“Well, I’m not dumb enough to think she came to see me.” Nathan started to go to Laura for a quick kiss hello but wavered too long in front of the desk and ended up standing there and shoving his hands in his pockets instead.
“Daddy, I told you not to bother him,” Laura scolded, gathering up what Nathan could only assume was the seating chart for the wedding reception.
“Bah.” Greg rose and hugged his daughter with one arm. “You two are going to be bothering each other for the rest of your lives. Start early. Get good at it.”
“Oh, we’re getting plenty of practice,” Nathan said.
“Good.” Greg stalked around the desk and slapped Nathan on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you two alone to finalize those details, Laura-bird. I’ve got a meeting.”
Laura wrinkled her nose. “Sure, Daddy. Thanks for your help.”
Greg grunted, squeezed Nathan’s arm, and left without a backward glance. Laura sat in Greg’s executive chair, spinning side to side.
Nathan remained standing. “So, long time no see.”
Laura watched it rain. “I know.”
“Not since—”
“That night. I know, Nathan.”
“Was beginning to think—”
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan held a hand to his ear. “Say what, now? I think I’m getting hard of hearing in my engaged days.”
Laura sighed, sat up, and folded her hands on the desk. She resembled her father almost exactly in that pose. “I said I’m sorry. I got drunk and stupid and…I’m sorry.”
Nathan sat down in the chair opposite Laura. “Who are you, and what have you done with Laura Moore?”
“Oh, shut up,” Laura said without malice. “I’ve been doing some thinking over the last few weeks, and I’ve got things I need to say.” Laura took a deep breath. “It was wrong to invite that woman over to your place without asking, wrong to do it the other times too.” Laura spoke like she’d practiced the speech more than a few times. “And it was…is…wrong not to tell you…not to be completely straight with you.”
Nathan smirked. “Pun intended?”
Nathan’s efforts that time were rewarded with a tiny smile. “Well, when it goes badly, blame my therapist,” Laura said.
“You’re seeing a shrink?”
“Not exactly. You know Carl, the other security guard at the front post?”
“Yeah.” Nathan nodded.
“His wife’s a psychologist. She and I have been talking.”
Nathan sat back in the seat. “Does she know then? About us and the plan?”
“She knows enough, but she’ll keep it in confidence.” Laura hesitated. “I told her that I’m in love.”
Nathan kept waiting for the surprise to happen, but really, it made too much sense, Laura being in love. “Just tell me it’s not that woman you were with the night you came over.”
“Mel?” Laura laughed. “Oh, God no. It’s… Her name is Siena. I met her when I was in the navy. She lives in Italy.”
“Italy?” Nathan got more comfortable. “Where in Italy?”
Laura folded a fist under her chin. “Manarola. It’s a village in Cinque Terre. I ran into her in a market, can you believe it? She has this smile… Anyway, we had coffee and then dinner and then another dinner, and then I was getting away to see her and her family as often as I could. Her father is sick, but he’s a sweet man. A good man. He knows about his daughter, and he doesn’t mind. He loves her, anyway, and…well.”
Nathan had never heard Laura sound so gentle. Not even after one of their crazier scenes when she was holding him, and Nathan couldn’t remember what planet he was on.
Laura smoothed her ponytail. “Anyway, I want to be with Siena. There’s no money for her to come here, and she doesn’t want to leave her family anyway, and there’s just not a lot keeping me here.”
“And that’s why you did all this?”
“Not at first.” Laura’s gaze was steady. “I knew I’d never get what my sisters got from my father when he found out I wanted to marry a woman. A foreign woman, at that, and a Catholic.”
“Oh Lord.”
“Exactly. And after seeing how Siena lives, how her family exists, I wanted the money. I wanted to help, and I wanted what I felt, still feel, like I deserve. But I was angry, and I didn’t know if it’d even work with Siena. I didn’t want to say anything to anybody because for a while, just thinking about her hurt too much. Felt like my arm was missing, being so far away, and I felt so stupid, because we were only together for six months before I left. We agreed to stay together as much as we could, but after she told me she wouldn’t leave Italy, and I was getting shipped back to the States, I just…we…”
“All you could do was try,” Nathan said.
“Yes, exactly, and nothing was for sure.”
“But it worked out?” Nathan asked.
“I shipped her a laptop.” Laura rubbed the bridge of her nose, almost shyly. “We Skype. She writes me letters. She tells me she’s waiting for me to come home.” Laura swallowed. “I know I’ve been a bitch, but it’s like all I can think about is how close I am and how I should be happy about that, but I’m just…angry.”
