by Trina Lane
He blew on his cup of coffee and tried to cover a yawn but apparently was not successful.
“Late night, Ethan?” Julie asked.
He heard the laughter in her voice and felt a blush creep up his neck. Damn his winter-pale complexion. Fortunately, Ryan came to his rescue.
“We stayed up trying to spy on Santa.”
“Did you hear him, Uncle Ryan?” Rebecca asked full of wonder.
“We heard something on the roof over our heads. It could have been reindeer feet.” He looked at Ethan. “Didn’t you say you heard bells, too?”
He nodded his head vigorously and looked over at Rebecca. “Did you hear them?”
She shook her head and looked at her mom. “Did you hear anything, mom?”
“Oh, I heard something, but I think it was a couple of screeching owls. Could have been wolves howling, too. I’m not sure.”
Ethan nearly choked on a hot sip of coffee. He looked at Ryan and felt somewhat vindicated by the man’s deer in headlight stare. Ryan wiggled around in the seat, and Ethan suspected his lover was still tender from their activities in the early morning hours. Ethan locked his gaze on Julie but just smiled and drank his coffee like nothing substantial had occurred. Her laughter brought the rest of the family in from the kitchen with confused looks on their faces.
“What’s going on?” Angela asked.
“Nothing, mom!” Ryan quickly exclaimed.
“Uh-huh, like I’m going to believe that one. There are times I swear my grandchildren have more maturity than the two of you whenever you’re in the same room. Now, Ryan, why don’t you peel yourself away from Ethan for a minute and come help me in the kitchen then we can all open gifts.”
“Ah, gee, mom! Do I have to?” Ryan whined.
“Ryan James Ashton, now.” Angela snapped her fingers and pointed to the kitchen but had a smile on her face as she walked out of the room.
Julie wiggled her fingers goodbye. “See ya, Rye bread.”
* * * *
A few minutes later, Ryan and his mom and dad all entered with trays of drinks and snacks. Ryan’s dad lit the fireplace, and everyone settled into their seats for gift opening.
The kids tore into the wrapping paper, and the room was showered in red, green and Christmas-themed confetti. Rebecca squealed when she opened her Dance Dance Revolution kit from Ryan and Ethan. Ryan’s mom and dad exclaimed over the framed photograph of Boston harbour, Nick started making car noises the moment he uncovered his Hot Wheels track set, and Julie and her husband nearly had tears in their eyes when they opened their gift certificate for one weekend of free babysitting.
After awhile, everyone settled down, enjoying their gifts and chattering away. Ethan and Ryan were still snuggled in their chair when Ryan pulled out a small square box and handed it to him.
Ethan opened the paper and the black box, gasping when he saw a tonneau shaped, stainless steel chronograph wrist watch. He’d made a casual reference weeks ago that he’d never had a nice watch and always scoped out men’s wrists for one that he liked.
“Turn it over,” Ryan whispered.
To E, wherever the hands may fall, it’s the perfect time to say ‘I Love You’.
Ethan stared down at the inscription forever embedded in the silver finish. His chest felt tight, and his vision swam. His hands shook as he lifted the priceless treasure from its padding. He slipped it over his left wrist and secured the latch shut. The click echoed in his soul and sealed his commitment to Ryan as much as any wedding band.
He looked up and placed his hand against Ryan’s cheek, looking into his stunning grey-blue eyes for what felt like an eternity yet could only have been a few seconds.
“I love you, too.”
Oblivious to anyone else in the room, he sealed his vow with a kiss. They clung together as they slowly exchanged emotions that could only be shared by the physical intimacy between two lovers. Ryan’s mouth opened, and their tongues slipped between them softly for a few brief moments.
When they separated, Ethan placed his forehead on Ryan’s and caressed the back of his head. Eventually, he noticed that the cacophony of sound that had surrounded them was now silent. He looked up and saw everyone watching them, but he couldn’t find the wherewithal to care. His heart beat to the rhythm of ‘Ryan loves me’.
