Page 64 of Persuaded

“This,” Finn said, kissing him lightly. “You. The rest of my life.”

Joshua snagged Finn’s coffee and took a sip. Finn didn’t protest, just watched him with an affectionate smile that made Joshua’s heart fly. “You ready for this? It’s gonna be a long drive.”

“You’re kidding, right? You and me on a road trip to LA? Dude, I’ve been dreaming about this for eight years.” Hisexpression softened. “But areyousure? No regrets about leaving New Milton?”

Joshua shook his head. “I’ll miss my friends—and Sean and Tejana, of course—but this has been a long time coming, Finn. And I amsoready.”

“Me too.” Finn stole his coffee back and set it aside, pulling Joshua into a hug. For a while they just stood there in each other’s arms, swaying a little, and then Finn clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Go get dressed, we’re going out before we hit the road.”

“Out?”

“My brother’s idea.” Finn rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hide his happiness even for a moment. “He’s insisting we have breakfast with him and Tejana.”

Joshua smiled. “That’s nice. I hoped we’d have time to see them this morning.”

A few minutes later, they were strolling down Sandy Lane toward the beach. Finn had suggested they walk—“It’s a beautiful day, man, and we’ll be driving a long time”—and Joshua certainly wasn’t about to object. He loved walking here early in the morning. The tide was way out, leaving the beach enormous and, at this hour, empty bar a couple of guys from the Surf Hut in the water.

An onshore breeze ruffled Joshua’s hair, but the day was already promising heat. They turned right when they reached the sand and splashed barefoot along the water’s edge. Neither of them said much, but after a while Finn tangled his fingers with Joshua’s and he glanced over, smiling as they held hands. A couple months ago they couldn’t have been so overt. But that was before Finn came out publicly, and now it felt like there was nobody in the world who didn’t know about them. Nobody on Twitter, anyway. Most people seemed to have an opinion about it, too—for good or ill. Not that Joshua paid them muchattention, but Ali and Lexa told him things even when he asked them not to. The interweb was a wild and crazy place.

By and large, the reaction had been positive—if you ignored the bigots and zealots, which he tried to do. Finn’s fans had certainly been pretty cool, if slightly obsessive about the whole thing. New Milton was even becoming something of a tourist attraction amongst Finn’s more ardent admirers.

Sean and Tejana couldn’t have been happier. Joshua genuinely felt like part of Finn’s family and it warmed him to a depth he doubted he’d ever be able to explain. His own family, on the other hand... Well, it was pretty rich for a man who’d been jailed for fraud to describe his son’s life as “distasteful” but Joshua quite literally couldn’t care less about his father’s opinion. As for Michael, they hadn’t talked since Joshua left New York in January and, despite Finn urging him to build bridges, he didn’t care to breach the gap between them. Not yet, anyway.

Ruth, however, had warmed to Finn—or perhaps to his money—and she and Joshua had reached an unspoken agreement not to remember her advice eight years ago. On occasion, a little strategic amnesia proved helpful.

“This way.” Finn tugged him toward the promenade in New Milton, just starting to come to life for the day, and they put their shoes back on before heading up the cliff path to Hanworth Hall. This early, the air was fragrant with dewy grass, the scent rising up beneath their feet as they climbed up to Gorse Point. It was a steep path and Joshua was breathing hard by the time they reached the top. He paused there to catch his breath, gazing out over the water glittering beneath the low morning sun.

“That guy’s good,” Finn said, raising a hand to shade his eyes as he watched one of the surfers in the water catch a wave.

Joshua cast him a sideways look. “I think that’s Luca Moretti. His mom owns the Majestic Hotel on the other side of the bay. Luca comes down every summer—works as a lifeguard and runsthe surf school.” He nudged Finn. “Wears a wet suit well, if you know what I mean.”

“Hey, I thought you only had eyes for me.”

Joshua lifted an eyebrow. “You’dlook good in a wet suit...”

“You’d look goodoutof a wet suit.”

Despite everything, Joshua blushed and shook his head as he turned to watch the ocean again. Luca darted through the water, a black shape in the waves, as a couple of early morning joggers splashed along the foreshore. Aside from them, he and Finn were delightfully alone.

He slipped his hand into Finn’s again and they strolled on together. Although they’d walked here many times in the last few months, it was the memories of that long-ago summer that occupied Joshua’s thoughts as Hanworth Hall came into view: they’d met there, first kissed in these dunes, made love on the cliff top in the dark shadow of his father’s disapproval. And today they’d finally leave to start a new life together.

He hadn’t realized, until now, that he needed to say goodbye to the old place, but he suspected Finn had known and that he’d suggested they walk this path for that very purpose. Despite his all-American-hero looks, Finn possessed a sensitive soul—one of the many things Joshua loved about him.

As they reached the gate to the gardens, Joshua slowed and hauled Finn in for a kiss before they met the others, relishing the joy of being together after their week apart. “I missed you,” he said, slipping his arms around Finn’s waist and leaning back to look him in the eye.

“Me too.” Finn bumped their noses together. “I’ve been thinking about this all week.”

“This?”

“Today. Being here with you. All of it.”

Joshua cupped his face—his beloved face, so familiar he recognized every freckle, every fleck of color in Finn’s eyes—and kissed him softly. Then they gazed goofily at each other for a while before Joshua’s stomach rumbled and Finn laughed, shoving him toward the gate. “Come on, let’s feed you.”

Joshua resisted the urge to take Finn’s hand as they crossed the lawn to the house, because Finn was still self-conscious about being too demonstrative in front of his brother. It amused Joshua because Sean was one of the most tactile people he’d ever met, but masculinity was a complex thing and he figured it was up to Finn to make peace with it in his own way. He could be patient. So he was surprised and pleased when Finn took his hand, holding it tight. Joshua squeezed back and bumped their shoulders together reassuringly, smiling when he felt Finn’s grip relax.

Sean must have spotted them because he stepped out of the French windows with one arm lifted in a wave. “We’re eating in here,” he called, beckoning them over.

Which was odd, since they always ate in the kitchen. It was the first hint Joshua had that something was up. He glanced at Finn and caught the telling blankness of his expression, his acting skills totally failing to deceive. “What’s going on?”

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