“Angry,” Nathan asked. “Or scared?”
“Both,” Laura admitted.
“Me too.”
“No matter what, I’m going to hurt him,” Laura said. “Tell him I’m gay, tell him I’m moving to Italy, tell him I’ve been lying, that it’s all a façade… No matter what, Daddy gets hurt.”
“Not what you want anymore, is it?”
“I don’t know, Nathan.” Laura wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I just don’t know.”
Nathan was numb with undiluted empathy. He thought about Fury’s wish to become a counselor and about how there didn’t seem to be much money around for him to use for school. Not that Nathan really knew for sure, but Fury’s clothes and truck and tastes were simple. Nathan had never seen Fury’s apartment or house or whatever the man called home, but he imagined something small that made Fury seem like a giant trying to fit into a mouse’s bed. With the money he’d get even from being engaged to Laura, he could pay for Fury’s education, if Fury would let him. Nathan had been having a lot of those kind of long-term, semipermanent thoughts lately, and he lived in terror that at any moment, one of them would escape its cage and get blurted during one of his and Fury’s dinner dates. Fury definitely seemed like he was good with how often they saw each other and the pace of their relationship, but it wasn’t like they’d talked about it. They really didn’t do much talking, not that Nathan minded. Fury had a lot of things he didn’t like to—
Laura reached across the desk to touch Nathan's wrist. “Where’d you go?”
“Sorry.” Nathan rubbed his face. “I was thinking that you’re right. Somebody’s going to get hurt in all this.”
“Yeah.”
“What do you want to do?”
Laura regarded Nathan with cool caution. “I still want to go through with the plan. I figure the only way my father gets out of this remotely unscathed is if we get engaged, get married, and get divorced. That way, he can get over it, I can leave the country in grief or to get my shit together, and you’ll have enough cash to start over anywhere you want. If you even have to start over. My father likes you a lot. Make it my fault, and I think you’ll have a new dad for life.”
For a plan that sounded so logical and straightforward, it left Nathan’s guts in fiery knots. “Yeah, maybe.”
“You don’t sound so sure.”
“I’m not.”
“You have any better ideas?”
“If I did, I’d tell you.”
Laura sighed. “Look, why don’t we get through the engagement party and see? There’s all those guests coming…”
“I know. Don’t want to disappoint the entire damned town.” Nathan slumped in his chair.
“No, we don’t,” Laura agreed, and Nathan knew that she’d latch on to anything Nathan said that went along with her way and her plan. He didn’t blame her. Nathan understood desperation. His version just manifested in entirely different ways.
“And you’ve been doing okay?” Laura asked.
Nathan thought about telling Laura about Fury for all of two seconds before dismissing the idea. She’d just told him all about her long-distance love affair. Talking about how Nathan spent most evenings watching TV, eating, and fucking around with the strong, strangely sweet man of Nathan’s dreams seemed like a bad idea. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
“No more out-of-town errands?”
“No.”
“You going to meetings or something?”
“No, I just haven’t felt the urge.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good. That’s… I… Good for you.” Laura wiped her hands on her slacks and stood. “I guess that’s it until Saturday, then.”
“Sure. Was there anything I needed to know about the wedding?”
“Oh no.” Laura dug her keys out of one pocket. “I knew Daddy couldn’t see me without calling you in to let us chat.”
“So you cornered me,” Nathan said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice and not quite succeeding.
“Yes, yes, I did.” Laura kissed Nathan lightly on the cheek. “Thank goodness you like it.”
“Yeah,” Nathan said after Laura had walked triumphantly out of the room. He’d give a lot to be able to move through the world like Laura did, as though she owned parts of it and was out to conquer the rest at any cost.
“I suppose it is,” Nathan said to himself, and he got up to get back to his office and to work.
The rest of the workday was uneventful. The drive home was the usual blend of frustration and admiration of how low the standards were for passing the driving test, and Nathan pulled into his parking spot with a sigh. Nathan craned his neck and rushed to get out of the car when he saw Fury leaning against the side of Nathan’s building. The rain had faded into a misty drizzle, and drops clung to Fury’s clothes. His hair was not in the braid today but in two ponytails that sort of fed into one another down the back of Fury’s head. One of the more fascinating things about Fury staying over was getting to watch Fury do things with hair that Nathan couldn’t mimic if he had a gun to his head.
