Ice Fairy 4 - 17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Tour over!

Brett’s POV

“…That’s right. The one on Applewood Lane.” Brett turned to look at Sam, who looked so excited he’d burst. “Okay, gotcha. The seventeenth at 10 o’clock.” He hit ‘end’ on the call and put his phone back in his pocket.

“We’re gonna go see it?” Sam looked like a kid on Christmas morning he was so excited.

“Damn right we are. We’re a sure thing, Baby. Your last show is tonight, thank goodness, and we’ll be back in St. Louie tomorrow!”

Sam hugged Brett tight and there was a mutual feeling of relief. They hung on for a long time and he didn’t want to let go. No more traveling, no more missing their family and friends; it’d all be over tonight!

“Bye-bye, Los Angeles.” Sam said with a smile. “Whew. This has been one hell of a whirlwind.”

“That it has, Baby.” Brett patted Sam’s butt lightly and set him down on edge of the bed. “You ready to give a rousing final performance for all your fans?” he licked his lips and kissed his fiancé’s perfect mouth.

“Mmm. Only if you give me one hell of a sendoff first, Zephyr.”

Brett laughed softly. Sam was so fucking adorable. Him calling his fiancé Zephyr was a recent development; usually his own version of foreplay when he felt frisky. Brett thought it was hilarious and sexy as all hell.

“I’ll give you a sendoff that you won’t forget, Baby.” He began to kiss and suck on Sam’s neck and gave him a nice hickey. Sam tasted so good he wanted to devour him.

“Damn, now that was hot.” Sam smirked and pulled Brett on top of him. “The show isn’t for a couple hours yet; and I’m hungry for some extra meaty man. White hot and naked as the day you were born, Baby.”

Now this was sexy Sam. Brett didn’t say another word as he and his lover made short work of getting undressed and under the covers to give this final leg of the tour a rousing sendoff.

*

Sam’s POV

Home again!

“Welcome home!” Ryan and Caleb in turn gave their friends very long hugs hello. Sam held onto them; he’d missed them so much. But not in a bad way like last time. Oh hell no. No more of that.

“Thanks! Damn it’s awesome to be back.” Sam waited for Brett to finish giving his hello’s so he could lean into his side.

“Amen to that one. Traveling all over is great, but it sucks too.” Brett commented as he shot back his beer. Turning 21 on the tour was great too; they could openly and legally drink at any party they wanted.

“Dude, we should do a combo bachelor party and 21^st birthday party for you both.” Ryan suggested, leaning back on his own fiancé.

Caleb wrapped his free arm around his man. “If we have the energy after making our own wedding plans.” He groaned.

Sam found the shared bitch fest about weddings funny as hell. “So, guess your plans are going as well as ours?”

With an eye roll, Ryan snorted. “Freakin’ perfect. We’re set for November, but sheesh. Our moms are driving us crazy; just like yours are with you. I just want it to be over, man.”

Meredith walked by, carrying another load of appetizers. “Oh, now what’s this grumbling about weddings?” she teased them after putting the tray down. “Boys, it’s wonderful to see you both.” She hugged them hello but then drew back from them. “Don’t be giving your mothers a hard time about their dreams coming true.” She shook a finger in their faces before walking back to tend to the other guests.

Brett couldn’t help but find that funny. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever, mom.” He mumbled. “I just wanna wear a tux, get a ring, say the vows, and get to the party.” He bumped Sam’s hip and took another drink from his beer.

Caleb raised his beer bottle, as did Ryan and they all toasted the idea.

“Here, here.” The glasses clinked together and Sam enjoyed the moment. There was that ghost in the room, of Amber missing; but he had to shrug it off and enjoy the time.

They were home, they had their families, and life was good.

“Sammy…”

Sam’s head turned and he swore he heard Amber’s voice; but instead it was a tall drink of water. A young man, their age, tall, lanky, blond whispy hair, and the lightest eyes Sam had ever seen.

Colby.

“Hey! Good to see you!” he tore from Brett’s side and embraced his friend warmly. To his delight, the hug was returned.

“Hey, Buddy. Heard you boys were back in the boondocks here. Thought I’d mosey on by and say howdy.”

