Dreamspinner Press Year Nine Greatest Hits

by Michael Murphy

  The local radio stations were playing either country or tooth-aching pop, so Scott pulled up a playlist on his phone and hooked it up to the car’s stereo system.

  Evan turned on the cruise control and leaned back to watch the road, his hand loosely linked with Scott’s as he drove. It felt better than he would have ever thought for one of his oldest friends to know he and Scott had become a thing. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised at Andy’s easy acceptance—after he’d gotten over the shock, of course. Andy had always been perennially laid-back.

  It was late when they got home. The date had ticked over, and their neighborhood was quiet, as it tended to be in the early hours.

  THEY HAD a routine in the evenings, one that Evan silently cherished. He was a creature of habit, something that had only increased as he aged. Evan always showered first while Scott locked up the house and made sure Princess had water in her bowl. Then he brushed his teeth, and when he was done, they switched, Evan leaving the water running as Scott passed him a towel, then took his place. Some nights Scott finished quickly and got into the shower with Evan. That was the sort of deviation in routine Evan was just fine with.

  Now he was back in the South, Evan had stopped wearing pajamas to bed. He’d never really adapted to the feeling of clothes in bed for the few weeks he’d been in Chicago. Now even during the winter, he had a warm body to curl up next to, and it hadn’t taken long for Scott to pick up the habit too.

  “You wanna read tonight?” Evan murmured as he pulled the covers up to his chin and rolled onto his side to poke Scott in the belly.

  “Nah.”

  Scott read cult sci-fi on his Kindle or graphic novels on his iPad. He was currently working his way through everything Evan had worked on, even if it was just backgrounds or inking.

  The forest lamp had made its way back from Chicago, and Evan had used it as inspiration for their shared bedroom. This room was cream instead of green, and Evan had picked out green accents in the furniture instead. Their whole house was a little less put together than Scott’s old apartment. It seemed to suit them better, the way the two of them were together.

  Scott turned off the lamp and rolled over to curl himself around Evan’s body. With alcohol still warming his veins and his head feeling fuzzy, Evan started to drift almost immediately. Scott skimmed his hand up and down Evan’s arm and whispered noiseless words against his neck.

  “Hey, Evan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You love me?”

  “Yeah,” Evan said, feeling the smile tugging at his lips. “I love you.”

  “Good. Evan?”

  “Yeah?”

  Scott hesitated for a moment, and Evan felt himself almost fall asleep.

  “Will you marry me?”

  “Yeah,” Evan murmured. “Of course I will.”

  “Good. That’s good.”

  THE NEXT morning, Evan woke to the feeling something was very, very wrong.

  The light coming in through a crack in the curtains was weak, telling him it was still early. Early enough that, on a normal day, Scott should be curled up behind him. And Princess should be asleep at their feet.

  He almost startled awake, reaching back for Scott and finding nothing but barely warm sheets.

  When he rolled back and made to get out of bed, heart in his throat, Evan stuttered.

  There was a ring box on his nightstand—a dark blue velvet ring box with two men’s wedding bands inside.

  The previous night came back to him in a fuzzy rush.

  I love you.

  Will you marry me?

  Of course I will.

  Evan reached out and pulled the two rings from the box. One was made of dark metal with a band of smooth, dark wood running through the middle. Olive wood, most likely. The second ring was solid wood, lined with what he thought was white gold, the outside polished to an incredibly smooth shine.

  Evan let out a messy exhale. “Fuck me,” he murmured to himself, turning the rings over and over in his palm.

  A noise from farther in the house startled him for a moment, and then he rolled out of bed, pulled on a pair of boxers from the drawer he shared with Scott, and went to find his boyfriend.

  Scott was in the kitchen, furiously scrubbing at pans Evan was pretty sure were already clean.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” Evan asked softly.

  Scott startled and sloshed water over himself. He’d put on a white T-shirt and matching boxer briefs and stood barefoot at the sink.

  “Yeah,” he said in a soft voice.