“Hey,” Nathan said, digging into the pocket of his pants and clutching the small, hot object he found there.
“Brought dinner.” Fury held up one of the brown paper sacks that Vicky the preacher’s wife favored.
“Do I smell burritos?”
“Yeah.” Fury grinned, pushing off the wall. He bent to pick up the duffel bag that went with him everywhere, and he followed Nathan to the door.
“Got something for you.” Nathan pulled the key out of his pocket and presented it to Fury, who frowned.
“Your key?” Fury asked.
“Naw, the neighbor’s. Figure we can break in and use their big screen when they’re at work. Fuck in their shower. You know.”
Fury huffed a laugh. Nathan had learned that Fury liked being teased, so long as it had nothing to do with him hurting people or with his intelligence.
“Thank you,” Fury said, carefully enunciating the words. He slid the key into the lock.
“Sure,” Nathan said. “Figure you spend enough time here, and you won’t have to wait in the truck for me to get home.” Nathan shut the door and threw the dead bolt. If Fury had to be enclosed in a space, then he wanted to be barricaded in as much as possible. Nathan hadn’t really been able to get Fury to talk about it, but from what Nathan could tell, it had something to do with wishing Fury could have kept his father
out
. Thinking about it made Nathan nauseated, so he tried to focus on his hungry belly instead.
The bag and the sack of food ominously hit the floor. Nathan got the chance to glance over one shoulder before Fury shoved Nathan face-first into the door and leaned heavily against him. Nathan’s breath caught in his throat.
“You want me waiting on you?” Fury asked, shoving his hands down and starting to undo Nathan’s fly.
“Nah.” Nathan enjoyed Fury’s quick fingers for a couple of seconds, but then braced and upset Fury’s balance. He spun and put Fury’s back into the wall of the tiny entryway. One hand bunched Fury’s shirt and the other slid beneath Fury’s jeans and boxers, found warm, hardening flesh, and stroked it further into life. Fury’s eyes glazed, his lips parted, and he squeezed Nathan’s hips. “You can start before I get home,” Nathan murmured, a breath away from a kiss. “Just don’t finish without me.”
Fury groaned, and they devoured each other’s mouths and undid the bare minimum of clothing. Another insight Nathan had gained over the last month was that Fury occasionally liked Nathan being in control. As with all things, Fury treated others exactly as he liked being treated, even in bed. Nathan hadn’t worked up the guts to ask for anything more involved than manhandling, and honestly, getting to do this much was better than Nathan could ever have imagined.
Hands on cocks, lips locked, and tongues thrusting, Nathan ran fingers through Fury’s hair and gripped. Fury replied by getting a handhold on Nathan’s ass, middle finger in the split and rubbing Nathan’s hole, freshly taken that morning before coffee. Nathan panted through his nose, eyes closed and fist working Fury.
“
Nngh
…yeah,” Fury whispered, noises spilling rapid-fire. Nathan shoved into Fury’s hand, and he knew they weren’t even going to make it to the floor. They’d come all over fists, clothes, and wall, because spending eight hours apart was a damned eternity. Nathan saw a flash of Laura, imagined some woman a globe away crying herself to sleep at night, waiting on Laura to return, and suddenly all Nathan could think about was what it’d be like to lose Fury.
It didn’t matter if it’d been six weeks, six years, or six centuries. Nathan had never found anything this amazing. He’d do anything to keep it and to keep living in the sweet moments he was given with Fury.
Right here, right now, he could taste faint traces of the fruity gum Fury liked. He could smell sweat and dampness that spoke of rain showers. Fury’s skin was warm, his T-shirt soft, and his dick was long, full, and slippery with precum.
“Shit,” Nathan cursed, the final shudders almost taking him, but he hooked an arm around Fury’s neck and rolled his lower body counter to Fury’s rhythm. Fury slowed down by fractions of degrees, and Nathan won the battle for a moment’s delay, willing Fury to go first, because Nathan wanted to hear him. Wanted to feel him. Wanted to lick his fingers clean.
Fury tensed, gripping Nathan’s shoulder and yanking Nathan to him. His head went back, eyes rolling under their lids. Nathan stroked faster, twisting under the crown, and Fury arched, panting in relieved gasps. Nathan’s fist grew slicker with Fury’s release, and Fury’s hand on Nathan became demanding. Faster, tighter, shorter, and Nathan grunted, high and helpless, against Fury’s throat. He got off with Fury crooning in his hair, and he came down from the aftershocks with Fury petting Nathan’s back with a clean hand.