Marie Sexton - Coda 05 - Paris A to Z (19 page)

Behind us, Matt, Jared, and George were walking together, talking and laughing like theyd known each other forever. Jon and Cole were a few yards ahead of us, leading the way. I couldnt hear them, but even from that distance, I could tell that Cole was talking nonstop, and Jon was laughing at him. Or laughing with him. It seemed to be the same thing with those two. Cole seemed to always be trying to irk Jon in some small way, and Jon seemed to delight in letting him fail. Cole flew about like a butterfly, with no concern for mundane things like rent or mortgage payments, and Jon kept him tethered to the ground.

It struck me again the ways Angelo and I were like them. Angelo was my angel, and I was ever on the ground, looking up at him. It was no wonder Jon and I hadnt been able to make things work—wed both longed for something grander. And it was no wonder Cole and Angelo had been drawn to each other, and yet, they had only brushed wings in the night, neither one of them able to stop in their flight.

Angelo moved closer to me, putting one arm around my waist and his hand in my back pocket as he often did. I draped my arm over his

shoulder, and he leaned into me as we walked. “We should do it, too, Zach,” he said.

I turned toward him, putting my lips against his thick black hair. “Do what?” I asked. I was thinking how I wished his hair was short again. I missed the coarse spikiness of it against my face. I wondered if hed cut it if I asked.

I didnt even realize Id stopped dead in my tracks while Angelo kept walking until Matt ran into me from behind. He laughed—said something to me about getting run over—I couldnt even hear him. My brain certainly couldnt process the words. He and Jared and George went around us, continuing on their way. Angelo was staring at me, his lopsided smile on his face and his eyebrows up. “You okay, Zach? I think I freaked you out.”

“Are you serious?”
“Bout what? You lookin freaked out? Yeah, Im serious.” “No.”

“No, what?” he asked, and he seemed to be enjoying the fact that our normal backward way of communication had somehow become even more backward again and still didnt have us facing forward.

“No, not about that! About getting married.”
“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “Why not?”

I thought about all the times Id wondered if hed ever be ready to take this step with me. I had never dreamed it would be so soon. “I didnt want to scare you,” I said, and he laughed. He walked over to me and put his arms around my waist, looking up at me.

“The birds been gone a long time now, Zach,” he said. “What do you mean?”
“Im not scared anymore.”
My heart felt huge, expanding like some crazy balloon, somehow

both inside and outside of my chest, buoying me up, making me absolutely giddy. “Oh God,” was all I could say. I pulled him tight against me, wrapping my arms around him, burying my face in his hair. “I love you so much.”

“I possess nothing worthy to give you,” he said. “Theres just me.” “Youre all I ever wanted anyway.”
He laughed, pushing away enough to look up at me, but before he

could reply, we were interrupted by Cole calling out to us. “Good lord, its freezing out here you know. Are you two lovebirds coming, or shall we just leave you here to find your own way home?”

“Leave us here,” I said, but Angelo spoke up, drowning me out. “Were coming.” He pulled away from me, turning so one arm was still around my waist, propelling me forward as he started to follow again behind our friends. “Wait til we get home, Zach,” he said softly as we walked. “This week is for them.”
He was right. My instinct was to shout it to the heavens, but that would have been a selfish thing to do. He was so much smarter than me. I wanted to tell him how happy he made me, but the only words I could muster seemed pale compared to what I was feeling. “You are my north,” I said, feeling that it was completely inadequate, but the smile he turned upon me really was like a light in the sky, guiding me home.
He said only, “I know.”

M
ARIE
S
EXTON
was always good at the technical aspects of writing but never had any ideas for stories. After graduating from Colorado State University, she worked for eleven years at an OB/GYN clinic. She quit the clinic at about the same time she started reading M/M romances. At some point in the ensuing months, the static in her head cleared, and her first story was born.
Marie lives in Colorado. Shes a fan of just about anything that involves muscular young men piling on top of each other. In particular, she loves the Denver Broncos and enjoys going to the games with her husband. Matt and Jared often tag along. Marie has one daughter, two cats, and one dog, all of whom seem bent on destroying what remains of her sanity. She loves them anyway.
Visit Maries web site at http://www.MarieSexton.net or find her on Facebook.