by Jerry Cole
“You don’t have to prove yourself to—”
“Just give me a little time, okay?”
“Okay,” Mark replied. “I’ll give you a little time. You may just have to put up with me being scared.”
“That’s fine,” Jon said, kissing his cheek. “You’ve put up with enough of my shit already.”
“Won’t you tell me what’s going on?” Mark said. He was starting to feel a little ridiculous as he struggled with his tie. It made it worse that Jon seemed to be an expert at it, doing a perfect Windsor knot in less than a minute. “Are we going out somewhere?”
“No,” Jon said. “Just be patient, okay? You said you would give me time.”
“I didn’t say I would give you this,” Mark replied. “I feel very uncomfortable.”
“Shame, because you look hot as fuck,” Jon said. “If you ever manage to actually put that tie on, I have some good uses in mind for it.”
Mark laughed. His heart was beating fast and he wasn’t sure, exactly, what Jon was trying to do. “Is this a sex thing? Because I would have gotten a cheaper suit if it was a sex—”
“Shush,” Jon said, laughing with him. “It’s not a sex thing.”
“Okay,” Mark said. “Then what kind of thing is it? If we are not going out —”
“If I tell you, will you relax?”
“Maybe,” Mark said. He wasn’t sure what Jon could say that would make him not feel nervous then and there.
“Then I may tell you,” Jon replied. “Oh, relax. Please relax. I promise it’s a good thing.”
“But —”
“Look,” Jon said. “We are having a dinner party.”
“But I didn’t —”
“Invite anyone,” Jon replied. “I know, I know. I invited people.”
“So who is coming?”
“My friend Laurie.”
“She’s coming from Miami?”
“Yes,” Jon replied. “She really, really wants to meet you.”
“Oh, wow,” Mark replied, sitting down on the bed. “That’s kind of scary. I wish I got a little warning.”
“She’s not the only guest,” Jon said, sitting down next to him. “Here, let me do this.”
He did Mark’s tie while Mark tried his best to stop himself from trembling. He wasn’t sure why this seemed like such a big deal to him. Mark swallowed before he talked. “So who else is coming?”
“Your Aunt Rosa,” Jon said. “I thought it would be better to go local before I started to meet people like your parents. I wanted to reach out and call them, but I was a little scared. I thought you should probably have a bit more input in that.”
“You — but you —” Mark said. “But she lives here. She will know who you are and she may spread that about you. I mean, I don’t think she will, but you don’t know if she won’t.”
“You’re right,” Jon replied. “I know that she may tell people.”
“But you — that’s the reason you wouldn’t sell the house in the first place,” Mark said. He thought his hands were trembling. Jon had invited his Aunt Rosa. She could reveal his identity to everyone, the thing that he had work so hard to keep hidden. Of course, Mark knew that his aunt was incredibly discreet. He knew that she had no problems keeping secrets. After all, she was the one who had walked in on him and his first boyfriend when he was only fourteen, and she had said nothing except to keep it down. She had kept it that way for years until he came out to everyone else. But Jon had no way of knowing that.
“I don’t want to sell the house,” Jon said. “Not anymore. I know this is kind of strange, but I’m really starting to love it.”
“Doesn’t seem that strange to me,” Mark replied, kissing Jon on the lips. “As creepy as it can be, I’m kind of starting to love it, too.”
Epilogue
“I’m going to go get more wine,” Jon said, to a table full of giggling guests. Mark was still laughing, his cheeks tinted with red from the conversation and the alcohol. Jon had drunk some wine too, but not much. Mark had noticed that he was pacing himself. “Mark? A hand?”
Mark nodded, still laughing, and got up from his seat. He grabbed Jon’s hand, which was extended behind him, their fingers interlocking. As soon as he arrived in the kitchen, he pushed Jon up against the wall and kissed him. “This was a great idea.”
“I didn’t come here just to make out,” Jon replied, moving away from him and laughing.
“Not just for that, huh?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have been upset if that was part of the plan, to be honest,” Jon said. “But that’s not what I meant to do.”
Mark laughed. “Then are we actually here to pour wine?”
“Yes,” Jon said. “Do me a favor and pour it out, won’t you?”
Mark grabbed the wine on the counter and the corkscrew.
“Nah,” Jon said. “Don’t bother with that. Try to open it with your hands.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Mark replied.
“I know,” Jon said. “Humor me.”
Mark did as he was told. The cork was stuck firmly in place and there was no way that he was going to be able to get it out.
Mark watched him with some curiosity as he wrapped his hands around the cork and removed it with ease, as if it was a screw-on lid. Here,” Jon said. “Give me your hand.”
Mark extended his hand toward Jon. Jon looked at him and deposited the cork into his outstretched palm.
“How did you do that?”
“As if I were going to tell you,” Jon replied. “Look inside.”
“Inside?” Mark said, grabbing the cork and turning it over in front of his eyes.
“You know the other day, when I let it slip that I loved you?”
“Oh, I thought we were just ignoring that,” Mark replied, still smiling.
“I was trying but then —” Jon took the cork off Mark without saying anything, moved his fingers around it and opened it. Mark’s eyes widened as he saw what was inside.
“That’s a ring — are you asking me to—” Mark could feel his heart beating fast in his chest. Maybe he should say yes. If that was what Jon wanted and it was what he wanted — it was a little early, sure, but he had never felt the way that he felt about Jon. It was real. And it was obviously real to Jon, too.
“No,” Jon said. “Not yet. It’s not one ring, it’s two rings.”
He swirled them around until one ring, about the same size as the other one, appeared to duplicate itself out of it.
“How did you—”
“I’m a magician,” Jon said.
He grabbed the rings and handed one to Mark, who looked confused and awestruck in equal measure. “It’s two rings.”
“Yes,” Jon said. “I made sure they looked unassuming and that they wouldn’t fit on your left finger. I just wanted to prove something to you. You were worried I’m not committed because this is scary, but I am. So I’m going to wear this, on my index finger so I don’t freak you out, because I love you. And you don’t have to wear yours because I know that you may not be there yet. But you have the option. If you want to.”
“Goddamn, you’re so fucking corny,” Mark replied. “The dinner party was enough.”
“I know,” Jon said. “But I just wanted to show you I’m committed. And I wanted to show you I’m willing to wait.”
“Wait for what?” Mark replied. “No. I’m done waiting.”
He looked at Jon as he slipped the ring on his index finger, his heart leaping in his chest.
*fin*
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