Ring Rust

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“Two people being gay does not make them soulmates. It doesn’t even mean they’ll get along.”

Stevie, Jasper’s sister, had to know that by now. How many times did he have to complain about being seated next to the only other gay guy at a wedding, or dealing with well-meaning, middle-aged women asking if he was single, because so was her brother’s girlfriend’s best friend’s gay cousin?

Stevie scoffed in his direction, gesturing for another beer from her fridge.

“I know that, asshole. He’s new in town, moved from Blue Ridge to be closer to Beni—and become a famous pro wrestler, if you can believe it.

He could use a friend, and I thought, hey, Beni and I are best friends.

Wouldn’t it be fun if Beni’s brother became my brother’s best friend? ”

“No.”

“He has a hot accent!”

“None of this says soulmate,” Jasper said, opening a beer and pushing it across the counter.

She took a sip. “You’re not soulmates because you’re both gay. You’re soulmates because you both paint those creepy miniature figurines, and nobody else on Earth understands why someone would do that.”

“A lot of people understand it, Stevie! There are, like, entire shops dedicated to it!”

“Okay, but how many people focus on the plants, buildings, and water features instead of the people and animals? The faces make him uncomfortable, apparently, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you paint a tree without complaining.”

That was a very interesting coincidence, Jasper could admit.

Painting the not-at-all-creepy figurines he collected was a niche hobby, and he enjoyed meeting others who enjoyed the same creative outlet.

And yes, even more coincidental was this guy’s preference for painting what Jasper couldn’t care less about—they’d make a good team, if that were ever necessary.

Which it could be, if Jasper were ever brave enough to enter the annual model landscape competition hosted by the local science museum.

“He’s very cute, just as an aside.”

“I don’t choose friends based on what they look like, so I’m not sure how that’s relevant,” Jasper said.

That wasn’t a lie, though he couldn’t deny the guy being hot and accented intrigued him, just a bit. But that still didn’t mean he wanted to give in to Stevie’s scheming. He had his pride.

“Not interested,” he said, showcasing his indifference by stacking a small pile of Christmas cards on Stevie’s counter repeatedly until they were perfectly aligned.

Stevie pulled out her phone next and pulled up a photo of Beni’s brother.

Painfully attractive, of course, because Stevie knew what she was doing.

He did his best to shrug and ignore it, but he had a hard time tearing his gaze from the screen, drawn to the guy’s dark hair hanging over his equally dark eyes, his million-dollar smile, his biceps bulging as he flexed one arm and held up a raccoon with the other.

He was wearing tiny running shorts, his massive thighs spilling out of them.

They were a horrifying color—chartreuse with white stitching—but even that didn’t detract from his allure.

What Jasper wanted to do was grab the phone and zoom in to inspect the photo, search for some sort of flaw that would prove to him Stevie was out of line, and that this entire thing was pointless.

Unfortunately, all he managed to do was grab his beer, take a sip, and swallow it down alongside the realization that nothing in the photo was anything other than made for him.

Jasper’s interest was unavoidably piqued. Frustrating, since that was exactly what Stevie had been going for.

She brought Ryan and his hobbies up a few times over the next week or two, sharing more photos along the way—photos where Ryan was building a fence, or holding a cat, or hanging out with Beni.

It was hard to tell how tall he was from the photos, but he looked strong, holding fence posts in one hand and a hammer the size of his forearm in the other.

In some photos, he had a mustache, which Stevie had mentioned more than once.

And what a mustache it was. Jasper couldn’t grow one to save his life—instead, sweat dabbled his pathetically bare upper lip every time he considered what photos were being shared of him in the opposite direction.

He could imagine the worst of them. Jasper standing outside with the sun in his eyes?

Jasper before he’d taken his sister’s advice and stopped bleaching his hair?

Jasper on his first day of teaching, when he’d chewed a pen anxiously and stained his mouth blue?

Whatever they were, nerves swirled in his belly every time he thought about it.

The abbreviated bits of information Stevie provided had tucked themselves away under some small fold of his brain, quietly rewiring his thoughts every time they drifted towards that handsome handyman who painted tiny trees.

By the time Stevie begged Jasper to attend her and Beni’s first ever joint Christmas party, he was too curious to say no. But he made it clear his presence was for their guest count only, and not because he wanted to meet Beni’s hot brother.

When Jasper arrived at Stevie’s the night of the party, she took him through the front rooms and introduced him to various guests.

They were people he should have engaged with but couldn’t be bothered, because almost instantly, his eyes caught on someone in the corner.

He was recognizable from the handful of photos Jasper had spent far too much time thinking about over the last two weeks.

Taller than Jasper, but not particularly bulky.

A truly ugly Christmas sweater stretched across the guy’s broad shoulders, deforming the face of the smiling Christmas tree into something even uglier than intended.

Jasper found it charming, and the way it clung so nicely to his lean frame left him with a sudden and inappropriate urge to find out what was underneath.

If Jasper didn’t know Beni, or secretly trust Stevie’s intuition, he would have been embarrassed at how obviously he was staring.

