Puzzle Me This

by Eli Easton

  “How ’bout six hours of work wins a thousand-dollar gift certificate for Steam?”

  “Dude!” Marco grinned and held up a hand for a high-five.

  Chapter 19

  What Happens in the Throne Room

  Alex was working on a crossword puzzle at his desk on December 20th. Red and green fat-bulb lights, strung up over the window, reflected on the white graph paper as he drew six letter boxes. He paused to stare out at the falling snow, the first real snow of the year. He usually avoided looking out this window, with its view up Henneman Hill, but the soft white blanket on the ground had an allure that was hard to resist. Something about its gentle beauty eased the ache in his soul.

  Soon, he’d be leaving the apartment for good—the apartment, that view, and… Luke. It was for the best, Alex told himself for the hundredth time. It had to be done. When Luke came back, there was no way Alex could fail to be heartbroken if Luke ignored him or resist if Luke tried to worm his way back into his bed.

  And Alex kept telling himself he was better than that. He wouldn’t cling to Luke if Luke’s heart wasn’t in this, or if he’d be happier with someone else. But it was one thing to have high ideals, another to see Luke and not give in. Alex wasn’t as strong as he tried to be. It just hurt so damned much.

  He sighed and forced his mind back to the task at hand.

  He’d just finished the first draft of the puzzle when Amy came in. She placed a hand on his shoulder and laid something down on the graph paper in front of him. It was a black memory stick. On it, in silver sharpie, were the words “Three Rings.”

  “What’s this?” Alex asked.

  “It’s the new Saints and Sinner’s mission.” She squeezed his shoulder. “Play it.”

  Alex’s mouth went dry. “What? Where did you get it?”

  Amy leaned over and looked Alex right in the eyes. “I got it FedEx this morning. There’s something on here for you. So play it. Okay?”

  Alex blinked and shook his head, but his treacherous fingers were already holding the memory stick. “Luke sent it?”

  “Yup. He said there’s a README file on there that explains how to play it. Something about Easter. Or whatever. I think you should take a look.”

  Alex was already pressing the memory stick into a slot on his laptop. He was just going to look at it at the README file. That was all.

  The README file had one line. It read: Go to the castle. When you’re in the throne room hold down the CTRL key and hit A and L at the same time.

  Alex stared at the words and rubbed his palm with a thumb. He cracked his knuckles and drummed his fingers on the desk. An Easter egg. The new mission had an Easter egg. What kind, though? Had Luke put something into the mission for him?

  No. Surely not.

  Maybe?

  Hell if Alex could resist that.

  It was probably no big deal. Something silly, like his avatar doing a dance. But then why had Luke sent it to him? Why had he FedEx’d it?

  Alex bit his thumbnail.

  “Just play it, Alex!” Amy advised from the kitchen.

  Alex started Saints and Sinners and loaded the new mission from the memory stick.

  God, he was nervous.

  Best to just get it over with and see for himself that it was nothing.

  Why had Luke done this to him?

  It was probably just a friendly gesture. “Here, have the new mission early. For old time’s sake. Old pal.”

  But the Easter egg. Why would he make a big deal of it if it was nothing?

  “Alex!” Amy yelled from the doorway.

  “All right, all right!” Alex muttered.

  He started to play. His Saints and Sinners avatar, which was named Alex and looked as much like him as the program allowed, stood on a beach in his armor. The mission had a new island to explore. Cool. Virtual Alex started running. He ignored signs and shops and what looked like puzzles along the way. He’d look at that stuff later. Maybe. Right now, he had to find the castle. It only took a few minutes to see it in the distance, and then he was there.

  The guards let him in, acting like he was a welcome guest. Fine. Whatever.

  He was in the throne room. It was a vast space with sunlight coming down in colored beams from stained glass windows. An old gray-haired king sat on a rustic throne. The room was otherwise empty. The king greeted him with florid language, talking about some curse on the island, which Alex knew nothing about since he’d run straight there.

  Holding his breath, Alex held down the CTRL key and pressed A and L.

  A flash of light went through the scene. Magical wind chimes tinkled from the laptop’s speakers. An angelic chorus rang out. When the glow cleared, the king was standing. Only now he had gold armor, a youthful face, and long blond hair. The king approached Alex’s avatar and fell to one knee.

