2017 Top Ten Gay Romance

by J. M. Snyder

  The situation had culminated a few days before he’d left for college. His mother had marched into the house, followed by two serious-looking, elderly men, and informed Luca he was going with them to a pray-the-gay-away-camp. At first, he’d been stunned and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d pleaded and asked her to reconsider, saying she’d regret it later, but nothing had helped. She’d been adamant—he was going.

  When Luca had gotten upset, one of the men had grabbed his arm in an attempt to lead him out of the house. Luca had shoved him and run out, leaving his mother and the two men behind.

  He’d spent the night at a friend’s house, trying to silence his distressed sobbing with an old borrowed pillow. When he’d returned the next day, he’d hoped she’d changed her mind, but she’d been even angrier than before. With ice in her voice, she’d told him she’d never accept a freak in her house. But at least she’d allowed him to pack some things before she’d thrown him out.

  Even thirteen years later, he still remembered how he’d felt that day. As if someone had grabbed him by the throat and squeezed so tight, he couldn’t breathe. Like someone had ripped out his heart, stomped on it, and left it broken and bleeding on the floor.

  And thirteen years later—on the happiest day of his life—his mother had stared at him with cold eyes and spit out that hateful word again.

  Freak.

  Chapter 5: Under the Veil

  Gus opened the office door, and his breath hitched when he saw Luca. Luca sat on the fake office lawn with his back to the door, a glittering white veil spilling from his head, covering his naked body. He was curled in on himself as if he was trying to make himself smaller. Goosebumps covered every inch of his naked skin, and as Gus stood there watching, Luca shivered.

  Gus had only seen him like that once before, after a visit with his mother when Gus couldn’t go with him because of a shift change at the hospital. When he’d gotten home late that night, he’d found Luca lying on the floor, naked and curled into a ball. Not crying, not raging, just exuding quiet despair. Gus would prefer a tantrum, a dramatic screaming match, or even throwing things. This scared the crap out of him.

  Without thinking, Gus kicked off his dress shoes and crossed the floor in a couple quick steps. He sank down behind his fiancé and lifted the sparkly hem of the veil with careful fingers. He ducked under it, scooted close, and let it fall over his own head, too.

  He snaked his arms around Luca’s waist and pulled him into the V of his legs. A weight he hadn’t been aware of lifted from his shoulders when Luca relaxed and leaned back into Gus’s embrace.

  Luca rested his head on Gus’s shoulder, and Gus tightened his grip. He caressed the smooth skin on Luca’s belly with his thumbs and burrowed his nose in his fiancé’s hair, inhaling the familiar scent, letting it calm his worried heart.

  “I’m sorry.” Luca’s words were little more than a whisper.

  “I love you.”

  Gus’s voice cracked on the last word. He hadn’t realized how much the last minutes had affected him. He didn’t want to admit to the little nagging voice in his mind that had whispered What if? All he knew in this moment was that he was never letting Luca out of his sight again. Or at least not letting him see his mother without Gus being with him.

  “Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to worry you.” Luca fidgeted and wiggled in Gus’s arms until he managed to turn around. He wrapped his long legs around Gus and threw his arms around Gus’s neck. The veil got caught between them and Luca moved to take it off, but Gus stopped him.

  “No.” He freed the exquisite fabric from its trap, taking great care not to pull off any of the crystals. When the veil covered them both, he put his arms around his fiancé and spread his fingers wide on the small of Luca’s back. He rested his cheek against Luca’s and whispered, “I have no idea what happened, but I’m always on your side. Always.”

  “I know,” Luca whispered back.

  They didn’t move for several minutes. Gus’s hands wandered up and down Luca’s back, gentle fingers running over the spine. Gus’s heartbeat returned to normal, and they just sat there, breathing together. Inhaling and exhaling as one. In this moment, Gus didn’t care about a worried mother or the waiting guests. He just needed to be close to his fiancé.

  Luca pulled away and looked into Gus’s eyes. He tickled the hairs on Gus’s neck before cupping Gus’s face and leaning in. Gus closed his eyes when the tip of Luca’s nose touched his own.

