by Alexa Land
“Not at all, I was perfectly capable of entertaining myself while you slept. I was just chatting with my best friend Yoshi. Hang on, let me say goodbye to him.” I shot Yosh a message and put my phone on the nightstand.
“You must have missed dinner, though. And breakfast.”
“Nope. Jessie brought my meals up for me.”
“I still feel awful. You were basically held hostage in your room because of my neediness.”
I grinned at that and told him, “That’s pretty overstated.”
“It’s true, though. You should have woken me. Or just ignored what I said and gone about your business.”
“This was right where I wanted to be.”
“I can’t imagine why,” he said as he swung out of bed. He seemed a bit off, but maybe that was because he was still waking up. “I need to use the facilities. Do you have a spare toothbrush?”
“Everything you need is on the counter next to the sink,” I told him, and he went into the adjoining bathroom and shut the door behind him.
When he emerged a few minutes later, he crossed the room to me, sat on the edge of the bed, and grabbed me in an embrace. “You’re incredibly thoughtful, Gianni. Thank you.”
“No big deal,” I said as I hugged him. I’d asked Yosh to go to the store for me and forwarded him Zan’s shopping lists. My friend had dropped everything off last night, so all of Zan’s favorite brands of toiletries had been on the bathroom counter waiting for him. “I figured a little familiarity would be welcome in the midst of all this change.”
“It is a big deal. I almost burst into tears when I saw what you’d done for me, which just goes to show I’m kind of a wreck this morning.”
“Be patient with yourself,” I said gently as I rubbed his back and held him. “You’ve gone through so much in the last day. It’s going to take a while to acclimate.”
He nodded and released his grip a bit, leaning back to look at me. I gave him a smile and got a little grin in return. “Are you hungry?” I asked. When he nodded I pivoted around and slid my feet into my sneakers, then picked up his hand. “Come on. Yosh bought you your favorite foods, too, when he went to the store for me. Let’s go downstairs and get you some breakfast.”
He kept holding my hand as we went downstairs. The house was pretty empty except for my cousin Nico, who was studying at the kitchen table. After I introduced him and Zan, I asked where everyone was. “Out front,” Nico told me. “There’s a painting party going on. I was granted an exemption from participating since I have an exam to study for.”
“Do I even want to ask what they’re painting?” I said as I went around the kitchen island and turned on the burner under the tea kettle, then put a couple slices of wholegrain bread in the toaster.
“You really don’t,” Nico told me.
Zan followed me around while I prepared his breakfast and said, “You don’t have to do this for me. I’m capable of making tea and toast.”
“You don’t know where anything is in this kitchen, though.”
“And yet I’d probably figure out that that kettle-shaped thing was, in fact, a kettle.” He grinned a little.
“Fine, I won’t baby you. The plates and cups are in that cupboard over there,” I pointed across the kitchen, “and the honey you’re about to look for is over there, along with your other nonperishables.” I pointed to a different cabinet.
When I crossed the kitchen and took a mug from the first cupboard I’d indicated, he said, “Well, that was short-lived.”
“Shhh. I’m getting myself a mug,” I told him. “I have newfound confidence in your tea-and-toast-making abilities."
“Did you just shush me?”
“I did! Did you enjoy it?”
“Oddly enough, yes. It was very hot-librarian of you. Made me want to pull you behind the card catalog and nibble on you a bit,” Zan said with a playful smile. I was glad to see he was perking up a bit.
“There are no such things as card catalogs anymore, but other than that, I support that idea one hundred percent,” I told him.
When he’d finished putting his meal together and sat down at the breakfast bar, I came up behind him, kissed his shoulder, and then reached around and deposited something beside his plate. “Bloody hell!” he exclaimed, snatching up the little kumquat. “Do you not recall what happened last time you exposed us to these mutant squirrel testicles? It was so sour that you went instant fish-face!”
“This one’s better, I tried a couple from this batch,” I told him. “Chances of fish-face are slim.”
