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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Reece's Choice - 5. Chapter 5

“Reece!” Josh waved me over from where he stood getting his barbecue ready.

I glanced around but didn’t see Dave anywhere. I’d offered to pick him up but he’d said he’d just meet me here since it was within walking distance from his place to Josh’s.

“Where’ve you been?” Josh poured some briquettes into the grill and sprayed them with fire starter before lighting them.

I would have answered if Dave hadn’t chose that moment to show up.

“Josh, how’s it going man?”

“Dave? What are you doing here?”

I didn’t turn to look at him; instead I watched the expressions flicker across Josh’s face. He glanced back and forth from where I had heard Dave’s voice to me. It was actually quite comical to watch him try to puzzle out what was going on. I hadn’t told him I’d invited Dave and whenever he’d asked me about Dave, I’d changed the subject and left him guessing. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Dave put him out of his misery, and I was right.

“Hey.” His voice was husky as his arms slid around me, and I leaned back into his embrace.

My eyes closed as his lips brushed my neck, and when I opened them again it was to see Josh staring at us, a smirk on his face. The smirk quickly turned to a glare.

“You shit. You could have at least told me, either one of you.”

“We thought it would be more fun this way.” I grinned at my cousin as I teased. “I guess I do at least owe you a thank you though.”

“Damn skippy! I can’t believe it actually worked. And Maryanne said I had no matchmaking skills. Wait until I tell her.” He closed the lid on the grill and walked towards us. He only stopped for a minute and clasped his hand on my shoulder before continuing into the house, to find his wife I presumed.

“You sure me coming was a good idea?” Dave pulled back and led me over to a couple of lawn chairs scattered all over the lawn. He sat down across from me, and I could see the worry on his face. “I know Josh doesn’t care, but I don’t want to cause problems for you with the rest of your cousins.”

“You won’t.” I was as sure as I could be. “My cousins may have been raised by bigoted pricks, but with the exception of one or two of them, they’ve managed to escape with their humanity still intact.” I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his in reassurance.

Before I could pull back he grabbed the back of my neck and deepened the kiss. We were the only ones in the backyard at the moment, but I doubt it would have mattered if we weren’t. I wasn’t ashamed. I loved the feel of his lips on mine and returned his kiss until we were broken apart by my cousin Jesse’s voice.

“God, you two, get a room.”

I felt Dave tense for a moment but he relaxed when Jesse, Aunt Leslie’s son, came towards us smiling. Jesse nodded at Dave before turning his attention to me.

“I’m happy for you, Reece. You going to bring him to the next family dinner? Cause I gotta tell you, whatever you said to my mom had her ranting all night long about how our generation should respect our elders.” He snickered and plopped into a chair next to me. “I barely managed to tell her maybe our elders would get respect when they came out of the dark ages. I didn’t think she’d appreciate it, but I was glad to see you stand up to her.”

“I won’t be going to any more family dinners.” I’d said it and I planned to stick to it. I didn’t need the drama of being treated like shit by my own family. Dave stood and moved his chair next to mine and sat back down. I turned my head and smiled at him as he linked our fingers together.

“Serves ‘em all right.” Jesse turned more serious than I could ever remember seeing him. “I probably should have stuck up for you a long time ago, and I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“Doesn’t matter.” I shrugged because it really didn’t. I knew my cousin could care less, and it wouldn’t have done any good any way. It hadn’t when Josh said something.

“Still—” He was interrupted by a squeal coming from the direction of the house.

I looked up just in time for Josh’s sister April to flop down onto my lap and wrap her arms around my neck in a hug. I hugged her back before gently easing her off my lap. I didn’t want to find myself on my ass when the chair I was sitting in gave out. It wasn’t built for two people.

“I’m so glad you thought of this, Reece.” April grabbed another chair and brought it closer. “I don’t know why you kept coming to those damn dinners with the way everyone treated you. If I had been you, I would have told ‘em to shove it a long time ago.”

“They’re my family.” That’s what I had kept telling myself every time I had nearly talked myself out of going. I’d hoped eventually their attitude towards me would thaw, but it hadn’t. It was high time I realized it never would and focused on more important things, like whatever was building between me and Dave.

“They sure as hell didn’t act like it.” April scowled but then smiled. “Enough about them, let’s not let them ruin our night. So”—she glanced between me and Dave and down at our joined hands—“I see my brother’s plan actually worked for once.”

“Yes, it did. Amazing isn’t it?” I saw Josh step out of the house with a cookie sheet full of burgers and couldn’t help but get a dig in. “Though, everyone has to win once in a while.”

“I heard that.” Josh opened the grill and started plopping burgers onto it.

I smiled and stood, only pausing to drop a brief kiss on Dave’s lips. I headed over to my cousin. He glanced at Dave and then focused on me.

“You seem happy.” It wasn’t like my cousin to talk about feelings, but it was nice to know he cared so much about me.

“I am. He’s a great guy.” A great guy I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of. We’d only been dating a week, but it felt like longer. There were times I was afraid I was dreaming the entire thing and would wake up to find out I was still alone.

“He is. I knew you would be perfect for each other. I just had to get you two to meet.” He glanced over at Dave and I could see a hint of worry in his eyes. He lowered his voice. “Just do me a favor, Reece. Don’t hurt him if you can help it. He’s been hurt enough.”

“What are you talking about?” I didn’t have any plans to hurt Dave, but there was no guarantee it would work out.

“You’ll have to ask him. It’s not something he generally talks about.”

I looked over at Dave and tried to guess at what had happened to him, but he seemed like such an upbeat guy. As stupid as it sounded, I hadn’t thought he had any major hang-ups. He looked up and saw me watching him and smiled. I smiled back, despite the fact my mind was going a million miles an hour.

