John grunted behind me, and shoved a pointed digit into my side. I tried not to jump. I stood steady and looked Uncle Tony in the eye, never ashamed of what I was. Uncle Tony unfortunately didn't get the gentle message. He rubbed his hands together nervously and glanced around. "No. I mean like Jamie is. You know-a fruitloop."

I gritted my teeth and smiled, although it just about killed me. "No, sir." I took a deep breath and tried very hard to keep the polite facade and not swear in the narrow-minded man's face. "The fruitloop would be John, here. He is the only stupid one in the family who would dare go for a team like Port Adelaide. All the rest of my family goes for a good, old-fashioned Western Australian football team. But John had to be different and pick Port Adelaide."

"Hey!" John was used to the good-natured ribbing he got from me for his choice of interstate team. "Watch your mouth. I wouldn't be seen dead wearing that stupid purple color of your team."

Uncle Tony just shook his head like the two of us were thicker than two planks of wood. "No, boy. I mean are you a h.o.m.o?"

Bam! Just like that I reached the end of my tether. How dare he treat a guest at his mother's funeral like that? And even worse, was he was implying that Jay was an undesirable person just because he was gay? My temper rose and I was about to rip into the guy when John shoved me aside and stepped between the two of us.

"Mr. Berris, I think you will find that you have just greatly insulted my brother, your nephew, and a good 10 percent of the male population, if latest figures are true. The word 'h.o.m.o' is offensive to the extreme and I never wish to hear it again. It is like using the word 'abo' or 'n.i.g.g.e.r' to an ethnic person. It is not tolerable. Perhaps you have never been informed of this before, so I will be nice just this once. Do not insult my brother again. He knows Kung Fu. And for your information, yes, my brother Liam is gay. The polite word is 'gay.' And yes, he loves your nephew. That is all you need to know. Now I think you should return to your social circle while I calm my brother's temper so that there is no blood spilled on this nice white carpet."

Uncle Tony turned bright red as John spoke to him. When John got to the part about my temper the older man flicked a glance at me. I am not sure what he saw there, but the redness rapidly drained from his face leaving him ghost white. He took a couple of steps back and almost flew back to his wife's side.

John snickered to the side. "Old fart."

I wanted to laugh too, but instead, a warm rosy glow had descended on me. My little brother had stood up for me and had defended my s.e.xual orientation. It was like... total acceptance. I wished I could hug him, but I knew that any hug I would give him would be followed by a huge thump for making a fool of him in public. I really didn't feel like getting thumped just then. I settled for a small, "Thanks, mate."

Jackie chose that moment to sashay her way across the room and speak softly at my brother's side. "Johnnie, I want to go now. Can you please take me?"

I was gobsmacked. Johnnie? Please? Jackie was being nice? This must be some sort of alternate world I had accidently stepped into. My theory was reinforced when my brother immediately reacted by putting down his drink and taking her arm. "Okay, sugar. No problem. Let's go."

I sputtered. "Johnnie? Sugar? Ow!" f.u.c.k! There was that thump in public I was hoping to avoid. Obviously not an alternate reality as first presumed.

I rubbed my arm as John and Jackie left and Jay approached. I was muttering to myself, "b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.thead. Can't take him anywhere in public. Oh, hi, babe." s.h.i.t! There was that babe thing again. Stop it unless you want to sound as dorky as "Johnnie" and his "sugar."

"Did your brother just hit you?"

"Ow! Yes. Luckily, I'm on my best behavior or else you would've been treated to the sight of the two youngest Turner boys brawling on the floor at your grandmother's funeral."

Jay laughed. "As long as you had your shirts off I don't think Grandma would've minded. My mother on the other hand.... Pff!" We laughed together, threw off a bit of our grief, and remembered Grandma fondly. "Anyway, why did he hit you?"

I grinned. "I laughed when he called Jackie 'sugar.'"

Jay was shocked; his eyes grew big as he stared at me. "What? And she didn't kill him for it?"

I shook my head. "No. Apparently she gets to call him Johnnie, and he gets to call her 'sugar.' Isn't that sweet?"

"I think I just barfed in my mouth."

"Eww, gross, Jay! Thanks for the image!"

He b.u.mped shoulders with me. "It's no worse than me standing here now imagining your brother and my sister cooing sweet love words at each other." Then he dissolved into giggles.

Chapter 14.

MY BROTHERS hounded me until I promised to bring Jay to Ben's buck's night. Cameron's house had been selected for the venue-primarily because he was the best man at the wedding, but also because of the huge games room that had been added to the back of his house. That room was Cameron's man cave and came complete with pool table and bar. Perfect buck's night venue-entertainment, fridge for the beer, and enough room for the stripper.

