Catalyst (Connectivity Book 2) Read online

  Travis nodded. “My parents are a Connective couple. I’m the second born though, so the chances of me carrying the Connective gene and being a Catalyst are not good. It’s unlikely for the second born to carry. I have no real way of knowing so I’ve just decided to live my life the way I want to and, if it happens, it happens, you know? My sister is going to college to be an ER nurse, though, and she has every intention of finding her Complement. Which of course she should, you’re right about that. I guess for me, it’s like being born the second prince or something. I don’t have the pressure to become king so I can just do what I do.”

  Jersey laughed. “That’s quite the analogy, but I guess it does fit. I didn’t know that second-born children might not carry the gene, though. That’s gotta be kind of tough to swallow. Watching it happen for your sister and your parents, but never knowing if it’ll happen for you. I mean even if you didn’t find your Complement for years, like Josh’s dad, at least you would know the possibility was still there.”

  “Josh’s dad hadn’t found his Complement yet?”

  “No. Brian only found Monica, oh, actually, it was the day of your prom. They’ve only been together for a month, I think. I know they’re getting ready to move and find something on this side of town near Jim and Diane, but yeah. He’s thirty-seven and only just found Monica. Think of how lucky Josh and Cory are.”

  “I know, right? I told my parents all about prom and what I witnessed, and they were shocked. No one has ever heard of anyone finding their Connection so young before. My dad was on the young side when he found my mom and he was twenty-seven.”

  “How old was your mom then?”

  “She was thirty. She’s older, obviously. I have a half-brother, Ruben. He’s twenty-five. My mom was raising him alone when my dad found her. So there are three of us, but I also have two adopted siblings who are both younger. My mom has always loved kids and when she and my dad needed to find something they could do for work, they opened an in-home daycare, and my dad became a writer so he could work from home. Somehow they ended up focusing the daycare on kids with special needs, and that’s how they found my brother and sister. My little sister, Olivia, who’s eight, has Down Syndrome and my brother, Edgar, who’s fourteen, is deaf.”

  “Wow, you have an awesome family. That’s really cool and busy I bet. I only have one older sister and she left for college and never looked back. She’s in southern California now, living with her yoga instructor and meditating with her healing crystals or something.” Jersey chuckled.

  Travis found himself enjoying their conversation. It wasn’t very often that he found someone he could talk to so easily.

  “What were your plans for the fall?” Jersey asked, changing the topic of conversation.

  “I was just going to stay home and hit up the local JC. I’m planning to study early childhood education and probably focus on special education or maybe something to do with physical therapy. I figured I’d knock out some gen eds first and save myself some money. I work part-time now and I’m hoping to get more hours since school’s out, but whatever I can save now will help with tuition in the fall. My parents don’t want me paying for it alone, but there are a lot of us to pay for, and I keep telling my mom that I can help out more now, you know?”

  Jersey nodded along and seemed to be paying attention to Travis’s ramblings, but just then, Cory and Josh came into view as they walked toward the house. Travis nicked his chin out, indicating Jersey should look that way and he stood up to go greet the grooms. Jersey was right behind him and Travis found himself glad the two of them had been able to chat a little bit and get to know each other. It was nice to be able to talk about what he was feeling with someone who at least knew what was up.

  “The yard looks amazing, you guys. Did you both come over and help?” Cory asked after hugs were passed around.

  “We’ve been here for a while. Liam and Jakey were here too. We cleaned the place up nice, huh?” Travis asked.

  The men nodded in unison. “Thank you, guys. It looks really nice. I’m sure our parents were glad to have the extra hands,” Cory said.

  “It looks even better than I thought it would, you guys. Really. Thank you,” Josh offered and hugged Travis and Jersey again.

  The rumble of a car engine approaching drew their attention. The blue sedan parked and two women stepped out, each one carrying a bag.

  Josh pressed a kiss to Cory’s temple and when the women approached, introductions were made. Apparently, the woman with the pink hair was named Megan and was Cory’s hairdresser; she was going to be styling their hair for the ceremony. The other woman was named Fern and she was going to be giving Cory and Josh manicures.

