Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

his aching back and stepped away from the loaded station wagon. "There you are ma'am. I think you should be able to close the door now."
    "Thank you, young man." The tiny grandmotherly woman gave his arm a pat and slammed her tailgate shut. "It does fit. I knew it would."
    Josh stared after her as she got in the driver's seat and headed toward the road, peering out of the windshield through the steering wheel, if he was any judge. He jumped as Trey's voice came from behind him.
    "One wonders exactly what she's going to do with an antique bicycle."
    "She said she's making a lawn ornament out of it," Josh told him. "She's planning to plant flowers in the basket." He casually moved toward the house, putting more distance between his body and Trey's.
    In the past two days they'd found their balance, and much of their old ease together. Sunday night they'd collapsed in their respective beds as soon as they made it home, but Monday evening they'd invested in some good beer in addition to food, and spent a nice hour on the big front porch talking and watching the sun go down. Neither of them had mentioned anything emotional, but in the easy conversation about baseball and jobs and the difficulty of finding a good mechanic, a lot of the strangeness seemed like it had gone away. They'd even touched on college, and roommates good and bad. Josh had changed the topic when some comment of Trey's and the way Trey tipped his head back to swallow the last of his beer made Josh flush with unwelcome heat. College included the memory of Josh's first experience with male lips, male hands.
    It was stupid. He'd always liked girls as much as guys, sometimes more. Why he couldn't seem to turn off his awareness of Trey's physical presence was a mystery. But as long as he kept a foot of space between them it wasn't too bad. Trey was even more fun to hang with than Josh remembered from their teens. And he seemed pretty oblivious to any hint of Josh's attraction, so it was all good.
    "Hey, Trey," he said. "What do you want to do for the Fourth tomorrow?"
    "Besides convince more little old ladies that they really need to buy a bicycle?"
    "We're going to close the store," Josh said firmly.
    "We are? What would Aunt Julie say?"
    "She already planned to be closed. Mario was supposed to be here running things by himself. I guess she thought he would need the day off. It's posted on the website and everything. Closed on the Fourth."
    "Wow." Trey stretched painfully, working his shoulders. "That sounds great. I don't know. I'd love to go to the beach, but it's probably going to be a zoo on the holiday."
    "Maybe we can go early, get some water and sun before the crowds are out."
    "You. Getting up early? I remember having to dump cold water on you to get you out of bed before noon on a weekend."
    Josh said with dignity, "I'm not sixteen any more. I can get up if I need to."
    "Five forty-five a.m.? For the sunrise?"
    Trey had a teasing look on his face, so Josh couldn't resist saying, "It's a deal."
    He grinned with satisfaction at the expression of dismay as Trey realized that he would have to get up that early too, and hid his own pain at the hour he'd just agreed to.
    "Maybe seven?" Trey countered.
    "Wuss," Josh replied, hiding his relief. "Sure, seven."
    The Fourth of July dawned clear and warm. Josh rolled out of bed at six-forty-five, just for the fun of waking Trey up with a drip of cold water. He filled a glass in the bathroom and snuck into Trey's room. But at the bedside he paused.
    Trey had shoved down the sheets in the night. He lay face-down on the mattress, wearing only boxers. His skin was smooth and tanned, his shoulders tightly muscular, the long smooth planes of his back leading down to the low elastic waistband. Under the boxers, there was obviously a world-class ass. Josh paused, feeling his body react. He wondered if he should just back out and knock on Trey's door. But he'd been trying hard to get back to their old easy relationship, and the old Josh would definitely have poured the water.
    He took the last step and upended the glass over Trey's bare back. "Rise and shine, you lazy bum!"
    Trey yelped and rolled over fast. He glared up at Josh, dark eyes narrowed in indignation, his chest heaving with the shock of awakening. Which made his whole body move. Which made his very impressive morning wood bob up and down in those loose boxers and holy crap, Josh was so out of there.
    He sprinted out the door, calling back over his