Love Is Always Write Volume 4

Today was sunny and warm, even in the speckled shade of the trees. Stefan pulled off a leaf and let Emily grab it. He looked at Emily, at the trees, even at the grim man in the suit next to him.
    "You're mad at me," Greg said at last.
    Stefan thought about this for several beats. "No, not really. Not even annoyed or ticked off or pissed at or exasperated by you."
    "Then, what?"
    "I'm cautious."
    "You were hurt by our night together, weren't you?"
    "I'm always cautious," he lied. "Listen, Greg, I'm fine. I'm glad to see you even. You're the one who's wound tight as a junkie coming off a high. What's up?"
    Greg paled, then laughed. "Well, huh. Yeah. Okay." He cleared his throat. "I said I missed you. That's why I'm back."
    A large bug buzzed Emily's head, and she went wild, wiggling her arms and legs.
    "Hey, bug, how are you?" Stefan translated, then answered in a gruff voice, "I'm fine, Emily, how're you?"
    Emily kicked some more in delight.
    Stefan stroked the top of her head and gathered strength from touching her fluffy hair. "Sorry, Greg, you were saying?"
    He risked looking at Greg and was shocked by the huge, goofy smile on his face. Mr. Smooth looked like a man who didn't care who knew he was delighted. Even after the smile vanished some of the lines didn't return. "I was saying I want what it takes. To get you, I want it. That is, I want to try it."
    "Oh, wow. Shit, wow." It was Stefan's turn to fall into incoherence. He'd thought about this. Of course he had. And in his daydreams, he had a list of things he'd demand if Greg came back for more than a single date, or whatever he'd call that long, wonderful night together.
    No piddling around hiding from the family, for instance—Mellady had to know. And no sleeping around. And no taking off with no notice for months.
    He didn't bother with the list. He only moved closer to Greg. "Yes ."
    GREG
    Greg could breathe again.
    For weeks, he'd lived with the restless need to see Stefan again. He'd felt this before, but he'd been younger then and could throw himself into work, travel, and hot, almost anonymous sex. But lately those possibilities had seemed dissatisfying.
    The night before this trip to the burbs, he'd gone for a run, seen a guy with a stroller, and fucking tears had come to his eyes. That was when he figured out that this longing for Stefan was something new, for Greg, anyway—even if the rest of the world seemed to run along those rails. Maybe he didn't hate the idea of babies and settling down after all. Maybe he actually dreamed about it. Hell, he'd lost sleep thinking about it.
    He'd understood what he had to do the moment he'd driven down the block where Stefan lived. Every house seemed to glow with a sort of strange light. The blue shutters on the bungalow almost sparkled in the early spring sunshine. His vision had gone wonky and it was all Stefan's strange effect on him.
    Greg's heart had pounded and nearly choked him when he'd seen Stefan in the doorway.
    Then his heart had done a couple of sickening flips when Stefan had looked at him without a smile. His dark eyes that had once stared at him with warmth now held a chill. No doubt about it, that body language had screamed WTF do you want —but Greg wasn't a coward, just inexperienced at this sort of thing.
    The sight of that little family in the doorway, the gorgeous man and the happy baby, had struck him as too perfect and self-contained.
    He'd faltered as he'd stood on the steps, even considered saying good-bye, walking away, and maybe trying again another time.
    No. He'd reminded himself over and over: he was not a coward.
    Now he felt like he'd won a race or negotiated and settled a gigantic account for the company.
    He'd conquered a whole country.
    Standing in the shade of the white trees, he pulled Stefan into his arms, mindful of the baby between them.
    "We're a sandwich, and you're the peanut butter and jelly," he told Emily and kissed the top of her head. She crowed and kicked him with hard little heels.
    They walked back to Stefan's house and put the baby down for a nap. Then, at long last, Stefan pulled Greg to the bedroom.
    EPILOGUE
    Greg planned to keep his apartment. True, over the next few weeks, he spent much of his free time, awake and asleep, with Stefan and Emily, but he wasn't sure he was ready to cut ties to the old Greg, whatever the hell that meant. He couldn't explain it even to himself, so thank god Stefan didn't ask. Stefan stepped lightly around the topic of the