Open Road Read Online Free Page A

worried sick .” Brad sounded a lot less worried and more pissed off. Reece gritted his teeth. It had been a long ten years of gritting his teeth.
    “I’m going to wake him up in a little bit and send him home to shower for brunch. I just wanted to let you know he’s okay.”
    Reece hung up the phone and glanced at the messages. He noticed they didn’t start until after dawn…. Brad had been worried sick all right. So sick he didn’t start texting Angus until morning.
    He ambled back into the bedroom. “Babe, you’ve gotta wake up.”
    Angus was sprawled nearly sideways on Reece’s bed, black hair fanned in a shiny fringe across the pillow, pale pink lips parted slightly. He was fully dressed in his T-shirt, jeans, and even socks. He was going to feel like hell when he woke up.
    “Angus? The moms are on their way. You need to go home and get showered and changed.” He reached out and shook Angus’s shoulder.
    “No brunch,” Angus muttered. “I’ll puke.”
    “It’ll be good for you, babe. Soak up some of the wine. C’mon. Let’s get you home.”
    Angus gave him a death glare and rolled himself to a sitting position. “How long do I have until they get here?”
    “About two hours.” Reece handed Angus his phone. “Brad’s pretty pissed.”
    “ Shit, ” Angus muttered. “He’s not going to let me forget about this for the rest of eternity.” He made a face.
    “Babe? You sure you want to go home?”
    “Yeah. It’s fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll just suck it up and get a lecture. He does have a right to be pissed. I should have called him.” He deflated a little bit. “This is just the kind of stuff he brings up whenever I ask about kids. He doesn’t think I can handle them.”
    Nothing like a thirtieth birthday to remind Angus he still wants a baby someday…. Reece knew it had been one of the main sources of contention between Angus and Brad the past few years.
    Angus shook his head and stood. “Not the time for that. I’ll go get ready for brunch.”
    “Okay. You’re fine to drive?” Reece asked.
    “Yeah, of course. I’m fine. I’m just hungover.” Angus pushed on his eyeballs. “Why did we drink last night?”
    “ Please . Don’t blame that on me.”
    “I have to blame it on somebody.” Angus chuckled, then groaned. He picked up his keys and pocketed his phone. Reece noticed he didn’t even check it for messages. Probably didn’t want to see whatever he figured was on there. “See you later, babe.”
    “’Kay. See you in a little while.”
     
     
    REECE STRUGGLED through his shower and dressed in a button-down over a T-shirt with some nice jeans. He doubted the moms planned for anywhere super fancy. As a group, they tended to pick places with good, simple food and squishy booths, rather than the trendiest choice with all the trappings. He shoved his feet into his newest pair of dark Converse and flopped down onto the couch to wait for everyone to get there.
    He was half-asleep when he heard a key jiggling in the lock. It was too early for his mom to have made it all the way to Portland from Astoria, so the only choices were Cherry or Angus. It was the second one.
    “What are you doing back here so early?” That had to be the quickest shower and change in history.
    Angus shrugged. “I figured if I sat down at home, I’d pass out and not make it to my own birthday brunch.”
    Which was probably code for Brad was pissed, and I wanted to get out of there .
    Reece chuckled and patted the cushion next to him. “Have a seat.” He had a feeling there was more to the story than that, but he wasn’t going to ask.
    They were both half-asleep when the doorbell rang. Reece struggled to his feet and opened the door to find the whole crowd on the other side—his mother, tall, blonde, statuesque, and entirely too chipper; Kelly, Angus’s mom, in one of her long skirts and a sweater; Cherry, with her bright red hair that was at least partly natural, tapping her foot with