Jay was 100 percent against attending, though. I had finally confessed my accidental outing to him and he had been partly horrified and partly amused by my antics. He was deeply sorry for precipitating the situation, so I just kissed him until he forgot all about it.

But when I mentioned the buck's night, he was adamant he wouldn't go.

"No way, Liam! What am I meant to do at a buck's night?"

"I don't know? How about get drunk and have some fun?"

"Yeah, and what about when the strippers turn up? What am I meant to do, then?"

I sighed in exasperation at him. "The same thing as me, maybe? I don't even know if there are any strippers coming. Alison has forbidden them. But if they do turn up, then you and me can just disappear into the bedroom and make out or something. Come on! They all want to meet you. I need you there, man, or else they are going to make my life a misery talking about you all night."

"No."

"Please, babe? For me? We are just going to have fun and get totally p.i.s.sed. Please?"

Jay stayed resolute until a few hours later, when he finally agreed. Of course, at that time he was on his hands and knees in the middle of my bed. I had eased my way into his tight pa.s.sage and had taken delight in thrusting several times, getting Jay on edge before I carefully pulled out and moved away.

"No! Liam! Where are you going!" he cried out.

My own c.o.c.k was throbbing with need and screamed loudly at me to finish what I promised, but I was firm. "I don't know...."

"Please, Liam! Please! I'll do anything?"

"Anything?"

"Anything you want. Please! Just come back and shove that missile back in me and f.u.c.k the heck out of me."

I moved back up behind him until the rubber on the tip of my d.i.c.k was just touching his skin. "Anything, Jay?"

"f.u.c.k, yes! Anything." He was sobbing and howling by this time.

"Even come to my brother's buck's night?" I pushed back inside him. "Will you come with me, Jay?"

"Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes."

Afterward, he claimed that he didn't agree but somehow I had developed selective hearing around him. I dressed for the party at the ridiculous hour of 4:00 p.m. on Sat.u.r.day, and then forced Jay to drive me to his house, where we spent the next several hours bickering over his attendance. Eventually, I forced him into a shower, and then watched as he pulled out the entire contents of his wardrobe before declaring he had nothing to wear.

"I've never been to a straight man's buck's night. h.e.l.l! I've never been to a gay man's buck's night. I have no f.u.c.king idea what to wear!"

I sighed and threaded a discarded shirt back onto its hanger and stowed it away in the wardrobe. "Put on what you would wear to a party, Jay. Come on, man. Stop torturing me. If I have to look at your naked a.r.s.e prance around this room much longer, you are going to be attending the party naked and well f.u.c.ked, and I know that will not make a good impression on my brothers."

At last he settled on jeans-ah duh!-and a black T-shirt under a black silky b.u.t.ton-up shirt. I made myself busy, picking up clothes strewn around the room, while Jay fussed with his hair and dithered over eyeliner. "The black goes with the outfit but the green just looks so s.e.xy. What do you think, Liam?"

Finally, Jay, complete with green sparkly eyeliner, was dressed and we departed. He was nervous but I was amazingly calm. He looked great-cue that my d.i.c.k in my jeans needed adjusting once again!-and I was proud to be walking into my brother's house with him. Of course, we were late even though I had given Jay nearly two hours to get ready, so the party had started by the time we arrived. I made a mental note that he was not joking when he said it took him ages to dress in the morning.

I held the door open for him and we followed the noise to the back of the house. Jay hesitated, so I grabbed his hand, and firmly threaded our fingers together as a show of solidarity before coolly entering. The room contained twelve guys, all well on their way to getting tipsy, and they cried out as I entered.

"Liam! Finally!"

"Yo, bro!"

"Did you bring the boyfriend?"

I shook my head at the last comment. Cameron, poor guy. Always slow on the uptake. Couldn't he see the gorgeous specimen of manhood I had attached to my hand? "Cameron, you t.w.a.t. Open your eyes before you open your mouth."

Cameron rose unsteadily to his feet, making it apparent that he had started in early on the beers. He addressed Jay, weaving slightly in front of us. "Hey, dude! Welcome to my house! Come in and find yourself something to drink. Food is over there on the table, beer and c.o.ke in the fridge, spirits behind the bar, and we have pizza coming in about twenty minutes."

Jay thawed a bit at the greeting, so I dragged him around to introduce him to my brothers. They were all very polite and accepting-welcoming him with broad smiles and happy handshakes. G.o.d, I loved them ever so much in that single moment.

Of course the happy buzz wore off in the next two seconds when I started in on Ben's friends. The two other groomsmen-Mickey and Donnie-were enthusiastic. I'd known them what seemed to be my whole life. They had been mates with Ben from primary school and had hung around the house enough that they were pretty much best mates with all the Turner boys. Donnie took a bit of a double take at the sight of Jay's polished fingernails, but shook hands with a genuine grin. I realized that they had all been prepped-there was no shock of oh my G.o.d, is he gay? Nor surprise at the fact we were obviously a couple. My family had evidently primed them all for the fact I was bringing my boyfriend.

