V: Vic and Matt Series

The V in Valor-8

Something Roxie had said in jest about her wedding to Vic bothered Matt for the rest of the day. “You can’t marry him…”

Well, why the hell not?

Yes, the law wouldn’t recognize the union. And yes, no church in the state would sanctify it. But who needed a showy ceremony anyway? Why not just a simple exchange of vows in front of a few dozen friends? Why not proclaim their love to each other that way, clothed for once, and wear matching rings to let everyone else know?

Heading back to his office off the gym’s pool, Matt turned on his computer and Googled “wedding bands.” Bands, not rings, but all the search results were intricate women’s rings laden with decadent diamonds. Not what he had in mind. He tried again, typing in “men’s wedding bands” this time, but the results only pulled up matching his-and-her sets. Again, not his cup of tea. Some of the men’s gold bands were attractive, to be sure, but he didn’t see Vic donning a diamond any time soon…

With a furtive glance at the pool, where a mother watched her children play in the shallow end and an adult water aerobics class exercised a little farther out, Matt typed the word “gay” in front of the others in his search bar. He didn’t know if it would make it through the gym’s firewall sensors or not, and the first porn site it pulled up, he was turning the whole thing off. But he’d seen some pretty sketchy stuff on Roxie’s computer when she thought he wasn’t watching—one of her favorite ways to pass a lazy afternoon was reading band s***h, whatever that was. Matt didn’t know for sure, but he’d seen the word “f**k” on the screen a time or two, and not used as an expletive, either. Once he’d managed to read a paragraph about some pop band called 2ICE, whose male members were pleasuring each other in great detail, before Roxie realized he stood behind her and closed down the browser.

So if the gym’s IT person didn’t get bent out of shape over that, he didn’t think a search for rings favored by gay men would do it. Unless the search returned c**k rings. Then he was in trouble.

But no c**k rings came up in the search results, thank God. Instead, he found a ton of cheesy rings—why was the word “gay” synonymous with “crap” to online retailers? Rings with rainbows swirled around them, rings with a double Mars symbol etched into their faces, rings with pink triangles in a pattern all the way around the finger. Rings that would get you in more fights than you wanted. Rings that told the world, in no uncertain terms, “I’m queer.”

After the first few websites he visited, Matt got frustrated and almost said the hell with it when a banner ad caught his attention. It was subtle—nothing more than two male hands, one holding the other, the same gold ring on both. Matt clicked on the ad; before the page even finished loading, he saw it. The ring he had to have.

Yes, there was a triangle on it, in the front of the ring, but it wasn’t gaudy or tacky. Instead, six diamond chips formed the triangle, which was set in a simple band of polished white gold. It was, in a word, breathtaking. When Matt imagined slipping that ring onto Vic’s left hand, his whole body tingled with delight. His breath caught in his throat, his heart began to race, and a fine sweat broke out along his nape, just under his curls. This was it. This was the ring that said it all.

Forever.

The price, though, was a bit out of Matt’s range. One ring alone would set him back a month’s salary, and the pair of them? Hell, he’d have to take out a loan. But hey, he reasoned, this wasn’t exactly something he’d be dropping money into every other year or so. These rings, like his relationship with Vic, would last a lifetime.

Still, maybe it was too much, too soon. The men had been together for a few years now, sure, but Matt’s hand trembled when he moved the mouse to bookmark the page, and the thought of actually buying something this…this permanent…well, that terrified him. Not because he didn’t believe their relationship would last but because he just wasn’t ready to…

What?

He didn’t know. He had to talk to Vic first, before he took such a giant step. He didn’t want to do something this big alone. It had to be a decision they’d make together, and not one he talked Vic into, either. Getting a pet was nothing compared to exchanging rings.

Matt bookmarked the site a second time, just to be safe, then clicked on the link to email the page to himself, as well. He loved those rings. Maybe he’d bring it up tonight, just jokingly at first, and see what Vic thought of the idea. They had talked of other huge purchases—getting new cars, buying a house—and they had money in their savings that they tapped into occasionally for vacations or weekend trips. Together they could afford the rings.

But it would have to be together.

Matt wouldn’t rush things. They had the rest of their lives to pick out the perfect rings, if they even bothered to get them. Still, he didn’t see any harm in mentioning it later tonight.