“All in all, it was a good day but pretty hectic,” Jon said, wrapping up his summary.
“Yeah, same for me although it took me a while to get into the swing of things at work. Part of my brain was still in the Med.”
“I know what you mean,” Jon agreed. “That vacation was perfect.”
“But all good things must come to an end,” Kyle said, picking up his and Jon’s plates and loading the dishwasher. “Thanks again for getting dinner. That was delicious.”
“You’re very welcome. It was the least I could do since you picked up the costumes for this coming weekend.” Jon stared at him, lust in his eyes. “I was thinking we could go to bed early tonight.”
“Oh, really?” Kyle stared back, smiling. “Does this have anything to do with our baby-making plans for your mom?” How long would they be able to keep this silly joke going?
“Of course.” Jon chuckled. “After all, I tried to put a baby in you last night; it’s only fair that you get to try tonight.”
“Well, fair is fair. Let me toss some laundry in the washer, and then I’ll meet you upstairs. I expect you to be naked and waiting when I get there,” Kyle said as an evil grin spread across his lips.
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter 2
Jon
“We can return the costumes first, then I’ll drop you off at home.” They were on their way back to DC after their trip to Virginia. After dropping Kyle off, he’d return the rental car to the office just a couple of blocks from their condo.
“That will give us some time to relax before we meet with Neil for dinner tonight. We might even have time for a nap. I’m not used to staying up as late as we did last night.”
“Did Neil say what he wanted to talk about?”
“No,” Kyle said, “but I suspect it’s about Matthew.” Neil was Kyle’s best friend, and on the cruise, he had connected with Matthew, a friend of Kyle’s dad and his new husband, Rob. “I think he’s a little worried about having a long-distance relationship.”
“Well, we can certainly help him through that.” Jon smiled. “After all, we managed to survive.” When they had met, Kyle was in DC, but Jon was living in Phoenix.
“That we did. In fact, so did my dad and Rob. I’ll mention it to Dad next time I talk to him. Maybe he’ll have some ideas too.”
After dinner at Logan Tavern,one of their favorite local spots, the three men returned to Kyle and Jon’s condo to relax and chat. Neil had indeed wanted to talk about how to survive in a long-distance relationship, and the bar at Logan Tavern was just a little too noisy to easily carry on their conversation.
“It’s just so difficult to be apart all the time,” Neil said, frustration evident in his voice.
“We get it,” Jon agreed. “Some days I thought I would go out of my mind not being able to spend time with Kyle in person.”
“The secret is to get creative,” Kyle added, a devious look in his eye. “Not to get too personal, but have you gotten sexy while video chatting yet?”
A blush rose in Neil’s cheeks. “Um, not really. I thought about suggesting it, but it felt kinda weird. Did you guys do that?”
“Hell yes!” Kyle said enthusiastically. “And yeah, it was a bit weird at first, but it was also really hot.” He grinned.
“Okay, more than I need to know.” Neil chuckled. “But thanks. I’ll talk to Matthew about that.”
“Also,” Jon continued, “call or text Sam and ask her to keep an eye on cheap flights. It’s only an hour or so to Providence by plane. There’s no reason you couldn’t fly up there on a Friday evening and come home on Sunday night once in a while.” Sam—Samantha Rivera—was a good friend of Ben and Rob’s, and she was the travel agent that they all now used.
“Matthew could do the same thing in reverse,” Kyle said. “And get in the habit of texting every day. Talk on the phone whenever you can too. Everything helps.”
“It might sound corny but consider sending Matthew some flowers or mail him a card once in a while. It really is the little things that will help you get through it all.”
“Thanks, guys.” Sincerity colored Neil’s words. “Knowing that you survived living over two thousand miles apart is the only thing keeping me going some days.”
“As long as you’re both invested in this,” Jon said, “you’ll manage to make it work. But mark my words, at some point you’ll have to talk about one of you relocating.”
“Yeah,” Neil said soberly. “I’ve already thought a little about that. If Matthew really is the one—and I think he is—I’ll probably end up moving to Massachusetts to be with him. After all, he’s got his own business there.” Matthew was a jewelry designer and owned a store in Westport, Massachusetts, where Rob and Ben lived.
