Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

okay…better than okay. I want to hold you too Jaime. Want to feel you in my arms again. God, I missed you baby, so much."
    "Me too, Shane. I missed you too. I know it's been rough lately. I've just been so distracted by the job."
    Shane could hear the longing in Jaime's voice. Maybe, just maybe the two of them could take some time away…together. If they just had a few days to unwind and talk…maybe make love…surely then things would go back to the way they had been before. Shane drew in a deep breath and began to speak before his courage left him.
    "Maybe you could tell Jim you need a few days off. I still have some vacation time on the books. What if we tried to get away for a long weekend together? We could drive up the coast, do some swimming, lie out in the sun for a bit. Just a few days, you know? It's been so long since we've gone away together."
    "Gee, I don't know. Jim is always telling me that he couldn't run the place without me, so a few days might be too much for him to handle alone." Shane shut his eyes against the anger that was pushing its way into his gut. Jim. It was all he ever heard about anymore. When did this fucking partnership become a threesome? Shane clawed his way out of his own furious thoughts to hear his partner still speaking. The thread of conversation had changed however, morphed into what sounded like the possibility of something more than another rebuff.
    "But maybe, we could uhm…"
    "Could what Jaime?"
    "Well, since I can't get away right now…maybe we could spend some time together here, tonight?"
    "Tonight? But I thought you were going to be tired…you said…"
    "Yeah, I know what I said. A guy can change his mind, right?
    "What are you trying to say Jaime?"
    "Just that, well…maybe we could try out that gift you gave me for Christmas. You remember that gift, don't you Shane? The one we both laughed at when I pulled it out of my Christmas stocking?"
    Shane searched his memory for what Jaime was talking about. Over 6 months had passed since Christmas. He was lucky to remember what he had eaten for breakfast that morning.
    "You remember that paint you gave me? That uhm, chocolate body paint?"
    In a flash, he did remember buying the paint and thinking how sexy he thought Jaime would look using it. He closed his eyes and saw his lover's lithe naked body covered in edible paint. Shane gulped, his pants suddenly feeling just a bit tight, his pulse beginning to race. When he spoke his voice was a bit strained. "Yeah, I remember. Some chocolate would be good. I'd like that. Would you like that baby?"
    "Yeah, I'd like that a lot. So, it's a date then." Jaime sighed. "I better get back to work."
    Shane groaned at the thought of returning to work. Jaime laughed aloud this time and said in a teasing voice, "Poor Shane! I'll see you tonight. Don't be late, okay?"
    "I won't. I'll be there right on time." Shane murmured goodbye into the phone and began to hang up, only to be stopped by Jaime's last words.
    "Shane, I love you. You know that right? You know I love you, so fucking much."
    "Me too Jaime. Me too."
    The phone went dead and Shane slowly put it back down on the desk. He smiled, his hand unconsciously reaching down to rub at his erection. Things were going to be okay. He and Jaime were going to be okay. It would be just like it was before…before this shitty, hateful job and schedules that always seemed to conflict. They would be good again. Just like they had been all those years ago when they had first met and fallen in love.
    ****
    6 years before….
    Shane sat on the patio sipping his drink, contemplating the pounding surf below. His week to "get himself together," as his former boyfriend had so lovingly called it when he flounced his way out of Shane's life a month earlier, was just beginning. His Father had paid for the vacation right after he had "suggested" that Shane accept the job offer he had so nicely procured for him . Suggested …he felt his lip curl in disgust as he recalled the conversation in which his father had told him exactly how his future should look.
    "I'm cutting your lazy ass off if you don't man up and get a real job, you faggot."
    "Nice, Dad, really nice. You use that mouth in the boardroom do you?"
    "What the hell do you care about what goes on in my boardroom? And watch your smart mouth! If I hadn't promised your mother that I would make sure your pansy ass was always taken care of, you would have been out on the street long ago!"
    "As if the