Sweet, adorable Colby. Amber’s departure from his life seemed to agree with him; he looked well, at least physically. Of course, to Sam, he looked too thin and needed some beefing up; but he was used to his muscular man.

“How are you?” was all he could spit out. It’d been months since they’d even heard from him.

The young man shrugged and eyed the table of food and beers. “Eh. I’ll survive, Sam. Could use a beer.”

Of course! What a horrible host he was. He scrambled over to the table and got his friend a bottled beer and even opened it for him.

“Thanks.” Was all he said as he guzzled back about a third of it in one gulp. “Damn. Now that hits the spot.” He looked at the other men. “Guys.”

Ryan and Caleb nodded to him. “Colby.”

He looked them up and down. “You two good?”

Caleb smiled. “Yeah, we’re fine. Wedding’s still on.”

After another long swig, Colby finally replied. “Good.”

Sam got a kick out of how he said so much while uttering as few words as possible. He looked healthy, at least for him. As slender as he was; he still had some muscle tone and he filled up a plate full of appetizers piled up so high he had to hold the plate up to his face.

“Feeling better, Bud?” he asked gently as he approached his friend. They had an unspoken bond of being the only two men to ever love Amber. She haunted them both to this day; he could tell. He wondered just much Colby was over her.

“Yeah.” He paused and chewed some, then stopped. “I reckon as best as I’m gonna get anyway.” He shrugged and went back to eating.

That was about an in depth as Colby got. He reminded Sam of that character from that movie about the two guys that met on a mountain herding sheep. He was quiet and country to the core; but loyal too. He knew he’d loved Amber very much… it couldn’t have been easy to say goodbye.

“So you’re good?” he asked cautiously, not wanting to reopen any wounds. “I’ve had a time of things myself.” He thought they could bond over the shared loss.

“Sam, if you don’t mind, any mention of that one and I’ll leave. Ya got me?” he looked angry now, or was it just upset? Fed up was maybe the right way to describe it.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Sorry. It’s just sucky.” He shrugged and popped a cheese cube in his mouth to stop himself from sticking his foot in his mouth again.

Colby snorted. “Yeah it is. Sorry I snapped at ya. It’s been tough on us both. Best to move on and forget about her at all. I’m doing my damned best to do that one.”

Timidly, Sam nodded. “Me too.” He took a quick sip of his gingerale. “Hey… on other topics. How’s school?”

“Oh. It’s good. Passed my last few tests real high.” He smiled a little, which made Sam relax.

Sam felt a hand on his shoulder and was relieved to see Brett at his side. “Hey. Talking about school.” He was anxious for the topic of Amber to die away.

“Cool. Liking it, Cheeseman?” Brett asked.

“Yeah, just telling Sam that. I guess training to be an electrician agrees with me. It’s what my uncle done years ago, made a good livin’ at it.”

“Very cool. You know your stuff and you’ll be in hot demand for sure.” Sam encouraged the upbeat mood and topic.

“Absolutely.” Ryan chimed in. “We’re nearly apprentices now, we could all go into the building trade together; work on jobs around here.”

Colby brightened a little, or so Sam thought. Did he? Or was it a flash of something he thought he saw?

“I’d like that.” Was all he answered. But it sounded like he was happy with that arrangement.

There was so much unsaid with this guy. Losing his girlfriend and having kissed all of them in a show of solidarity. Sam wondered what was really next for this guy and his life. He knew his and Brett’s future, even Ryan and Caleb’s. As for Colby… anything was possible.

“It’s so good to be home again.” Sam sighed and loved it when Kim ran over and put her arms around him. Was it him or had she grown over the past two months?

“I missed you so much, Sam. Mama seemed so sad and I didn’t like you being gone. I’m glad you’re back.” She looked up at him, her dark eyes beaming.

Sam kissed her head. “I missed you too, Sis. No worries, I’m not going anywhere for a long, long time.”

Brett hugged Kim as well. “Not until our honeymoon anyway.”

Ah yes, the wedding. Now that would be an adventure; but after buying the house. Eesh, too much! Sam was just happy to be back and with his family and have things be calm.

At least for a few days.