Chapter 20
Twenty
They woke late the next morning and lazed in bed, cuddling and quietly chatting and exchanging lazy blow jobs, before getting up to start their day.
After breakfast, they went to the aquarium because apparently Mitch hadn’t been kidding about the marine biology thing.
They stayed for hours. Mitch wanted to go to all the shows and talks, including the African penguin meet and greet that wasn’t until mid-afternoon.
He took everything in like a sponge, memorizing details, talking about sea level rise and coral bleaching, and the many species of sharks—apparently there were over four hundred—and the weird mating habits of deep-sea fish.
“Like some anglerfishes,” Mitch said as he read an information panel on seahorses at the same time. “Some of them reproduce via symbiosis.”
Alex had no idea what that meant, but he liked listening to Mitch blather on. “Science makes no sense sometimes.”
That pulled Mitch’s attention away from the seahorses. His mouth worked soundlessly and he eyeballed Alex, brow furrowed. “Science is, like, the only thing that makes sense.”
“Not really. Take rainbows.”
“What about them?”
“They don’t make sense.”
Mitch stared at him with an expression that clearly said Buddy, you don’t make sense. “Rainbows are formed by sunlight passing through water droplets. How does that not make sense?”
“Okay. I’ll give you that.” Alex snapped his fingers. “Dark matter. Dark matter makes no sense. I mean, it’s supposed to make up most of the universe, like ninety percent or something, yet nobody knows what it is?”
Mitch didn’t have anything to say to that except a mumbled, “Astronomy is for wusses.” Then he wandered off to the look at something else.
Alex counted it as a win.
When Mitch had finally seen and done everything there was to see and do at the aquarium, they walked back to Alex’s apartment for his car and drove to Pass-a-Grille. Alex bought them each an ice cream cone in the Historic District before they headed for the beach.
It was getting late in the day, so there weren’t many other people there—just a couple on a colorful picnic blanket, a jogger, and a woman and her dog.
Mitch left his shoes behind and dug his toes into the sand.
He went right up to the water line and let the waves wash over his feet, not seeming to care about how cold the water must be.
Alex left his shoes with Mitch’s and stuck one foot in the sand, letting the warm grains squelch between his toes, and stayed far, far away from the water.
Popping the last of his ice cream cone into his mouth, he fell into step next to Mitch as they strolled along the beach, their fingers occasionally brushing.
The sun was warm, but the wind was cool, and Alex was grateful for the long-sleeved T-shirt he’d pulled on over his shorts.
A woman passed them going in the other direction, holding the hand of a little boy who couldn’t have been more than five. Mitch watched them go, then turned to Alex. “She’s wearing boots.”
“So?”
“It’s Florida.”
Alex chuckled. “Yeah, the natives bring out the coats and boots when the temperature dips below twenty.”
Mitch’s brow furrowed and he cocked his head. “Twenty? Oh, you mean sixty-eight. You still use Celsius, even though you’ve lived in the States for six years?”
“Habit,” Alex said, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Also familiarity. If someone told me sixty-eight, I’d have no idea what the fuck that means. Shorts or jeans?”
“It’s easy. You just deduct thirty-two, multiply by five, then divide by nine. So sixty-eight Fahrenheit is twenty Celsius, and seventy-five is twenty-three point eight, and eighty-six is thirty.”
“Yeah, you lost me at deduct thirty-two,” Alex said, mind reeling at how Mitch did the math without even pausing. “You’re the only person I know who thinks math is fun.”
“Math is fun. It’s, it’s, it’s…”
“Don’t say the bomb diggety.”
“Oh God.” Mitch stopped walking and hung his head. “I can’t believe I ever said that. I was hoping you wouldn’t remember.”
“It was adorkable.”
He pointed a finger at Alex. “I know you just said I’m handsome and tough.”
Laughing, Alex pulled him along by the arm. “Sure, that’s exactly what I said.”
The gulf stretched out to their right, as far as the eye could see.
The setting sun threw golds and peaches across the sky, reflecting off Mitch’s sunglasses.
He eventually took them off, setting them on top of his head when the sun dipped behind the clouds, casting bright yellows, orangey-reds, and deep blues into the sky.
It was as though someone had lit a bonfire and threw it into the air.
Alex might not like the ocean, but the sunsets were spectacular here.
That he got to share one of the only things he liked about living in Florida with Mitch was surreal.
They walked in companionable silence, the waves crashing, the seagulls crying, the occasional conversation reaching them from the street. The air held a faintly salty taste to it, a taste he couldn’t wait to lick off Mitch’s body later.