  Alex blinked rapidly and gripped the mouse hard. Holy crap.

  Avatar Luke took avatar Alex’s hand and looked up into his face. Music swelled. Real Alex covered his mouth with one hand. Oh my God.

  “Alex,” came Luke’s recorded voice. “I’ve waited my whole life to find you. Will you stay and share my kingdom with me? Be my prince, always?”

  Alex slammed the lid of his laptop shut.

  * * *

  “Alex?”

  Alex froze. Luke. Luke was here.

  Alex’s heart thudded so hard he felt light-headed as he rolled his chair back and turned it around. And there, standing in his living room, was Luke. He wore a brown wool peacoat and his thick blond hair was down and dusted with snowflakes. His face was ruddy with the cold, and he was the most beautiful goddamn thing.

  Alex swallowed hard but kept his face impassive. He had to keep his head.

  Luke bit his bottom lip nervously. “I was hoping you might be a little bit happy to see me?”

  “Why?” Alex blurted.

  Luke blinked. “Um…. Why should you be happy to see me?”

  “No, you dork. Why do you want to… to…?” He stumbled on the words, marry me, like he might be assuming too much. But it had sure looked like it on the screen. Be my prince, always.

  That was a proposal? Right?

  Oh God.

  Luke took a step closer but hesitated, as if afraid he wouldn’t be welcome. “Because it hurts to be without you, Alex. Fuck. It physically hurts. You’re the missing piece to my puzzle. I’m so sorry I made you feel like you weren’t good enough. I sort of freaked out at how serious it was getting so fast. And it triggered this little-known panic button in my brain, which I’ll explain to you someday. Cursed thing. But I never meant to push you so far away you felt like I was trying to break up, or make you feel like I was not proud as hell to be with you. Because I was. I am. And, please God, tell me you’ll give me a chance to prove it to you.”

  Luke’s voice was wrecked, his eyes damp.

  Alex’s hands shook in his lap. “But… I’ll only hold you back,” he whispered.

  Luke gave a teary laugh. “God, no! You? You make me pathetically happy. And I make you ridiculously happy, at least I do when I’m not being an ass. Everything else… everything else is logistics. We’ll use our nerdy brains to figure stuff out together. Okay? Please. Alex. All I want, for my whole life, is you.”

  Hope swelled Alex’s heart until it felt like it would float right out of his chest. He took a shuttering breath. “Well. I do write logic puzzles for a living, so….”

  Luke gave him a wavering smile. “Right? We’ve so got this. Can I come over and hug you now? I’m pretty sure I’ll lose a few years off my lifespan if I don’t kiss you soon.”

  In answer, Alex held out his arms. Luke shrugged out of his coat and let it fall to the floor. His gold turtleneck looked great on him, like he had dressed up for the occasion, and Alex felt a wave of heady disbelief that this was really happening. Then Luke was there, leaning over to kiss him, and that wasn’t close enough, so Alex pulled him onto his lap.

  For a moment they stared into one another�
�s eyes, and the sense of rightness, of coming home, was overwhelming. God, Alex loved him so damn much. And Luke… it was all there in Luke’s eyes too—so much love it was hard to look at him without bursting. So Alex pulled him into a kiss.

  “Alex? It looks like everything’s okay. So I’ll see you later? Vacating the premises now!”

  Amy’s voice. From the kitchen probably. Alex broke the kiss and giggled against Luke’s cheek. “Yeah, see you, Amy! Thanks!”

  He heard the sound of a door closing. Alex really did need to thank her for making him play the mission. Later. And that made him remember what he’d seen on that screen.

  He took a deep breath and met Luke’s gaze. “Look… about the game. I appreciate the grandness of the gesture and all—”

  “My entire team helped me out on that Easter egg, I’ll have you know.”

  Alex smiled. “They must like you a lot.”

