26
L awrence texted his dad to let him know they’d landed and would meet him for dinner at seven-thirty while Remy signed the documents for the rental car. His birthday wasn’t until Sunday, but since they were leaving that afternoon, they were having dinner with him that night alone. Then, they were getting together with a few other family members tomorrow to celebrate.
He hadn’t been aware of that until his father had texted him earlier that day and told him his aunt wanted to host a dinner for his birthday. It hadn’t been part of the original plan, but he figured it would be fine. He’d told Remy, and his boyfriend hadn’t minded.
They exited the rental office when Remy had the keys, placed their bags in the trunk, and Lawrence gave him directions to his chosen hotel. Remy had been to Las Vegas a few times for business but hadn’t taken in the city.
When they arrived at the hotel, they checked in and went to their suite. Of course, it was what his boyfriend had chosen, even though they would only be there for two days. They placed their bags in the bedroom, and Lawrence sat on the ottoman at the end of the bed.
Remy looked at his watch. “How far is the restaurant where we’re supposed to meet your dad?”
“About a twenty-five-minute drive from here.” Lawrence looked down at his watch. It was already six forty-five.
“We should probably head there now. If I remember Vegas evening traffic well, it will be congested. ”
Lawrence nodded, standing. He’d prefer to get there early than for them to be late.
T he dinner the previous evening with his dad had gone well. To Lawrence’s surprise, he hadn’t made any of his usual comments, but he figured it was because the other man wanted to enjoy his birthday. He’d hoped it would continue at the family dinner. So far, he hadn’t had to deal with comments from his dad, but his aunt Claudia was a different story.
From the moment he’d introduced Remy, his aunt had made several slick comments about their relationship and quoted bible verses at every turn, even when it had nothing to do with the topic. Several times, he’d envisioned strangling her, and at one point, he hadn’t realized he’d raised his hand to do so until Remy took it and placed it in his lap.
His aunt Gloria, bless her no-cooking soul, always did everything she could to steer the conversation to something else.
“Remy,” she started, immediately after another comment from his aunt Claudia. “You said you worked at Cayman Industries. I read an article on them recently. What do you do for them?”
Lawrence hadn’t felt the need to tell everyone precisely what Remy did. Mainly because they wouldn’t see most of them again. He took his father in small doses, and he took most of his family members on that side in even smaller ones.
“I handle operations,” Remy responded.
“You have a business degree?” Claudia’s youngest, Marie, asked.
“And a law degree.”
“You’re a lawyer?” Claudia asked, almost surprised.
“In a sense.”
Lawrence knew Remy’s law degree focused on contract law. Neither of them felt the need to elaborate, though.
“Did you have a specific focus?” Marie asked. “I’m studying business administration, but I need a focus, and I’m having difficulty choosing between two.”
“Your focus is going to depend on what you want to be able to do with your degree when you graduate,” Remy stated. “Do you know what that is? ”
“Marie wants to work in finance,” Claudia cut in.
The mentioned woman shook her head with an eye roll. “I want to work in advertising, but I don’t know if pursuing an advertising or marketing degree would be better.”
“Marketing will give you a deeper comprehension because they’ll focus on teaching you market research, consumer behavior, and brand communications, and you can use those things to advertise. That’s the one I suggest if you want to branch out and open your own company at some point because you need those fundamentals. If you don’t want to do that, then an advertising degree will work for what you want since you’ll get some marketing aspects.”
“I don’t know if I want to run my own business,” Marie stated thoughtfully.
“Changing your major now will have you in school longer. You’ll have to go for another four instead of two,” Claudia stated discouragingly, and Lawrence wasn't the only one who noticed.
“You can break into the advertising field with a two-year degree,” Remy stated passively before taking a drink from his glass.
“Really?” Marie asked. “I didn’t know that. I’ll have to look into it.”
It was clear that Claudia was not happy about that fact, but before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door. She got up to answer it, and Marie thanked Remy before entering the kitchen with her empty cup.
When Claudia returned, he almost groaned out loud at the two women who entered behind her. He recognized them as her most recent ex-husband's sisters, Anita and Sally. If bible thumping were an Olympic sport, those two would always take gold and silver. He’d only been around them a few times when Claudia had been married to their brother, but the encounters were always the same.
Lawrence slid his eyes to his dad, who was trying to avoid his stare. He refused to believe he didn’t know these two were coming. His irritation was palpable, and Remy rubbed circles on his wrist. The roaring of his blood pressure increasing was the only thing he could hear for a moment. So, he missed Claudia's introduction regarding Remy and whatever they said at first until Remy’s thumb stopped moving on his wrist.
“Repeat that,” Remy stated as Lawrence tuned back in.
“We can fix the two of you,” Anita stated. “Sally and I are ordained ministers.”
“We’re not broken, and you can get ordained online. Doesn’t make you special,” Remy responded.