  Evan quickly moved to pull Scott back into his arms, wrapping one arm solidly around Scott’s waist and putting his chin on Scott’s shoulder. When he was sure he had his partner’s attention, he uncurled his hand, showing Scott the rings.

  “Which one’s mine, then?” Evan asked.

  “You can pick.”

  “Which one did you think would be mine?”

  “The, uh… the olive one. But you could have the other one if you wanted,” he added with a rush.

  “I liked the olive wood one too,” Evan murmured. “It’s beautiful, Scott. Where did you get these?”

  “Found them online. There’s a guy out in San Francisco who makes them. He said we could resize them if necessary, or he’ll exchange the olive wood one if it doesn’t fit. It fits me, though, so I guess it should be fine on you.”

  Scott turned in Evan’s arms then, and his expression was so terrified Evan wanted to kiss it off his face. He settled for rubbing their noses together.

  “Marry me,” Evan said softly.

  “I intend to,” Scott laughed.

  “Right now. Marry me right now.”

  “We have to get a license from the courthouse, then—”

  “Right now,” Evan insisted. “We can sign their paperwork another time. I want to marry you here, in our kitchen, today.”

  “Okay,” Scott said, reaching up to smooth his hand over Evan’s jaw. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “So… I, Scott Marshall Sparrow, take you, Evan Derrick King, to be my husband.”

  On mornings like this, when the sun was still coming up, their kitchen faced out at the perfect angle for the glowing sunrise light to pour in through the wide window where they grew kitchen herbs. Evan watched as the golden light moved, somehow turning Scott’s hair blackish blue.

  “I, Evan Derrick King, take you, Scott Marshall Sparrow, to be my husband,” Evan said, settling both his hands at the bottom of Scott’s back. “For richer or poorer.”

  “In sickness and in health,” Scott said, and his voice sounded a little choked.

  “For as long as we both shall live.”

  Evan leaned back far enough to take Scott’s hand and slipped the silver band onto his finger. When Scott echoed the gesture, it turned out he was right—the wooden ring fit Evan perfectly. Evan found it surprisingly light. It was like the ring was meant to be there.

  “You are the best thing that ever happened to me,” Scott said, and there were definitely tears in his eyes now. “And I swear to God, I never deserved it. I never deserved you. And I will spend my whole life showing you how much you mean to me. Every day.”

  He leaned in for a kiss, and Evan stopped him with a brush of his thumb over the sweet pout.

  “I fell in love with your eyes,” Evan murmured. He smiled as Scott blinked them, letting the tears fall. “They’re so blue.”

  “My eyes have always been blue,” Scott said with a broken laugh.

  “I know.”

  Scott shook his head slowly. “Since when?”

  “Since forever. Since I was seven years old and Scott Sparrow was the coolest kid I’d ever met. He still is, you know.”

  When Scott laughed, Evan couldn’t stand it any longer. He reached up, framing Scott’s jaw with his hands, and took Scott’s lips in their first married kiss.

  For the first few seconds, it was sweet and chaste and perfect. Then Scott slipped his tongue into Evan’s mouth and grabbed Evan’s ass and ha
uled the two of them together. Evan almost laughed as they fell back against the counter, lips moving in perfect synchrony.

  “Do you want to break a record for the fastest time from marriage to consummation?” Scott asked, and then Evan did laugh.

  “Fuck yeah.”

  “This was not how I expected this morning to go,” Scott said as he kissed up Evan’s neck, stopping to nuzzle at the spot just below his ear. “I have never been more honored to be wrong.”

  “What were you expecting?” Evan asked. He tipped his head back to give Scott better access. Scott definitely knew what he was doing with this part of Evan’s body.

  “A discussion, maybe. To kiss you. I thought we might start making plans on when and where we’d do this….”

  “Are you mad?”

  “About what? Doing it right away?” He shook his head. “No. I’ve wanted this for so long. Waiting was a terrible idea.”

  He took Evan’s left hand and brought it up, rubbing his thumb over the black ring.

  “It looks good,” Evan said.

  “It does.”

  Evan flattened his palm against Scott’s, then threaded their fingers together.