  Luke shrugged. “Aw, they’re saps for romance. Look, I know what you’re gonna say.” He licked his lips, his eyes soft. “And I know that it will take time for me to win back your trust, to get back to where we were. I don’t expect you to say yes now. I just wanted you to know that, in my heart, that’s who you are to me. My prince. Always.” He played with a lock of Alex’s hair and made his heart melt. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. You’re the one, Alex. And when you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

  Alex couldn’t speak around the hot lump in his throat, so he just nodded and kissed Luke again.

  Epilogue

  One year later

  Lynn straightened Luke’s red silk tie and gave him a wry smile. “You look great. Dork.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere.” Luke tugged on the jacket of the new dark green suit and checked the red rose on his lapel. His fingers played with the jacket button. “Opened or closed?”

  Lynn rolled her eyes. “Closed. For the tenth time.” She touched his hair, which had just been washed and blown out, because Alex preferred it down, and because Luke would give him anything he wanted on this day. “What the heck do you use to get it to shine like that?”

  “I’ll never. Tell.” Luke deadpanned.

  “Oh, come on!”

  “Nope. But if you’re really, really nice to me, maybe I’ll get you a bottle for Christmas.”

  Lynn snorted. “Sure. You’ll have plenty of time to run out before you leave tonight for New Orleans.”

  Luke thought of the gift-wrapped box already under his parents’ Christmas tree. Lynn should know by now—never underestimate Luke Schumaker.

  He paced up and down, palms sweating, and checked himself again in the mirror.

  He was marrying his best friend today. The love of his life. The fastest rails-to-trails wheeler and best cock on the entire eastern seaboard. And Luke was so, so happy and grateful and relieved that he’d managed to reach this day—this most critical day of his life—and not fuck it up.

  He almost had. The thought of those dark days last December made him shiver with dread. Even after Luke had come to his senses, Alex made him prove himself. They’d had a nice Christmas last year, visiting both Luke’s family on Christmas Eve and Alex’s on Christmas Day. But even after they’d met each other’s families, Alex remained cautious.

  Last winter had been a snowy one, so they spent a lot of time bundled up at Alex’s house. But Luke made sure to coax Alex out at least once a week—to the movies, diner, bowling, or a park on nicer days, and to show how proud he was to be with him every single time.

  By spring they’d mostly been back to where they’d been before Halloween, only with a whole lot more I-love-yous and silly pet names thrown in. Luke spent all his time at Alex’s apartment. He officially gave up his own lease in April.

  Over the summer, they took a two-week vacation together, driving up to Montreal and Quebec City. It had been a blast. They’d had so much sex at this one little Airbnb cabin in Canada that Luke literally could not walk straight. He banged into a door and had an egg on his forehead to show for it. They’d giggled about it for weeks.

  Labor Day weekend, they went back to the horror con in Philly.

  And on October first, Alex took Luke out to a fancy dinner at Henry’s Historic Inn. He looked nervous but also crazy handsome in a red turtleneck, his big brown eyes glowing in the candlelight as he’d pushed a small box across the table. He shyly asked Luke if he was still interested in forever.

  Luke made a scene, shouting OH THANK GOD, and practically leaping over the table to give Alex a big kiss right there in the middle of the 18th-century establishment. But if anyone minded, Luke and Alex were too busy floating on Cloud 9 to notice.

  They had fun planning the wedding together. They both wanted to keep it simple—just their immediate family and a few friends. They settled on a Christmas wedding and a quaint old barn. There was a scramble to make honeymoon plans, choose music and flowers and vows, and an officiant, who ended up being one of Alex’s old professors from State College. They joked around, coming up with silly wedding theme ideas, like Game of Thrones or, Luke’s personal favorite, Condiments. But in the end, all they really wanted was some tasteful Christmas decor and each other.

  As Luke’s parents walked him down the aisle of the barn, past sprays of holly and berries, and a dozen smiling faces, he saw Alex in his wheelchair in front of a glorious Christmas tree. He was beyond gorgeous in his own dark green suit with a purple silk tie, and Luke was suddenly not at all sure he could make it through this thing without falling apart.

  His dad had to steady him as Luke’s knees went weak.

  But when Luke stood in front of the officiant, took Alex’s hands in his, and looked into his eyes, the love and joy he saw there filled him, and uplifted him, and made time float like a beam of light.