Gavin, however, stuttered and hesitated on the handshake. He couldn't look Jay in the face and turned bright red. Next in line was Alison's brother, Glen, and I could see what he was thinking clearly. Holy s.h.i.t! What sort of family is my sister marrying into?

Darren and Colin were fine with it. But Ben's mate from work, Taz, just waved at us and made no attempt to come and even shake my hand. It was Mike, however, who caused the most pain. He deliberately left the room before I could get around to him, and he made sure he was seated far away from us throughout the whole night. It hurt.

Pizza arrived and everyone tucked into the meal. The music was cranked up, the alcohol flowed freely, and the language deteriorated with every pa.s.sing hour. In other words, it was the perfect party. Jay managed to find some conversations to join in and hotly debated with Glen over some sort of cooking reality TV show called My Kitchen Rules. My brothers sought him out to get to know him better, although I had to warn Ben off a couple of times when the conversation turned a little dirty and a little pointed. "Ben. f.u.c.k off! You are not asking Jay about losing his virginity are you? s.h.i.t, man! Brush up on your manners!"

There were a couple of gay comments made throughout the night that were well meaning and some said with the intent to offend.

Ben: "Liam, go and grab more beer from the fridge. Now that you're a girl, you should be getting used to that."

John: "f.u.c.k off, Liam, and don't go shaking that queer a.r.s.e of yours anywhere near my drink!"

Colin: "You should let Liam choose the music. Gay men have so much better taste."

To those comments I simply flipped them the bird or, in John's case, thumped his arm. I owed him for the thump at the funeral, after all.

But then, there were those deliberately offensive asides.

Gavin: "What? You gave up on ever trying to land a lady, so had to go for the half man instead or something?"

Mike: "s.h.i.t. I can't sit there. That's where the f.a.ggots were sitting. I could catch something."

Glen: "It's a joke, right? You are not really gay and you're trying to yank Ben's chain for the wedding or something?"

I kept my temper at those comments and let them slide the best I could. It was a party, after all-a celebration for one brother, held at another brother's house. I didn't want to start anything that could end in broken furniture or broken heads. Then Mike, with more than a couple of beers under his belt, turned to me and said, "So, since the stripper hasn't arrived yet, perhaps you can ask your girlfriend to liven up the party with a couple of b.l.o.w. .j.o.bs, yeah? I'm sure he will enjoy it, too."

w.a.n.ker.

Even with Jay desperately hanging on to my right arm, I managed to fly across the room and pop Mike one in the mouth. It wasn't a full swing because I was reduced to using my left hand, but it still landed and bloodied his mouth in a satisfying manner. He began to howl and the room erupted. My vision became a sea of red and I could feel my body shake and quiver, ready to fight. Bodies pushed between us, even though Mike wasn't fighting back, just kneeling on the floor like a little girl with his hands up to his mouth.

Arms encircled me and lifted me off my feet, swinging me around and pushing me from the room. I pushed them away, happy to be leaving the presence of the horrid man. I found myself in Cameron's lounge room at the front of the house, my breathing harsh and rapid, my blood at boiling point, and my hand killing me. "f.u.c.k!" I swore to myself, pacing the room and shaking off the pain. I hoped I hadn't broken anything.

Jay was there, watching me anxiously as he wrung his hands together. "Hey! You okay?"

I distantly realized that Cameron was in the room with us, albeit guarding the door. I wondered if he was stopping me from leaving the room or protecting me from any retribution coming my way. My brother's existence in the room stopped me from kissing Jay senseless and telling him that as long as he was by my side, I was okay.

Instead, I pulled Jay into a hug, and tucked him under my chin like I loved to do. Immediately, my emotions calmed as if he were Jesus standing on the boat in the middle of the storm. The waves subsided and all the apostles were saved. I turned to Cameron.

"Sorry, bro. I didn't mean to start a fight in the middle of your house and party." And I was sorry. I wasn't just saying it; I really meant it. I didn't want my choices in life to impact on others.

But Cameron just waved it away. "h.e.l.l, no. If Mike had said something like that about Anita I would've punched him more than once. It was totally uncalled for. Don't let it bother you, man." There were sounds outside the room in the pa.s.sageway to the front door. Car doors slammed and voices called. Cameron didn't move from his spot. "They called him a taxi. Time to go home."

I squeezed Jay and plonked a kiss on his head. "We'll go, too, once the taxi has gone. I am really sorry." Cameron was looking at me strangely. "What?"

He gave a really big, fake sniff, and pretended to mop up nonexistent tears on his face. "Our baby is all grown up and saving the world!"