  They all walked up to the house together, and Cory made the rounds of introductions to the rest of their family.

  The girls were shown where they would be stationed and they got to work setting up their areas. Jersey and Travis helped their respective man collect the things they’d needed to change into once they were finished primping because they would be in separate areas of the house and didn’t want to see each other before their ceremony.

  Travis and Cory started out in Josh and Cory’s room with Fern, and Josh and Jersey went to get Josh’s hair done in Cory’s parents’ room. They made small talk with Fern, while Travis changed into his suit, and the photographer buzzed about. Cory explained about the project he and Josh had worked on during the day, never failing to mention how amazing Josh was, several times. Travis just nodded along and agreed, since there was no reason to dispute the claim. Josh did seem pretty amazing, even Travis had to admit that. He was the perfect counterpart for Cory and they were going to have such an amazing and loving life together.

  When Cory was finished with his manicure and Fern gave him an amazing-looking hand and arm massage, Travis went to poke his head in to see how Josh was coming along.

  Josh was shorter than Travis by a couple of inches and had a head full of almost unruly, dark brown hair with a slight hint of reddish highlighting throughout. He was a good-looking guy with bright brown eyes, perfectly sculpted eyebrows, and a slight dimple in his chin.

  Megan had him sitting in a chair facing the mirror in Jim and Diane’s bathroom, and he appeared to be trying to breathe around a cloud of hairspray. Megan had given him a quick trim and clean-up on his neck and ears and slicked his hair to one side but still left it loose and casual. Since his hair was short there wasn’t much to be done, but Travis thought it looked clean and fresh and fit Josh’s face well.

  “You guys about ready to switch? Cory is finished in there,” he mentioned after giving Josh a nod in the mirror. The photographer clicked away in the background, moving from side to side, trying to capture every moment.

  “He’s finished. I’ve just been messing with it and dousing him with hairspray. You want any makeup, Josh? Your eyebrows are perfect so unless you want something else, I think you’re finished,” Megan said.

  Josh shook his head. “I think I’m good. Thanks, Megan. It looks great,” Josh remarked, turning in different directions to see from different angles.

  “It looks good, Megan. You made my boy almost presentable for his wedding,” Jersey teased, shooting Josh a wink.

  “Hey,” Josh exclaimed, going after his smaller friend.

  The two bantered for a moment until Megan scolded them about not ruining Josh’s hair. They all laughed and Josh gathered his things. His tux was already in the other bedroom, and once he was ready, Travis went back to Cory to help them navigate the switch.

  Cory covered his eyes and with one last peek to be sure the coast was clear, they made their way across the hall into his bathroom. Travis hollered out to Jersey that Cory was out of sight and Jersey returned that they were heading into the bedroom.

  He and Cory left the bathroom and went down to his parents’ room. Once they were settled into their new accommodations, Travis got to work setting out Cory’s tux and accessories. Megan began her craft of transforming Cory from
a cute hipster with blond hair and a slightly boyish face, to a man who was styled, primped, and polished and looking the part of a young man about to become someone’s husband.

  As Megan was about to apply some sort of highlighting powder to Cory’s cheeks, Jersey knocked and poked his head in.

  “Wow, Cory. You look incredible. Not that you didn’t look good before, but holy crap,” he said, staring at the other man. “Josh is literally going to pass out.”

  “Thanks, Jersey.” Cory blushed a little at the compliment but he shouldn’t have. He did look incredible. “Is Josh okay? Did he need something?”

  Jersey shook his head. “He’s fine. He just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed and that Travis was taking care of you.” He shot Travis a once over and cleared his throat. “Damn. There is a lot of man candy in this room.”

  As everyone chuckled, Travis couldn’t help but feel a bit shocked at Jersey’s proclamation. He knew he’d caught the other man looking a couple times earlier while they’d been setting up.

  “I’m fine, Jersey. Travis has everything ready for me and the boutonnieres are already on the bed. You can tell Josh we’re good.”