“We should probably turn back,” he said. “Otherwise we’ll be eating a really late dinner.”
They headed back to where they’d left their shoes, their quickened steps affirming an eagerness to be home alone.
Once Mitch had his shoes on, he nudged Alex moving again.
The too-short, small touch sent tingles through Alex’s body and he had a brief vision of the brand-spanking-new box of condoms he’d bought expressly for Mitch’s visit sitting lonely and abandoned in his nightstand drawer.
Alex had never wanted anybody as badly as he wanted Mitch’s hands on him.
For years, he’d thought he wouldn’t find the level of comfort and trust he needed with someone to reach a place where he could want to have sex with that person.
And as much as he’d wanted to be friends with Mitch when they’d first met, he’d never expected this connection between them.
But as he’d gotten to know Mitch, and as Mitch had finally opened up and Alex had connected with him emotionally, the deeper Alex had fallen for him.
The physical attraction had developed alongside those emotions.
He’d always known Mitch was good looking, but it hadn’t hit him on a visceral level.
Now Alex found himself noticing everything about Mitch, all of the tiny quirks that made Mitch, Mitch.
The way his eyes crinkled when he was confused or surprised, the furrow in his brow that told Alex he had something on his mind, the way his eyelashes swept across his cheeks when he blinked, how he bit his lip when he was happy, as if to contain the emotion for fear that it wouldn’t last.
Before he knew it, they were back in the car and Mitch was snapping his fingers in Alex’s face since Alex wasn’t doing anything but sitting there grinning.
“What’s this?” Mitch asked, waving a hand at Alex.
“What’s what?”
“This look. You’ve been looking at me like that since I got here.”
Because Mitch was funny and smart and sweet and way out of Alex’s league. But here he was anyway, all in, just like Alex.
“I love you,” Alex said.
Mitch stilled. Alex would’ve bet he stopped breathing. His fingers clutched the door handle, his knuckles turning white. “Don’t say that unless you mean it,” he whispered.
Alex briefly thanked God and shady mechanics for illegally tinted windows, and leaned over the center console to hold Mitch’s face in his hands. “I love you,” he said firmly. “I love you.” He kissed the corner of Mitch’s mouth. “I love you.” Kissed the other corner.
Slowly, Mitch started to smile. “You mean it.”
Alex gave him a loud, smacking kiss, shocking Mitch into silence. “Of course, I mean it. Now let’s go home so I can make you dinner then take you to bed.”
“Is there any flexibility on the order of those two scheduled events?”
Alex laughed and pulled out of the parking spot.
It wasn’t until they were almost home, stopped at a red light, that Mitch reached over and took his hand. “I love you too, you know.”
Heart melting, Alex squeezed his hand. “Yeah? I thought you might.”
“How’d you figure?” Mitch blinked at Alex from the passenger seat, his elbow propped on the door and head resting on his fist.
“You showed yourself to me, Mitch.” The words to explain were nowhere to be found, so in the end, Alex jerked a shoulder and repeated, “You showed yourself to me.”
“Guess that means I do have substance, then?” Mitch asked after Alex had parked.
“Oh Jesus.” Alex rubbed his hands over his face. “Mitch, I’m sorry I ever said that. It was so, so mean.”
“Hey.” Mitch yanked on Alex’s wrist, pulling his hands away. “I’m kidding. I know you don’t think that, not anymore.”
“I never did,” Alex swore. “Really, I didn’t. I’m sorry I ever said it.”
“I know.” Mitch kissed him, a quick, barely there peck. “I know. Stop worrying.” He got out of the car.
But Alex worried. They’d barely known each other when he’d said the words, but they still must’ve cut deep, must’ve made Mitch think Alex would never want anything to do with him.
“I’m surprised you wanted anything to do with me after that,” Alex said, letting them in to his apartment.
Mitch led the way into the kitchen. “You can thank Cody for that.”
Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Yup. He told me to give you a chance. That you’d never want me unless I was real with you.”
“He was right.”
Mitch hopped up onto the island. “He also said you’d be good for me.”
“He was right about that too.”
Alex started putting together dinner while Mitch munched on pre-cut veggies from a container Alex handed him.
“Got Cheese Whiz?” Mitch asked.
Alex tossed him a look he hoped conveyed how unimpressed he was. “No.”
A knock at the door had them eyeing each other, the time—almost seven thirty—each other again, and finally the front door.