"What the f.u.c.k, man?"

He just kept on with that silly grin. "Sorry-that was some stupid quote from a movie Anita always watches. Some cartoon s.h.i.t-Mulan or something. I am just happy to see you happy, man."

I looked him up and down skeptically. "Happy? I just punched a guy in the face, and you think I'm happy?"

The three of us laughed; that did sound rather lame. Cameron shook his head and shrugged. "No, bro. I mean you getting all aggro and s.h.i.t over your boyfriend. You are the most laid-back of all of us. Nothing gets your dander up. Not when Dale took off with your girlfriend, not when Dad gives you s.h.i.t about not having a license, not even when Mum asks you for the two-hundredth time if you have brought someone to Sunday Roast. You just take it and continue on. I didn't think you had it in you to care this much about something or someone. I'm glad you have. I guess it took turning gay to make you into a man." I felt Jay splutter against my chest and was about to give Cameron a piece of my mind when his mobile went off in his pocket. He yanked it out and his face lit up. "Excellent timing! The stripper is about to arrive."

"What?" I was surprised. "Alison said no strippers."

Cameron gave me a devilish grin. "What Alison doesn't know, doesn't hurt Alison. And no telling Anita either or I won't be having s.e.x for a good two months. Now, are you guys coming?" I stared at him with my brows raised. "Oh, s.h.i.t. Yeah. Whoops. Forgot." He gave a nervous little laugh. "No problem. But you guys are not allowed to leave the party." He pointed at us sternly, trying for a straight face.

I clapped him on the shoulder. "It's cool. Jay and I will just have a little alone time here in the lounge, yeah? Some make-out on your sofa? Just knock on the door when the naked woman has left."

Cameron froze, put his hands up to fend me off, and screwed up his eyes in a look of put-upon disgust. "Oh, gross, dude! Don't spoil my sofa for me. I'll never be able to sit on it again! Just tell me you'll watch TV or something. f.u.c.k, man! I'm going to have to wash my brain with bleach. Show me to some frickin' naked b.o.o.bs so I can forget!"

We were all laughing as Cameron exited the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. I reached over and flicked the light off before steering Jay to the couch. He dropped down onto the suede cover and I followed him, pinned him with my weight, and sought out the skin of his neck with my lips.

"Ahh... Liam?"

"Mm-hmm?" My lips and tongue were too busy to worry about forming words.

"What are you doing?" Jay lifted his head, allowing me further access to his earlobe and the golden studs he had put in tonight. The gold ones weren't as delicious as the diamonds, but they still turned me on something fierce.

"I'm not doing a good enough job of seducing you if you can still talk," I teased him. Jay moaned and arched up into me, pressing his arousal against mine. I guess that was answer enough for me. I pulled at his shirt, untucking it from his jeans so I could find skin and plunging my hands up to feel the tiny pucker of his nipples. Finally I kissed my way across his cheek until I found his mouth, and locked our lips together so I could kiss him deeply. He placed his hands on my b.u.t.t, pulled me tighter against him, and ground our hips together.

Somewhere in the back of the house the music started up again, reminding me that it had been shut off when I lost my temper. This new music was loud and sultry, with a throbbing beat to it. In other words-stripper music. We wouldn't be interrupted any time soon.

I reached for Jay's shaft between our bodies and yelped in pain as the ache intensified in my hand. "f.u.c.k! That was my sore hand!"

Jay pushed at my shoulders until I was sitting up. He took my hand in both of his, and lightly kissed the knuckles. They were swollen and I could feel the heat beginning to rise in them. I should really have some ice on them.

But then Jay licked at them with his tongue and all thoughts of ice flew out of my mind. Wetness and warmth were all I was thinking about. Jay whispered to me as he covered my entire hand with his lips and tongue. "Oh, my sweetness. You are my hero. You make me melt when you take on the world for me. I would do anything for you. Anything. Every time someone is mean to me, you come across like a raging bull, and that f.u.c.king makes me want to cream in my pants. And when I think about the fact that your hard c.o.c.k will be pounding my a.r.s.e later tonight, I am instantly hard and h.o.r.n.y. You make me want to drop my pants so you can take me right there in the middle of the room with all those posturing heteros looking on. That way they will know I belong to you and they'll know you will protect me. f.u.c.king h.e.l.l. You're so s.e.xy and I can't get enough of you. I want you to f.u.c.k me hard. I want to blow your brains. I want you to suck my d.i.c.k. I want to stick my tongue in you. I want to ride your fingers."

By this time my c.o.c.k was dripping and begging, and I didn't know how I kept from coming, right then and there. I hauled Jay up against me, all pain forgotten, and locked my mouth to his. This man held my heart, and I couldn't get enough.