Something Like Rain (Something Like... Book 8) (62 page)

“If you’re not here, you won’t know what’s going on. Maybe Lily will be at work when there’s an accident or maybe one of the teachers at school will be a creep… You just can’t know.”

Jason was sweet for being so concerned, and considering his past, his feelings made sense. William understood he had seen a lot of dark times, but this situation was different. “You don’t know Lily like I do,” he said. “Trust me. Daisy couldn’t be in safer hands.”

“It’s not just them,” Jason said. “There’s a Coast Guard station in Houston. You could go back to being a rescue swimmer.”

William exhaled. “And what about us?”

Jason met his gaze. “What about the people only you can save? I can’t stop thinking about that. You trained so hard to become an AST. If I wasn’t in the picture, would you really have stopped after so few years? After all that work?”

“Jason—”

“Just answer the question truthfully. Please.”

“No. I wouldn’t have, but I wanted to come back to Austin because I
need
to be with you!” He stepped forward and took his hands. “I wasn’t happy. Not completely. I never got over us being apart. I don’t want that to happen again.”

“I know,” Jason said, voice hoarse. “I don’t want that either. But we can’t just think of ourselves. The situation has changed. You’ve changed.”

“Meaning?”

“That you’re going places I never will. The rescue work was amazing enough, but now you have a child.”

“We can adopt. Together.”

“A biological child,” Jason stressed.

William dropped his hands. “You of all people are going to make that distinction?”

“I know how it sounds, but believe me, I’ve seen it firsthand. Parents were always different with their biological children. You might not want to hear it, but it’s true.”

“And you’ll think I’ll be like that?”

“I don’t think you’ll have a choice.” Jason’s expression was pleading with him to understand. “It’s just how humans are built. Daisy is going to be your priority now. That’s how it should be.”

“I can have more than one priority.” When Jason shook his head and started to turn away, William grabbed his arm. “I came back to Texas because I love you. Let me decide where I need to be and what I need to do. You’re wrong that I don’t have a choice. I’m staying with you. Understand? This is my decision, and I’ve made it. I
will
be there for Daisy. I won’t fail her like your father failed you, I promise, but four years didn’t stop the way I feel. Everything I went through to become an AST—and I was pushed to my absolute limit—didn’t change how I feel about you, and neither will any of this.

Jason shook his head again, but he obviously wanted to believe William’s words.

“I love you, Jason. Whether you like it or not.”

William kissed him and felt tears that weren’t his own on his cheek. Then Jason gave in, clung to him, and whispered the same promise back, but in a way that sounded like someone saying goodbye.

“I love you too. No matter what happens. I’ll never stop.”

* * * * *

“Tell me about Ben and Tim again.”

Sheets rustled and a pillow was shoved aside, Jason’s head revealed from beneath it. His hair was so tangled that he might never get a comb through it again, even once he finally got up and took a shower. William, as always, had risen with the sun and was already clean and dressed. Jason considered him with one eye, then the other when he decided to stay awake. “What about them?”

“You said they’re engaged, right?” William raised the blinds and opened the window, letting light and fresh air into the apartment. “When did that happen?”

“Oh.” Jason rolled over, but only so he could hug a pillow. Sometimes William felt like setting the bed on fire, just to get him up and moving. “I dunno… A long time. Wait, what year is it?”

“Twenty fourteen,” William said with a chuckle. “I’ll get you some caffeine.”

When he returned with a can of Mountain Dew, Jason was sitting up, sheets gathered around his waist as he scratched at his bare chest. He was smelly and half-awake, and yet William still found him irresistible.

“You know what?” Jason said, accepting the drink and taking a sip. “It’s going on three years!”

“Three years!” William repeated incredulously.

“For real!”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “What’s holding them back?”

“They don’t want to jinx it.” Jason noticed his eye roll and agreed. “I know. All that stuff with Ryan happened, but that feels like ancient history. You’ve seen them together. Every day is like their first date. They’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Maybe that’s why they don’t need to get married,” William said. “Why bother when you’re already living the honeymoon?”

“I shouldn’t be surprised.” Jason yawned before continuing. “It took forever for Tim to work up the nerve to propose. Another ten years and maybe he’ll buy wedding invitations.”

“We’ve gotta do something,” William said. “Shotgun wedding?”

Jason shook his head. “I never want to see another gun in my life. Brooms might work. The wide kind used on shop floors. We’ll sweep them together.”

“What if we arranged things for them?”

“Like what?”

“Like all of it!” William enthused. “We’ll book a venue, send out invitations, and handle the real work for them. All they have to do is show up.”

Jason very carefully set down the can on the night stand, sank down into bed, and pulled the comforter over his head.

“Too much?” William asked, jostling him. “Hello?”

“Leave me alone!” Jason said. “I want to be lazy for just one day. You’re exhausting.”

“No I’m not.” William pounced on him, pulling at the blanket, which Jason gripped desperately in return. “Come on. Don’t you want to see them get married?”

“It’s not legal in Texas,” came the muffled reply.

“I don’t care. Neither will they. I still want to see them take their vows.”

Jason flung away the blankets and glared at William accusingly. “I get it now. This all about what
you
want. They’re your favorite couple, and you’re doing this just to see them make out after they’re pronounced man and… man.”

“Second-favorite couple,” William said, leaning in for a kiss. Lucky for him, the over-sweet flavor of the soda helped conceal Jason’s morning breath. “Please? Do it for me.”

Jason mulled it over. “We’d have to pick a date. How do we do that?”

William rewarded him with another kiss before answering. “Spencer is always complaining about how he has two anniversaries these days. When he first met his wife, and when they actually got married.”

