Page 137 of Out of the Storm

From the passenger seat of his Cadillac, Jeff tried to force himself to breathe normally. Their drive home from Gary’s family’s house was going surprisingly well, less lurching and rough braking than normal, and Jeff was starting to hope that maybe Gary would—someday—be able to drive smoothly. At this rate, he was at least getting to practice every few weeks, when the two of them went to Gary’s family’s house for brunch on Sundays.

Even though they’d been doing this for nearly a year—going over for brunch—Jeff still found himself waffling between being happy for Gary that he was becoming closer to his relatives and feelinga littleresentful on his behalf. While Gary’s relationship with his mom still seemed somewhat strained, it looked like they were finally mending some of what had been broken. Which... was probably healthy. But Jeff couldn’t help but still be a little pissed that she had kept Gary’s father from him. Gary, though, sweet and kind and empathetic as he was, wanted to look past it. He still loved his mom. And Jeff tried to be supportive. Even though it irked him. Sometimes.

The light ahead of them turned yellow, and Jeff braced himself for Gary to inevitably slam on the brakes. However, to his surprise, the car rolled to a peaceful halt instead. Holy crap.

Back in the winter, Gary had wiped out on his bike a couple of times because of the slush and ice, and Jeff had been mortified by even the mild injuries Gary had sustained from those falls. When Gary had nearly taken a third tumble, Jeff had made Gary promise that he’d practice with Jeff’s car so that, whenever there was inclement weather—rain, sleet, or snow—Gary could take the Cadillac up to Kent State Trumbull to teach his classes instead of having to bike and risking greater injury.

After months of practice, Gary’s skillsfinallyseemed to be improving.

“Hey now, feel that stop?” Gary said. “Smooth!”

“Eh, kinda,” Jeff teased.

“Let me have my victory. I’m improving, right?”

“Yeah, you are,” Jeff said with a smirk. “I’m proud of you, Gare.”

Behind them, someone laid on their horn, and both men winced from the sound. Neither Jeff nor Gary had noticed that the light had already turned green.

“Dang.” Gary slammed his foot on the gas pedal so hard it caused Jeff’s body to lurch backward as the car zoomed into the intersection. “I wonder when I’ll make it a whole trip without someone honking at me.”

“I think this was a record. We’re almost home.”

“Thankfully!”

Later, after Jeff and Gary had been able to relax for a bit, Gary set to work on vacuuming the bedroom while Jeff started scrubbing the bathroom. Unfortunately, running a radio station for fourteen hours a day, six days a week, left little time for chores, which meant that some of their Sunday had to be spent cleaning and catching up on piles of laundry. It was worth it, though. Because Gary was so fucking happy to be running the station together, which of course made Jeff happy too. Truthfully, Jeffwas enjoying being on the radio way more than he would have ever imagined, mostly because he was able to force the people of Niles to listen torealmusic—music that wouldn’t make him feel like his ears were about to bleed—but also because he and Gary had engaged in some really fun conversations (as well as pretend arguments) on the air.

Everyone in Niles knew them now, both as radio show hosts and as... something else. Not that they ever shouted their love from the rooftops, but Jeff was pretty sure everyone knew, on some level, that he and Gary were together in a romantic sense, though some pearl-clutchers may have been pretending that this wasn’t the case. Most people, though, seemed happy for them. Even Mrs. Schmidt had taken to bringing them cookies each week. Once, she had caught Jeff and Gary holding hands on the way to the car, and she hadn’t batted an eye. She’d still brought them cookies the following week like usual. Aside from Mrs. Schmidt, plenty of other people stopped by to say hello or to put in song requests. And when both Gary and Jeff had been sick with the flu, several folks had come by with noodle soup (sans chicken for Gary) throughout their recovery period. Running the station with Gary had been fucking fantastic.

Finally, Jeff’swantshad becomehaves. Thanks to Gary, he’d finally realized his predictable, boring, silly, incredible dream: to live with the man he loved in a little house in the suburbs. And God help him, he was loving every minute of it.

Once the housework was finished, Gary and Jeff hopped in the shower together, which was something had taken to lately. Not only did it save water but it was also incredible foreplay, too. Well, sometimes. Other times, Gary seemed to like to bring up the least-sexy topics imaginable.

“Do you think it’ll look weird that I’m Mel’s man of honor next weekend? I mean, I’ve never seen that, have you?” Gary asked as heworked shampoo into his hair. “I feel like she should’ve asked her cousin.”

“Who cares? You’re her best friend.”

“I know, I know. You’re right.”

“Why are you so nervous?”

“I want everything to be perfect for her. Mel deserves perfection.”

“Gare, when we first talked on the phone, you told me thatpotato saladwas perfection. If your bar for perfection is that low, I think Mel’s wedding couldn’tnotbe perfection.”

Gary pretended to scoff as he rinsed his hair. “You’re so mean to me.”

Jeff chuckled. “I’m not mean. I’m honest.”

“You’rehonestlypretty mean.”

“Come here.” Jeff placed his hands on Gary’s hips and urged him closer before stretching up onto the balls of his feet to kiss Gary on the lips.

As soon as Jeff started to pull back, Gary moved forward, chasing Jeff’s mouth with his, and then they began to kiss more passionately, their tongues moving together and hands becoming tangled in each other’s wet locks. While their tongues teased each other’s, water from the showerhead rained over their faces, and Jeff could taste it every time their lips parted, even if only for a moment. Groaning, Jeff took another step forward, and Gary shifted one of his legs so that Jeff could rub his erection against Gary’s thigh.

In between kisses, Jeff asked, “Do you still think I’m mean?”

He felt Gary smile against his lips.

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