Boyfriend Chronicles 02 - The Boyfriend Mandate by River Jaymes Page B

French doors onto a large, brick patio filled with a little over a dozen people.
    “Gather around, everybody,” Anita said, setting the salad bowl in the middle of the large portable table being used for the buffet. “This is Tyler, Memphis’s boyfriend.”
    Holy shit .
    Tyler’s insides took the final leap into the abyss, and he stumbled a bit on an uneven brick. There’d been no warning. No time to prepare. Memphis closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief, before he shot Tyler an apologetic look.
    Anita placed her hands on her hips, eyeing each individual in the crowd. “And if anybody has a problem with that, see me after dinner and I’ll set you straight.”
    Tyler blinked, the words simmering in his head and seeping into his chest.
    Somewhere, someone was giggling.
    A girl who appeared to be about five or six years old glanced up at the pretty brunette standing beside her. “I thought Uncle Memphis liked girls, Mom.”
    The giggling grew louder.
    “I do, peanut,” Memphis said. “I like boys, too.”
    “Okay,” she said. “Can we eat now? I’m hungry.”
    With that statement, everyone started talking, and none of the conversations seemed to be about Anita’s surprising announcement—at least not that Tyler could hear, anyway.
    “Tyler.”
    Still stunned, he turned.
    Memphis’s mom came to a stop beside him and took his arm. “Come sit by me,” she said with a smile, leading him near the head of the table. “I’d like to hear how my son is really doing.”
    He took a seat beside Anita. From across the table, his boyfriend shot him another wink, and Tyler finally recognized that feeling he always got when Memphis looked at him and grinned.
    It felt like home.

Chapter Six
    Present-day, San Francisco, Noah’s condo
    “Are you upset?” Memphis asked as he watched Tyler cross the guest bedroom.
    “About what?” Tyler snapped the clean sheet, the fabric billowing outward before settling across the bed. “The fact that Noah just took you on a commentary-filled tour through my dating history, pointing out my every ex along the way?” he said with a wry tone.
    Memphis grinned. “No,” he said. And then the smile slowly fell from his face. “I’m talking about the news that Alec and Dylan are going to be parents.”
    Tyler’s hands slowed in the middle of smoothing down the sheet. “I already knew they’d talked about finding a surrogate and having a kid. The due date was a surprise, though.” He tucked the final corner of the fabric in and straightened. “Let’s go take care of that laceration,” he said, and then he turned on his heel and disappeared into the bathroom.
    Hunh.
    Memphis followed and leaned a shoulder against the door jamb, silently studying Tyler as he pulled towels from the bathroom closet and set them on the counter. There was definitely an underlying tension in the lean frame that hadn’t been there before, the broad shoulders stiff beneath the dress shirt.
    Jesus, the guy was still hard to read. And Memphis needed those skills, because he’d decided it was time to come clean about why he’d left ten years ago.
    He wasn’t letting Tyler leave this room until he did…
    Memphis fought off the weight pressing down on his chest.
    “You’re still pale and look like you’re ready to keel over.” Tyler opened the medicine cabinet over the sink and pulled out a first aid kit. “You should sit down before you fall down.”
    The throbbing in Memphis’s head had dulled quite a bit but still left him feeling like a freaking slug, so he took a seat on the edge of the tub. Tyler pulled supplies from the kit and placed them on the counter. Memphis admired his economy of movements and his confidence, so different from how he used to be. Tyler turned and pressed thick gauze to Memphis’s wound, leaving a stinging sensation in its wake. But the sting wasn’t near as bad as the pain in his skull.
    Or the ten-year-old ache of regret.
    Memphis searched the careful