The First Step, page 24
Finally Reed picked up the sling and handed it to Justin, who grumbled as he put it back on. “Flight got cancelled?” Justin asked.
“Nope. My plans changed.” Reed smiled, but he shoved his hands in his pockets and fidgeted.
“Oh?” He wouldn’t presume anything, but he hoped Reed’s plans included him.
“That offer to crash at your place if I’m passing through,” Reed began tentatively. “Is that still on the table? Because I just got off the phone with Zach, and I’m going to need a place to stay. Just for a few days, of course, until I can find an apartment.”
“Zach? You mean the guy at the paper? He offered you a job?”
Reed nodded.
“And you took it?”
“I did.” Reed pressed his lips together, and the corners of his mouth curved upward.
“You can stay as long as you need,” Justin said without really thinking. “I mean…. Shit, I’m not very good at this. I mean I want you to stay. Not as long as you need. I want you to live with me.” His heart pounded and he felt suddenly light-headed. Not five minutes ago he’d worried what might have happened if he’d asked. But now, with Reed standing in front of him, he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. The only thing he cared about was what he’d do if Reed said no.
“You want me to live with you? Not just stay for a few days?”
Justin nodded. “That’s the idea.”
“But what about your coworkers? What about your career?”
“It might make things difficult,” Justin admitted. “But I’ll handle it. I’m good at my job. No one can take that away from me. I’ve earned that.” Life had to be about more than just a job. And a life with Reed meant coming out and taking a chance that things would work out.
The first step is the longest. Justin steeled himself and asked, “So what’s your answer?”
“Yes. My answer’s yes.” Reed sniffled and his eyes grew watery. “Sorry. I’m not very good at this either.”
“S’okay.” Justin managed a totally awkward one-armed hug. Reed didn’t seem to mind.
“Were you really going to try to put the sails back up by yourself?” Reed asked once they’d sat down.
“Yep.”
“You really are a big idiot.”
“Yep.”
“Kerry’s sending the boys over,” Reed said. “They’ll be here in about an hour. We—and you are not included in the ‘we’ part—will get them back up. And I’ll help you sail her back.”
Justin nodded.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Say it. Just say it! “What you said in the postcard….”
“Yes?” Reed frowned, but the telltale flush of his cheeks was adorable.
“Me too.”
Reed laughed. “You too what?”
“You know damn well—”
“That is not going to fly this time,” Reed chastised.
“Huh?” Of course he knew what Reed meant, but he needed time to get up his nerve.
“There’s no ditto on something like that,” Reed said. “Even you can manage three words.”
“Oh? I haven’t heard you say it either.” Justin struggled to keep a straight face.
Reed laughed and pulled his legs underneath him like a little kid who’d be caught trying to pull one over. “Fine.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I love you, you big idiot.”
Justin smirked. “Very romantic.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Okay.” Justin took a deep breath and leaned in to capture Reed’s lips. Then, deciding that this wasn’t going to get any easier and kicking himself for letting three little words stop him in his tracks, he said, “You’re an idiot too.”
“Good.” Reed got to his feet and retrieved his suitcase from the cockpit.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked.
“Changing. I can’t sail in my suit.”
“You look good, though.” Justin smacked Reed on the ass.
“Thank you. I think.” Reed shut the door to the master cabin in Justin’s face.
Justin put a hand on the door, but he didn’t try to open it. “Reed?”
“That’s me.”
“I love you.”
Reed poked his head out and grinned. “I know.” He sniffled and shut the door again.
Chapter Forty-Three
“COFFEE?” REED stepped out onto the deck and offered Justin a mug. The sling was finally off, but he was pleased to see Justin steering with only his right arm. Leila sat next to him, her body pressed against his foot.
“Thanks.”
Since they’d left Florida behind at sunrise that morning, Justin had visibly relaxed. The fine lines on his brow eased, and although he still sat straight, he’d kicked off his boat shoes and wiggled his toes to pet Leila every so often.
“I feel like we’re playing hooky,” Reed joked as he sat next to Justin. “I can’t recall the last time I took a vacation, let alone five weeks off from work.”
“This was your crazy idea, remember?” Justin winked. It had been Reed’s suggestion, but only because the doctor told Justin that even though he was healing well, it would be at least five weeks before he would clear him to return to work. Justin had looked as though he was about to jump out of his skin. He’d tried to argue that the average person would be ready to get back to work much sooner, but the doctor had pointed out that the average person “doesn’t make their living climbing ladders and hopping from boat to boat.”
Justin had originally nixed the idea of sailing south, since it was still technically hurricane season, but they’d ended up chancing it. “Technically hurricane season runs through November,” he said when Reed had suggested they sail somewhere tropical. “But most storm activity’s over by the end of October.”
At least for now, it seemed they’d made the right call. Hurricane Michael was long gone, and there were no new storms forming in the Caribbean. Not that Zach had been as enthusiastic about it.
“How long until you start work?” Zach glared at Reed over his reading glasses.
“Six weeks. Maybe seven.” Reed waited patiently as Zach tapped his foot against the bottom of his desk.
