Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 9

to know after the first few times he'd tried to vent to him. Nate just started ranting about how Eli should get into something else, like plastic surgery, which made way more money. "Did you hear about that fire on the news?" What the fuck? He was not going to talk about this. James nodded. "A custody battle. Dad decided he wasn't giving up custody to the mother, so he set the house on fire." Jesus Christ, he needed to shut his mouth.
    "Holy shit. You had to..."
    "Yeah."
    "Well fuck. That sucks. No wonder you're in a mood. You're entitled. Everyone dead?"
    "Not the father." His jaw was so tight it was starting to ache.
    When Eli felt James' arm go around his shoulders and squeeze, he almost collapsed. "Oh hell." James kept his arm around him and Eli felt a little of the stress leave. "Sorry for my bad timing."
    "No, it was good timing. I was ready to go back in there and set him on fire myself."
    "I can understand that. Probably goes against that oathy thing you have to take, but I can see the urge."
    Eli snorted. "Yeah, definitely against the oathy thing." He took a breath. "I better go back in; there are other people who need me. I just needed a break." Eli waved the invitation. "Thanks for this, and, well, I really wouldn't go if you don't. I don't know anyone in your family except Abby and Dedrick, so that would be a bit awkward."
    He watched fascinated as James' face lit up. "You wanna go together? I could pick you up. My folks live in Oakland."
    What the fuck was he doing? Eli glanced at the date - amazingly he was off. "Okay, yeah." He pulled out a pen and a prescription pad and scribbled on it. "Here's my number so we can figure things out."
    James snatched the pen, wrote his number on the bottom half, and ripped it off. "Here, it's easier for you to call me since you work different hours. Anything outside of eight to three weekdays you can reach me."
    "Okay." Eli watched James stride off with a bounce in his step. Well shit, he had a date with James T. Kirk – McCray. James was hotter than Kirk had ever been. Well, maybe not hotter than baby Kirk, Chris Pine. Seriously, that guy was - gah. Eli walked back into the ER with a half-smile on his face. This definitely had been a weird day, but maybe not totally disastrous.
    ****
    Eli called James a couple of days later, completely in a tizzy over what he'd wear. He was trying to back out when James came up with the brilliant plan of Eli coming over to his place so he could use one of James' costumes. They weren't that much different in size except for height and they could drive from James'.
    James wasn't quite ready to admit that the perfect plan meant Eli had to come back to his place after the party to get his car. He could hear the faint laughter of an evil genius in the back of his head, but he chose to ignore it. It just made more sense and he was all about logic. Now the laughter turned mocking. Bastard.
    On Saturday night, Eli looked nervous when he arrived. James wasn't sure if it was meeting his family or the date thing. He knew Eli had worked that day - maybe there had been another shitty event. "How was work?"
    "Fine."
    James shook his head. "Fine? Really? You work in the ER, for God's sake. It's never fine."
    With a shrug Eli turned away, looking around the apartment. "It was as fine as it can be. Normal."
    James stepped up, gripped Eli's chin, and forced Eli to look at him. "Truth? I'm going to ban 'fine'. You're not allowed to use it with me anymore." He smirked. "Unless it's used in the phrase ' Your ass looks fine' ."
    "Not allowed?" Eli was glaring at him.
    With a smile, James nodded. "Yep. Not allowed. Don't argue." He left Eli sputtering and headed toward his bedroom. "Come on. Let's see what you want to wear."
    When Eli walked into the bedroom, he stopped in shock. There were six outfits laid out on the bed - the traditional blue and gold outfits, even a red-shirt, a green jacket with gold braid and medals that had been for dignitaries, as well as the wrap-around style shirt along with the formal red and white admiral's uniform from the movies. He stood his mouth gaping. "Holy shit."
    James looked at Eli in confusion, then back at the bed. "Oh yeah, well, my mom sews… a lot."
    "Your mom made all these?" When James nodded, Eli continued. "I think I'm in love."
    "Hey, my dad might take offense." He just shook his head as Eli fingered the fabric.
    "So which one do you want to wear? They're all about the same size, but, well…" James looked