Page 5 of Love Unlimited

Ash inclined their head pointedly toward where he was sitting with Lena on the couch.

Zhong’s eyebrows remained furrowed until he caught on. Oh! The thing! He dug into one of the bags and pulled out a small lumpy package wrapped in shimmery paper. He handed it to Ash with a smile, and they bounced across the room to deliver it to Lena.

What is it? she asked, incredulous. He could see the way was dying to open it, and also unwilling to quite believe it was hers.

Daddy found it! Ash gushed. We were walking around and Daddy saw it, and he said you would like it, so I know you will.

One would think from Ash’s excitement that it was a gift for them.

Lena slowly opened it, looking flustered and pleased. Dustin couldn’t see her face, but her expression showed him that whatever it was, she adored it.

It’s the Beast! She tore off the rest of the paper to reveal three action figures, only slightly worn. The Beast, the blue fuzzy guy from X-Men was her favorite, and Dustin wished he’d thought to get her something like that.

Who’s that one? She didn’t look much like a superhero.

She snorted. Jean Gray. She’s the Phoenix.

That’s Storm, Zhong added, pointing to the other one.

Dustin was clearly going to have to brush up on his X-Men. Although there was something even sweeter about Zhong and Lena sharing this together.

Lena poured over every detail of the figures, continuing some earlier conversation she must have had with Zhong about different editions or something. Dustin didn’t even try to follow it.

Ash wandered over to the dresser to start pawing through board games. They pulled out Ticket to Ride, which was one of those games that could have a lot of strategy if you cared about winning, but was fortunately mindless to play if you didn’t. On top of that, they settled Five Tribes, and just the thought of all the bidding and trading and rules made him shudder.

Dustin eventually roused Lena from his lap and headed to the kitchen to start setting out the food. He felt as happy as a cat in a windowsill.

Chapter 2

Lena

Lena melted back against Dustin’s legs in contentment. She was on summer vacation, her belly was full of delicious food, Dustin wasn’t working for once, and she was playing Settlers of Catan with her other two favorite people in the world.

Dustin was also technically playing, but while he probably had enough resource cards to buy development cards or build a city, he wasn’t using any of them. She was pretty sure he didn’t even have his eyes open, which meant he couldn’t see Ash and Zhong quibbling in sign language over some of the finer points of the game.

She was frankly surprised that Dustin had lasted so long. They’d played three different board games since four p.m. and it was almost nine. Despite Dustin’s promises about “all” the board games, he definitely had a limit that they’d passed hours ago. She kind of loved that he stayed anyway. It felt good just having him there.

More importantly, he looked relaxed and happy. She could see it in his whole body whenever she looked up at him. His lean shoulders melted into the couch, and the creases around his stern mouth were relaxed beneath his beaked nose. His brown eyes, when they were open, didn’t show the strain of the day.

Game night was like a moment out of time, a little slice of relaxation that her whole week had started to revolve around. Dustin obviously wasn’t focused on the games themselves, but it was clear, just like he always promised her, that his whole attention was here. He wasn’t stressed about his godawful project at work or the thousand other details that made up his day. He was just playing with her hair.

It had the same effect on her, too. The world seemed softer and warmer, and all she had to worry about was winning little hexagons of territory and reaching one of the winning conditions for the game.

Or maybe it was just relaxing any time that Ash and Zhong were around. Hanging out with the other couple just made life better.

Right now, Ash was lining up their unused cities and roads along the edge of the board, probably singing something by the movement of their lips. Their dark, curly hair bounced with each beat, framing their mascara-lined eyes.

They were wearing a diaphanous pink wrap today over a black body suit of some kind, and the shimmering fabric floated and whirled with every sign, blurring the line between clothing and art. They were looking more feminine than masculine today, though that could change with their next outfit. Their pale, slender arms moved gracefully, but with a childlike sense of excitement as they moved fluidly between signing, playing Catan, and creating their own landscapes and patterns with the extra pieces.

Zhong nudged Ash when it was their turn, and they gleefully built up a road cutting right across Lena’s territory. Lena made a face and Ash winked back.

For a moment, Lena felt her face warming, which wasn’t like her at all. Usually she was composed and confident. Flirting was easy. Their friendship had evolved out of being the only two Deaf subs at their munch, which automatically threw them together. And since they were both natural flirts, they’d always giggled and teased each other.

But last winter, Ash had casually let slip that they’d had a crush on her. For years.

At the time, it had been too much information. Lena was distraught about her relationship with Dustin, and Ash had never even been on her horizon. They’d flirted outrageously with each other during the monthly munch, but Lena had always assumed that it didn’t mean anything. Plus, Ash was submissive and Lena was submissive most of the time and… well, it had never occurred to her.

She wished now that she remembered more about that day at the museum. She was almost sure she remembered Ash’s almost shy look when they’d admitted their attraction. They had opened and closed their fingers over their chest, signing that their heart fluttered whenever they saw her.