Chapter 2
Jon
“We can return the costumes first, then I’ll drop you off at home.” They were on their way back to DC after their trip to Virginia. After dropping Kyle off, he’d return the rental car to the office just a couple of blocks from their condo.
“That will give us some time to relax before we meet with Neil for dinner tonight. We might even have time for a nap. I’m not used to staying up as late as we did last night.”
“Did Neil say what he wanted to talk about?”
“No,” Kyle said, “but I suspect it’s about Matthew.” Neil was Kyle’s best friend, and on the cruise, he had connected with Matthew, a friend of Kyle’s dad and his new husband, Rob. “I think he’s a little worried about having a long-distance relationship.”
“Well, we can certainly help him through that.” Jon smiled. “After all, we managed to survive.” When they had met, Kyle was in DC, but Jon was living in Phoenix.
“That we did. In fact, so did my dad and Rob. I’ll mention it to Dad next time I talk to him. Maybe he’ll have some ideas too.”
After dinner at Logan Tavern, one of their favorite local spots, the three men returned to Kyle and Jon’s condo to relax and chat.
Neil had indeed wanted to talk about how to survive in a long-distance relationship, and the bar at Logan Tavern was just a little too noisy to easily carry on their conversation.
“It’s just so difficult to be apart all the time,” Neil said, frustration evident in his voice.
“We get it,” Jon agreed. “Some days I thought I would go out of my mind not being able to spend time with Kyle in person.”
“The secret is to get creative,” Kyle added, a devious look in his eye. “Not to get too personal, but have you gotten sexy while video chatting yet?”
A blush rose in Neil’s cheeks. “Um, not really. I thought about suggesting it, but it felt kinda weird. Did you guys do that?”
“Hell yes!” Kyle said enthusiastically. “And yeah, it was a bit weird at first, but it was also really hot.” He grinned.
“Okay, more than I need to know.” Neil chuckled. “But thanks. I’ll talk to Matthew about that.”
“Also,” Jon continued, “call or text Sam and ask her to keep an eye on cheap flights. It’s only an hour or so to Providence by plane.
There’s no reason you couldn’t fly up there on a Friday evening and come home on Sunday night once in a while.
” Sam—Samantha Rivera—was a good friend of Ben and Rob’s, and she was the travel agent that they all now used.
“Matthew could do the same thing in reverse,” Kyle said. “And get in the habit of texting every day. Talk on the phone whenever you can too. Everything helps.”
“It might sound corny but consider sending Matthew some flowers or mail him a card once in a while. It really is the little things that will help you get through it all.”
“Thanks, guys.” Sincerity colored Neil’s words. “Knowing that you survived living over two thousand miles apart is the only thing keeping me going some days.”
“As long as you’re both invested in this,” Jon said, “you’ll manage to make it work. But mark my words, at some point you’ll have to talk about one of you relocating.”
“Yeah,” Neil said soberly. “I’ve already thought a little about that.
If Matthew really is the one—and I think he is—I’ll probably end up moving to Massachusetts to be with him.
After all, he’s got his own business there.
” Matthew was a jewelry designer and owned a store in Westport, Massachusetts, where Rob and Ben lived.
“Don’t dwell on that now, Neil,” Kyle told him. “Let things evolve naturally and see what happens. And remember, we’re in your corner. We’ll help in any way that we can.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate that.”
Kyle had just poured himself another cup of coffee when he heard his phone ring. “Is that my dad?” he asked Jon, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room.
Jon glanced at the phone’s screen and saw Ben’s face. “Yup.”
“Okay, let me grab my iPad.” Pressing the Answer button for the FaceTime call as he sat beside Jon, he said, “Hi, Dad! How’s married life?”
“Great,” Ben said, smiling. Jon could see Rob behind Ben’s shoulder.
“Hi, Ben, Rob,” Jon greeted them both.
“How was the Halloween party Friday night?” Rob asked.
“We had a good time,” Jon answered. “And they raised a bunch of money for the Trevor Project. But we were both up later than usual and felt it yesterday morning.”
“I’ve got a few photos of us in costume,” Kyle added. “I’ll send them to you later.”
“Thanks, guys. We’re looking forward to seeing them,” Ben told them. “So what else is going on?”
“Not much,” Jon said. “Typical workdays this week.”
“Although we did have dinner with Neil last night,” Kyle said.
“We sure didn’t foresee him and Matthew getting together,” Rob said. “Is Neil doing okay?”
“He seems to be,” Jon replied. “But he did want to talk about Matthew.”
“There’s no trouble, is there?” There was concern in Ben’s voice.
“Not trouble, exactly,” Kyle said. “He’s just a bit worried about how to make a long-distance relationship work. He was looking for some advice.”
“Ah,” Rob said, his eyes widening in understanding. “What did you tell him?”
“Oh, the usual stuff,” Jon told them. “Text more, send flowers and cards, stuff like that.”
“And Jon recommended that Neil reach out to Sam to see if she could keep an eye out for some cheap flights,” Kyle added.
“Kyle suggested they try sexy video chats too,” Jon said, laughing.
“Hey, that’s a great idea,” Ben replied.
“Helped us when we first started seeing each other, and Ben lived on the other side of the country,” Rob said. Ben was living in LA when the two men met.
“La la la,” Kyle said, covering his ears. Jon could see the blush rising in his cheeks. “TMI, Rob.”
Rob chuckled.
“Well, we also had the means to visit each other fairly regularly,” Ben said, deftly changing the subject. “That certainly helped.” Both Ben and Rob were quite well-off.
“And you bought Jon and me a few flights when Jon was still in Phoenix,” Kyle added. “Unfortunately, Neil and Matthew don’t really have that luxury.”
“Hmmm, maybe we can help out with that a bit.” Ben looked knowingly at his husband. “I’ll talk to Sam about offering them some deals that are too good to pass up.” He winked.
“Thanks, Ben,” Jon said sincerely. “That would be awesome.”
“Hey.” Rob’s tone turned serious. “We take care of family, right?”
“Absolutely.”
Their conversation turned to more mundane topics, like what Ben and Rob had been up to since returning from their honeymoon cruise. Jon felt himself relaxing. He was so grateful to have found himself part of this family of loving and caring people.