Page 106 of Everything's Better With You
He pulled two elaborate leis out of a brown paper bag and placed one over Agnes’s head and one over Joe’s.
“Hedidgo to Hawaii,” Agnes said with a laugh. “Oh good, I’m so ready to be in a warm place. I always forget how cold it actually gets back home.” She turned to Joe, who was so glad for the fragrant lei that was hopefully covering up any unpleasant smells.
Joe’s heart fluttered at the mention of Hawaii.
Things would likely have been very different in his life if he’d not chickened out on meeting Leslie there ten years earlier, and Joe had often wondered what would have happened. Would it have been too soon and they would’ve merely hung out, talked about what they wanted, and still went their separate ways? Or, maybe Joe would havebeen as swept away as he was in Iowa and he would have jumped at the chance to have Leslie in his life.
But Joe was a different man now. Ten years ago, he was chasing the next big thing. He hadn’t been seriously injured yet. He hadn’t thought about his career’s expiration date. And he still thought dancing was the only thing he was good at.
Now he knew the truth.
And now, dammit, he was ready to face Leslie with all that he was, with all that he had, and he prayed it was enough.
“Joe? Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking of the last time I was in Hawaii.”
Agnes smiled and patted his knee. “He’s going to be so glad to see you.”
“I hope so.”
They flew a private jet out of LAX to Maui and there were more surprises on the plane. More champagne, Joe’s things, a bathroom with enough room for him to get cleaned up, thankfully, and a new suit, compliments of Leslie.
“How the hell did he know my size?”
“Apparently your manager is very knowledgeable about such things,” Sandy said. “And he can be bought.”
Joe scoffed. “Good to know.”
A black Escalade met them at the airport. Joe had his third glass of champagne, or was it his fourth, at the urging of the brothers. Thankfully, there had been a boatload of snacks on the flight because Joe hadn’t eaten anything since he’d had his morning smoothie.
“You’re such a lightweight,” Sandy joked as they climbed into the limo and Joe hit his head.
“Always have been.” But he was also nervous. Could he and Leslie get past what had happened? The radio silence had been so painful, so awful. For the first time in the fifteen years since they’d met, he’d felt completely abandoned. He’d been hurt, maybe a little angry, but mostly he’d beenable to channel it into solidifying his plans so that if Leslie came around, they could move forward together. The alternative to that was unbearable.
It was dark outside as they drove up a winding road and Joe was glad the driver was a local because there had been some hairy turns. Randy had led them in singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and Joe wondered whether he’d ever actually learned the words, but he kept up with them. Somehow. Agnes held his hand, Randy and Sandy entertained them, and Joe was almost calm by the time they pulled up to a, well, a mansion lit up by floodlights.
“Leslie’s working on getting this place all solared out because he wants to give back to the power grid. One of our companies deals with solar,” Sandy was saying, but Joe was captivated by the figure standing at the edge of the driveway.
Joe pushed Sandy out of the way and staggered over to Leslie, who stood next to one of the solar lights, also dressed in a suit. Joe hesitated only a brief moment before he threw his arms around a surprised Leslie and squeezed him for all he was worth. It was probably much less force than Leslie had experienced in his NFL days, but it nearly knocked him over.
“Twinkle Toes ain’t too twinkly once you get booze in him,” Randy said. He shook his head at Joe, who wouldn’t let go of Leslie, and accepted a handshake from his brother. Sandy also got a handshake, and Agnes a kiss on the cheek, and then they were left alone.
“I’m not letting go of you,” Joe said, his face smushed against Leslie’s chest. He smelled so good, like the Awapuhi body stuff he had all over his room back in Iowa. Joe was totally going to buy some when he was here so that if Leslie sent him away, at least he’d always have his scent.
“I’m not going to send you away,” Leslie said, trying to lift Joe’s chin to look up at him. “Joe—”
“No, not yet. I’m drunk. Don’t say anything, just hold me. You can scold me, yell at me, argue with me, whatever, in the morning when I’m in charge of myself again. Just…hold me, dammit, so the world will stop spinning.”
Leslie chuckled and squeezed Joe back. “Can we walk? I want to show you something.”
“We can try. Yes, we can.”
They managed to walk down a sandy path together, Joe’s arms still clutching Leslie tightly.
“I can’t believe you sent your brothers to kidnap me,” Joe said. “TheDance Machineproducers were going to call security when they grabbed me.”
“Did they pull thatMatrixshit?” Leslie let his head fall back and he laughed.
