“Hush.” Vic tousled Matt’s black curls, then kissedhis slack lips. With a sigh, Matt melted beneath him, drifting backto whatever dreams awaited.
The need to lay next to him grew overwhelming. Totake him in his arms, to fall asleep listening to him breathe. Viccould always shower in the morning, but this moment was sacred,fleeting. The time he spent in the bathroom would be long enoughfor Matt to fall back into a deep sleep, and he’d lose this chance.The choice was obvious—he stripped off his work clothes as heskirted the bed and was naked by the time he clicked off the lightto slip between the covers.
Before he even settled in, Matt’s warm body curledagainst his. Strong hands strummed his chest, a heavy head restedon his shoulder, hot breath tickled his skin. “Hey,” Matt sighed,still mostly asleep. He hugged Vic in a tight grip, held him for amoment as if to lock the memory of his embrace in place, thenrelaxed.
Vic wrapped his arms around Matt’s broad shoulders tokeep him close. With the faintest of mental touches, he slippedinto his lover’s mind, stepping over half-formed dreams strewnabout, thoughts and hopes, wishes, memories made new with sleep. Inthe center of Matt’s consciousness Vic found his lover sprawled oncushions as he watched the scenes unfold in his mind. Entwinedtogether in bed, Vic pressed his lips to Matt’s forehead;internally, his soul touched Matt’s in the same loving manner, thetwo of them coming together as one. Vic curled his thoughts aroundhis lover’s, every part of his dream self connecting with Matt in acomplete communion of love. As they lay together on the cusp ofsleep, Matt’s mind soothed Vic’s, kissing away the troubledfeelings that festered inside him, unruffling the feathers that hadpuffed up in defense against Kyle and Jordan and the rest of theworld.
Making him whole again. Making him new.
* * * *
In the morning, Vic shuffled into the kitchen,bleary-eyed and grumpy. His flannel robe was cinched at his waist,revealing more pale flesh than it hid and earning him a wolfwhistle from Matt. Seated at the dining room table, his loverbusied himself with tying his sneakers as he leered at Vic. “Yousexy thing.”
Vic growled deep in the back of his throat but didn’tbother to reply. Instead he poured himself a cup of coffee andtried to blink away the fog that clung to his waking mind. “I’mgoing to stop by Kroger today on my way home,” Matt was tellinghim. Vic heard his lover’s voice but the words themselves weremeaningless. He could be speaking Greek for all Vic knew, thisearly in the day. “I’m thinking we should bring potato saladtomorrow. How’s that work for you?”
“Tomorrow?” Vic asked. He wasn’t quite sure yet abouttoday. “Where are we going?”
Matt laughed. “Kyle’s? Hello?”
“Oh.” The previous evening came back to him in arush, bringing with it all the ill feelings that had chased Victhroughout the day. He set his coffee mug down on the counter a bitharder than he intended. “We’re not going.”
He could still hear the smile in his lover’s voicewhen Matt asked, “When did we decide this?”
Vic didn’t bother to reply. Instead he concentratedon shaking a packet of sugar into his coffee, rattling the paperlong after the last few grains had dissolved into his drink. Hekept his back to Matt, kept his head down, and kept quiet.
Matt wasn’t buying it. “Vic?” he prompted.
Silently Vic chided, ::Not now.::
::Yes, now,:: came Matt’s quickreply.
Familiar tendrils of thought tickled into Vic’s mind.With a sigh, he let Matt in. His lover knew him so well; he knewjust where to look to find what he wanted, and like a cop making adrug bust, he began riffling through Vic’s memories, picking overhis thoughts. When he found the scene with Kyle at work andreplayed the words exchanged, Vic balled up the empty sugar packetin one unconscious fist. That fucker. He should’ve strangled himwhen he had the chance.
Warm hands touched his shoulders; then Matt leanedagainst his back. He smoothed his hands down and around Vic’s arms,until he hugged Vic’s waist. Soft, damp lips kissed the nape ofVic’s neck. “Why do you let him get to you?” Matt murmured. “I livewith you, babe. I sleep with you. He’s the one who should bejealous, not you.”
“I’m not jealous.”
But Matt cut him off. “Bullshit. Why let him getunder your skin then?”
Vic tried to move away but Matt held him tight, so hesettled for turning in his lover’s embrace. Anger clenched Vic’sjaw as he glared at Matt. “What am I supposed to do, let him talkshit about you? Just stand there and listen to his goddamnlies?”
“Shh.” Matt kissed the corner of his mouth as hishands stroked Vic’s back in a placating gesture. “He’s not wortharguing over.”
“He is lying,” Vic muttered. When Matt kissedhis cheek, he added, “Isn’t he?”
Matt leaned heavily against him, pressing him back tothe counter. Vic found his arms easing around his lover’s waist tokeep him close. “Look at me,” Matt said, cradling Vic’s face inboth hands. He forced Vic to look at him, in the eye, to reallysee him. “Me, Vic. Only me.”
Then he touched his forehead to Vic’s, creating anintimate space between them that canceled out everything but thosedeep malachite eyes staring back at him. Vic could see eachindividual eyelash on Matt’s lids; this close they looked thick andcurved like a girl’s.
Once he had Vic’s attention, Matt opened his mind andan image filled Vic’s head. One of Matt’s memories, something fromhis past Vic hadn’t seen before. The event unfolded before him likea movie, his mind peering into Matt’s from a distant perspective.He saw a house he didn’t recognize, with a pool in the backyard, ahot tub at the far end with water already beginning to bubble. Theindigo sky, held back by footlights that framed the pool, told Vicit must’ve been a late summer evening. Two men lounged by the poolin shorts and T-shirts. Matt was one of them.
Kyle was the other.
Vic tensed but Matt kissed him. “Shh. Watch.”
Distant laughter drifted to Vic from that day longago. He noticed the wary look in his lover’s eyes, and