“What?” Ryan asked the room at large.
“Oh Rye bread, that was so… My baby brother’s in love,” Julie whispered, smiling.
Ethan noticed that Angela’s eyes shimmered, and Ryan’s dad looked at them with a satisfied smile.
* * * *
Ethan stood, with drink in hand, soaking up the celebratory atmosphere. Music played, and everyone around him was in high spirits. It was two hours until they officially rang in the New Year. Boston was socked in with a massive storm front dumping copious amounts of snow across the eastern seaboard. They were expected to get close to ten inches by the end of the night, but inside his friends’ home, the mood was festive and the fire warm.
Ryan was talking to Calleigh in the kitchen, while she dished up more hors d’oeuvres. Rick and Conor were upstairs putting their sons to bed. The boys had been allowed to stay up extra late because of the holiday, but their sleepy eyed gazes a little earlier suggested that they were ready to go to call it a night.
He spied Rick and Conor’s prized possession on the entertainment centre. The high definition Xbox 360. He set his glass on coffee table and bent over to check out their stash of games. An internal squeal of excitement ran through him when he saw Rock Band 2. He eagerly opened the case and inserted the disc. Looking around, he tried to find the guitars and drum kit. He heard footsteps behind him and found Rick and Conor entering the room.
“Hey, where’d you stash the gear?” he asked.
“We had to put it away from curious little hands.” Rick opened a closet door and pulled out the equipment. “Who wants what?”
“I’ll play guitar,” Ethan pronounced.
“I’ll play bass,” Rick said
Ryan entered the room and quickly took stock of the action. “You have someone on drums yet?”
Ethan looked to Conor. “That means you get the mic. It’s only fitting. Your golden Irish pipes put us all to shame anyway. All right, what are we going to play first?”
“I vote for Judas Priest or AC/DC,” Rick stated.
“Does this thing have any Poison or GNR?” Ryan enquired.
“No, but it does have Bon Jovi and Journey.” Conor showed them on the screen.
“You hear that, E? They have Bon Jovi, and I know how much you loved Bon Jovi,” Ryan taunted.
Ethan glared at Ryan then Rick and Conor started laughing. They all knew about his little obsession with the beautiful man when he’d been a teenager.
“Well, at least he has class. I can’t say the same for the boys of the Crüe you were so enamoured with,” he retorted.
“Oh hell, Ethan. Did you manage to find the one other person in the world who literally loved hair bands as much as you did?” Rick joked.
They flipped through the list for a minute then Ethan let out a little squeal and pointed at the large flat screen TV. “That one, that one.”
“What one?” Conor asked.
“Blondie!” Everyone in the room stared at Ethan as if he were nuts. “What?”
“Jesus, Ethan, you can be so gay.” Rick shook his head.
Ethan stuck out his tongue at his old friend. “It’s a good song.” He started singing and doing a little dance. “One way or another I’m gonna get ya, I’ll get ya, I’ll get ya, get ya, get ya, get ya.”
Ryan stood from the drum set and stopped Ethan with a long, hard kiss. “You already have me, E.”
Ethan’s body hummed from the brutal kiss, and he wavered on his feet until Ryan steadied him. A huge smile lit up Ryan’s face and Ethan gently touched his watch.
“What time is it?” Ryan said for Ethan’s ears only.
“I love you.”
Rick looke
d at Conor. “What’d we miss?”
“I haven’t got a baldy, but at least, he stopped singin’”
* * * *
They played with Calleigh occasionally picking up an instrument or the microphone until it was close to midnight. It was a good thing the entertainment room was in the back of the house with the all the noise from the singing, beating on drums and radical power cords emitting from the surround-sound home theatre system.
They turned on the TV to watch the ball drop on Times Square, and Ethan put his arm around Ryan as they counted off the last seconds. When the counter hit zero, they turned to one another and shared their first kiss of the year. It was a kiss of commitment, love and passion.
He wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck and held on as his body predictably ignited. He became lost in the sensations of mingling breaths, mating of soft tongues and Ryan’s hands. One wove through his hair and the other clutched his back.
They finally separated and turned to see their friends unapologetically watching them. All three had huge grins. Rick and Conor each had an arm around Calleigh.
“I’d like to propose a toast,” Rick said. “To new love, new life and old friends.”
They all saluted, and Ethan took a drink of his margarita that Conor had made especially for him to make up for last New Year when he’d been forced to drink that black monstrosity he called beer. That was when he noticed that Calleigh was drinking clear soda and both Rick and Conor were rubbing her stomach.
“Christ on a cracker! Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he exclaimed.
He saw all three of them nod their heads.
“We’re pregnant!” they announced as a group.
He looked pointedly at Calleigh stomach. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but she did appear to be wearing a looser fitting blouse. He’d just assumed she’d done so for comfort. “How…when…”
“Well, when a man and woman shag—”
“Conor McGuire, don’t be a dick. I was trying to ask how far along she is.”
“I’m due in June,” Calleigh said.
“We’re all getting united on the Cape in March. I’m hoping you’ll be there,” Rick said.
He looked at Ryan who gave a slight nod of his head. “We wouldn’t miss it.”
* * * *
Rick stacked the last dish in the dishwasher and turned to Ethan. “So it looks like you found what you were looking for old pal.”
Ethan paused at wiping down the counter, confused by the random question. “Huh?”
“If I remember he had to be tall, hot, built, smart, and desperately in love with you. From what I can gather, Ryan seems to meet all your requirements.”
Ethan sighed, “Yeah.”
Ethan knew by Ryan’s chuckle that he probably had a dopey dreamy look on his face. His happiness now was so different from the personal turmoil of the past several years. Despite the drama though, Ryan and Conor had stood by Ethan without fail. Several months after Ethan’s break-up with Carl his friends had started to needle him incessantly about how thin he’d gotten or how dark the circles under his eyes had become. While Ethan knew their intentions were in the right place it was so hard to trust another man with his heart. About a year ago Ethan woke up one morning and realised he hadn’t been out with Rick and Conor in months, the most familiar piece of furniture was his office chair and his libido was screaming at him to get his act together. The first couple of dates Ethan went on were awkward, but at least he’d committed to opening himself up again. And now Ryan had stolen Ethan’s heart, and he couldn’t be happier.
Rick slapped Ethan on the back. “I’m happy for you, grape nuts. It seems you wished upon the right star. I’m glad you finally found your prince.”
Ethan laughed. “Dude, you’ve been watching too many children’s movies.”
Rick shrugged. Ethan was just giving Rick trouble, and his friend knew it. It’s what they did. They both knew Rick was completely enamoured with his sons and loved spending time with them. Ethan couldn’t wait for the new baby to arrive. He hadn’t said anything, but he was secretly hoping for a little girl to spoil.
Ryan had just stepped out of the washroom when Rick stopped him
“You got a second?” Rick asked.
Ryan looked around for Ethan. “You know where Ethan went?”
“He’s in the kitchen. This won’t take long.”
“That’s fine, what’s on your mind?”
“Ethan doesn’t have any blood family that cares about him so I’m going to give you the talk.” He crossed his arms attempting to appear resolute. “I want you to know that we’re more than Ethan’s buddies. We’ve been like the three musketeers or brothers in arms for thirteen years. Aside from Conor, he’s my best friend, and I love him. Until now we’ve been his only real family.” He held up his hand when it appeared Ryan was going to interject. “I understand that he now has you, and he shared with me what happened when you took him home for Christmas. I’m glad. It appears that you truly love him, and I think he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him—including when he was with Carl back in school. Conor and I discussed it, and we’re confident that you’re the best thing for our little boy. Take care of him.”
“I’ll protect him with my life if need be.”
Chapter Ten
Ethan looked out the window and sighed as he saw that once again it was snowing. He’d hoped to make it home before the next surge hit, but as the saying went, there no rest for the wicked. Luke Yeung was definitely wicked. Ethan’s desk was currently littered with documents of proof between Yeung and his contacts in China, emails and text messages all subpoenaed by the FBI. One of them even had a written description of the prototype.