  The ceremony took no time at all. And then he was kissing his new husband and the world cheered.

  The crossword puzzle in the Philly Examiner that Sunday contained this hidden message:

  For as long as we both shall live. Luke and Alex.

  THE END

  Dear Reader

  Thank you for revisiting the sweet story of Alex and Luke with me–or, if it’s your first time with this story, thank you for choosing it. It’s been a joy to revisit their world.

  As always, I very much appreciate my readers posting recommendations for my books online and reviewing on Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you! Your reviews really make a difference.

  I appreciate my readers so much. It is awesome to hear from you and to know that I made someone smile or sigh. Feel free to email me: eli@elieaston.com.

  You can also visit my website: www.elieaston.com. I have first chapters up for all my books and some free stories too. And you can sign up for my newsletter to get a monthly email about new releases and sales.

  My facebook group is a place to chat about Eli stories and get opportunity to read ARCs, excerpts from works-in-progress, and other goodies.

  Follow me on Amazon to be alerted of my new books.

  I can promise you there will always be happy ending and that love is love.

  Eli Easton

  The Mating of Michael

  If you enjoyed PUZZLE ME THIS, you will love THE MATING OF MICHAEL by Eli Easton.

  Michael Lamont is a sex surrogate working with a therapy clinic in Seattle. When he meets his favorite author, James, and learns James is in a wheelchair, Michael wants to offer his friendship–and more. But James won’t let anyone close.

  New edition coming Sept 2019. Read more at: https://www.elieaston.com/sex-in-seattle-series

  CHAPTER 1

  ~1~

  Seattle, February, 2014

  “Gin! Dude, you’re history!”

  Tommy laid down a set of fours and a run in hearts and laughed in triumph. The words and the laugh sounded garbled, thanks to the damage to his throat and palate, but Michael understood him just fine.

  “Damn, man! You are wicked lucky today.” Michael Lamont shook his head, trying to look di
sappointed. But he didn’t really mind. Making Tommy laugh was more than worth losing a few card games.

  “Well, Monday is my lucky day,” Tommy said with a wink. He pushed his chair away from the table.

  “Are you flirting with me?”

  “Yup.”

  “I see how you are. First, you trounce me, then you try to butter me up. Do you wanna play again?”

  Michael asked because he always asked. It was part of their routine. Three rounds of gin, which Tommy won more often than not. After cards came the massage. But Michael asked anyway, even when, like now, Tommy had pushed back from the table and already had the start of an erection in his shorts. The look in his eyes said he’d forgotten all about gin rummy.

  “No more cards,” Tommy said quietly.

  “Okay, champ.”

  Michael stacked the cards neatly while Tommy went over to the bed. A large photo of the Seattle Mariners, inscribed with “To Tommy, best wishes,” and signed by all the players, was framed and hung over Tommy’s bed. He’d gotten that, Tommy had once told Michael, when he was in the hospital after the fire, and they didn’t know if he would live. It was one of Tommy’s most prized possessions.

  Tommy dropped his shorts, leaving on his oversized T-shirt and briefs and sat on the edge of the mattress. He watched while Michael put his gym bag on the table and unzipped it. Michael carried everything he needed in there—a large bottle of Eucerin lotion, massage oil, wipes, condoms, a few styles of vibrators, and a few simple toys. He rarely used the toys, but he carried them all the same. He removed his shirt and folded it neatly on the bag before picking up the bottle of Eucerin.

  He stood at the side of the bed while Tommy looked at him. Tommy liked to start by gazing at Michael’s chest for a while, and then touching it lightly with his damaged fingers, getting himself aroused. When he was ready, he laid down on his stomach. As always, there were no blankets on the bed, only sheets, so clean they smelled of fabric softener. A few small towels were stacked on the bedside table. Tommy himself had been freshly bathed, and even his ever-present baseball cap looked new. Michael appreciated the effort. He knew Tommy’s mother was very particular about his care. The house was on Lake Washington in the Madrona district and was easily worth several million. But he had a feeling it was Tommy himself who insisted on everything being perfect on Mondays. The thought caused a small ache in Michael’s chest as he gently tugged up the hem of Tommy’s T-shirt and rolled it tight near his shoulders.