Chapter 45

Then he sighs, “Really?”

Gavin thinks for a moment, then nods. “Yeah. Yes. I love you, I do.”

Suddenly the color rushes back into the world, noise clatters around him, blood pumps into his heart and ears and head, making him giddy and light. He wraps his arms around Gavin’s neck and pulls his lover close, not caring who might be watching as he covers Gavin’s face and mouth with fluttering little kisses. “God, me too,” he says the next time he manages to take a breath. “I love you, too, Gavin. I love you.”

Then he feels someone climb into the booth behind him, and Evie’s little arms wrap around his neck, pulling him back into a chokehold. “Daddy!” she cries, loud enough to draw stares from nearby tables. “You said it was a secret! Why do you get to tell him and I can’t?”

With a laugh, Gavin pries Evie’s hands off Brody’s neck. “Because I’m the one who loves him, not you,” he says.

“I do, too!” Evie squeals. She hugs Brody even tighter, her high-pitched voice deafening right in his ear. “I love him, too! He’s going to get me a real tattoo when I get old enough!”

Gavin smirks and widens his eyes at Brody in mock horror. “What’s this all about?”

Easing his fingers under Evie’s arms, Brody takes a deep breath and laughs. “I told you thatwas a secret, too, didn’t I?”

“You said not to tell Mommy,” Evie points out. “You didn’t say I couldn’t tell Daddy. Hey! Watch my tattoo!”

Brody’s hand glanced over her temporary tattoo; now she pulls away from him completely, patting the image on her skin as if afraid it might’ve smeared.

“This is why I need a real one,” she says, pouting. “So it won’t get messed up. How old do I have to be again, Brody?”

It’s Gavin who answers. Hugging Brody against him, he gives his daughter a stern look and says, “I don’t think you’re ever going to be old enough, if you ask me.”

“I didn’task you. I asked Brody.” Evie plops down on the seat, mad for a moment, but within minutes she’s off again, drawn to the aquarium as a large tuna swims into view.

Brody leans back against his lover’s chest and, lacing his fingers through Gavin’s, admits, “I didn’t actually sayshe could get a tattoo. What I said was, by the time she’s old enough, she might not even want one anymore.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gavin laughs. “She’s trouble with a capital T. Why can’t they stay young forever?”

“Funny how they grow so fast and we don’t age a day,” Brody jokes. Raising Gavin’s hand, he kisses each knuckle in turn. “Tell me again that you love me. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing it.”

“I do.” Gavin presses his lips to Brody’s ear, his breath ruffling Brody’s blue bangs. “And when we get back to the condo and put a certain someone to bed, I’ll show you just how much I love you.”

Brody can hardly wait.Part 7: Gavin

35

At the end of a long day, Gavin tucks Evie into her own bed and leaves the door cracked slightly as he heads back to the living room, where Brody waits. Only Brody isn’t in the living room—he’s on the balcony, and a faint sea breeze wafts in through the open sliding screen door. Gavin leans against the door frame and breathes in the salty night air. Brody sits on a two-cushion patio loveseat facing the ocean, his feet propped up on the wrought-iron railing. When they returned to the condo after dinner, he slipped into a pair of black boxers that leave his legs bare, and his tattoos look like so many dark shapes and shadows twined along his skin.

Stepping out onto the balcony, Gavin comes up behind Brody and places his hands on his lover’s shoulders. With a gentle kneading motion, he gives Brody an impromptu massage. “It’s beautiful out here,” he says softly.

Brody leans back and smiles up at Gavin. “Next time we book a weekend getaway, we schedule it when you don’t have company.”

“Oh, come on. Evie loves you,” Gavin says. He bends down and kisses Brody’s lips. “And so do I.”

“She’s wonderful,” Brody admits, “but she’s a bit of a cock blocker, if you know what I mean.”

Gavin laughs. “One night. She’s in her own room now. What do you say we go in and take advantage of our empty bed while we have the chance?”

With a nod at the small table beside the loveseat, Brody says, “What do yousay about sharing a bottle of wine with me out here by the sea?”

There’s a bottle of white Merlot on the table and two glasses waiting to be filled. The warm evening is enticing, and the sound of the distant surf like a lullaby calming the nerves. The light thrown from the open sliding door barely illuminates the loveseat where Brody sits, so Gavin steps around to join him. “I’ll pour,” he says, reaching for the wine.