“We can cure you of this affliction with prayer. All you have to do is believe you can be saved,” Sally stated.
Lawrence felt so stupid. He’d believed his father wanted to spend his birthday with him. However, this seemed to be the goal the whole time. Why else would those two have been invited and then say some shit like that unprovoked. He could feel Remy’s irritation. His boyfriend had been brushing off everything said that day, but speaking of them being broken seemed to be his limit. Lawrence had a thought.
“I’ll do it,” he stated.
“What?” Remy asked, his attention snapping to him.
“What could it hurt?” Lawrence asked with a shrug.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am,” Lawrence responded.
“Dennis, bring a chair from the dining table,” Claudia stated.
He watched his father leave the room, and as he walked past Gloria and Marie, they looked skeptical. His father returned with the chair, placed it in the middle of the room, and gestured for Lawrence to sit in it.
“Form a circle,” Anita instructed. The four of them circled the chair, Gloria and Marie declining to participate.
“This is stupid,” Remy stated as he stood from the couch, walked over to the arch leading into the dining room, and leaned against the wall.
Anita began to pray, and Lawrence tuned her out because Remy was right. This was stupid. He wasn’t sure at what point people would realize they could not pray the gay out of someone. They couldn’t send them to camps and think it would do anything other than make that person suppress themselves for the sake of those around them, leading to depression and sometimes worse .
Yes, it was all foolish. Lawrence knew that, and here he was, seated in a chair surrounded by four people: one praying, one speaking in tongues, and the other two humming some old hymn. It would all be so funny if he didn’t find it sad.
He wasn’t sure how long it had been going on. What words were said, but it died down until it came to a stop. At some point, he’d closed his eyes to keep them from wandering over to Remy.
“Son,” Dennis stated, and Lawrence opened his eyes to see his father before him. “How do you feel?”
“Do you feel unburdened?” Claudia asked.
Slowly, Lawrence began to nod.
“Really?” Dennis asked.
“No!” Lawrence snapped. “I still love him. You four are ridiculous if you thought this shit was going to work.”
“You are out of line and disrespectful,” Sally admonished.
“Me?” Lawrence laughed. The sound was telling. “Oh, okay.”
“Ah shit,” Marie mumbled from the corner of the room because his cousin knew he was about to say some unhinged shit.
“Well, let me really be out of line. Let me show you disrespect,” Lawrence started. “The two of you should be the last ones trying to pray for someone. Are you still making conjugal visits to your husband’s little brother, Anita? Or you, Sally. Are you still busting it wide open as your pastor's side chick, or has his wife found out yet?” He swung his eyes to Claudia. “You still don’t know who your kids' fathers are. So, don’t throw stones, jezebel.” His eyes went to his dad. “And you are the last person that should sit in judgment of me. Word on the street is you used to spread those cheeks for a few men.”
Dennis’ eyes widened, and Lawrence would almost feel bad if he had not been pulled into a setup for them to try to make him and Remy uncomfortable. He didn’t care about their feelings because they did not care about his.
“Look in the mirror before you come for me and my man next time,” Lawrence stated.
The room was quiet, and before anyone could even respond, Remy pulled him from the chair and led him out of the house to the car. “Remy?” he asked.
“Get in. ”
Lawrence bit his lower lip but slipped into the car. He couldn’t blame Remy if he were upset with him, but surely he knew Lawrence hadn’t thought they could actually “cure” him, that he had no desire to be, even if it was doable. He glanced over at his boyfriend as he weaved through traffic on his way to their hotel, hands gripping the wheel.
He sighed to himself, turning his attention out of his window.
The drive to the hotel and the elevator ride were silent. When they entered their suite, Lawrence was done with it. He turned to Remy, intent on clearing the air, but his boyfriend grabbed him by the neck and pulled Lawrence to him. A gasp left his lips.
“Repeat it,” Remy demanded.
Lawrence furrowed his brow. What was he talking about? “Repeat what?”
Remy leaned down and kissed him. It was a soft touch of their lips. “You love me. Repeat it,” he requested against his lips.
At first, Lawrence was confused until he played back everything he’d said at Claudia’s house, and he almost cursed. That wasn’t how he wanted Remy to find out. How he wanted to say it for the first time, but he’d been so irritated.
“I love you,” he stated. Lawrence kissed him.
“I love you,” Remy responded.
“Yeah?” Lawrence asked, nipping his lower lip. “Show me.”
Somehow, they made it to the bedroom and undressed, lips barely parting. When Remy slid his hand down Lawrence’s back to his ass, he paused, and Lawrence smirked against his lips.
“I had plans for tonight,” he informed him.
“Mm, I see that.”
They ended up on the bed, Remy between his legs; his boyfriend slowly slid the plug out, pulling a low moan from him, which increased as he slid his dick in and bottomed out. The first thrust was slow and deep, and Lawrence knew the type of night he’d unlocked for himself.