  “Thank you.” Luca kissed him, and he moaned when Luca’s soft pouty lips touched his, making his body tingle from head to toe.

  Luca’s tongue darted out and brushed against the seam of Gus’s mouth. Gus opened willingly, and warmth spread through his entire being when his eager tongue met his fiancé’s. It was almost as if he could feel the chemicals caused by the kiss being released in his body. They worked their magic, calmed him down, and made him feel closer to Luca.

  His hands found their way down Luca’s back to his round ass, and Gus grabbed him and lifted until Luca rested in his lap. He squeezed Luca’s buttocks, and Luca groaned.

  Luca undulated his hips, and his hardening cock poked Gus’s shirt-clad stomach. From that first moment they’d met at the bar six years ago, a touch or a word from Luca was enough to make Gus lose his mind. And the feeling had grown stronger with every year, their connection had deepened until Gus hardly knew where he ended and Luca began. He hoped their bond would continue to grow stronger after they were married, becoming even more complex and intimate.

  But no matter how much he wanted to make love to Luca here on the floor, this wasn’t the time. He broke the kiss and immediately regretted it when Luca whined.

  “I know, my love,” he whispered against Luca’s kiss-swollen lips. “But the next time we make love, I want to be your husband.”

  Gus’s words seemed to finally yank Luca out of his arousal.

  “Oh, my gawd, we have to get back,” Luca exclaimed and tried to scramble off Gus’s knee.

  Gus gripped his waist and kept him where he was. “We have another minute.” Gus glanced down at his watch. The ceremony was supposed to have started ten minutes ago.

  “How?” Luca asked.

  “I called Mom, told her I needed an hour. And you know her. No one, not even the President himself, would dare to argue with her when she sets her mind to something.”

  “That’s totally true.” Luca giggled, and the happy sound made Gus’s own laughter bubble up. When their laughter faded, Luca pressed a light kiss on Gus’s cheek. “I didn’t run away from you,” he said, looking Gus straight in the eyes.

  “I know.”

  “I realize I need to tell you what happened, but—”

  Gus put his index finger on Luca’s lips, stopping whatever he was going to say. “The only thing you need to do is get off this floor, get dressed, and marry me,” he said. “Everything else can wait.”

  “Okay,” Luca whispered behind Gus’s finger, and tears welled up in his big chocolate-brown eyes.

  Gus wiped away the moisture with the pads of his thumbs, and with clumsy fingers, he swept away Luca’s hair from his face.

  “Are you ready?” Gus asked.

  Luca smiled, untangled his limbs, and stood on wobbly legs. He held out his hand to Gus, who grabbed it and jumped to his feet. Gus retrieved Luca’s tux from the chair and moved to help him get dressed. Luca carefully lifted the veil off his head.

  “The veil stays.” Gus was adamant.

  “I promise. It’s just easier to get dressed without it.” Luca held it out to Gus, who took and caressed the silky whiteness with gentle hands. He loved the softness of it. It felt like it was made out of spun moonbeams, and the crystals were stars.

  “It’s beautiful,” he mumbled and meant it, not caring if his thoughts contained more sugar than cotton candy. It was his wedding day, and he was allowed to be sappy. Besides, it would look amazing with the tuxedo he wasn’t supposed to see before the wedding.

&nbs
p; The pants ended above Luca’s ankles, and the waistband sat low on Luca’s hips. Not low enough to show off Luca’s pubes, but enough for Gus’s eyes to be distracted by the sight and for his imagination to run wild. The jacket hugged Luca’s slender figure. He didn’t wear a shirt underneath it, and Gus could see a sliver of skin on Luca’s stomach in the gap of the jacket just above the waistband. The no-shirt-thing could have been tacky and tasteless, but the hints of skin were alluring and strangely decent at the same time. Gus had no idea how Luca could pull it off, but he did. It was perfect.

  The enticing sight made Gus want to go down on his knees in front of his fiancé and lick the patch of soft, visible skin. And rip off the pants and—

  “You wanna help me with the veil?” Luca’s amused voice interrupted Gus’s thoughts. He nodded, and Luca bowed his head, making it easier for Gus to reach.