  “Good, because he is turning into quite the groomzilla.” Jersey snickered. “Also, I did have something I wanted to give you,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something small enough Travis couldn’t see what it was.

  “What is this?” Cory asked as Jersey dropped something into his palm. He inspected the tiny items closely.

  “They’re cufflinks. I got you and Josh each a monogrammed set with your initials and your wedding date. I figured you guys could wear them during the ceremony so each of you can have something of the other with him,” Jersey explained.

  Cory looked about ready to cry, and Travis felt a small lump in his own throat at seeing his friend’s reaction and the thoughtfulness of the gift.

  “Thank you, Jersey. You’re so sweet.” He grabbed Jersey up in a solid hug.

  When Jersey pulled back, he smiled at Cory. “I’m glad you like them. Have Travis help you get them on. I haven’t given Josh his yet, but I will when he’s getting dressed. Even though I’ve only known you for a little while, I already consider you a great friend, and I’m really happy that you’ve made Josh so happy. He was a pretty sad sack before you,” Jersey teased and Cory swatted at him playfully.

  “That’s my fiancé you’re talking about,” Cory defended quickly.

  “In less than an hour, he’ll be your husband. How’s that feel?”

  The brilliant smile that lit up Cory’s face said it all. “Incredible.”

  “Alright, lover boy.” Jersey chuckled. “Let the lady finish her masterpiece. The sooner you’re ready, the sooner you can see Josh,” he teased with a sing-song voice.

  “Then get out of here and go get my man ready. An hour is way too long. It’s already been an hour since I saw him and that already feels like forever. Go. Now.” Cory made a shooing motion and Travis, Megan, and Jersey all laughed at the eagerness radiating off the man.

  “Fine, bossy. You and Josh really are made for each other. Both of you just bossing me around and going all groomzilla on me. Just for that, I’m going to have to tease Josh about how fine you’re looking right now. That will definitely get him moving too.”

  When Travis looked back over at Cory, the man was just glowing.

  “I’m getting married in less than an hour, Trav. I’m nervous and excited, and I can’t wait to see Josh. Does he look amazing?”

  “He looks amazing, Cory. You know Megan wouldn’t let him out of her sight if he didn’t look good.”

  “He does look pretty good, thank you very much. But of course, I had two very good looking men to begin with so the rest was just icing,” Megan chimed in.

  “Okay. I’m so oh my God right now I can’t even think straight. Let’s finish so I can get dressed and go get married. Eekk,” Cory squealed excitedly.

  Travis took charge and sat the man back down, allowing Megan to finish off Cory’s look with some blackish eyeliner that made his vivid blue eyes pop. Travis had to admit, the man looked amazing. Josh was totally going to swoon.

  When Megan finally hugged Cory and left, Travis helped him dress and double checked everything was accounted for. They helped each other with their boutonnieres and Cory stood in front of the tall mirror in his parents’ room, looking at his reflection.

  Travis could definitely feel the weight of the moment. As a potential Catalyst, there wouldn’t be anything he would ever treasure more than his Complement and that was the moment he knew both Josh and Cory were experiencing just then. Travis went back into the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of water and handed it to Cory, who smiled at him gratefully.

  “Thank you, Travis. You’ve been amazing today.”

  Cory sagged suddenly and Travis steadied him, allowing his friend to lean on him a little.

  “Josh is ready,” Cory breathed and nodded toward the door. “You have the blindfold?”

  “I’ve got it, man. Let’s get you out there. Josh is waiting.” He helped Cory to the door, doing his best to ignore the photographer and called out, “We’re ready, Jersey. Get that man blindfolded and we’ll be right behind you.”

  Josh called Cory’s name from down the hall.

  “Yeah?” Cory responded, sounding a little shaky.

  “I love you,” Josh called back.

  Cory about melted in Travis’s hold. “I love you, too, Josh.”