“So we choose the day Ben and Tim first met?”

“Yes.”

Jason shook his head. “I don’t know when that is. I also don’t remember them celebrating their anniversary.”

William grinned. “Leave it to me.” Then he reconsidered. “Actually, I need an excuse to talk to one of them.”

“We can go see them today,” Jason said. “We don’t need a reason. They’re always happy when either of us stop by.”

“Who’s most likely to know when they first met?”

“Ben,” Jason said.

“Just make sure I get some alone time with him. Then we’ll have our date!”

As it turned out, isolating Ben wasn’t difficult because Tim was at work. They hung out in the living room, Jason eventually taking Chinchilla outside to play. That wasn’t an excuse. Even though he spent most of his free time caring for animals at the shelter, Jason seemed compelled to do the same when around pets. Maybe that’s why he still didn’t have one of his own, since home was the only place he got a break. This reminded William of a similar situation that Ben, like everyone else, soon drew attention to.

“How’s Daisy?”

“Fine,” William answered. “She’s a handful!” He had returned to Houston five times in the previous two months since her birth. While he was there, all Lily wanted to do was sleep, and all Daisy wanted to do was cry, poop, eat, and cry some more. She wore him down, but on each drive back to Austin, he fought against the urge to turn the car around to see her again.

“And is Jason doing okay?” Ben made the question sound innocent, despite how loaded it was. What he really wanted to know is if the baby remained an issue.

“He’s doing good. You know how it is. Jason is always so patient with me, and this is no different.”

Ben looked amused. “Patient? We’re still talking about Jason?”

“Yup! He waited four years, didn’t he?” William leaned forward, having found an opening. “Speaking of which, I was trying to figure out exactly how long Jason and I have been together. Do we count the years apart? I want to, but if I’m honest…”

Ben nodded in understanding. “I envy people who can give a straightforward answer to that question. Tim and I have argued about it a few times.”

“That’s right,” William said, remembering a dinner from long ago. “You disagree.”

“Kind of,” Ben said. “He likes to count back to when we were teenagers. I tend to think of that as round one, which is separate from this relationship. This one started when we met at the gallery again.”

“When was that?” William asked, trying to maintain his poker face.

“Gosh… Six years ago?”

“Yeah, but what day?”

Ben shrugged. “No idea. Why?”

“Just curious,” he said lamely.

“Do you know your anniversary?”

“March sixth,” he answered instantly. “Technically I was still with Kelly, but that’s the first day I met Jason, and we both felt a connection.”

“Your anniversary is the day you laid eyes on each other?” Ben smiled. “That’s sweet.”

“I’m serious about him,” William said. “I’m not messing around. You need to adopt him. That way I can ask you for his hand in marriage.”

Ben clearly found this sentiment charming, but William wasn’t kidding. Not entirely. He was dedicated to Jason and couldn’t imagine spending his life with anyone else. At the moment he was supposed to be planning someone else’s wedding, not his own, so when he and Jason returned to the city, they stopped by the Eric Conroy Gallery.

Tim greeted them, flashing the smile that always made William feel like giggling.

“Got any new stuff?” Jason asked, glancing around at the art.

“Yeah,” Tim replied, extending an arm toward the eastern wing. “Zombies, skeletons, and other dead things. You’ll love it.”

Jason wandered off in that direction.

William remained where he was. “How’s it going?” he asked, mentally resisting a blush.

“A little slow,” Tim said. “People come in here, like what they see, and try to take photos with their cell phones. Lately I feel more like a bouncer than a curator.”

William laughed, wondering how he was going to steer the conversation in the right direction. Luckily, he had gotten Ben to talk a little more about that fateful night at the gallery. “I guess you didn’t have that problem during your exhibition.”

“Which exhibition?” Tim asked, seeming confused.

William tried again. “For your own art.”

“Oh!” Tim laughed. “Yeah, that was a long time ago. We had cell phones then. People just weren’t so crazy about using them.”

“When was that exactly?” William asked, well aware it wasn’t the most natural follow-up question.

Tim rolled with it anyway. “Five years ago, maybe.”

“Yeah, but when?”

That earned him a funny look. “The actual day?”

William shrugged. “Sure. You didn’t save a flyer?”

Tim scrutinized him, then became distracted by the question. “You know, I’m sure I did. Marcello had these cool posters made. I wonder if they’re in the back?”

Soon he was in the back room with Tim, helping him open flat-file drawer after drawer in search of the past. Jason joined them just as they found a poster advertising the exhibition of a promising new artist.

“I like the butterfly,” William said. “Was that a theme of your art?”

“Not really.” Tim scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “I was hoping to attract the right sort of clientele with it.”

William didn’t really hear his answer. He was too busy eyeing the date and worried that, in his excitement, he wouldn’t be able to remember it. “You’re going to kill me for this, but…” He took out his phone and snapped a photo.

Tim found it funny, eyes shining as he looked over the poster. “That was a good night.”

“Really?” William asked, hoping for more details, but Tim merely nodded and kept his answer short.

“Yeah. The best.”

They hung out a little longer before they said goodbye and left.

“July thirteenth,” William said once they were outside. “We’ve got our date.”

Jason didn’t appear so victorious. “Cool. Now we just need a place.”

“That shouldn’t be hard. We’ll look online.” William got a head start on the way home. While Jason drove, he searched on his phone. “I’ve found some beautiful options,” he soon reported. “The prices are ridiculous though. This one is basically on the corner of a golf course. You can get married outside and have a party in the club house, but they want four thousand dollars.”