He’d thought Yeung, who reportedly had a genius IQ, would know to use an anonymous account or code or something. Not that he was complaining. It certainly made his job easier, but having to shift though every piece of paper was taking weeks.
He glanced at his watch and thought of Ryan sitting at home probably watching one of his crime dramas that he loved so much. Ryan’s fascination with the shows was surprising. Ethan thought that Ryan would get enough of that at the office, but without fail, his DVR tuned in several nights a week.
A couple of weeks ago, they’d sat in Ryan’s living room and had a marathon of Bones, CSI and NCIS. The beer had been plentiful and the snacks finger-licking good. The best part though was snuggling up next to Ryan, hearing him laugh at the witty dialogue. Ethan had ended up contentedly falling asleep with his head in Ryan’s lap until Ryan had woken him up. Then they’d gone upstairs and made love until the early hours of the morning.
That’s it. What am I doing here? These papers can wait ‘til tomorrow. I have a man who loves me.
He picked up his cell phone and texted Ryan that he was on the way over. He got an immediate response to be careful on the roads and bring an extra suit because he was staying the night. Ethan had taken to keeping one in his office closet for times like this. Ryan’s loft now housed an extra toiletry kit. A few of his T-shirts and a pair of his jeans had found their way into Ryan’s drawers. It was the same at his place. With all the going back and forth, maybe it was time to release the question of living together. It would be nice to actually come home, to their home, at the end of the day.
He locked up the office and headed down to the lobby. He waved to the guard on duty at the desk, and stepped out into the bitter night air. Heavy snow swirled around and made it difficult to see more than a few paces in front of him. It didn’t help that being down by the harbour there were no buildings to block the harsh winds coming off the water. It sucked that the only parking was two massive open lots. That meant he’d have to spend the next ten minutes brushing snow off his car, while dancing around as if he were a Mexican jumping bean to stay warm. He shuffled through the bricked arches leading to the parking lots. Out on the open lots the snowdrifts had already accumulated up to his ankles. He passed a handful of giant snowballs, which he assumed wer
e buried cars belonging to those foolish enough like himself to be out in this weather. He hit the remote start and the unlock button on his key fob. The dull glow of the headlights shining though the white blanket concealing his Camry guided him in the right direction.
He was reaching for the door handle when pain exploded in the back of his head. The ground rose up greet him with a jarring thud. The snow on the ground was frigid against his cheek and dampness immediately soaked through his suit pants.
He reached to feel the back of his skull, and the security lights shined enough for him to see his fingertips come back bloody.
Oh Shit. That’s not good.
A hard kick to his ribs had him curling into a little ball.
“You little faggot, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
He was flipped over onto his back and held down while another set of arms pummelled his face and stomach. He tried to open his eyes and get an identity of his attackers, but they were quickly swelling shut. One of the men bent down and got right in his face. Ethan saw distinctive Asian features, although at the moment he couldn’t think well enough to determine nationality. Black hair hung over his forehead and eyebrow, thin lips snarled and dark eyes glared in hatred. A third set of legs added swift brutal kicks. One landed right to his groin, and he screamed into the dark cold night.
“I think the little fag liked it. Give him another.”
Another kick landed, and Ethan nearly threw up as pain assaulted his balls.
“Your kind thinks you have the right to force the rest of us to watch your disgusting displays? From now on, I want you to remember this moment because if we see you again, the pain will only be worse.”
A bone crushing kick landed on his side, and he felt a rib snap. He was forcibly rolled over, one of the attackers held his face down in the snow. The frozen moisture was sucked down, and he hacked trying to clear his lungs.
As soon as he cleared his breathing, he heard the metallic sound of a knife opening. He struggled and tried to crawl away only to have his back stood on by one of the attackers. All the air in his body expelled so he couldn’t even scream any more.