  “Wait,” Gus said when he remembered the lip gloss in his pocket. He took it out and handed it over to Luca. “You need this. All the kissing took away the…uh…” his voice tapered off. He gestured with his finger to his own mouth.

  “Ah, of course.”

  Luca pulled the wand out of the tube and duckfaced his lips. He swept the applicator slowly over them, winking at Gus, who couldn’t take his eyes off Luca. Gus licked his own lips, wanting nothing more than to kiss away all the cherry glossiness but forcing himself to not mess it up again.

  Luca smacked his lips and said, “All done.” He bowed his head again, and Gus draped the veil over it, trying his best to make it perfect. When he was happy with the results, he took a step back and looked at his husband-to-be.

  The sight before him took his breath away. The red glossy lips behind the sheer fabric were both sexy and virginal at the same time. Luca’s angled, masculine face was a sharp contrast to all the soft femininity. It made Gus’s heart skip a beat. His hand flew to his chest, and he blinked furiously to keep tears from falling.

  His Luca. His beloved. He held out his hand, and Luca took it without hesitation.

  “Are you ready?” Gus asked.

  “I am.”

  Chapter 6: Is It Supposed to Be This Easy?

  The walk back to the hotel was vastly different from the mad sprint away from it. This time, Luca held hands with his fiancé, walking toward their future together as husbands. Gus’s mere presence had given him distance to his mother’s hateful words. The moment he’d felt Gus’s arms around him back at the office, he’d vowed to not let her get to him again.

  None of his mother’s predictions had come true. Gus had taken one look at him in the veil and hadn’t been ashamed of him. Instead, he’d seen that Luca was upset, and his immediate instinct had been to comfort. Not until he was sure Luca felt better had Gus paid attention to the veil, and his reaction had been what Luca had expected.

  “Is it supposed to be this easy?” Luca hadn’t meant to ask, but the words just slipped out of his mouth as always.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean…” Luca hesitated, unsure how to explain his thoughts to Gus. “I mean, I run out on you minutes before we’re supposed to get married. But instead of getting angry, you chase after me, comfort me, and sweep me off my feet. You don’t demand answers or even ask me why I did it.”

  “I swept you off your feet years ago.” Gus grinned like the cat who got the cream and winked at him.

  “Hah, if I recall correctly, I was the one doing the sweeping.” Luca elbowed Gus in the ribs.

  “Ouch!” Gus whined and rubbed his side and stuck out his lower lip in the saddest attempt at pouting Luca had ever seen.

  “Don’t even try. You know I’m the pouting champion in our relationship.”

  “Oh, I know.” Gus leaned in as if he wanted to kiss Luca, but wrinkled his nose and straightened. “On second thought, I don’t like the veil,” he muttered.

  Luca’s heart skipped a beat. He froze in the middle of a step and stared at Gus with his mouth hanging open. “What…?”

  “No, no, I don’t mean like that,” Gus hurried to explain. “It’s covering your face, making it impossible to kiss you.”

  Gus sounded genuinely bummed, and Luca burst out laughing. It bubbled out of him, and he couldn’t stop. He gasped for air and clutched his stomach.

  When the laughter finally died down, he took a step closer to his fiancé, lifted the veil, and smacked a loud kiss on Gus’s lips. Before he could withdraw, Gus let go of his hand and cupped his face and kissed him, careful not to smudge the gloss. When they broke apart, they smiled at each other.

  Gus brushed away a strand of hair from Luca’s face and looked at him with such warmth radiating from his eyes, Luca’s knees turned to jelly. “Yes, it’s supposed to be this easy. Just trust that I love you, no matter what.”

  “Okay.” Any lingering doubt Luca had vanished just like that.

  Gus let go of Luca’s face and helped him smooth out the veil again, but a buzz coming from his jacket pocket interrupted them. Gus groaned.

  “How much do you wanna bet that’s my mom?” He pulled out his phone, glanced at it, and turned the display so Luca could see who was calling.

  “I would never have taken that bet. I know her.”

