The Substitute
Page 18
Down time was boring, but at least they got to hang out away from the office and catch up on sleep. The wedding coming up was the perfect between-projects distraction. Ethan hadn’t taken a proper vacation in years.
“I never have bad ideas,” Ethan said. “It’s perfect. We met at work and fell in love over late nights and weekends eating junk food. It’s an office romance. It’s boring and down to earth and the kind of story you can actually tell people.”
“It’s nice of you to offer, but I think it’s time I told my family that I’m taking a vow of celibacy so I never have to deal with men again. At least that way they won’t try to pair me off with the one gay man in Payton’s family.”
“What’s he like?” Ethan asked. Maybe it’d be good for Caleb to go alone, if it meant he’d have the chance to get to know someone he might have a future with.
“I don’t know, he’s hypothetical.” Caleb swapped takeout containers again, going for one that was still on the coffee table this time. “But there will be one. And he’ll probably be boring and awful and grope me at the reception after two drinks. There’s always one. And I’m always introduced to him as though we’ll get along because we’re both gay, like that’s the single most important facet of my existence.”
“Oh.” Ethan’s heart sank. “You sure you don’t wanna take me? Because I’d come in handy as a human shield. Anyone gropes my fake boyfriend, I’ll break their goddamn fingers.”
“I appreciate the offer to be my knight in shining armor, but I think this is one of those times where I have to be a grownup about it and just deal. And I can break his fingers myself if it comes down to it.” Caleb paused, and then laughed to himself. “I’d probably just let him grope me. I’m starting to miss human contact.”
“Do you need a hug?” Ethan asked.
“Literally always,” Caleb said. He’d barely finished getting the words out before Ethan threw his arm around Caleb’s shoulders and pulled him close, squeezing him against his side. Caleb wasn’t a big guy by any means, and Ethan had a good four inches in height and shoulder width on him. He fit neatly against his side, and it was nice to have human contact. It had been a while for Ethan, too.
“Thank you,” Caleb said softly after a moment. “I might take you up on that ice cream, later. And again, when I get back and I have to complain about literally every minute of what would otherwise be a fun vacation.”
Ethan chuckled, letting Caleb go after another few moments so they could both go back to eating. “I’ll be here to listen. And you can text me as it happens if you want.”
“I’ll probably take you up on that, too.” Caleb smiled wryly. “Why do we have families?”
“We need them to feed us until we’re old enough to order takeout,” Ethan said. “After that… I dunno.”
“You go home every Thanksgiving. You’re not fooling anyone.” Caleb sighed. “I’m glad you have a cool family.”
“Having heard your horror stories, so am I,” Ethan said. Ethan wasn’t about to move home to be closer to his family or anything, but he liked seeing them when they were all together. Family Thanksgivings were nice, and the same was true when he went home for Christmas, too. “We’re not perfect or anything, but we love each other.”
“I think my parents love me. I just think they wanted me to be very different.” Caleb sat back and sipped his beer. “I dunno.”
“Just go and tell yourself you’re gonna have a good time. Drink brightly-colored cocktails by the pool. It’s good for the soul.”
Caleb laughed at that. “It is. And there’ll be pool boys. It won’t be all bad.”
“See? All you gotta do is think positive,” Ethan said, though he knew that was harder than it sounded. He just wanted Caleb to have a nice vacation. He deserved a break.
It was a pity they weren’t both going. Ethan could have used the break, too, and he hated going away on his own. They could have had a lot of fun together, but he wasn’t going to push. This was family stuff, and he wouldn’t be doing Caleb any favors by interfering.
Maybe they could go on a trip together some other time, the next time they had a gap between major projects. Head out into the wilderness and not have to look at a computer screen for a few days, or go to Vegas and do a ton of stuff they never talked about again except when they were drunk and feeling nostalgic a few years down the line. Or maybe they could just take an overnight trip to see a concert or something.
The more he thought about it, the more Ethan liked the idea of going somewhere with Caleb. They could talk about it once he’d recovered from the wedding.
Keep reading The Wedding Date