Remy and Lane Complete Series Box Set

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

According to Google Maps, Lane’s condo downtown was closer to his office than Remy’s northside apartment, but rush-hour traffic made traversing Richmond’s city streets a bear. So he spent weeknights at Remy’s house, and enjoyed a much less hectic commute than he would if he fought the traffic from his place. On Fridays after work, Remy would drive to Lane’s condo, and the two of them would spend the weekend together there. It was closer to the heart of the city; every weekend, something was going on in Richmond, races or festivals, something, and it was nice to walk to the events instead of struggling to find parking.

Remy thought sharing two abodes was the best of both worlds, but the romantic in him wanted one place to call home. A real house, not a condo or apartment or townhome. Something with a yard and a driveway, close by both his office and Lane’s, something they would own together. They talked about it from time to time, but neither man was quite ready yet to make that big a move. In Remy’s mind, he was waiting until after he introduced his son to his lover. If they got on well, he’d take the next big step.

Only now he wouldn’t have much of a say in arranging their introduction. First meetings were everything. What if Braden said or did something that turned Lane against him? What if Lane wasn’t the significant other Remy’s son thought his father should have?

It was bad enough to worry about this sort of thing and planning for it on a lazy summer weekend. But add in two full weeks trapped in a cabin in the woods, over Christmas, to boot. Holidays were already hectic enough; Remy had been planning for months to make this the perfect vacation.

And now Kate had to go and ruin it.

No, that wasn’t fair, but still. Damn it! If he had known he would be entertaining a little boy over the holiday, he would’ve planned for it. Bought sleds and snowshoes, maybe, or rented a snowmobile. As it was, the cabin didn’t even have a Christmas tree set up inside it. Remy and Lane had talked it over and decided against it. But a boy Braden’s age would expect a tree, and trimmings, and presents…Kate better have some stockpiled away for him, Remy thought ruefully as he shut down his desk computer. I don’t have time for some last minute shopping, too. I wouldn’t even know what he wanted.

He had a gift for Braden, of course. A brand-new Nintendo Wii U, which Kate had said he would love. But there wasn’t even a television at the cabin! Remy had hoped to drop off the present at Kate’s so Braden could open it Christmas Day, then spend the rest of his break off from school playing video games. Now Remy would have to give him the present at the cabin and promptly tuck it away. No television, no video games. What kind of Christmas would this turn out to be?

From where he sat in the cushioned seat on the other side of Remy’s desk, Lane leaned his elbows on the arm rest and steepled his fingers under his chin. “You’re mad,” he said.

“I’m not mad,” Remy corrected. “I’m…a little put out, that’s all.”

One of Lane’s signature smiles spread across his face. “Come on, what’s the big deal? You said it yourself, you wanted me to meet Braden one day.”

“One day, yes,” Remy emphasized. Opening his day planner for next year, he flipped to the page for May and pointed at a date that already had something written on it. “May tenth, one o’clock, I take Braden out for ice cream at Bruster’s and you stop by to say hi. I had it all planned out.”

“So move your plans up a little,” Lane countered. “Think about it. We’re going to a log cabin in the mountains. There’s a lake, and deer, and a huge fireplace for Santa to come down—”

“And no TV,” Remy pointed out. “No internet, no wi-fi, no nothing for a kid used to waking up and turning on cartoons while he checks his friends’ f*******: updates. He’s going to be bored shitless.”

Lane shook his head. “It’ll be fun. We might even get a little snow. It’ll be nice, relaxing—”

“You don’t know my son.”

Lane said, “Then tell me about him.”

Remy straightened the papers on his desk. He talked about Braden a lot, he knew, but somehow nothing he had ever told Lane really managed to capture the essence of the boy. “He’s…I don’t know. Sensitive. Set in his ways. He doesn’t really like change.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Lane teased.

Remy shook his head. “No, really. It’ll probably make him mad that he isn’t going to be home with all his stuff. He’ll have his heart set on Christmas with his mother, and when he finds out he’ll have to stay with me, it’ll piss him off.”

“Like father, like son,” Lane said.

Remy stacked the papers he’d been reading into a neat pile and tucked them into his Inbox. “No, you aren’t listening to me. He—”

“He’s like you.” Lane reached across the desk and placed a hand on Remy’s wrist, stilling it. “Look at me.”

After a long moment, Remy did. What he saw in his lover’s eyes was a deeper understanding than he could’ve imagined existed. In that one instant, with Lane’s hand covering his, Remy thought simply, I love him. I do. The thought came unbidden, so raw and fresh, that he knew it was the truth.

“You’re upset, I know,” Lane said softly, “but you’re projecting your own feelings onto your son. This wasn’t your plan, and I’m sorry. But sometimes you have to give a little bit, Remy. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches.”

Remy sighed. “It’s going to be a disaster.”