  Travis took out his pocket handkerchief and handed it to Cory, who gave him a watery smile and use it to dab at his eyes. Travis refolded it and slid it back into his pocket then handed the blindfold to Cory. “Just slip it on lightly so you don’t mess up your eyes.”

  Cory nodded and took a deep breath then slipped the blindfold on. Travis held his hand and elbow, and they slowly left the room.

  Navigating down the hall and out the open door, Travis followed Jersey and Josh as they slowly made the short climb to the top of the little hill, gently leading Cory and helping him if he stumbled or felt unsure. After arriving at the top, Cory’s dad, Jim, met them and handed Travis a small baggie of confetti. Jim took over for Travis and Travis made the short walk to stand opposite Jersey and Josh.

  He could hear Jersey giving instructions to Josh and a moment later, both men removed their blindfolds, seeking each other out immediately.

  Travis smiled when Josh inadvertently took a step toward Cory, but Cory made quick work of getting to Josh as his father brought him over, and the two men joined hands, looking for all the world like nothing else existed. Josh brought Cory’s hands up to his lips and placed a tender kiss on them. The love and awe and sheer tangible raw emotion each man displayed on his face was breathtaking to watch.

  Travis looked over at Jersey and smiled when he realized the other man was already looking at him. Jersey winked and Travis felt his stomach flutter a little at the gesture. Returning his attention to the grooms, he listened attentively as the officiant started the ceremony. Josh and Cory seemed lost in their own little world, staring at each other and whispering little things back and forth.

  As the men exchanged their vows, the photographer snapped away and when Jersey handed over the rings, both grooms looked about ready to cry. As they each placed their ring on the other's finger, the officiant pronounced them married and they wasted no time in sealing their commitment with a kiss.

  Everyone threw handfuls of confetti on the newly married couple when they faced them, and the pair laughed as they hugged again, reveling in their celebration.

  The moment was almost enough to draw tears to Travis’s eyes at being able to witness such a truly joyous occasion for his friends.

  Hugs, kisses, congratulations, and more confetti were passed around, and Travis noticed Cory never once let go of Josh’s hand.

  They stayed on the hill for quite some time as the photographer took endless pictures of the glowing couple, and Travis did his best to help out
and make the process effortless. He took several of his own pictures and noticed Jersey doing the same with his own phone. Between them and the photographer, they should have a nice variety of posed and candid shots to remember the occasion.

  When Josh’s stomach rumbled, causing everyone to chuckle, they finally made their way back down the hill to get ready for the reception. Cory and Josh stayed behind for a few minutes of privacy and, Travis figured, lots of lip action.

  Travis and Jersey spent the next half hour helping the caterer, making sure the cake was displayed properly, plugging in lights, and assisting the families in preparation of the arrival of the rest of the guests.

  Travis found the easy companionship and conversation with Jersey, while they worked, to be a pleasant surprise. As much as he hated to say it, based on looks alone, Travis wouldn’t have figured he would have much in common with Jersey. He was, however, glad to have been proven wrong. He’d figured after the brief chat they’d shared the night before, they might run out of things to talk about, seeing as how their mutual understanding of Connectivity was the only real point of common ground. But, Jersey kept Travis engaged and busy with questions about his sister and brother and what kinds of special accommodations they needed, and he’d even asked Travis to teach him a few signs in ASL.

  When others started arriving, they split up and tackled the evening, making sure Josh and Cory were well tended and had everything they needed, helped guests find seating, and greeted those they knew with welcoming hugs.

  As the evening wore on and the delicious meal was served, Travis and Jersey accompanied the grooms at the head table. Cory and Josh thanked them again for all their help and they waved them off, explaining they were glad to do what they could and to be there to celebrate their special day with them.

  After the meal was cleared, the music started, and Cory and Josh took their first dance as a married couple. Travis recognized the song as the same one that Cory dedicated to Josh at their prom, and he thought it was super sweet to realize the lyrics were a perfect fit for the occasion. When the song ended and Cory and Josh shared a tender kiss, the music turned more lively and several other people joined them on their makeshift dance floor.