Order (Tattoos and Ties 2)

This was a holiday he never participated in except a few times in elementary school when he’d had a teacher with used costumes and he’d get to dress up for the day. Those memories brought a smile to his lips and a clench to his heart. He had enjoyed the costume parades where they stopped by each classroom and received candy. It was like a birthday party just for him. He would hoard those treats, not letting anyone know he had them, eating a piece a day until it was all gone.

Alec normalized his life in that same way. He settled down the destructive side of Keyes’s personality. Alec made him understand that normalcy was truly achievable for men like him. As Keyes turned into Alec’s driveway, he wondered what Clyde might have to say about these changes in him since his uncle had been trying to drill those lessons into his hard head since the day they’d first met.

This evening, he didn’t have to slow his ride to wait for the gate to open. Alec had the house decorated to the hilt, draped in over-the-top decorations, turning the front yard into a graveyard and the outside of Alec’s beautiful house into a haunted mansion, all for the neighborhood children to have a great time when stopping by to ask for their treats.

With the glares he had gotten while driving past the soon-to-be trick-or-treaters, he wasn’t quite sold on Alec’s theory any of those parents were going to let their children stop by Alec’s front door this evening. For close to a year now, he’d watched the adults in this neighborhood grip their children’s hands a little tighter or usher them in the opposite direction as he drove past. That attitude wasn’t going to magically disappear, but it also hadn’t dampened Alec’s expectations either. Alec had meticulously prepared for the night by buying hundreds of king-size candy bars. Then yesterday, he came home with three hundred one-dollar bills just in case the candy ran out due to Keyes’s inability to keep his hands off the children’s treats. His mister was hilariously cute over this holiday.

A little surprised Alec wasn’t already waiting out front for the kids to arrive, Keyes drove his bike around the back corner of the house and stopped short, abruptly halting his bike at the sight before him. In his regular parking spot sat a big black tricked-out pickup truck. His gaze shifted to the house. Alec didn’t come through the back door, ready to greet him like usual. Keyes’s gaze cut straight back to the truck. Who was here? His heart amped up and an uneasy feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach.

Keyes slowly pulled his bike forward, looking over the nice ride until he stopped closer to the garage and cut the engine. He knocked the kickstand in place, looking over the sleek new paint job. The truck had to be close to new, and his gaze went back to the house. Who the hell was there? Should he go inside or take off—probably take off before he was seen. He reached for his phone to see if Alec had sent him a message, warning him away, when he heard the kitchen door open.

“Dammit.”

Keyes jerked around to witness Alec coming to a sudden stop with a giant red bow in his hands.

“I started the Halloween music early, so I didn’t hear you arrive.” Alec then darted around his bike, quickly running forward to drop the bow on the hood of the truck. Throwing his hands in the air, he yelled, “Surprise!”

Keyes still had no idea what was going on. He had come off his bike, helmet left on the seat, and stood there staring at Alec before looking back over his shoulder to see who was inside the house.

“Surprise, Key. Happy Birthday!” Alec sing-songed, causing him to look back at Alec then around the truck as Alec’s hands flew out in a Vanna White sweeping motion.

“Who’s here?” he asked and again looked back at the house before angling his head to see inside the windows.

“No one’s here. This is your birthday present,” Alec explained. He about hit the ground before whipping back toward Alec, his lover’s hands still motioning to the truck.

He blinked as understanding seeped in, and he immediately recoiled from the obvious implication. Keyes shook his head at Alec. “You gave me a fruit deal at work.”

Alec’s arms dropped, and he honestly looked crestfallen.

“You don’t like it. It took me some time to find, but when I saw this truck, it screamed your personality.” Alec had kind of deflated in front of him, but Keyes had all he could handle with the floodgates of his anxiety bursting open. “You can go down to the dealership and pick what you want. I should have just arranged that from the beginning.”