Page 3 of Ring Rust

“Is that right?”

“It is. Sandpapery tongue and all.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ryan said, smiling.

“Well, it needs a little work. It always needs work. But Stevie and I think we can manage it okay.”

“I’d love to see it. And I’m pretty handy, if you ever need anything.”

Jasper needed a lot, he decided. Starting with kissing Ryan’s lips right there, in the kitchen.

Stevie slipped in through the door seconds later. Jasper barely noticed, until she spoke. “Come on, guys. Dessert time. You can’t spend the whole time in the kitchen.”

Jasper glared at her but followed anyway, irritated until he felt Ryan’s hand press against the small of his back.

Hours passed after they joined the larger group, but they stayed near each other the whole evening. Still, Jasper was disappointed when the party started to die down.

With Ryan’s number saved safely in his phone, Jasper readied himself to say goodbye. He hugged his sister first, then Beni, telling them he loved them. When he got to Ryan, he accidentally offered him the same thing—a quick,love youthat rolled off his tongue far too easily. He tried to pull away, horrified and fully convinced he’d ruined everything.

Ryan just laughed, pulled him back into a hug, and whispered, “Goodnight, Jasper.”

When Jasper got home and finally braved a peek at his phone, Ryan had texted him.

I’m sorry I can’t quite say I love you yet, but I would really like to see you again. Soon.

Jasper buried his face in his pillow to hide his ridiculous grin, and when he woke up the next morning to another text from Ryan, it was like reading the opening line to the rest of his life.

Chapter Two

14 YEARS LATER

“I’m almost done, I promise.”

“Take your time.”

Jasper lifted his champagne glass and gave Ryan a small nod, the same quiet offer of support he’d given countless times before, the kind that said he’d be there whenever Ryan came back to him. Ryan smiled, reaching for Jasper’s arm to give his bicep a gentle squeeze—their silent way of sayingI love youwhen the words weren’t appreciated by others, like events where Don Royale was the center of attention.

And Don Royale had never shined brighter than he did tonight. Ryan’s retirement party was the final celebration of the wrestling persona he’d spent the last decade building—Central Wrestling Authority’s most hated heel, the superstar whose loss the public mourned, the larger-than-life mafia don who’d felt like a third person in Jasper’s marriage for nearly ten years.

Jasper was spending his evening doing what he always did—smiling, toasting, playing the part of the proud partner tucked into the background. No one in the room would have guessedthat inside, he was counting down the minutes until Don Royale hung up his boots for good.

“I’m going to miss this guy so much!” Jasper heard over the crowd. It was Micah, Ryan’s closest friend at CWA. “One last toast to the best CWA has to offer. I love you, man.”

The crowd murmured its agreements, a sea of champagne glasses raised towards the ceiling for the seventieth time, and then Ryan disappeared, swallowed up by well-wishers.

Jasper resigned himself to being alone the rest of the evening and found a tall table to lean against.

He knew this position well. Off to the side, drink in hand, close enough that Ryan could find him when he was done, but far enough away that nobody expected him to be part of the conversation. This rhythm was nailed down years ago: Ryan stepped into a room, people fought for his attention, and Jasper… waited.

The first time it happened was right after Ryan signed with CWA. They were at a sponsor dinner where Jasper knew no one, and Ryan disappeared into a crowd of veteran wrestlers and executives. Jasper stayed put with a silent plea from Ryan and nursed the same drink for an hour. Ryan finally returned with an apologetic smile, a squeeze to his arm, and a whisper under his breath saying,I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.

Jasper had believed him. Of course he had. But he still remembered how foreign it had felt to be excluded after so many years as a team, back when Ryan was on the indie circuit. When they had no money and the promos couldn’t afford to pay anything beyond thirty dollars and cold-cut sandwiches—and that was only provided if Jasper replenished the first aid kit.

For better or worse, everything changed when Ryan signed with CWA. Instead of weekend road trips, there were cross-country flights. Days apart became weeks or months. Sex became virtual and hushed because of shared hotel rooms—exciting until it became exhausting. Jasper adjusted to all of it, because that’s what loving Ryan had meant. He'd held on for years, through each of Ryan’s farewell tours, and finally, they'd made it to the end.

And in just another hour, the rest of their lives would begin. Again.

The party trudged along exactly as Jasper expected. Ryan moved through the room like a magnet, adding to his entourage and charming them with stories of his career. Veteran wrestlers offered congratulations, younger wrestlers asked for advice, someone from the production crew told a story that made Ryan double over laughing.