by Alexa Land
I was grinning ear-to-ear as I watched them. When Ignacio looked up suddenly and caught my eye, he flashed me a glorious smile, and my heart tripped over itself. My God, he just really was everything.
“Wow, somebody’s got it bad.” I looked up and found Charlie standing beside me with an amused expression on his face.
“What?”
“I asked if you wanted a refill, since I’m headed to the coffee pot. But clearly, that’s not what you’re thirsting for.”
I muttered, “Jesus,” and handed him my mug, then said, “I’d love another cuppa, thanks. But you’ve no room to talk, not after all the lovey dovey shite I’ve had to endure whenever you and your husband get within a mile of each other.”
Charlie smiled at me and headed to the door as he said, “Do you realize you become at least fifty percent more Irish whenever you’re frazzled? It’s cute. Have you dialed up that brogue for your Spaniard? I bet it’d make him all tingly.”
“I’m not frazzled, and the whole lot of you can feck off an’ stop grinning at me like a bunch of Cheshire cats.” They just laughed.
*****
About half an hour later, the canvas was filled with a vivid, happy, and really good painting. Ignacio joined us on the deck and surprised me by straddling my lap and kissing me deeply. Then he said, “Thanks for being so patient. Jayden is finished, he’s just washing up.”
I slid my hands around his waist and said, “I love the fact that you took the time to do that. You really have a way with kids.”
“That boy’s a remarkable human being, and it breaks my heart that he’s been through so much in his young life. He told me his parents kicked him out of the house when they found out he was gay, and his older brother Joely went along so he could take care of him. Now he’s afraid he’s going to lose his brother too, because Joely’s smitten with some new girlfriend and spending all his time with her.”
Dante said, “I’m surprised he opened up to you about that. We’ve all been concerned about the way Joely seems to be withdrawing from us, but I couldn’t get Jayden to talk about it.”
Ignacio glanced at Dante over his shoulder and said, “Sometimes it’s just easier to talk to a neutral party, instead of your parents. It’s obvious you mean the world to that kid, and I get the impression he’s trying to act strong for you.” Dante was the toughest man I knew, so the emotion that flared in his eyes was unexpected. Charlie saw it too, and he wrapped his arms around his husband with a look of pure adoration.
A few moments later, Jayden ran outside and asked all of us to take a look at his painting. He seemed nervous, but excited, too. We followed him into the studio, and I told him honestly, “It’s fantastic, Jayden. If Christopher hung it on the wall of his gallery, it would be right at home with the other works of art.”
It really was good. Three robots of different sizes jutted into the canvas at various angles, creating a dynamic composition, and he’d captured them well with bold brushstrokes and bright colors. The teen smiled happily, and Ignacio squeezed my hand.
“Is anybody else getting hungry?” Kieran asked. “I think we should order a stack of pizzas, and all of you should stay for dinner.”
He and Charlie were a lot alike, in that both men were tall, athletic, and in their mid-twenties. Charlie was a former football player, and if Kieran wasn’t, he looked like he should have been. It was no wonder that Charlie exclaimed, “I always say yes to pizza! What do you think, guys?”
Jayden pulled out his phone and said, “Sounds good. I’m gonna text my brother and let him know we’ll be having dinner here, in case he wants to join us. He’s probably busy with his girlfriend, though.” The poor kid already looked disappointed.
I glanced at Ignacio and asked, “Would you like to stay?”
He nodded. “We could continue our walk after dinner, if you want to.”
“Absolutely.” Everyone started to head for the stairs, and I called, “We’ll meet you up there in a minute. Ignacio still needs to tell me about his paintings.”
He led me on a tour of Christopher’s starkly beautiful photorealistic paintings first, before showing me his. Ignacio had four on display, part of a collection called The Cuba Series. It had started out with a dozen paintings, but the rest had already sold.
The canvases were vibrant and beautiful, but there was a realness to them, too. Through little details like chipped paint on the buildings, smudges of dirt on children’s clothes, and ancient cars held together with a prayer, they went much deeper than travel brochure prettiness, and they stirred up a lot of emotions in me. A portrait of a young woman looking with longing at something in the distance was particularly touching, for reasons I couldn’t quite explain.
Ignacio watched my profile as I studied a painting of a couple of boys playing marbles, and after a moment, he asked, “When you look at the paintings as a set, what word comes to mind?”
“Hope.”
He said softly, “That’s exactly what I was trying to convey. I love the fact that you always understand.”
“Doesn’t everyone? It seems obvious.”
“No, and I guess it’s not a bad thing that people interpret my work in their own way. But it’s nice when someone sees my intent.” He took my hand and asked, “Would you come outside with me for just a minute? The sun’s setting, and it looks amazing out there.” I readily agreed.
It was surprisingly quiet on the deck, even though we were in the heart of the city. The only sound was the wind rustling through a nearby grove of eucalyptus trees, which brought their crisp, slightly medicinal scent our way. Ignacio stood right behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and I felt the warmth of his body through our clothes as we took in the view. The purple and orange sky was reflected in the water beneath the bridge and reminded me of one of his paintings. When I told him that, it made him smile.
