Shea watched as Christian put on a fake smile and greeted everyone. He could also see that Christian’s brothers were watching him closely. They knew something was up. Christian was not good at hiding his feelings, and if Shea saw everything that was in his eyes, then his brothers did, too.
“Shea, thanks for coming, man,” Henry said, walking up to him with a warm smile on his handsome face.
Shea smiled in return. “Thanks for inviting me.”
They shook hands and Henry moved to stand next to him, turning slightly so that his back was to where Christian was standing, saying hello to his parents.
“Did you and Christian have a fight?” he asked quietly.
Shea snorted and took a sip of his beer. “Can’t get anything past you guys, huh?”
“If it wasn’t for Christian’s face and the way he looked at you, I never would have known. You didn’t give anything away, he did,” Henry murmured.
Shea nodded. “Yeah, we had an argument.”
Henry cocked his head slightly. “What about?”
Shea shook his head. “Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Bullshit,” Henry replied, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Shea sighed. “Listen, Henry, if I could tell you I would, but…” he trailed off, glancing at Christian over Henry’s shoulder.
Henry frowned and glanced back at Christian, too. “What the fuck is going on?” Henry whispered demandingly when he turned back to look at Shea.
“Just…just forget it for now, Henry, please,” Shea said, pleading with his eyes for Henry to drop it.
Henry stared at him hard for a moment before giving him a curt nod. Shea gave him a thankful look before downing the rest of his beer. Henry was still watching him skeptically, though. This party was going to be a nightmare. Shea could just feel it.
Christian stood with his brothers over by the grill and coolers of beer, while Shea was in the pool playing with the kids. Christian watched him as he bounced with Mikey in his arms, putting the one year old’s shoulders under the water over and over, making the kid giggle. Shea loved kids almost as much as Christian did; he was really good with them, too. Christian was certain that Shea would make a fabulous father one day.
“Alright, I gotta tell you guys something,” Sebastian said, pulling Christian’s attention away from Shea.
“What is it?” Christian asked and lifted his beer to his lips.
“The other night, Rae and I were fooling around, right? Well, she stuck her finger in my ass while blowing me…”
Christian immediately started choking on the beer he was sipping at the time. He was so shocked and taken aback by what Sebastian said, that he sucked in a breath while he was drinking. Christian bent over and put his hands on his knees as he continued to choke, beer coming out his nose and everything. Someone put a hand on his back and he could hear his brothers laughing hysterically.
“Is he okay?” Shea called from the pool.
“Fine!” Sebastian called back.
Someone handed him a paper towel. He couldn’t see who it was because his eyes were watering so badly from the beer that came up his nose. When he was finally able quit coughing, he wiped his face and straightened up. His brothers were still pissing themselves laughing, while everyone else was watching them curiously.
“What’s the matter, Chris? Have you had fingers up your ass before? You have haven’t you, you kinky bastard you.” Sebastian chuckled low, giving him a playful shove.
Christian felt the heat rise up his neck and face. Dammit, he was not a good liar at all. He just shrugged, not meeting any of their eyes.
“Aw, shit. I never would have thought that you were that kind of guy, Chris.” Sebastian smirked.
“Can we not talk about this?” Christian rasped, his voice messed up from all of that coughing.
“Really? I certainly want to hear more about your freaky sex habits.” Henry grinned before sipping his beer.
Christian’s face burned and he glanced around, looking for some kind of exit. He then felt an unwanted anxiety attack coming on hard and fast. His heart started fluttering, he got lightheaded, and the beer and burger in his stomach started to turn sour. He swallowed hard and tried to pull in a deep breath but his lungs wouldn’t expand enough.
“Shit, you guys, now look what you did. You’ve sent him into a panic attack,” Quinn snapped and grabbed Christian’s upper arm to drag him away from Henry and Sebastian.
Christian started hyperventilating as Quinn pulled him away, black spots dancing in front of him and he struggled to stay on his feet. Quinn wrapped an arm around his waist and led him into the house, where he took Christian right to the bathroom in the hall on the first floor, shutting them in and locking the door. Christian gagged and slapped a hand over his mouth. Quinn rushed him over to the toilet, threw up the seat and got Christian’s face over the bowl just in time.