“Fine. But don’t get any ideas about another vacation anytime soon.” Zach shook his head and grumbled under his breath, “I’m sure I can handle doing two jobs at the same time for another six weeks.”
“Or seven.” Reed grinned.
“Whatever. Now get out of my sight. And if you don’t text me some pictures, don’t plan on having a job to come back to.”
“You ever going to tell me what happened when you were at the airport waiting on your flight?” Justin asked after he’d finished his coffee.
Reed shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Really?”
“I was sure I wanted to be with you. I was also sure I’d enjoy working with Zach.” Reed leaned back and inhaled the sweet, salty air. “But it was the city that really got to me.”
“How so?”
“I got to know people. And it wasn’t about getting them to admit they’d lied or getting a scoop on a bribery scandal at city hall. I was part of it instead of an outsider looking in.”
Justin looked as though he was about to say something, then seemed to stop himself.
“What were you going to say?” Reed asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like it’s nothing.” However long it took, Reed wanted Justin to understand he would be there to listen.
“I was just thinking about my work, that’s all.”
Talk about an understatement. “You survived the barbeque at Greg’s, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“But?”
“I’m going to take a chance and tell them about you.” Justin looked straight ahead, avoiding Reed’s gaze.
“You mean that I’m living with you?” He smiled. “I’m sure they’ve figured that one out.”
“You think?”
“I do.” And judging by the knowing looks on some of Justin’s colleagues’ faces, some of them understood the implications.
Justin hesitated again, then said, “That wasn’t really what I meant, though.”
Now that was a surprise. “What did you mean?”
“That I’d tell them everything about us.”
“Everything?” Reed gently teased.
Justin blushed on cue. Reed loved that Justin was an old-fashioned romantic, even if he’d deny it to his dying breath. “Well not everything,” Justin said. “I meant that I’d tell them that we’re together.”
“How do you think they’ll take it?”
Justin shook his head. “I don’t know. Greg will probably be okay about it.”
Reed was sure Greg already knew. He hadn’t meant to do it, but he’d probably tipped their hand with his reaction when Justin had been injured. Reed had gone way beyond the friend kind of worry. “And Kerry’s pretty much planning our wedding.” He’d meant it as a joke, but Justin’s cheeks were now scarlet.
Interesting. He wouldn’t bring it up. It was far too soon. But the fact that Justin seemed to also think it might be a possibility felt damn good. He hadn’t been looking for a relationship, but now that he was in one, he wanted it to last.
“So where’re we headed, Captain?”
“Bimini. Then I figured we’d work our way over to the Exumas if we have time.” Justin looked really happy. Reed had seen one of Justin’s magazines open to an article about the islands.
“Sounds great.”
“Have you ever tried scuba?” Justin asked after a pause.
“No.”
“I’m a dive instructor,” Justin said.
Reed chuckled. “Of course you are.”
“Yep.”
“So you’re going to teach me?”
“Yep.”
“Sounds like a great topic for an article.” Reed counted to three.
“Oh, hell no. No more articles where I’m the subject.” Justin rolled his eyes. “Besides, I’m boring.”
“Far from it.” Reed ran his fingers through Justin’s hair and leaned in to nibble on his ear. “But does that mean you’ll teach me?”
Justin grinned, then flipped the switch on the autopilot. “Maybe. But in the meantime—” He took Reed’s hand and pulled him belowdecks, Leila following them and landing happily on the couch in the salon. “We’ve got ten minutes before I need to check the radar again. Thought we might take turns teaching each other.” He waggled his eyebrows as he pushed Reed through the doorway to the master cabin and onto the bed. “My turn first.”
Reed began to say something, then thought better of it. There were times when words just didn’t cut it.
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SHIRA ANTHONY was a professional opera singer in her last incarnation, performing roles in such operas as Tosca, Pagliacci, and La Traviata, among others. You can hear Shira sing an aria from a live performance of Puccini’s Tosca by clicking here: “Vissi d’arte” (http://www.shiraanthony.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/tosca-visse-darte-exceprt1.mp3)
Shira’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle. When she’s not writing, she is usually in a courtroom trying to make the world safer for children. Her favorite place to write is at the Carolina coast aboard Prelude, a 38’ catamaran sailboat, with her favorite sexy captain at the wheel.
Whether contemporary romance, high fantasy shifters, or time-traveling vampires, Shira writes what she loves and never writes a story without a HEA. Her Mermen of Ea trilogy book Into the Wind was named one of the best books of 2014 by both Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words and Hearts on Fire Reviews, and was a finalist in the 2014 Goodreads M/M Romance Member’s Choice Awards. Her Blue Notes series of classical-music-themed gay romances was named one of Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words’ best series of 2012, and the most recent book in the series, Dissonance, was named one of the best books of 2014 by Hearts on Fire Reviews. Her book A Solitary Man, coauthored with Aisling Mancy, won a 2016 Rainbow Award Honorable Mention for Best Gay Mystery/Thriller.
Shira can be found on:
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By Shira Anthony
The Dream of a Thousand Nights
