Page 96 of Ring Rust

Jasper patted his back. “It’s just a good habit to get into.”

“Okay, you know what?” Ryan tossed the glue on the coffee table, where they’d set up part of the miniature theme park—complete with hedges in the shape of the number fifteen, for their anniversary—and tackled Jasper onto the couch.

“Hey!” Jasper said through a laugh. He fought back weakly and spread his knees apart, letting Ryan settle between them. “I’m just trying to keep you on your toes. Once you start meeting with clients, you’ll have to be in customer service mode.”

Ryan nuzzled into Jasper’s neck and mumbled, “I don’t care about that right now.”

“Well, you should,” Jasper said.

Ryan was pretty sure if he just nibbled right there, along the line of Jasper’s jaw, he would stop caring, too. He gave it ashot and was rewarded with a sweet little moan and the feel of Jasper’s hardening cock pressing into his own.

“We don’t have time for this,” Jasper breathed.

“I can be quick.”

“I’m sure you can, but no.” Jasper shoved Ryan off his body and adjusted his pants. He grabbed the picnic table he was working on when Ryan tackled him. “Later, though.”

Ryan dropped a quick kiss to Jasper’s cheek and picked up the tree he was flocking with white paint and crushed velvet. “How’s this?”

“Looks great. How’s this?” Jasper asked, placing the picnic table slightly too close to the restaurant.

“Move it a little further from the building, I think.”

Jasper moved it about two millimeters, and Ryan felt his face scrunch up.

“Oh, for the—your standards are impossible,” Jasper scoffed. “I didn’t do this to you when you put a mustache on tiny Ryan.”

“My standards are perfectly reasonable. And that’s because I did a great job on the mustache.”

Ryan laughed at his own joke, keeping his fingers steady on top of the picnic table. Jasper touched the tip of a toothpick into a puddle of glue, wicking the tiniest bit around each table leg. They sat in focused silence while it dried, Ryan’s knee pressed against Jasper’s on the couch.

The miniature theme park Ryan started a year ago had slowly taken over the living room over the last few weeks. Tiny benches, impossibly delicate fences, miniature versions of the park’s rides, hand-painted flower beds—including the animatronic ones Logan had murdered—and, of course, a carousel. It was the size of a dinner plate and had taken them days to get right.

With Jasper’s winter vacation ending, they were hurrying to finish the rest of the park to unveil it at the anniversary party they were hosting later.

“Okay,” Ryan said, thirty minutes later. “I think… huh. Are we done?”

Jasper scanned the room, eyes catching on each scattered attraction individually. He nodded. “I think so.”

Dinner was noisy.Of course it was—Beni was there, and so were the kids. Calliope was sticking her fluffy nose into everything, inspiring Nina to offer to carry her around.

At some point during dinner, Ryan looked up and caught Jasper staring at him from across the table. His stomach did a little flip, like the night they’d met fifteen years ago, when he realized he’d met the love of his life.

A lot had happened in those fifteen years, good and bad. By now, he wasalmostglad he and Jasper had suffered through three terrible months of unknowing.

Almost. Not quite—maybe eventually, but for now he was thinking of it as an awful time in his life, but one that forced conversations that had been years in the making. They were stronger for it.

Beni and Stevie collected the dishes after everyone had finished eating Ryan’s elaborate dinner, which Jasper helped with, by rewarding Ryan with kisses for each completed dish. That was Ryan’s idea.

They were alone at the table now. Ryan caught Jasper staring again when he turned his focus from the kids, who were putting a shirt on Calliope, back to the nearly empty dining room.

“What?” Ryan said across the table.

Jasper gave him a shy smile. “Nothing.”

“You’ve been staring at me all night.” He leaned across the table. “I think you like me.”

“I might,” Jasper said.