Page 77 of Love Limits

Impossible, Landon disagreed. The more plants the better. Maybe I can even come with you next time?

Zhong smiled. I’d love that.

Landon and Zhong started laying things out, chatting about hours of sun and distance between plants while Ash carefully laid out rows of annuals with the open blooms closest to the sidewalk. Zhong complimented the arrangement, even though they’d all be blooming by the end of the week.

The day just got better when Dustin came out at lunch time with sandwiches and lemonade. They’d moved to the back yard by then, and he spent the rest of the afternoon observing from the porch, trading jokes with them.

If only every day could be like this.

Was it asking too much to have all of his favorite people at once?

***

Zhong drew two more train car cards, both green. Awesome. Now he had five of them.

He leaned back against the base of the couch while Ash drew a destination card. They were leaning over the coffee table in Zhong’s apartment with their legs tucked up under their chin.

Today they wore a stretchy tube dress, which seemed more like a toy than an article of clothing. They liked pulling their arms or legs inside it like a cuddly ball, and then moving around to make fantastical shapes with their elbows and knees.

Like everything else Ash did, it was adorable.

Zhong claimed Nashville to St. Louis and lined up his plastic pieces on the board.

Ash made a face at him. Really?

He rubbed his hands together with a maniacal grin. It was a giveaway play, since he already had Pittsburgh to St. Louis. Now Ash would know that he had the five green train cars he needed to make a loop between the three cities, but they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. It was a good thing he’d done it, too, because his luck had been terrible so far.

While he surveyed the board, he reached under the coffee table to stroke Ash’s foot. It had just popped out of the dress cocoon and was pressed up against his leg.

They gave him a sweet smile, then claimed Omaha to Helena. Dammit.

He claimed the route he’d been planning, but it was nothing with the way that Ash was owning the board.

He had no complaints, though. This was the perfect afternoon to spend with Ash, and Ticket to Ride was the perfect, relaxing game. It was one of the few that Dustin would play with him, but his best friend barely bothered with a strategy.

Naturally, now that Ash was playing as an adult, they had their strategies down cold. It was intriguing seeing the differences.

Zhong had been reflecting a lot on their “playdate” a couple days ago. First, it had just been fascinating. Everything he’d read had been true, down to the adoration and happiness in Ash’s eyes. Nothing at all like all of those horrible videos.

He still wouldn’t ever seek it out, but it had been kind of fun. Definitely sweet. He wouldn’t like to hang out with Ash as a preschooler all the time. But once in a while? He could definitely do that.

Ash hadn’t asked to do it again and Zhong hadn’t volunteered. Should he volunteer? Or would that just confuse things? He wanted to make sure that Ash knew that he was there for them if they needed him.

It had also been a busy few weeks, so maybe Ash just hadn’t thought about it. After this, he wouldn’t see them again for a few more days. Not that he was stalking them, but they’d been sharing their schedule with him through the calendar he set up. Most of the time blocks didn’t have any text, but at least he knew when Ash would be around.

He kind of used it to schedule his work these days.

What are you up to this week?

Um… work tomorrow.

And Wednesday, Zhong added.

Ash drew two cards before answering. Yeah, Thursday night I have a date.

Oh? Anyone interesting?

Ash thought for a moment, but it wasn’t clear if they were planning out routes for their next turn or considering the question.