A Decade of Gay Romance by J.M. Snyder (editor)

Author:J.M. Snyder (editor) [(editor), J.M. Snyder]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Byron and Jonah didn’t go running as planned the following weekend. In fact, for the next three weeks they barely saw each other, even in passing. With spring here and summer in the offing, people seemed to be house-hunting with a vengeance. Not unexpected, Jonah knew. It was this way every year. It just seemed worse—or better he supposed, as far as his bottom line was concerned. The problem was, he found he missed being with Byron.

Finally, he had a free Sunday. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm he discovered when he took his breakfast out on the balcony. He smiled, seeing the flowers in one of the planters beginning to bloom. In the other one, small sprouts presaged his beets and spinach. He envisioned salads, and pickled beets and beet slaw, the way his mother had made it. “And beet greens.” He chuckled, remembering hating those until he was an adult. Then he discovered they made a quick and easy vegetable, just like spinach.

“Maybe I can cook,” he told himself. “Not fancy, like Byron, but still…

After finishing breakfast, he decided to go down and see if Byron was up for a run. He could have called, but it was harder to say ‘no’ face-to-face than over the phone. He really wanted Byron to come with him. And not just for the company. I could get one of the ladies to come along if it was only that.

Five minutes later, he was knocking on Byron’s door. It opened almost instantly, as if Byron had been waiting for him.

“I was just about to come upstairs to see if you were home and felt like a walk,” Byron said.

Jonah grinned. “You’re reading my mind. Only I was thinking about a run.”

“Perfect.” Byron patted his pockets, obviously checking to be certain he had everything, grabbed his keys off the table by the door, and locked up after joining Jonah in the hallway. “Where to?” he asked when they got on the elevator.

“Depends how energetic you’re feeling. We can go around the park. Or down by the creek, but that’s a good ten blocks or more.”

“The creek,” Byron replied. “I’ve been meaning to check it out but somehow, doing it on my own didn’t sound like much fun.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go.”

When they were on the sidewalk outside the building, they started out at a gentle lope. After a couple of blocks they picked up the pace until they were outright running. Jonah heard someone call out, “Go for it, grandpas,” and was tempted to stop and have a few words with what sounded like a teen.

“Not worth it,” Byron told him, seemingly reading his mind. “Though—” he grinned, “—we could challenge him to a race.”

Jonah snorted. “Fifteen minutes ago, maybe. Now I’d probably collapse.”

“You’re doing fine,” Byron protested.

“Better than I would have two months ago, but hardly in a class with Jim Ryun or Carl Lewis.”

“Why two months ago?”

“That’s when I finally quit smoking for good.”

“Congratulations,” Byron said, patting Jonah on the back.

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