“Don’t think like that,” Lane chastised. “Think of it as an adventure.”

Yeah, Remy thought. A disastrous one.

* * * *

Thursday evening, they had stopped by Lane’s condo to pack. Lane was only going to bring two small overnight bags until Remy pointed out the cabin didn’t have laundry facilities. “Well, we can always go into town,” Lane suggested.

“Or you can pack fourteen pairs of underwear, your pick,” Remy said. “What if we get snowed in?”

“This is Virginia,” Lane reminded him. “We don’t get snow.”

“The mountains do,” Remy pointed out.

In the end, Lane packed a third bag, but refused to bring any more. “We still need to fit your stuff in the Jeep.”

Afterward, they returned to Remy’s apartment. He had two large duffle bags ready to fill with all sorts of winter clothing—jeans and longjohns, flannel shirts, thick woolen socks. In the bottom of one bag, he added a pair of shorts and a couple T-shirts because, after all, this was Virginia, and they had had mild winters before. Before they left for work Friday morning, they packed all their bags in the cargo hold of Lane’s SUV. Remy added a Keurig coffee maker—he was a bear without at least two cups to start his day—and a bag for what he simply called “toiletries.” Shampoo, soap, shaving supplies…he emptied out most of the bathroom into the bag, then followed Lane into the bedroom when his lover told him to hold on a minute. From the bedside table, Lane added bottles of lubrication and boxes of condoms, right on top of their toothbrushes. “Now we’re all set,” he declared.

Now, navigating Lane’s Jeep Cherokee through rush-hour traffic to reach his ex-wife’s house, Remy wondered if they would even get a chance to use the rubbers. With Braden in the very next room? What if his son overheard them making love? What if he walked in on them?

His hands gripped the steering wheel too tightly; in the wash of street lights they passed, his knuckles looked white. Lane clapped a hand on Remy’s thigh and rubbed. “Can I tell you something?” he asked softly.

Without looking away from the road, Remy tilted his head toward Lane. “What’s that?”

The hand on his thigh squeezed. “I’m a little nervous to finally meet him.” He laughed and shook his head. “No, I am. I feel as if I’m…I don’t know, meeting your parents for the first time, or something. What if he doesn’t like me?”

Remy relaxed his grip on the wheel and dropped one hand to cover Lane’s. “How can he not? You’re great. Better than Mike.” At Lane’s quizzical look, he added, “Kate’s new boyfriend. You should see him.”

“A real looker?” Lane asked.

Remy rolled his eyes. “He’s perfect for her, really he is, and as long as she’s happy, then fine. I’m not the one sleeping with him, you know? I’m not the one who has to see his pasty body in a pair of swim trunks on a cruise ship next week.”

“My body’s pretty pasty this time of year,” Lane reminded him. “And I could point out your white ass rivals the moon most nights.”

Wrapping his fingers around Lane’s, Remy raised his lover’s hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. “Ah, but see, I’m sexy. Mike isn’t.”

“Yeah, but Kate’s already had the best,” Lane joked. “Now you’re mine, and she just has to settle for something else.”

* * * *

When Remy realized he and Lane were getting serious, he introduced his lover to his ex-wife. They met for lunch downtown, not far from the building that housed the accounting firm for which Kate worked. Braden was in school at the time, and Remy hadn’t been ready to take that step yet. In fact, he still wasn’t. But it seemed he was no longer calling the shots.

Kate and Lane got along great—the three of them laughed and joked like old friends, and afterward, the two men walked her back to her office. Lane waited at the curb, a respectful distance away, while Remy saw her to the door. As he held it open for her, she turned and, rising on her toes, planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “You did good,” she said simply.

Remy felt his whole face burn. “You really think so?”

“He’s a keeper,” Kate replied, “and don’t you forget it. Or I’m likely to come after him myself. Why can’t I find a guy like him?”

Because a guy like Lane would be gay, he wanted to point out, but didn’t. She was being nice, and he could afford to do the same. “You will one day,” he assured her, touching her shoulder lightly. “There’s another awesome guy out there for you. I just know it.”

“Another one?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Remy tried to keep a straight face when he answered, “Well, you know, you were married to me…”

Kate punched him playfully in the arm. “Yeah, and I’m still surprised I’m not turned off from men entirely.”

Remy started to protest. “Hey!”

Tugging on the front of his jacket, she grinned up at him. “Keep that one, you hear? He’s good for you.”

Remy didn’t need her to tell him that—even though they hadn’t been together too long at that point, he already knew Lane was the man of his dreams. Everything about Lane, Remy loved. Those pale eyes, that carefree hair, the way he smiled unconsciously when he saw Remy, whether it was at work or home or in bed. The first thing that greeted Remy in the morning was Lane’s smile, and he always made sure it was the last thing he saw before turning out the lights.