  “Come to bed,” he said softly, and this time Scott didn’t hesitate before following.

  THEIR BED was still rumpled from the night before, covers and comforter kicked around by combined feet and the desire to sleep close to each other. The cat was uncharacteristically absent, and Scott shut the door behind them, keeping her out. This was one thing they didn’t need a witness for.

  Evan hesitated by the bed, watching as Scott pressed himself against the closed door. When Evan held out his hand, Scott all but fell into his arms.

  “We’re going to make this real,” Scott said as he kissed up Evan’s neck, his hands already roaming over Evan’s side and back.

  Evan pulled at Scott’s T-shirt, tugging it up and off, then kissed over the newly exposed skin of his collarbones and shoulders.

  “Mine. My husband.”

  They fell onto the bed, kicking off underwear, knowing each other now so intimately this was second nature. Scott pressed his hands to Evan’s body with the sureness that came with years of practice. Sometimes Evan felt like Scott was an extension of himself.

  Evan easily flipped Scott onto his back and caught the surprised laugh between his lips. He kissed over Scott’s jaw, his Adam’s apple, down over his chest to pull tight pink nipples between his teeth.

  He nosed at the dark hairs on Scott’s belly and rubbed his lips softly over the pink, sticky head of Scott’s dick, gathering the flavor on his lips.

  “Oh God,” Scott groaned. His fingers came to tug at Evan’s hair, shorter now than it had been for most of his life though still as blond as it had always been.

  Evan had always loved the term “lover.” No matter what else they were to each other, that word seemed just perfect to describe what they were to each other. They loved. They were lovers.

  He mouthed at the head of Scott’s cock, then took it deep into his throat, making Scott groan and buck and tug at Evan’s hair. They made love with the easy grace of two men who knew each other now, so intimately, so perfectly that nothing felt impossible.

  “Swing your legs round,” Scott said, tugging at Evan’s hair again.

  Evan huffed a laugh and did as he was told, keeping a firm grip on the base of Scott’s cock. He settled with his knees either side of Scott’s ears and went back to tonguing at the head of Scott’s dick, making it slippery and perfect.

  The moment Scott echoed the action over Evan’s dick, Evan stuttered, pressing his forehead to Scott’s hip as he let out a long moan.

  “Come on,” Scott teased, slapping Evan’s ass sharply. “Tit for tat.”

  “I’ll fucking tit for tat you,” Evan muttered.

  “That makes no—oh fuck.”

  Evan liked to think he was better at sucking dick than Scott. He’d had more practice at it, after all. And he knew how to completely take Scott apart with little flicks of his tongue, massaging the shaft of Scott’s dick with hollowed-out cheeks as his fingers played behind Scott’s balls.

  But Scott had picked up a few of those tricks for himself, and Evan found his body responding quicker than he’d anticipated under Scott’s intense teasing.

  “Fuck, Scott,” Evan breathed. “Want you inside me.”

  Scott groaned. “Me too.”

  Evan pulled off and rolled onto his back, upside down on the bed now. He spread his legs and stretched his arms over his head, his pose a languid Come and get me.

  Scott grinned, grabbed lube from their nightstand, and kissed his way up Evan’s body. His tongue traced along the crease of Evan’s hip. He nosed at Evan’s belly button and licked circles around each nipple in turn.

  They were smiling when their lips met again, sweet kisses peppered over delicate skin, and Evan reached up to gently cup Scott’s cheeks in his hands.

  “Be quick,” Evan murmured. “I need this.”

  “Only been married two minutes and you’re already bossing me around.”

  Evan laughed, delighted, and grabbed Scott’s wrist to direct it between his own thighs.

  “Come on.”

  Apparently Scott was in no rush. He held Evan’s wrists in one hand, pinned above him on the bed, while he worked two fingers of his other hand slowly into Evan’s body. There was security in Scott’s touch, and Evan let himself go with it, moaning quietly and rocking his hips into each explorative thrust of Scott’s fingers.

  “Please.”

  “Hmm?” Scott hummed, brushing his lips over Evan’s mouth and his fingers over Evan’s prostate. “What do you want, baby?”

