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Thorne slowly made his way off the rink, using the wall for balance, and found the perfect spot to gaze at Riley. He even occasionally looked around at everyone else who was out in the park, enjoying the cold but gorgeous day. He was so lucky to be there instead of locked in his office, working like he would’ve been before Riley.
When Riley was finished skating, they acquired hot chocolate and a waffle and sat on a bench to enjoy them.
Riley sighed after he took a sip from his cup. “This is perfect.”
“I told you it was what we needed.”
“No. I mean, yes. The hot chocolate is delicious, but I meant all this: the park, the skating, all the people, the Christmas-ness of it all. You.”
“Yes,” Thorne said. “It is.” Falling on the ice was worth it to see Riley smile like that.
***
Riley buttoned his cuffs and checked himself in the mirror. His hair was still messed up from a quickie with Thorne after they’d gotten back to the hotel. What an amazing day they’d had. New York at Christmastime was everything he’d expected and more. After skating, they’d gone down to Bryant Park and walked through the winter village there. Then Thorne had taken him to a very late lunch at an amazing noodle shop.
Before heading to the shower, Thorne had said he was going to change into something nicer for the evening, not a suit, but something other than the jeans he’d been walking around in. Riley was dying to know where they were going, but Thorne was being coy about it.
Thorne walked out of the bathroom, buttoning up his shirt.
“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Don’t you want it to be a surprise?”
“Give me a hint,” Riley urged.
“Hmmm. It’s a typical tourist thing to do.”
Riley thought about it. They’d already seen the tree at Rockefeller Center and the lights in Central Park. What else did lots of tourists do at night? Why would they wear nicer clothes? Then it hit him. “Broadway?”
Thorne smiled. “You got it.”
“What are we going to see?”
Thorne grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “What does everyone want to see right now?”
“Hamilton? You got tickets to Hamilton?”
“Of course I did. Our seats are dead center on the first row of the lower mezzanine. And they are, in my obviously correct opinion, the best ones at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. You can see the whole stage easily, including action best viewed from above.”
“Thorne, I can’t believe it. How did you know to do that?”
“I saw the album on your phone, so I knew you’d listened to it, and I’ve already told you, this trip is all about wowing you.”
Riley could hardly contain his excitement as he pulled on his jacket, one that fit beautifully because Darius had made it for him. “I’ve wanted to go for months, but I thought it was sold out.”
Thorne nodded. “It is, but there are plenty of resale tickets out there if you’re willing and able to drop a lot of cash. Fortunately, I am.”
Riley pulled Thorne to him in a fierce hug. “Thank you. I’m… Wow, I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to see a show on Broadway. I’ve only seen a few when they went on tour, and my seats were never good.”
“We can see more musicals while we’re here if you’d like.”
“That would be great. I know I should’ve told you I wanted to do that, but—”
Thorne shook his head. “I agreed to plan what we did. Just be glad I know you so well.”
Riley smiled. His husband was fucking amazing.
“And even after we’re back in Atlanta, we can fly up for the day and see a play.”
Riley thought about that and realized they really could. There were probably a million flights a day from Atlanta to NYC. “I’d like that.”
“Excellent response.”
Riley rolled his eyes.
“We can come back to celebrate the bakery opening.”
Riley considered that. “Only after it’s been open for a while. I can’t skip out on Susan too fast.”
“The right answer is ‘I’d love to do that.’”
“You know that commanding shit doesn’t work on me.”
Thorne’s phone buzzed before he could respond. “Our car is here. Let’s go.”
***
By the time the final curtain call ended, Riley was ready to go out and start his own revolution. He was flying, full of adrenaline, hoping no one minded if he sang the entire way back to the hotel.
Thorne was beaming at him. “I am definitely bringing you back here.”
Riley let Thorne take his arm and lead him through the crush of people outside the theater. “Can we walk back? I really don’t want to be in a car now. I feel like I could walk the length of the city, or run, or dance, or—”
“I get it, and yes, we’ll get back to the hotel a lot faster on foot.”