“Wow, you two are absolutely bizarre together,” Nico said with a smile, getting up and stretching before picking up his thick textbook. “I’m going to go study upstairs so you can enjoy your squirrel testicles in peace.”
“Sorry Cuz,” I told him. “We didn’t mean to chase you out.”
“It’s fine,” he said as he left the kitchen.
“They’re probably not really mutant squirrel balls, just FYI,” Zan called after him.
Jessie came into the kitchen just as Nico was leaving. “I knew I liked you, Zan,” he said. “Any man that sits around yelling about squirrel balls is more than welcome in this family.” He was wearing a blue baseball cap, formerly white shorts and a t-shirt that said ‘I think he’s gay’, with an arrow pointing at his crotch. The shirt was barely legible, given the huge amount of red paint that he’d managed to spill, smear, splatter, or otherwise apply to himself.
“What exactly are you painting?” I asked him as he poured himself a glass of water.
“You know that big flag we hung up? Well, it was gone this morning, and Nana had a conniption fit. She marched over to the new neighbor’s house and accused him of foul play. If you ask me, I think the flag blew away, because I didn’t fasten it down very well,” Jessie said. “But Nana was convinced some nefarious homophobe snuck around under the cover of darkness and absconded with it.”
“So now she’s painting a permanent rainbow flag on the front of the house?”
“Actually, she’s painting the whole house into one huge rainbow. Christopher Robin Andrews is here, do you know him? He’s a brilliant artist, and I guess he and Nana are good friends. Anyway, he came up with the design and then showed us how to fill it in, kind of like a ginormous color-by-numbers. We’re doing this thing called stippling. I’m not very good at it, but it’s fun.”
“I do know Christopher, he went to art school with Christian.” I directed that at Zan, then said to Jessie, “Please tell me Nana isn’t up on a ladder with a paint bucket.”
“Nah. She wanted to be, but Christopher convinced her that painting at ground level was a lot more critical and needed her expert touch, since more people would notice it.” Jessie finished his water, then filled a big pitcher and grabbed a stack of plastic cups from one of the cabinets. “I’d better get back to it. You guys should join in after you eat. It’s a hell of a big canvas, and the more people that lend a hand, the faster it’ll go.” He took the cups and pitcher with him as he went back to work.
“How are you and Jessie related?” Zan asked, once the blond had gone.
“We’re not. Well, not by blood, anyway. Now I guess we’re related by Nana. She has a habit of collecting gay men who don’t have families and making them a part of ours.”
“That’s kind of wonderful, actually.”
“It is. Nana comes up with some crazy ideas, no doubt about it, including what she’s doing outside right now. But underneath it all, she has a heart of gold. I’m so lucky she’s my grandmother.” Zan grinned at me, and I smiled at him and asked, “What?”
“It’s just really sweet. I can tell how much she means to you.”
I ventured, looking down at my tea, “If you felt like staying here a while, she’d be happy to have you. The moment you kissed me, you became part of the family as far as Nana’s concerned.” I glanced up and asked, “Do you want to try for another night here and see how it goes?”
“As long as you�
�re with me, I believe I could do that easily. You make me feel like I could do anything,” he said. Then he grinned embarrassedly and added, “That was incredibly sappy. Apologies.”
“I liked it,” I told him, and he leaned in and brushed his lips to mine.
Once again, the kisses quickly became hot and heavy. Zan pulled me onto his lap and I straddled his thighs as he slid both hands up under my hoodie, caressing my back. My cock swelled, and I could feel his doing the same thing beneath me. “I want a chance to reciprocate with what you did for me yesterday,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I want to taste every part of you, Gianni.”
I smiled and said, “I have absolutely no problem with that,” then wound my fingers into his thick hair as I parted my lips for him. His tongue explored my mouth as lust shot through me. Without any conscious thought, I began to grind on his lap, rubbing myself against his cock.
“Oh, shit!”
