One Bright Star Read Online Free PDF Page B

,” he whispered. Then he looked back at Evan. “Is it tough? Would it get all scratched up at the barn?”
    “It’s platinum,” Evan responded. “Tougher than gold. I thought about getting titanium, but it’s almost too tough. It can be hard to cut off your hand if you get injured. So I figured I’d rather have you wearing a ring that we might have to get re-polished than have you wearing a ring that might mean your finger got amputated.”
    “Good choice,” Dan said seriously. He looked down at his unadorned hand, then back at Evan. “I’m keeping it. Even if we can’t wear them, I want it. Okay?”
    “Absolutely,” Evan agreed with a fond smile. He looked down the couch at Jeff and raised his eyebrows in a clear challenge. “And you?”
    “Keeping it,” Jeff said firmly. “I love it, Evan. I love you. You know that.”
    Evan nodded sadly. “Yeah. I do.” He took a sip of his drink and looked down at the unopened box in his own lap.
    “There’s always the option of—” Jeff started, but Dan turned to face him with a fierce expression, and Jeff abandoned the sentence. “What?” he asked in confusion.
    “If you’re about to say that Evan and I can wear the rings and you won’t, I don’t want to hear it,” Dan said firmly. “Ever. It’s not an option.”
    For someone who hadn’t noticed Jeff’s tricks with the pictorial evidence, Dan was catching on fast. “Well, it could be—”
    “No.” This time it was Evan who interrupted. “Not going to happen. No. There’s a reason there’s three diamonds, asshole.”
    “Well, the third diamond could be for the baby.”
    “We’re not married to the baby,” Dan replied calmly. “We love him, but he’s not part of the rings. The rings are about the three of us. Together.”
    Jeff nodded. He was gratified, he supposed. It was nice to hear the level of commitment from the other two, reassuring that they hadn’t accepted his ideas immediately. But Jeff hadn’t given up yet. There was a baby to consider, and it wasn’t fair to expect him to suffer because of the choices of his fathers.
    No, this conversation wasn’t over. But Jeff settled back into the sofa and took a sip of his drink and let himself appreciate the moment. The conversation wasn’t over, but it was Christmas Eve. A time for family. The arguments could wait; it wasn’t like the problems were likely to go away too quickly.

CHAPTER FOUR
    “Shhh,” Chris hissed, and tried not to giggle. Possibly they shouldn’t have stopped off at the bar on the way from the airport. Or, more possibly, it had been a brilliant idea. If he was paying for a cab ride way out to the country anyway, why not take full advantage of a designated driver?
    But now he and Ryan were both a little drunk, and neither one of them was all that sneaky to begin with. Ryan ran into something, grunted in pain, and a light turned on in the hallway.
    Chris turned around with a guilty smile, hoping that he’d woken up a forgiving person. No luck, though. It was Danny.
    “What the fuck are you doing here?” So far, he sounded more confused than annoyed. “You’re supposed to be in Kentucky.” He turned to Ryan. “Did he fuck it up? We can kick him out and change the codes on the doors if he did something to fuck it up.”
    “Shhhh,” Ryan said, “We’re being quiet!”
    “Good job,” Dan agreed caustically.
    “Why didn’t you pick me up at the airport?” Chris retorted. “You were supposed to be my airport ride. I knew you’d forget!”
    “Friday at four fifteen, asshole. This is not Friday.”
    “Damn, Danny, you’ve had too many concussions. Have you been losing days again?”
    “Also, you don’t live here. Why would you come home five days early and break into Evan’s house? What the hell did you do?”
    “Can’t blame him for the weather,” Ryan said. He draped an arm protectively over Chris’s shoulder. Or possibly he was just looking for a little help staying upright.
    “Weather?