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“You want to go to the beach today?” Oliver asked, stretching his back into an arch. He nuzzled against Gabe’s soft thigh, then shifted so he was sitting in the middle, his nose pressed just above Gabe’s belly button as he laid kisses to his warm skin.
“I guess we could. I’m off for the whole day, and it’s too nice out to waste it.”
“Before June Gloom hits, yeah?” Oliver said.
Gabe rolled his eyes as he pulled Oliver up for a proper kiss. “You’re sounding like a true Californian now, you know. Pretty soon all thoughts of tea and crumpets will have left your body.”
“That,” Oliver said, punctuating his statement with a kiss to Gabe’s lips, “will never happen. First of all, crumpets are delicious. And secondly, not only does LA have to fight my English side—which might I remind you is responsible for colonizing half the Western world—but it also has to battle the Japanese half. And let me tell you, we Japanese people are bloody feisty.”
“Even the half-English ones?” Gabe asked, and Oliver nodded, grinning and pressing several, smacking kisses along Gabe’s jaw. “Well, at least we have enough sushi here to pacify you.”
“So rude. What a horrid stereotype.”
“So, you taking me for sushi last night was what?”
“Just me trying to help you rebel against your vegetarianism. You had shrimp.”
“No,youhad shrimp, and then you kissed me with your shrimp mouth,” Gabe said, running his fingers into Oliver’s long hair. “I suppose you’ve corrupted me, though. Whatever would my poor aunt say if she could see me now?”
“She’d probably call you a foul heathen and strike your name from the Temple records. Then give me a lot of chocolate for putting up with you.” Oliver laughed as he kissed Gabe once more, then pulled away. “Come on, you’ve got your new swim binder to try out, and I think your pasty cheeks could do with some sun.”
“Pasty, he says,” Gabe grumbled as he wriggled out from under Oliver’s arms. “The English boy callsmepasty.”
Oliver gave him a wicked smile as he rummaged around for their beachwear. Half his things were at Gabe’s now, and neither of them seemed to mind. He still paid his rent on time, and checked up on his sibling, and attempted to split his time wisely as his lectures were almost over, and the time to turn in his dissertation was almost upon him. But more often than not, the couple took refuge at Gabe’s small, cozy place.
Seven months felt like a lifetime to Oliver, who was still getting used to the idea of having a boyfriend—someone who wanted him all the time that he wanted back. Someone who could, and was more than willing to, keep him distracted when his anxiety kicked in. Or when his sibling hit a rough patch.
But Leo was dealing with his newfound freedom from his sibling’s watchful eye better than Oliver anticipated. In seven months, there had only been three rescue calls, and none were as bad as they had been in the past. Leo was making it to most of his classes, and was no longer dealing with the threat of expulsion from the university. Gabe still attended their trans group, Leo still made appearances from time to time, and Oliver stopped worrying so much.
He was happy, and it was strange. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but he stopped expecting it to happen every day.
Hopping on one foot as he attempted to untangle his swimming shorts as he put them on, Oliver fell on the bed and wriggled around as he dressed. Gabe rolled his eyes, stripping down to nothing as he searched for his swim binder which Oliver had discovered online, and had given to him as a Hanukkah present.
“You know, Hanukkah doesn’t really do presents like this. It’s not like…Christmas replacement,” Gabe had said, but his eyes were shining with delight as he looked at it.
“Yeah well, consider it I dunno, a collection of gifts for all the holidays that do get presents I missed this year when I didn’t know you.” Oliver then swept him up into an embrace, and kissed him softly. “I went through great pains to get your skin color right on that website. Like an entire hour, okay? So appreciate me more.”
“Oh, I’ll appreciate you plenty,” Gabe had warned.
And he did.
Grinning at his boyfriend now, Gabe slipped the binder over his head, adjusting it in his tall mirror before he grabbed his own black swimming shorts, and shrugged them on. He rummaged around and found a couple of tattered, paint-covered t-shirts, and tossed one over at Oliver before shrugging his on.
“Sunscreen?” Gabe asked.
Oliver reached under the bed for their wicker beach basket and threw the top open. “Aye. And that pasty zinc stuff you use on your nose.”
“Any water bottles left in there?”
Oliver moved around the sandcastle toys he insisted on buying their last trip to the beach and came up with a crusty one. “Er. They look a bit dodgy. We can get more. Besides, we’ll want sandwiches if we’re making a day of it.”
Gabe sighed, but shrugged as he went into the hall for their beach towels. “Go make something for us to eat. And I think there’s water in the fridge. I want to take the bus. There’s no way I’m putting up with Saturday parking.”
“Fine, but you’re carrying the chairs,” Oliver complained as he wandered into the kitchen.
He rummaged in the fridge and found a ripe tomato, avocados, and the vegan mayo Gabe loved so much. He brandished Gabe’s massive butcher’s knife, slicing the produce, then slapped together a couple of sandwiches, wrapping them in cling-film, and stuffing them into the beach basket. He took a couple of waters, and a couple of unpeeled oranges along with them, and decided it would be good enough.
There were enough food trucks and restaurants along the way if they got really hungry, and mostly, Oliver just wanted to enjoy the first real warm day of the season.
