Page 71 of Laying Low
By the time they were old, he thought with satisfaction, they’d betranscendentwith how much they loved each other.
That was the plan, anyway.
“Reg, we’ve got everything,” he said patiently.
Reg turned to him, frowning.“Are you sure?”he asked, eyeing their luggage, such as it was.
“Yeah, baby, I’m sure.What do you think we’ve forgotten?”
To his delight, Reg’s cheeks went scarlet.“Just… you know.”He glanced away shyly—although he hadn’t been that shy in bed over the last three days.Not after that first night.He’d beenvoracious, anddemanding, andsexy, and Anthony adored that change in him.
“What?”Anthony moved up to wrap his arms around Reg’s waist, knowing Reg would use their slight height difference to rest his cheek on Anthony’s shoulder.He knew that now—it was wonderful.
“It feels like we should have a big suitcase or something, because I feel like my whole world has changed.”
Anthony held him tighter.“We’ve got us,” he said softly.“And I think we’ve proved that’s all we need.”
It was a good thing he’d decided that, because life has a way of throwing curve balls when people aren’t paying attention.
Laying Low
REG’S MOTHERand Dean had apparently arrived in Bakersfield the night before Reg and Anthony’s plane touched down, and Dean was the one who picked them up at the airport.
He greeted Reg with an uncharacteristically tight hug.
“Good to see you, little brother,” he muttered before taking the full tote from Reg’s hand and swinging around toward the parking lot.
The airport was small, but it was still far too big a distance for Reg to deal with Dean’s enigmatic silence after that demonstration of affection.
“What?”he asked irritably as they buckled in.It was late afternoon, and while the day had gone without a hitch (besides being grateful for the witch hazel pads—thanks, Mom!), it was still a long day to be traveling, even with, well, the love of his life.
Which he had no doubt Anthony was—not after the last three days.Or the week before that.Or the months before that, really.
“You couldn’t have told me?”Dean retorted, turning on the ignition.“Me?Of all of us, you had to tellChance?”
Reg frowned at his brother unhappily.“Chance didn’t have any expectations,” he explained.“Youwould have pushed me.”
“Well, you needed to be pushed,” Dean said bitterly, and Reg was tempted to argue with him because, well, it wasDean.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh.“I’m trying to figure out how to take over Adelle’s classes right now, and it would be a lot easier if I’d gotten the damned degree first.”
Dean grunted.“You can’t… you know….”He waved the fingers of one hand while steering with the other.“Make that happen?”
“It’s a computer, Dean, not a magic time traveling machine!”
Dean put both hands on the wheel and shot him a sideways glance.“Are yousureabout that?Now that I’ve seen your setup, I’m thinking you could pretty much make me king of an imaginary country with that thing.”
Reg snorted, and Anthony said, “He could probably make you king of arealcountry with that thing.And don’t think we haven’t been plotting.But you’re right.Would be a lot easier if… you know….”
And Reg was forced to say it.“I’d been brave about being smart in the first place.”
“Exactly,” Dean said, and then patted his shoulder.“But that’s okay.I’ll have lots of time to grill you about it now!”
Oh God.Apparently this would be his penance for lying to his family most of his life.He guessed he had it coming.
Reg braced himself for more uncomfortable conversation when Anthony came to his rescue.“Hey, Reg, what is this property?”
Reg glanced about, surprised to see they were passing one of those areas that made people think Bakersfield was “the middle of nowhere.”The forty-acre spread was a pile of bleached grasses and thistles, but Reg knew it had once been a little more.
