Rialto (Unbreakable Bonds 8)

When the light turned green, he didn’t let go of Ian, using his other hand to steer until they reached their neighborhood. Ian’s phone buzzed again. This time, he let out a laugh, then read the text out loud.

“What the hell are ‘Save the Dates’?”

Ian shook his head and called Snow just as Hollis pulled into their driveway. He listened with half an ear as Ian patiently explained about the mailers and told Snow not to read any more online wedding planners.

“I’ll get you a list of what you need to do,” Ian finally said as he got out of the car. “No arguments. We’ll use the list for mine—it’s already done, and you won’t have to do half of what I did. Yours isn’t going to be…what did you call it? Oh yeah, isn’t going to be as extravagant as mine.” Sarcasm dripped from his tone.

He listened for a moment, then laughed. “If you don’t watch it, I’m going to call Anna and tell her to help you. Next thing you know, it’ll be a pink, rainbow, and unicorn themed wedding.”

That warning seemed to shut Snow up, because Ian got off the phone as they walked inside the condo. They’d recently bought furniture, making sure everything was nice, new, and clean for when they got to foster a kid or two. The couch and love seat were hunter green, the chair and ottoman striped green and white. They’d even fixed up the one guest bedroom to be ready for a kid—hell, they were as ready as they could be. They just had to finish going through the training and home studies.

“Get everything situated with Snow?” Hollis asked as he tossed his keys into the bowl on the small table by the door.

“For tonight, anyway. He was going through online checklists and getting overwhelmed, poor guy. Some of those lists start out a year ahead. The Save the Dates mailings had him all jacked up because he supposedly missed that timeline. And he doesn’t even have a date!” Ian shook his head and plopped down onto the couch, crossing one ankle over his knee. “He should let me do it.”

Hollis scratched his jaw and flashed Ian his best crooked grin. “Weren’t you the guy just minutes ago saying you were taking on too much? And now you want to add another wedding to that mix?”

“I like planning weddings, smartass.” Ian smiled to himself. “Snow’s would be my third one. I’m getting much better at them. Faster. Learning all the good shortcuts.” A soft sigh slipped from Ian, but there was an underlying current of happiness in his tone. “Sometimes, I think I should have been a wedding planner because I find the whole process fun and interesting. Exciting, even.”

“Then you wouldn’t be the chef of the highest-rated restaurant in the city. And I wouldn’t reap the benefits of all that fantastic food.” Hollis patted his belly, then sat next to him and pulled him under his arm.

Ian sighed and stretched his legs out, putting his sock-covered feet onto the coffee table. He’d kicked off his shoes when they’d come in. “I’m still reeling over that damn raid. Someone had to have called it in, and I can’t figure out who would do such a thing. It’s driving me crazy worrying about it.”

“Everything’s fine. Even Sarah told you there’s nothing to worry about now.”

“Still, it shouldn’t have happened, and having those dogs in the kitchen?” He growled softly. “I just hope we don’t get any disgruntled reviews from the people we had to reschedule.”

“Bad reviews happen, you know that.”

“But over something like this? Something completely out of my control?” He sat up and faced Hollis. “I can’t get it out of my head that someone actually turned us in. And all that stuff about drugs? Drugs, Hollis! The last thing Rialto needs is a rumor like that. We had people in the restaurant who heard all that when the agents first came in.”

He stood and started pacing the room. Hollis watched his slim, agitated form as he moved, noting that his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

“Rumors of drugs could hurt our chances of becoming foster parents, too!” he nearly yelled. He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving the brown strands sticking out all over the place.

He’d worked himself into a frenzy again. Hollis stood and walked to him. He placed his hands on Ian’s shoulders, feeling the fine bones beneath his palms before sliding them down Ian’s back to pull the man into his body.

Ian slumped against him, wrapping his arms tight around him. “Thanks.”

“For what?” Hollis asked.

“For the hug. For knowing I needed one.” He tilted his head and stared into Hollis’s face. “You always know how to calm me down.”

“I don’t want you worrying about drug rumors. The fact that your restaurant only lost one night to the raid before opening up again will squelch any of those. Rialto will be fine. And this isn’t going to hurt our chances at being foster parents. We’ve already gone through the background checks and everything else. It’s all good.”