Ben had been trying to orchestrate. He wanted a repeat of the night with Canaan, and probably thought Maddox would be all in on the idea. He was wrong though. Something about Luis rubbed Maddox the wrong way—maybe it was the way he kept glancing proprietarily at Ben or the way he reminded Maddox of every younger man Ben had brought home the past two years. Smooth. Polished. Fun. Everything Maddox wasn’t.