  “Need,” Evan corrected. “Need you inside me.”

  “Okay.”

  Scott pushed his tongue into Evan’s mouth, and Evan licked at it hungrily, wishing his hands were free so he could hold Scott’s head to his own. When Scott finally let go, he used his free hand to drizzle more lube over Evan’s hole, then pulled his fingers out and pushed his cock in in one smooth, practiced move.

  Evan gasped, his whole body contracting and curling in, his hands flying to Scott’s shoulders and squeezing them hard.

  “Oh my God.”

  Scott moaned, low and deep into Evan’s ear. After a few seconds, allowing both their bodies to adjust, Scott started rocking back and forth. Just gently. Just teasing.

  “I love you,” Evan whispered. He wrapped his arms more solidly around Scott’s back, holding him close. “So much.”

  Scott nuzzled into the space under Evan’s ear and whimpered softly. “I love you too. I can’t believe you’re my husband.”

  Time seemed to slow then, becoming an indefinite thing as they moved together. It was more than rings, more than bodies or touching or whatever terms someone else wanted to use to define the concept of marriage. It was theirs. It was making love.

  Evan was only aware that tears were slipping from his eyes when Scott started to kiss them away. He’d never done this before, never felt so close to another person that he wanted to cry while having sex with them. Scott didn’t say anything, just held Evan tighter, made his thrusts harder, deeper.

  Evan came with Scott’s name on his lips, his body unraveling around Scott’s, and he rode the edge of pleasure with his arms still wrapped tight around Scott’s chest. A few seconds later, Scott groaned again, and Evan imagined he could feel it, Scott’s come deep inside his body.

  “Love you,” Scott murmured, kissing down Evan’s neck. “More than anything.”

  It felt like their erratic heartbeats settled into a shared rhythm as their breathing evened out again. Evan sighed, finally releasing his death grip around Scott’s shoulders, and fluttered his fingers through Scott’s dark hair.

  It took longer than usual to come down from this particular sex high. Evan wanted to luxuriate in the feeling for as long as he could, losing himself in the intimacy of having Scott still inside him.

  “Need to move,”
Scott said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Evan just grunted, moving bonelessly with Scott as he rolled them both onto their sides. For a little while they almost dozed, content to be held, finding a new peace in the world they had made together.

  “So,” Scott said, his voice an easy, satisfied sigh. “What are we going to do today?”

  “It’s almost lunchtime,” Evan said with a laugh. He ran a flat palm over Scott’s chest, then tucked his head under Scott’s chin and settled into the now-familiar embrace.

  “We could go out for pizza?”

  “That’s an amazing idea. I knew I married you for a reason.”

  Scott chuckled and kissed the top of Evan’s head. “Any more reasons?”

  “That’s the most important one right now.”

  “Can we stop by the county clerk’s office and pick up our marriage license?”

  Evan hummed. “Okay.”

  “You sound… not pleased with that idea.”

  “I dunno.” Evan brushed his fingertips through Scott’s chest hair. “I like that it’s ours right now.”

  “Ugh, come here,” Scott grunted as he pushed Evan onto his back and settled himself on top, his arms bracketing Evan’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I mean it. I just like that no one else knows other than us.”

  “You want to elope?”

  “No. Didn’t we already do that?”

  “I want for this to be official,” Scott said, leaning down to press his lips to the corner of Evan’s mouth. “I want to be able to call you my husband and put you on my will and make you my next of kin, and get all the tax breaks. We can have all of that, so I want it for us.”

  “Okay.” Evan kissed him again. “Okay.”

  “You’re not just my boyfriend anymore. It’s something more now. We made us a family.”

  “Come shower with me. Then we’ll go get our marriage license.”

  There was space in the shower for both of them; they’d made sure of it when they’d renovated the bathroom. It was a good shower too, powerful enough to cover them both in hot water as they gently washed each other’s bodies down. They did this enough, sharing a shower, to know how not to make it sexual. Not that Evan could get hard again after that, even if he wanted to.