Signs of Spring by Rachel Ember

Author:Rachel Ember [Ember, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chestnut Press, LLC

They shower, pausing to kiss the bites and marks they left on each other, and Robbie gently washing Lance’s skin where he’s red and abraded from the lace. While they’re drying off, Lance finds Robbie looking at the towel in his hands wistfully.

“These are nice.”

Lance is startled into a laugh. “I guess?” They’re large and absorbent and smell clean, which is basically Lance’s standard for towels.

“I mean, they’re so soft. I never realized how shitty my towels were until—” He glances up at Lance and clears his throat. “Well, until you came to stay. And I wanted them to be nicer for you.” He frowns at the towel he’s holding again, this time more deeply. “Like these.”

Lance feels a fizzy sensation in his chest and a strange solemnity. He wraps his own towel around his waist and leans in to kiss Robbie’s stubbled cheek. “You’re very good to me.”

“Not really.” Robbie looks around the room. “I put you up in a goddamn barn, and you’re used to places like this.”

“It’s a really nice barn,” Lance counters with a smile, but he can see from Robbie’s expression that this isn’t the right moment to tease. “Hey.” He tugs the towel away from Robbie and takes his hand instead. “I don’t need fancy towels or a fancy apartment or—or caviar. I had all of that, and I was still so miserable I wound up running away.”

When Robbie’s eyelashes are wet, they look as dark and long as the kind Elliott glues onto himself. Robbie glances up at Lance from beneath them, and his eyes are bright.

Lance manages to be brave enough to say, “There’s been one thing, in my whole life, that I really wanted and never dreamed I’d get.” He swallows, and his voice is a little rougher as he adds, “One person, I mean. If that wasn’t clear.”

Robbie squeezes their tangled fingers more tightly together and, with the other hand, tugs Lance closer to him by the hip.

Lance’s heart hammers. He should say the rest—tell Robbie he loves him—but he can’t find any more strength in his heart, so he just leans his forehead against Robbie’s shoulder, then kisses him there.

“Thank you. I want you, too. So much. Do you believe me?” Robbie’s thumb rubs up and down over his hip.

Lance swallows. “Yeah, I believe you.”

They smile at each other, touching one another’s faces. The eye contact is overwhelming, but in a good way, like Lance is seeing deeper into Robbie than he ever has before. It’s only when he wonders what Robbie is seeing in him that he has to look away, tucking his head under Robbie’s chin.

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