More than Friends

Chapter Five

“I can’t believe they hired Danny!” Lee railed as he and Ryan settled into their hotel room.

Lee had absolutely refused to stay at his parents’ house after the scene at the bookstore. Ryan couldn’t blame his lover for being upset, but it seemed excessive to him. Lee’s parents were very disappointed with the decision.

“You sure you don’t want to stay with them?” Ryan asked again. “At least give them a chance to explain their side?”

“Why? They obviously didn’t give a shit about my side!”

“Okay, okay. Calm down.”

“This is calm!” Lee hissed.

Ryan knew there was nothing else he could say to Lee to fix things, so he sat on the chair at the small desk all hotel rooms seemed to have and waited for him to talk himself out. It bothered him to see Lee so agitated, too. This was supposed to be their vacation … their time away together to relax before another grueling semester started. In retrospect, his coming out in California had been a non-issue. Twenty minutes later, finally tired of ranting, Lee sat down on the end of the bed and glared at the wall.

“Your parents didn’t seem to take it too badly,” Ryan offered neutrally.

“Oh, that’s their way,” Lee muttered. “You were there. It would have been ‘unseemly’ to confront me in front of you.”

“I didn’t get that impression.”

“Trust me, Rye,” Lee sighed sadly. “They were hoping I’d let you take the room by yourself so they could get me alone. I know my parents. I love them dearly, but I know the score. They don’t accept our relationship and are hoping it’s just a phase.”

Ryan looked down at his large, tanned hands morosely and wondered what would happen now. He couldn’t lose Lee. Not now, after everything he went through to convince the boy he was serious about their relationship. But he also couldn’t ask him to defy his parents. In fact, he couldn’t see anything he actually could do besides wait for Lee to make a move.

Sensing his lover’s sad mood, Lee moved his eyes over to Ryan’s still form draped over the small chair. He suddenly realized that the dark-haired boy was worrying over his parents. Not to mention Danny. That had to have been difficult for Ryan to witness.

“Hey.”

Ryan brought his dark gaze back to Lee in question.

“I love you,” Lee said firmly.

Ryan nodded.

“No, that nod doesn’t do anything to reassure me that you understand,” Lee sighed.

He reached a hand in his lover’s direction and waggled his fingers, beckoning him. Ryan looked at it for a few seconds before reaching out his own hand and letting Lee drag him over to the bed with him. Then he lay back on it and Lee followed, pillowing his head on Ryan’s chest.

“I love you,” Lee said again. “Nothing they do … my parents, Danny, anyone … will stop me from loving you.”

“I can’t ask you to leave them,” Ryan said as he choked back a small sob.

“You’re not asking me to. And so far, neither are they.”

Lee picked his head up and looked down at Ryan, emotions swirling in his turquoise-colored eyes. He leaned in and carefully placed a series of soft kisses on his lips before pulling back and capturing Ryan’s gaze again.

“I mean it, Rye. Whatever happens between me and my parents won’t affect my feelings for you.”

“But …”

“Shhh,” Lee murmured, brushing his lips against Ryan’s again. “I said I mean it. Now, will you let me take you around to all my old haunts?”

Ryan smiled and kissed his lips before nodding.

---------------------

Gina paced her living room floor in mild agitation. What should she have to worry about? She was berating herself for leaving this situation for so long. Grant was right and she was being silly. She’d always had a great relationship with Jason before. He would understand.

“Sweets,” Tanner’s voice called to her, tinged with amusement. “You’re wearing out the rug.

She looked over at her boyfriend and grinned sheepishly before crossing the room to the couch and dropping down next to him. He was a hunky blonde with clear silver eyes and a set of dimples that could make a woman weak in the knees. At least this woman, she admitted wryly. He stood about six feet tall and had a lean muscular tone. His hair was shoulder-length and wavy, giving him that “just out of bed” appearance that attracted her like no one else had before.

“They weren’t supposed to be coming home until next month,” she sighed. “I figured I would have time to get my facts in order.”

“Facts?” He asked on a laugh. “Sounds almost like a court case.

“It is to me, I guess,” she shrugged.