Copyright © 2015 Renee Stevens; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

Thanks for the latest chapter. The cousins are a much better group. Poor Reece, now he's wondering what happened to Dave....

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Vindication. That's the word that comes to mind when I read this chapter. I absolutely loved the fact that Reece's cousins acted and thought nearly the opposite of their 'elders'.
Reece seems to have found 'the one' for him although Josh's statement about Dave's past hurts does cause questions to come to mind. It seems amazing that Dave after being hurt badly enough to shut it up in his mind could act as carefree as he does around Reece. However, relationships are built on trust and if Dave wants a long term relationship with Reece he needs to have a long talk and express what happened.
I think you've done a fantastic job so far with this story, Renee. I am looking forward to the next instalment next week.
True

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Lovely chapter!

 

The cousins are great and treat Reece and Dave well. But why on earth didn't any of the cousins speak up during all those family dinners when the elders treated Reece so badly? :/That probably would have ended into a family feud but still....Reece is worth it -_- But at least now they are defending Reece.

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I like that Reece and Dave let Josh find out the way he did. Less time for him to gloat. Hehe. The barbecue was a nice way to show that the cousins are truly, well together and in Reece's corner.
And, here comes the rain? Josh dropped that little bomb, and it feels pretty serious. Can Reece hide the fact that Josh let on though.. I hope Dave finds the courage to confide in Reece, and it's something they can work through together.
Well done chapter.

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Bad Renee! Leaving us hanging like that...do you have aspirations for the cliff-hangers crown?

 

LOL - thank you for sharing!

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On 09/15/2015 01:56 AM, Daddydavek said:

Thanks for the latest chapter. The cousins are a much better group. Poor Reece, now he's wondering what happened to Dave....

Thanks for the review DDK. The cousins are definitely a much better lot of people. Luckily they didn't learn the bigotry that Reece faces with the older family members. As for what happened with Dave.... stay tuned :)

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On 09/15/2015 12:12 PM, KevinD said:

Bad Renee! Leaving us hanging like that...do you have aspirations for the cliff-hangers crown?

 

LOL - thank you for sharing!

Cliffhanger? Moi? You must be mistaken :) Ask anyone, I don't do cliffhangers. *whistles innocently*

 

Thank you for the review!!

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On 09/15/2015 02:45 AM, Atruefan said:

Vindication. That's the word that comes to mind when I read this chapter. I absolutely loved the fact that Reece's cousins acted and thought nearly the opposite of their 'elders'.

Reece seems to have found 'the one' for him although Josh's statement about Dave's past hurts does cause questions to come to mind. It seems amazing that Dave after being hurt badly enough to shut it up in his mind could act as carefree as he does around Reece. However, relationships are built on trust and if Dave wants a long term relationship with Reece he needs to have a long talk and express what happened.

I think you've done a fantastic job so far with this story, Renee. I am looking forward to the next instalment next week.

True

Thanks for the review, Lenny. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I couldn't have said things better myself, though I won't give away what's going to happen in the upcoming chapters. Hopefully I didn't botch them too bad.

 

I definitely wanted Reece to have some sort of support in this story. However, his main support has been Josh, with the rest of the cousins playing a minor role.

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On 09/15/2015 04:02 AM, Suvitar said:

Lovely chapter!

 

The cousins are great and treat Reece and Dave well. But why on earth didn't any of the cousins speak up during all those family dinners when the elders treated Reece so badly? :/That probably would have ended into a family feud but still....Reece is worth it -_- But at least now they are defending Reece.

Thanks for the review Suvitar.

 

You are right that they should have stuck up for Reece before. Josh did, but it didn't do any good. Perhaps it's simply a case of not knowing what to say.

 

Glad you are enjoying the story!

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On 09/15/2015 04:45 AM, Defiance19 said:

I like that Reece and Dave let Josh find out the way he did. Less time for him to gloat. Hehe. The barbecue was a nice way to show that the cousins are truly, well together and in Reece's corner.

And, here comes the rain? Josh dropped that little bomb, and it feels pretty serious. Can Reece hide the fact that Josh let on though.. I hope Dave finds the courage to confide in Reece, and it's something they can work through together.

Well done chapter.

Thanks for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I just figured since Josh was so sneaky in setting them up the first time, he should get a little bit of that sneakiness back. As far as Josh's little bomb, only time will tell the story. I look forward to seeing what you think as the story progresses.

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How did I miss this chapter?

 

Now I'm curious about Dave. What happened to him? He must have gotten pretty burned in the past. But Reece won't hurt him. :)

 

It's great that Reece's cousins (well, most of them), realize their parents are shits, and are there to support Reece. :)

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On 09/28/2015 08:36 AM, Lisa said:

How did I miss this chapter?

 

Now I'm curious about Dave. What happened to him? He must have gotten pretty burned in the past. But Reece won't hurt him. :)

 

It's great that Reece's cousins (well, most of them), realize their parents are shits, and are there to support Reece. :)

I don't know, Lisa! I was wondering if I'd hear from you on it, lol.

 

I think everyone has been fairly curious about Dave, but that's his story to tell, even if Josh did bring it up first. I agree about the cousins, everyone needs someone (or multiple someones) in their corner. Luckily Reece has that.

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I was wondering about Dave's past. Reece's too. Is this Reece's first relationship? I loved how they surprised Josh with their relationship. I'm curious about what happened to Dave. One way to find out! lol

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“Damn skippy!" Love this expression! And I really like Josh, and the rest of the cousins. United, they might be able to get through to the bigots. Although I know of parents who think their kids should blindly follow their views no matter what their age. So... Dave has a past... and it wasn't good... I'm looking forward to finding out what that is all about... cheers... Gary....

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