Indigo Road (24 page)

“Oh, Josh, we don’t mind that you’re… that
way. We’re just so happy you’re alive and here.”

“The word you’re looking for, Mom, is
gay.”

“Yes, darling, I know. I’m sorry, it’ll just
take a bit of getting used to, is all.”

“Dad?”

Alex lifted his head, probably watching the
two Simpson men having a staring competition and wondering what
would happen.

“I’m sorry, Joshua. It’s not something I’m
able to understand.” I stiffened at my father’s words. “But if he
makes you happy, then that’s all I can ask for. Just… give me some
time, okay? We flew here thinking we were about to lose you and
it’s all been a bit overwhelming.” I continued to stare at my
father. “I’m going for coffee.” Dad turned and left the room
quietly.

“He’ll come around,” Alex whispered as he
kissed my chest gently.

“He will. He just needs some time,” said
Mom.

“Are you okay with me being gay and being
with Alex?”

“I worry, is all. I am quite open-minded, you
know. But I know gay people don’t have it easy and I don’t want
that for you. Your father feels the same. He wants you to be
straight, but not because of any kind of bigotry or homophobia.
He’s concerned, is all.”

Coming out had been easier than I thought.
I’d expected my parents to be mostly okay with it, and despite Dad
leaving abruptly to get ‘coffee,’ they hadn’t had much reaction at
all. “You sound like you’ve already discussed this.”

“We have. When you first came out of surgery,
you told me to tell Alex you love him. I didn’t think it was
because you two are such good friends.”

“Oh. I don’t remember that.”

“That’d be right,” Alex sniffed in mock
disgust before resting his head on my chest once more.

“Hey! At least in my drugged-out state I
still thought to tell you that.”

“True.” Alex sat up and kissed my mouth
tenderly. “I love you too,” he whispered against my sore lips.

Just then Davis came in with Cal and the
nurse from before in tow. Cal had a shit-eating grin on his face
and his hair was messed up. Davis looked the picture of doctoral
decorum and the nurse had a tight set to her jaw.

Davis looked to Cal and shook his head.
“You’re responsible for this, aren’t you?” Davis asked
good-naturedly.

Cal put his hands up, palms forward. “I have
no idea what you’re talking about.”

Alex was ordered back to bed and I was
reminded that I had a head injury. But he didn’t leave before I got
another kiss, he told me he loved me, and he promised he’d be back
for another visit tomorrow—somehow. “Even if I have to crawl,” he
reassured me.

Alex didn’t protest being ordered back to bed
too much, and I assumed it was because his ribs would’ve been
screaming in pain from the odd position he was in while with me.
The nurse gave me a shot of morphine and Davis murmured something
about lovesick idiots.

It wasn’t long before I was out like a
light.

WE
CELEBRATED
our twenty-third birthdays in
the hospital. Mrs. Maybury supplied the cake, bought from a local
Orlando bakery, and both of us had trouble blowing the candles out.
Damn broken ribs. After the flames
were
out, Alex and I kissed in
front of everyone in the room. I didn’t turn to see my parents’
expressions, preferring to keep my eyes closed as I relished the
touch of his soft lips. “I wish we were in South Beach,” Alex
whispered against my lips. I wished we were too.

“Next year. I promise,” I replied softly
before kissing him again.

I spoke to Julie on the phone and reassured
her I was fine. She had stayed behind when they found out I was
going to be okay as she had finals coming up. She cried a little
when I spoke to her, but when I called her on it, she said, “Shut
up, Jerkoff, I have a cold, that’s why I’m sniffing.” She’d been
staying with a friend but was eager for everyone to come home.

Alex had been discharged a couple of days
after I came out to my parents. Alex’s mom and dad wanted to take
him home when he was discharged, but he refused to leave me behind.
When they realized his heels were dug in and he was there for the
long haul, my mom patted my shoulder, a wistful smile on her face,
and said, “You and Alex will be just fine.”

He was staying in a nearby hotel with his mom
and dad. He visited every day, bringing me real food and stealing
kisses, not leaving till they kicked him out after visiting hours
were long over. I stayed another week in the hospital before I
could be transported home to Fort Wayne with some degree of
comfort.

When we all
returned to Indiana, I spent a week at home with my parents until I
begged Alex to take me away. Being away from him while recovering
was more than I could bear. Alex arranged for us to live in the
downstairs den at his home, as I would have trouble navigating the
steps to his room. Alex could have lived with
me,
but that was asking too much
of my parents, as they were still coming to terms with my
sexuality. I often wondered if Dad accepted it only because just
days before he’d thought I was going die, and having a gay son was
an acceptable alternative.

Maude went on to make a full recovery.
Insurance paid for the repairs in Florida, and Mom and Dad used
Maude as an excuse for a little holiday of their own, flying to
Orlando to pick her up and driving her home. Maude currently sat
under a tarpaulin in Dad’s shed, waiting for the next road trip.
Mom and Dad had already made plans to drive her to Connecticut next
spring.