I launched myself off Zan’s lap at the sound of the startled voice by the door, quickly tugging my hoodie down to cover my erection, which was way too obvious in the sweat pants I was wearing. Christian was spinning around awkwardly in the doorway, grappling with the controls of his wheelchair while his fiancé dove out of the way. “I’m so sorry,” Christian was saying. “I totally didn’t mean to invade your privacy like that.”
“It’s my fault for getting caught up in the moment. Sorry to, you know, scar you for life or whatever,” I stammered as my cheeks heated with an intense blush.
“We’ll be out front with the painting party,” Shea said. Christian had gotten the chair pointed in the right direction and had taken off at a good clip. “Come join us when, um, things have died down a bit.” He grinned embarrassedly and chased after his fiancé.
“God, I’m so sorry,” I told Zan as I sank back onto my stool. “This kitchen is always like Grand Central Station and I should have known better. Also, I forgot to tell you your son was coming over. So basically, I’m totally doing great today.”
“Well, the good news is, my son’s gay so he won’t be the least bit phased at the sight of two men kissing.” Zan looked remarkably unconcerned as he took a sip of tea.
“We weren’t just kissing. I was grinding on you while you were tongue-fucking my mouth. Nobody should ever have to see their dad with an erection.”
“My back was to him, so no worries there. Also, you and I were both fully clothed, though I will say, your exercise pants leave little to the imagination. I like them.” He smiled cheerfully.
“Oh God.” I dropped my head onto the breakfast bar. “I’m completely mortified.”
“Don’t be. Christian’s an adult, presumably someone other than me gave him the whole birds-and-bees talk at some point, so he knows how this works.” Zan took a drink from his teacup and added, “Besides, he, along with the rest of the world apparently, already saw us kissing at the airport, so he knows what you and I are to each other. I don’t see why this has to be a big deal.”
“It’s nice that you can be so calm about this. But then, you weren’t the one waving your boner around the kitchen for all to see.”
He smiled and said, “I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that I have that effect on you.”
I sat up and took one of his hands in both of mine. “But geez, Christian, of all people. And Shea, too! He just seemed to find it funny, though. I need to go find your son and apologize to him. Do you want to come out front with me?” When he hesitated, I added, “You don’t have to. I can ask Christian to come back inside so you two can talk.”
“I’m not up for another scene like the one at the airport. I’m not saying that would happen automatically if I set foot outside, but if I was recognized, things could potentially get out of control.”
“You’re right. If you want to, you and he can talk in the family room. It’s the last room on the right, down the main hallway.”
“Sounds good.”
I got up and started to clear his dishes, but he stood too and took them from my hands. “You don’t have to clean up after me, Gianni, but thank you.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Over half a dozen people were painting when I went out front. Nana wasn’t shy about calling in favors. After scratching the puppy behind the ears, I said hello to my brother Dante, his husband, and a few friends. Most of them teased me mercilessly for my very public display of affection at the airport, and I grinned at that as I walked out to the sidewalk and took in the transformation.
The house was a huge, white, three-story Queen Anne Victorian with a lot of gorgeous period details. Over the course of the morning, it had begun to come to life with a giant rainbow that so far extended almost a quarter of the way down from the eves, and about five feet up from ground level. The trim had been left white, so the effect was surprisingly pretty as opposed to gaudy, in part because the colors were translucent and almost shimmering.
“What do you think?” Christopher Robin asked as he came to stand beside me and assessed the progress of the paint job. His curly blond hair was covered by a red bandana, and he wore a paint-spattered t-shirt and jeans, which hung from his thin frame. “Nana wanted rainbow stripes in primary colors across the whole thing, but I talked her down a bit. I think it has the same message without being garish.”
“It’s a good thing she called you,” I told him. “This is going to be pretty. I was afraid to see what was happening out here.”
“Thanks, I’m glad you like it. This is your home too, after all, so I wanted to give you something you could live with.”
Christian rolled up alongside us, and muttered, “Hey.” He looked as embarrassed as I did, his eyes on anything but me.
