A glance at his watch showed he was runninglate—no time to stop at the gym today. He’d have to drop off Sadieat her doggy daycare, then hightail it to the bus depot. As heunlocked the back door to his car for the dog to jump in, he saw atell-tale shimmer from the corner of his eye and elbowed it awaybefore it could take his likeness. “I’ll handle this,” he mutteredto no one in particular. “I don’t need any help, even if itis from myself.”
Sadie’s daycare was near the gym where Mattworked. Vic was pleased to discover it was more difficult for hisdouble to take form when he was behind the wheel of the car. Theone time it tried to manifest in the passenger seat, Vic punched itin the thigh and it disappeared. Still, this would be a handy powerto have during rush hour on the interstate, he mused. Nothing likea car full of clones to let one skip ahead to the HOV lane.
After he dropped Sadie off, Vic cruised pastthe gym and considered stopping in for just a minute or two. But heknew himself too well—a minute to say hello to his lover would turninto five minutes alone in the locker room, then ten in theshowers, then fifteen…no, better to just give Matty a mental hugand get to work. He was running late enough as it was. As he idledat the stoplight a block from the gym, he stretched out with hismind and easily locked into his lover’s consciousness. ::Heythere, sexy.::
He was surprised when Matt gave a guiltystart. ::Vic! I didn’t know you were here.::
::I’m not,:: Vic told him. ::Justdropped off the dog and now I’m headed to work. No time to stoptoday.::
Matt seemed preoccupied when heanswered,::Oh, then I guess I’ll see you tonight?::
Vic grunted, amused. ::Don’t get upset ornothing.::
Confusion flickered through Matt’s thoughts.::What? You said you weren’t stopping.::
Closing his eyes for a moment, Vic delveddeeper into his lover’s mind. He caught a whiff of somethingsurreptitious, but before he could pick it apart to see what itmight be, Matt slammed shut that part of his brain as easily as hewould a door. As effectively, too—in the years they’d beentogether, Matt had grown adept at blocking Vic from his mind whenhe wanted privacy. It didn’t happen often, true, but when it did,Vic always knew Matt had something special planned for the two ofthem.
Knocking on the door in Matt’s mind, Vicasked, ::What are you hiding from me today?::
::Nothing,:: Matt answered, a littletoo quickly. Then, sounding wounded, he asked, ::Today? What’sthat supposed to mean?::
Vic switched tactics. ::You busy atwork?::
::About to go to lunch,:: Mattadmitted. Vic felt his lover’s relief at the apparent change in theconversation. ::I have an errand to run, and Roxie’s car is inthe shop so she’s coming with…::
::Does that errand have anything to dowith looking at wedding rings?:: Vic teased.
Now he had Matty’s full attention.::Hey! You’re not supposed to be trolling through my thoughts! Iblocked you!::
Vic’s light changed and he eased off thebrake. ::How long have we known each other?:: he asked Matt.::I don’t need to read your mind to know when you’re up tosomething.::
::Yeah, well…:: Matt didn’t have anyother reply.
Vic could sense his lover sulking, so hewrapped his psyche around Matt’s in a mental hug. Warmth seemed tofill him, and he knew Matt felt it, as well—a deep glow thatstarted somewhere in the middle of his chest, then spread likehoney through his veins, into his arms and legs, fingers, toes. Itfelt like a small sun enveloping him, loving and alive, so real ittook his breath away. Beneath it, Matty sighed. ::Love you, bigguy.::
::I love you,:: Vic told him. Then,with a grin, he added, ::Don’t worry. If you buy anything, I’lltry hard to act surprised.::
::If I buy anything,:: Matt grumbled.::See what I get you now!::
Vic laughed and sped up, widening thedistance between them until Matt’s thoughts faded like a radiostation too far away to pick up clearly. Another block or two andVic was alone again, the memory of Matt’s soul enmeshed with hisstill warming him inside.
* * * *
When they first talked of marriage, Matt hadenvisioned searching for a ring with Vic by his side, the two ofthem finding the perfect ring together. Things didn’t quite workout that way. Matt should have known better, really—Vic hatedshopping, all aspects of it. He never looked at a sales ad if hecould help it, and refused to spend the evening cuddled together inbed, leafing through jewelry catalogs. His idea of going to thestore was walking straight down the aisle to whatever it was hewanted to buy, no stopping to look at anything else. Once he heldhis intended purchase in hand, he made a bee-line for the register,then out the door. The few times Matt sent Vic to the grocery storeon his own, he came home with only those items specifically spelledout on his list. If Matt wrote anything ambiguous, such assomething for dinner, Vic simply ignored it. He wasn’t thetype to look around while at the store, any store, and hehated when Matt dragged him along to shop.
For anything. From groceries toclothes, Vic loathed having to buy it all.
So Matt wasn’t exactly surprised when hisenthusiastic attempts to draw Vic into shopping for wedding ringsdidn’t pan out. Vic listened politely enough, but he couldn’t giveMatt his opinion on one ring over the other because he just didn’thave an opinion to give. At one point, when confronted withtwo completely different ring sets, he shrugged and said, “Theylook the same to me.”
Frustrated, Matt had complained, “Vic, you’relying. They’re nothing alike! This one’s white gold with a diamondcut filigree design, while this one’s platinum with actual diamondchips set into the metal. Look at them, will you? You can’ttell me you don’t like one over the other.”
Lowering the magazines Matt brandished athim, Vic looked Matt in the eye. “Matty, they’re the same tome. Gold or platinum or hell, a rolled up piece of aluminumfoil wrapped around my finger, I don’t care. It isn’t