Alex drove me to and from my therapy sessions
three times a week. Despite my constant whining that my therapist
was ‘a manipulative bitch,’ I made good progress, soon ditching the
crutches but still hobbling around with a leg brace on.

It seemed it wasn’t only family and friends
who had been keeping track of our travels through the blog, and
Alex was offered a position with a national gay magazine as their
travel consultant a few weeks after our return. It meant a fair bit
of traveling, but after my brace was taken off, I was able to
travel with him, and Alex did a few feature posts as a couple,
rather than catering only to the young single crowd.

I set up a
graphic design business by accident. Since I wasn’t able to get out
and about
initially
, I started doing some online designs for something to do
to pass the time. I started to have repeat customers and my
business steadily grew. I worked from home at first, but as long as
I had my laptop, I could work whenever I traveled with
Alex.

Alex returned late one evening after
completing an assignment in Vermont to find me sitting up in bed
looking at rentals online.

“Hey,” I said as he closed the den door
behind him.

“Horse.”

“Your dad wants his den back,” I stated
simply.

“And?”

“I missed you.”

Alex smiled as he leaned down to kiss me. “I
missed you too. What did Dad say?”

“Nothing, actually. I thought it was a good
way of telling you we need to move out.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m almost fully mobile and if we’re going
to move the bed upstairs, we might as well just move it into our
own place instead.”

“But it’s free to live here,” Alex said as he
started stripping out of his clothes.

“Crowded.”

“The food’s good,” he countered.

“The walls have ears.”

“Do they?”

“
Yes. I’m too
scared to make any noise when you fuck me. The last thing I want is
knowing looks over the breakfast table.” I pouted. I didn’t
actually think Mr. and Mrs. Maybury had ever heard
us
since they slept
upstairs, but it felt weird being vocal during sex when there were
parents under the same roof. I batted my eyelids as I palmed my
growing cock through the thin sheet. “Don’t you want to make me
scream?”

Alex’s gaze turned hungry and he stripped out
of the rest of his clothes in record time.

After we’d made love, Alex told me about a
trip he had coming up.

“What, like Spain?” I asked.

“Is there another Ibiza you know about?”

“And I’m going?”

“Yep. My boss must like my work because when
I asked if you could come, he agreed it was a good idea. It’s one
of those couple assignments again. It doesn’t hurt that he likes
the work you’ve done on the website.” Alex rolled over so we were
face to face. I pulled him to me, needing the closeness once more.
He kissed me tenderly, then talked about the upcoming Spanish trip
and the things we could see.

“
Do you think
we’ll ever get married?” Alex asked a bit later, not taking his
eyes
off
my
face. He smiled and I schooled my features as I tried to keep the
excitement from my voice.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” I said
as I snuggled into the pillow and closed my eyes. “Can you get the
light?”

Alex chuckled as he flicked the switch and
lay down facing me, entwining our fingers.

His breath ghosted across my skin and I could
feel his gaze on me. “I love you,” he whispered into the
darkness.

I squeezed his fingers. “Hmm, I love you
too.” I opened my eyes and we stared at each other for a long
minute, his face illuminated by the streetlight coming in through
the thin curtains.

“Do you want to get married?” he asked after
a while.

I smiled. “Are you asking me to marry you,
Alex Maybury?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Depends on what
your answer is, I guess.”

“Well, I can’t give you an answer to a
question I haven’t been asked.” I smiled into the darkness as I
waited for the question, nerves tingling my skin.

Alex asked a question, but not the one I
expected.

“What color suit did you have in mind?
Because I found these really cool indigo ones online.”

<<<<>>>>

RJ started as
a reader and eventually made the progression to reviewing. It
wasn't until two men popped into her thoughts, insisting on telling
her their story that she started to write. It started with one
scene. A hot and dirty one in the shower.

RJ's initial
thought was if she could write their scene then they'd shut up and
allow her to concentrate on other aspects of the day. That shower
scene was 3000 words long and three hours of work.  But they
didn't shut up.  They told her their entire story and she
didn't sleep for days.  Sometimes she couldn't keep up with
what they were telling her and she had to keep a notebook by the
bed.

Whilst RJ was
writing their story a side character decided he needed his
story told too. Then other characters followed suit.

You see the
problem? If RJ ever wants to sleep again then she needs to
write.

RJ is a wife
and a mother to two boys. Even her dog is a boy.

RJ writes emotionally charged, character driven
romances. Her guys will always get their HEA, but it will never be
easy.

Website:

rjjonesauthor.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/robyn.j.jones.1711

Twitter:

@rjjonesauthor

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/rjjonesauthor/

Email:

[email protected]

Hopelessly Devoted

The One That I Want

(Part of Wayward Ink’s ENCORE Anthology)

Out of the Blue Series

Into the Blue

Out of the Blue

Black and
Bluhe

Coming in 2016

True Blue

As the Leaves Fall

As the Ice Melts