After a while, I murmured, “What an absolutely perfect day.”
He sounded wistful when he said, “I’d love a thousand more, exactly like this one.”
“Me too.”
He paused before saying, “I don’t just want to be a fling, Cameron, or a friend you have sex with. I want more, and I know that’s asking a lot, given everything you’ve been through. But can we please give this a chance?”
I turned to face him. I wanted Ignacio more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life, but while most of me was screaming ‘Yes! God yes!’ a tendril of fear rose up in me and made my heart race, and I found myself blurting, “I can only do this if we both go into it promising to be totally honest with each other, above all else. What happened last year almost broke me, and I know this is a completely different situation, but it all comes down to trust.” What I really meant was, ‘please don’t hurt me,’ but that sounded pathetic.
The breeze stirred his hair, and the setting sun turned his skin to gold as his eyes searched mine. There was sadness in them, probably because I’d basically just asked him to take an oath of honesty before agreeing to get involved with him. He whispered, “I never want to hurt you, Cameron. You have to know I’d do anything to avoid causing you pain.” Surprisingly, he’d actually answered what I’d left unsaid.
“I know that. I really do.” I felt guilty for even bringing it up. Ignacio buried his face in my shoulder, and I held him tightly. After a few moments, I said, “You told me once that you avoid getting close to people, because it complicates your life. What’s changed?”
“I’m falling for you, Cameron, and I just can’t deny what’s happening between us. I always felt so adrift, but I don’t when I’m with you. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m exactly where I belong.”
I tilted his chin up and kissed him before saying, “So do I.”
Chapter Eight
Mid-December
I glanced up from my newspaper and smiled. Ignacio had just let himself into my apartment with his key, and he was juggling two grocery sacks, a few dry cleaning bags, a bottle of wine, and a two-foot-t
all tree made of bright blue tinsel. I asked, “Is that for me?”
“It is!” He crossed the apartment and put everything on the counter separating the kitchen from the living area, including the tree. Then he plugged it in and looked delighted when it lit up with a hundred white bulbs.
“I thought we agreed not to get a Christmas tree because there’s no room for it.”
“But this takes no room at all. Also, it’s not really a tree by most definitions.”
“You got me on a technicality.” Ignacio joined me in my recliner, straddling my lap so most of his weight was on his knees and not on me. He sat on my lap like that often, and I absolutely loved it. I set aside the newspaper and ran my hands down his back as he kissed me, and then I said, “Please tell me you brought groceries so we can make dinner at home, instead of going to that party tonight.”
He grinned at me and shook his head. “So antisocial.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I brought ingredients to make appetizers. We’re taking them and the wine to Nana Dombruso’s house tonight.”
“Alternatively, we could get naked and stay in bed all weekend.” I brushed his dark hair back from his face, then lightly traced the curve of his jaw.
“I really want us to do that, but after the party.” He kissed me again and said, “Why are you so resistant to going? You like Dante and his family.”
“I do, but his grandmother’s parties are always so chaotic.”
He smiled and echoed my earlier sentiment. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Okay, how about this? We’ll go to the party for an hour, then slip out the back door, come home, and implement our naked weekend.”
“Two hours.”
“Ninety minutes.”
“Deal.” I kissed him again before saying, “This is going to sound like an excuse, but I don’t think I have anything to wear.”
“Nice try, Cinderella, but I picked up two of your suits and a few shirts from the dry cleaner on the way over here.” He gestured at the bags on the kitchen counter.
“That’s mine? I assumed you’d brought more stuff to store in my closet.” He was living in a hotel while apartment hunting, but many of his things had found their way to my place, since he woke up in my bed more often than not. “I’d actually forgotten I had stuff at the cleaner’s.”
His grin turned teasing. “You always forget. It’s part of that sexy absent-minded professor thing you’ve got going on.”
“Only you would think that was sexy.” I pulled him down into a kiss, then rested my forehead against his as I said, “Thank you for taking care of me, Ignacio. Nobody’s ever done that before.”
“We take care of each other,” he said. “That’s just what you do in a relationship.” He kissed me once more before climbing off my lap and saying, “It’s going to take me half an hour or so to make the appetizers. That gives you plenty of time to get ready.” He was already dressed for the party and looked gorgeous in a tailored, royal blue dress shirt and black pants, which he’d paired with the nicer of his two black leather jackets and his black cowboy boots. Meanwhile, I was in my weekend uniform, a T-shirt and sweats.
I got up too and retrieved the dry cleaning bags as I asked, “Are you making pancakes to take to the party?” It was a running joke with us, since he’d eat them for every meal if he could.
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Really?”
“You’ll see.” I was chuckling as I headed to the bathroom.
I took my time showering and shaving, and then I got dressed in my charcoal gray suit and a crisp, white shirt, both fresh from the dry cleaner. I’d bought myself a few new clothes over the last month, including that suit. In the past, I’d barely given a second thought to what I was wearing. But since Ignacio and I had become a couple, I’d felt inspired to make more of an effort. It just seemed like my outside should match my inside, and since I felt like a new man with my handsome boyfriend, I figured I should look like one, too.
