Wallflowers (7 page)

"Like I could tell." DJ chuckled and winked. "I have Marlena keep them easy and organized."

"I'll get you some from the team to start with and build your collection from there." He ran his fingers through his hair. "You ready to go? Do we need to feed Walter first or anything?"

"He eats at night. I just need to harness him up." Danny's closet was just as meticulous as the drawers.

"Should I know how to do it?"

Danny stopped, stared toward him. "You want to?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He was with DJ now, wasn't he? He needed to learn shit like that, and probably tons more besides.

"That's really neat. No one's ever asked before."

Oh. Cool. He was glad to be special. At the same time, it made him want to growl a little. What kind of jerks had DJ been dating that they didn't care to learn how to be a part of his life?

"So show me."

"Okay. Okay, sure. He knows he's at work when he has his halter on..."

Danny kept talking as they headed into the main room and Ryan stopped, grinned. It was going to be okay.

It was.

He'd trusted in his heart and it was going to work out.

So, the arena was loud. Really loud. DJ was incredibly grateful Marlena had agreed to sit with him--he'd put Ry off as long as he could, but they'd been together eight months. Hell, they'd been living together for two and Ryan was just insistent that he show up tonight.

So, here they were. Him, Marlena, and Walter.

"Are we doing well?"

"I think so." Marlena was the least... sporty person DJ knew. "All the players left the field, it might be over... No, wait halftime."

"Oh, cool. Ryan said he'd be up here for that, maybe."

There was a roar and then the crowd quietened down.

"There's a couple people in the middle of the field. I don't know why."

"That's the head coach," the guy on the other side of Marlene informed them.

Anything else was drowned out by the loudspeaker. "Hey, Cyclones fans. We're having a good game so far!"

The fans screamed their agreement.

"I want to introduce you to one of our magicians here who makes sure the guys are in top physical shape. Ryan Coulter. He's got a question for someone in the audience."

Oh! Oh, that was his baby! DJ leaned over, whispered to Marlena. "Is he gorgeous?"

She laughed and patted his hand. "Not as cute as you, honey."

"Flatterer." Marlena had taken to Ryan easily, once the whole "don't mess with a blind man's stuff" situation had been fixed.

Her chuckle was drowned out by Ryan's voice.

"Thanks, Bert. So, there's someone very special in the audience today." Ry's voice sounded a bit strange over the loudspeaker, but it was still his baby. "DJ, I told them where you were sitting and they said they'd get you up on the Jumbotron so I can see your answer."

"Oh, my God! We're on the big TV!" Marlena squealed.

"What? What's going on? Ry?"

The crowd suddenly shouted and Marlena grabbed his arm. "He's on one knee."

"Oh, my God." His heart stopped a little.

"Daniel James Delout. I love you with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?"

The crowd was quiet and DJ stopped, stood, eyes so wide behind his dark glasses that they hurt at the corners. "Oh, Ryan. Yes. God, yes. Please."

The screams of applause were so big they were almost painful.

Marlena, still clutching his arm, spoke right into his ear. "He's coming up the stairs, honey."

"Oh. Okay. Okay, good. Hold Walter?"

"You got it, honey. I'll take pictures."

Like he cared about that.

Suddenly Ryan was there, hands on his arms. "You did say yes, right?"

"I did say yes, right. I meant it, too."

"Thank God." Ry's mouth covered his.

DJ pushed into the familiar, welcoming embrace, the sound of the crowd disappearing. They kissed until he was breathless and then Ry rested their foreheads together.

"I love you, Danny."

"Love you, baby. I guess you have to go back to work now, huh?"

"Nope." Ryan took his hand and slid something on it.

"No?" His fingers traced the ring--it was smooth, satiny. Heavy.

"I kind of have the rest of the week off starting now."

"Oh. I kind of have a few thousand kisses to share with you, then."

Ryan laughed, the sound happy, free. "How did I ever survive without you?"

"I have no idea," he teased. "You must have been miserable."

"Yeah, I was." Ry gave him a quick hug.

"Congratulations you, two!"

"Thanks, Marlena."

"Thanks, lady. I think it's time for us to go." He wanted a long, leisurely dinner--preferably naked together, on their bed.

"You can stay if you like, Marlena. Those are VIP tickets, which means you can go to the owner's box and have some food, some champagne, anything you want."

"Oh, I might. There are some pretty men here."

DJ stroked Ryan's arm. "There are."

Ry's chuckle was happy and Ry squeezed his arm. "Let's get out of here, DJ. I have a much more private celebration in mind."

"God, yes. Yes, let's go home, huh, Walter?"

Walter's soft woof was almost lost in the crowd.

Ryan took his hand and he grabbed onto Walter and they made their way up the stairs and through the halls behind the seats, the sounds of the crowd fading away. He could feel the ring, heavy and new on his finger, a promise.

"Baby?"

"Yeah, Danny?"

"Do we have to have our frat brothers at our wedding?"

Often referred to as "Space Cowboy" and "Gangsta of Love" while still striving for the moniker of "Maurice," Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and pursuing the
Kama Sutra
by channeling the long-lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to
Chicago.

A long-time writer of complicated haiku, Sean is currently attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate-spinning and soap-carving sex toys.

Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.

To learn more about Sean, please visit: www.seanmichaelwrites.com.

Samuel Cavanaugh never thought the hardest part about being a lawyer would be keeping an administrative assistant, but with Jeannie on pregnancy leave, he's gone through five since he became a partner. Yet his newest assistant is Jarrod Tinsley, an attractive man who just might fulfill all his fantasies, even the ones he didn't know he had.

Unbeknownst to Samuel, Jarrod has been hired by the law firm to investigate whether Samuel is "the leak," the person selling confidential information to the firm's opponents. Jarrod thinks it's going to be a run-of-the-mill job until he actually meets his sexy new boss, and then all bets are off. Samuel triggers in Jarrod every one of his Dom tendencies, and he knows instinctively exactly what Samuel needs to have all his fantasies fulfilled.

Can Samuel and Jarrod survive the investigation and their attraction to each other, or will their fragile relationship go tumbling down in pieces?