“Hey.”
“So, um, sorry for busting in on you two.”
“Sorry for making you see me grinding on your dad,” I told him, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
“It’s okay.”
“So...we good?” I asked.
“Yeah. We’re good.”
“Alright. Well, your dad’s in the family room at the back of the house if you want to talk to him.”
“Okay.” Christian wheeled himself toward the house. When he got to the stairs, Shea stepped in and lifted both him and the chair seemingly effortlessly, and they went inside.
Christopher Robin chuckled. “Way to dude it out.”
“We had a super awkward PDA moment earlier.”
“So I gathered,” he said with a smile. “I saw one of the videos of you and Zan at the airport, by the way, speaking of PDA. You’re really sweet together, and I hope it works out between you two.”
“Thanks, me too.”
His husband Kieran jogged up to us, paintbrush in hand, and said, “I think we’re about to have company. Gianni, maybe you want to go inside, though it’s your call, of course.” He pointed over my left shoulder, and when I turned my head, I saw two white news vans from rival stations speeding toward us. Even before the vans came to a complete stop, reporters and cameramen slid open the panel doors and began spilling out. “Gianni Dombruso,” one of them was yelling, trying desperately to get ahead of his competitor. “Guy Stanley, Channel Sixteen Action News! How long have you and Zan Tillane been lovers? And where’s he been all this time? Is it true he took a vow of silence and spent the last decade in a Tibetan monastery?”
“Where do they get this stuff?” Kieran muttered. He tossed the brush aside and put himself between me and the incoming fray, his police training suddenly really evident.
Guy Stanley was viciously hip-checked by a petite Latina from another channel, who shouted, “Gianni, Gloria Espinosa, Channel Three First on the Scene News! Is it true that Zan Tillane was just released from prison and flew to San Francisco to be reunited with you, his gay lover, after serving a thirteen year sentence for drug smuggling?” She sounded very Jersey shore, except when she said her name, which she imbued with a heavy Spanish accent.
“What? Hell no!” I exclaimed.
Wh
ile the two cameramen tried to shove their equipment in my face despite Kieran running interference, the reporters jockeyed for position. Gloria emerged victorious when she brought her five-inch heel down, accidentally or otherwise, on Guy’s toes and he yelped and doubled over. She then called, “Gianni, is it true that Zan fell in love with you when you were just fifteen and wrote the song Love Overcomes for you?”
I raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh, come on!”
Guy Stanley had recovered a bit by now, reaching my side and shoving his microphone in my face as he asked, “Tell us Gianni. All of America and the rest of the world wants to know. Where’s Zan Tillane been since 2002? Is it true that he had a nervous breakdown during his final concert and was just released from a mental hospital?”
“Of course not!”
By now, my friends and family had abandoned the paint job and were clustered around us. Nana was yelling at the reporters to back off, and when a cameraman stepped on one of her hedges, she kicked him in the shin. Okay, that was not good.
To my right, Christian’s best friend Skye muttered, “Oh shit.” I glanced at him and followed the direction of his gaze. Three more news vans and a few cars were pulling up. “Um, maybe you want to go inside, Gianni, before you’re stampeded,” he said. I stood frozen for a moment, watching the chaos unfold, then nodded.
Skye grabbed my hand as I turned and rushed toward the front door, and his husband Dare came up on my other side and put his arm around my shoulders, acting like a human shield. All my friends and family closed in around me, forming a little protective pod as reporters ran at us from every angle. I was vaguely aware of them knocking over paint cans and trampling the landscaping. Nana was going to be pissed.
She’d gone into fight mode, trying to kick a reporter in the nuts when he knocked over and broke a little statue near the stairs. My brother Dante scooped Nana off her feet and carried her inside while she yelled, “You fucking parasites! You got no respect for people and their property! Get off my lawn or so help me God I’ll turn Tom Selleck loose on you!” I looked around for the puppy. He was wagging his tail happily and panting while my brother-in-law Charlie carried him up the stairs.