When I returned to the kitchen, I said, “You weren’t kidding.” He was transferring the last of a few dozen miniature pancakes from my biggest skillet to a cooling rack.
“They’re basically blini. I made up a savory pancake recipe with cream cheese and chives, and I have smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar to go on top, along with little sprigs of dill. It’ll just take a few minutes to assemble them when we get to Nana’s.”
“Fancy.”
He put the pan in the sink and ran his gaze down my body as he said, “You look terrific.”
“Thanks. You do too, but that’s always the case. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Ignacio shook his head. “We just have to wait a few minutes for the pancakes to cool. Then we can pack them up and go.”
I closed the gap between us and kissed him deeply. My cock was pressed to his, and when I felt him harden, I knelt down in front of him and said, “I think I know how we can pass the time.” He was chuckling as I unzipped his pants.
*****
When we finally made it to Nana and Ollie’s house, the party was in full swing. The front of the huge Victorian was painted in a rainbow, and for the holidays, it had been decked out in so many colorful Christmas lights that it was probably visible from space. A herd of wireframe bucks cavorted in the yard, and they were apparently all gay, given the reindeer games they were playing. Nana had several gay grandsons, and she took being a supporter of the LGBTQ community to a whole new level.
The crowd of partygoers had spilled out onto the front porch, and we had to ease in sideways to make it through the front door. When we entered the grand foyer, I glanced up at a cloud of rainbow-striped Christmas ornaments that hung from the massive crystal chandelier. Music spilled from the living room to our left. It was packed with people, most of whom were dancing. The space was dominated by a huge artificial tree, whose brightly-colored tiers formed a rainbow.
We headed to the crowded kitchen on the opposite side of the entryway, where we were greeted by Nana and Ollie. He wore a Santa costume, and she was dressed like an elf in a green velvet mini-dress, red-and-white-striped tights, and pointy red slippers, which matched her pointy red hat. Nana was a tiny little thing, and probably around eighty years old, so she made a very cute elf. She pulled both of us down to her height and planted a big kiss on our cheeks, which left red lipstick marks, and then she exclaimed, “I love seeing the two of you together! You’re a beautiful couple, just beautiful!”
Ignacio handed the bottle of wine to Ollie and hugged the little old man, who said, “I have some news, Iggy. First of all, it’s back to the drawing board for a new and unique venue to host your one-man show. My plans to rent out the reptile house at the zoo didn’t work out, which is too bad because that would have generated a lot of buzz. Now for the big news: I got a call from the head of acquisitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art! She wants to meet this Wednesday at three to talk about including a couple of your pieces in their permanent collection.”
Ignacio looked shocked. “SFMOMA would be a dream come true. Thank you so much, Ollie.”
“I can’t take credit, son. You’re finally getting the recognition you deserve.”
“Thanks to you. Let’s open the wine and drink a toast,” Ignacio said. “It’s a nice Spanish Tempranillo, I know how much you like those. I brought some appetizers as well, similar to those blini you enjoyed at lunch the other day.”
Ollie rubbed his hands together and exclaimed, “Fantastic, let’s pop that cork!”
Nana looked around and said, “I’m doing too many things at once here. Where was I going when you boys came in?”
“You were headed to the oven to pull out that tray of stuffed mushrooms, Hot Stuff,” Ollie told her. “Let me get them for you, so you can relax and enjoy the party.”
A guy named River squeezed past us and said, “I’ve got the mushrooms, Nana. Ollie’s right, you should relax. Isn’t that why
you hired my husband and me to do the catering?”
“I hired you because your food’s the bomb,” she said. “But you and your sweetie are family, and you need to enjoy the party, too. Besides, I don’t want to sit around being useless!”
He smiled at her and said, “I know who needs your help. A few of the guests in the living room were trying to twerk, and they really weren’t doing it right.”
Nana’s dark eyes lit up, since she considered herself an expert on the subject. “I’m on it!”
She hurried from the kitchen, and Ignacio picked up a corkscrew and said, “We can save her a glass of the Tempranillo.” He opened the bottle and poured a glass for Ollie, then handed me one with a sweet smile.
I took a sip of the smooth red wine, then asked Ignacio, “Aren’t you having some?”
“I want to make sure there’s enough for Nana.”
“In that case, share mine.” I offered him my glass, and he took a sip before leaning in and kissing me. For a moment, I forgot all about the party, the noise, everything but Ignacio.
Our reverie was interrupted by a deep voice beside us, which said, “My childhood bedroom’s right upstairs if you two need a little alone time.”
I turned to Dante, who was heaving an enormous gingerbread house onto the kitchen island while Charlie moved aside some dishes to make room, and I said, “Don’t tell me you made that.”
“Hell no. We tried to make one with Jayden, but it caved in.”
Charlie said, “We put a plastic T-rex on top of the wreckage and pretended it was intentional. It still tasted great.”
“I ordered this one from a bakery after ours bit the dust, and it turned out to be huge,” Dante said, “so we decided Nana and her party guests might enjoy it. It’s way too much gingerbread for a family of four.”