  They started walking again as Gus answered the call. “Mom, we’re on our way…”

  * * * *

  Gus’s mom met them at the door when they reached the hotel.

  “You owe me a huge favor, Gustav,” she hissed between clenched teeth. She turned around to run off, but when they didn’t immediately follow, she grabbed them each by the hand and rushed toward the ballroom where the ceremony was taking place. “The officiant wanted to leave,” she explained as they dashed through the hotel. “I thought I was going to have to go down on my knees and beg. Beg! Mona Hanson doesn’t beg!”

  “I’m sor—”

  “And when I finally convinced him to wait, I had to deal with the caterer.” Her heels clattered on the marble stairs, and Gus and Luca had to fight to keep up with her. She was surprisingly fast for such a short woman. “I’ve never met anyone with a bigger ego than that little French guy. He’s such a drama queen. I thought he was going to faint when I told him we needed to postpone for an hour.”

  Luca couldn’t help but smile at her as she recounted what had happened when he’d lost his mind for a moment. He promised himself he was going to make sure she knew how grateful he was for her help.

  They came to an abrupt halt outside the ballroom doors, and Luca managed to stop just before he ran into Mona. She turned and looked at them with lips pressed tight, but it only took a second before her face softened. She stepped toward Gus, fiddled with his bow tie, and brushed away invisible lint from his tuxedo.

  “You know I’d do anything for you,” she said and walked around him to check him over from behind. “But I expect an explanation later.”

  “Ja, mamma,” Gus said.

  Luca smiled again. His fiancé tried to placate his mother by speaking Swedish to her. Clever. It always melted her heart.

  Satisfied with Gus’s appearance, she turned to Luca. “The veil is lovely, dear,” she said with a smile.

  She fussed with it, making sure it flowed in perfect folds. She stuck her hands underneath and straightened the already perfect boutonniere. She raised an eyebrow at the fact that Luca was shirtless under the jacket, but didn’t say anything about it. She twisted the ends of his hair around her index fingers to make the slight curl more pronounced, and she swept away the same errant strand of hair from his face Gus had tried to tame earlier.

  “Take good care of my son,” she whispered.

  Afraid his voice would break if he tried to answer, Luca just nodded.

  Mona took a step back and gave them a final once-over. “Okay, I’ll go in and tell them we’re ready.”

  “Mom, wait.” Gus grabbed her hand before she could open the doors. “Is Luca’s mother in there?”

  “Yes, of course. She wasn’t happy about the delay, but I managed to talk
her down.”

  Gus turned to Luca and asked in a low voice, “Do you want me to speak with her?”

  “Honey, you don’t have to—”

  “I know. But I will. If you want me to.”

  The serious tone and determined look on Gus’s face were humbling. No one had ever been on Luca’s side like that before Gus, and his eyes watered. He bit his lower lip to stop it from trembling and reached out and took Gus’s hand. He pressed it to his heart, feeling its warmth radiating into his body.

  “Honey, she can stay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, but…” Luca glanced at Gus’s mother. “Maybe keep her away from me?”

  “We promise to fill you in, Mom, but please?” Gus pleaded before she had a chance to ask any questions.

  “All right, I’ll do what I can,” she said but didn’t look convinced.

  Luca wasn’t certain she would have so readily agreed if they weren’t pressed for time, something he was grateful for at this particular moment.

  “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  She opened the door and snuck in. After just a few moments, the music they’d chosen for their entrance started playing. They opened the door and walked hand in hand down the aisle.

  Chapter 7: Dirty Dancing

  Just as Gus had predicted, their first dance as husbands was borderline X-rated. When the MC announced it was time for the newlyweds’ first dance, they walked hand in hand to the dance floor. Luca pulled him into his arms as the first note of their song started playing, and they stood in a formal dance position for a few seconds, waiting for their cue.

  “Tell me now if you want me to behave,” Luca said with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Why on earth would I want that?”

  “Propriety dictates I keep my hands off your ass in public?”

  “Propriety? Really?” Gus chuckled. “Who are you? Mr. Darcy?” he asked as they took their first few steps in perfect time with the music.