He put an arm around her shoulders and drew her to him, kissing her temple. They’d met almost a year before at a park where she was jogging and he was walking his dog. He’d actually seen her a few times before but had to think of a good way to make their paths cross. Finally, Stella, his golden retriever, took matters into her own paws and zipped away from Tanner one morning, plowing straight into Gina’s path. The rest, as he always said, was history.

“We got along when you introduced us,” he pointed out. “I don’t think they’ll be too upset.”

“Hmm,” she grunted noncommittally.

“If I can get over you refusing to marry me, they can get over the baby.”

She looked up at him nervously but relaxed when she saw the gleam of mirth in his eyes. Refusing his proposal hadn’t been fun, but she felt she had to. It wouldn’t be right to get married just for the sake for the baby when she didn’t believe in marriage. Not after her mother’s two failed attempts, the last of which was disastrous and almost destroyed her baby brother.

“You aren’t mad at me about that, are you?”

“No,” he smiled. “I admire your conviction, and understand your reasoning. As long as you don’t mind me moving in here and acting like your … I guess partner would be the right word?”

“Not at all!” she grinned. “I told you that we have plenty of room. Kevin and Jason said they were coming for the last of their things. I think they’re happier living in their own apartment.”

“Well, they are two grown men, right?”

“I guess,” she frowned causing him to look at her curiously.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Gi …”

“It’s just that, no matter how ‘grown’ they are, I still think of them …”

“Like your boys?” he finished for her.

She shrugged again. What else could she say? It was true. Jason was her blood and Kevin might as well be. She wouldn’t have it any other way, either. Both had needed someone to save them. She saved Jay and then helped him save Kevin. And, with Grant and Cody’s help, she gave them a better life here. She would do it again in a heartbeat, too. At least this new baby wouldn’t face the kind of childhood those two had.

“I’m sure they feel that way, too,” he laughed. “Besides, they know they’re always welcome here, even after the baby comes.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

“Why should it?”

“Because they’re gay,” she replied. “And because your parents threw your brother out for being bi.”

“I don’t share their view,” Tanner waved it off. He knew she was worried that some of his mother’s puritanical ideas had penetrated. Only time could ease her fears. “Benny and I are still close, and that won’t change.”

“And that’s good, but a parent’s opinion …”

“Doesn’t mean shit,” Tanner said with finality.

“But your mother hates me!”

“She doesn’t hate you,” he laughed.

“Yes, she does! She can’t stand me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“She said so!”

“She wouldn’t say something like that.”

“How else should I take, ‘So my son’s good enough to be a sperm donor, but not a husband.’?”

“She was just shocked,” he grinned.

“Call it what you want, but women know hate when they see it. And she hates me.”

“Gi …”

“Seriously! In her eyes I’m the bitch who stole her son and made her first grandchild a bastard.”

“I think you’re being paranoid, now.”

“Watch it, buster,” she smiled deviously. “My hormone levels are spiking, and nothing but total agreement will do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled.

“I just don’t want Jason to think I’m trying to push him out of my life.”

Tanner grinned again. Gina’s constantly conflicted behavior was one of the things he adored most about her. He knew that no matter what happened, life with her would never be boring. And that made it all worthwhile. Besides, the whole marriage thing wasn’t that big a deal to him. As long as they were together with their son or daughter, what else did they need? A piece of paper saying it was legal? That didn’t make their love any less valid in his eyes. His mom would just have to get over it. That she’d said something like that to Gina pissed him off, though. They were definitely going to have a little chat the next time he saw her.

The front door burst open diverting his attention, and a small blonde strutted into the room laughingly followed by a tall dark-haired boy wearing an amused smirk. On the few occasions Tanner saw them, Jason usually seemed to sport that expression, as if he would never tire of his lover’s antics. Tanner could relate.

“Hey, guys,” Gina smiled nervously, getting up with a bit of effort. “How was the trip?”

Jason turned to face her, opening his mouth to say something when his eyes shot to her stomach and the words died on his lips.

“Um, Gina?” Kevin asked as he, too, noticed the new girth. “Heh. You’re looking … um …”

“You have something to tell us, sis?” Jason interrupted with a serious expression and a raised eyebrow.