But as imposing as Ryan seemed from far away—confident and commanding as he spoke to the small group surrounding him—he radiated something softer that aligned with everything Stevie had said about him.

Jasper caught the slight fidget to his hands as he lifted them to rake fingers through his hair and the bite of his lip when he was asked a personal question.

Right in the middle of his ogling, a shriek erupted out of Beni.

He’d known her for years and loved her very much, but her entire vibe was being slightly too loud and way, way too cheerful.

Even though the noise wasn’t unusual or unexpected, Jasper could swear that this time, it carried a lot of weight.

Like his life was about to change in ways he couldn’t predict.

She asked, loudly, if Jasper and Stevie could help in the kitchen.

When they got there, Jasper was handed a spoon and a bowl of unmixed salad.

The man Jasper would later confirm to be Ryan entered moments later, smiling shyly with his gaze locked on Japer’s, before finally introducing himself as Beni’s brother.

That was all it took. Right there, in Beni’s kitchen, he felt a subtle shift in the air. A corrective tilt to the Earth’s axis. A gentle settling in his gut. It was all telling him the same thing.

This was the person he was destined for.

Stevie and Beni soon made up a joint excuse about needing to take care of something in the living room, leaving Jasper and Ryan alone with only each other and the echoes of their sister’s giggles.

They spent the rest of the party chatting about their figurines, their favorite local hobby shop, and a thousand other topics, all of which they aligned on so perfectly it felt like the universe had arranged itself thirteen billion years ago with this specific outcome in mind.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Ryan,” Jasper said as they layered cake, fruit, and custard for some dessert he’d never heard of. “I find your use of cotton wool for whitewater… unpleasant.”

“It gives it texture,” Ryan said, shrugging slightly as he used a long spoon to place strawberries in precise, concentric circles, something Jasper found strangely alluring.

“One of your little figurines could get totally lost in there. Which, actually, is what would happen to a real person in real whitewater, so maybe that’s what we should do. ”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think what?”

Jasper turned his body towards Ryan’s and leaned his hip on the counter. “I’m not sacrificing one of my figurines for your cotton wool rapids. Why would my people even be near water moving that quickly?”

Ryan laughed, and Jasper’s stomach flipped. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this way about someone after two hours of talking. As much as he tried to avoid looking at his phone, he kept checking the time to reassure himself there was still plenty of time before they parted ways.

“Okay. I won’t make you give up your figurines. You can keep painting their creepy faces forever.”

Jasper laughed that time and shoved Ryan with his shoulder. Beni came into the kitchen just as they finished placing the final sliced strawberries on top of the trifle.

“Perfect timing!” she said, snagging the bowl and leaving just as quickly as she’d arrived.

“She meant to say thank you,” Ryan said.

“She and Stevie speak the same language, I think.”

Jasper was secretly glad when Ryan pulled his phone out and read through an email. He shook his head at Ryan’s mumbled apology, because it gave Jasper time to take him all in.

They leaned against the counter with opposite hips, facing each other, Ryan’s focus on his phone.

Jasper’s head was clouded with feelings he couldn’t identify, incapable of conjuring up a single interesting topic for discussion.

The thought of Ryan finding something more interesting to do put his stomach in knots, and he was about to ask about his favorite colors or foods out of desperation, when Ryan looked up, smiling.

“Sorry about that, again. I have a tryout at a local wrestling promotion soon, and they needed to change the time,” Ryan said, pulling off his sweater. “Warm in here.”

“Oh, yeah, wrestling promotion.” Jasper nodded. “Like, um. Marketing promotions, or?”

Ryan laughed—not unkindly, but even if it had been, Jasper wouldn’t have cared. The sound was so velvety and rich, he almost got on his knees right there.

“I’m a professional wrestler back in Blue Ridge. I’m trying to make it big out here, that’s why I moved. Well, that, and being closer to Beni. Anyway, a promo is just the company that hosts matches, but sometimes they take on employees. I’m hoping to become one of those employees.”

“Mmm. That explains a few things,” Jasper said, eyeing Ryan’s chest. God, his body.

“So, what’s your story, then?” Ryan asked.

“My, uh, story?”

“I know a bit about you from Beni. I know you’re a teacher, and I know you’re from the area. I know you went to UMass. But what about everything else?”

“Everything else? You’re very curious.”

Ryan’s voice lowered into something unexpectedly silky. “About you, yes.”

Jumbled head aside, Jasper was sure there was nothing about him that was as impressive, fun, or interesting as Ryan appeared to be, especially now that Jasper’s entire face was probably bright pink. But he seemed genuinely interested, so Jasper chose the most interesting thing he could think of.

“Well, my uncle just died.”

Ryan’s mouth opened slightly. He was quiet for a moment before he finally said, “I’m really sorry.”

“Oh my God! Sorry, no, that wasn’t the end of that thought,” Jasper said, his face heating further, probably now the color of a summer tomato. “I mean, he was a great guy, but no. I meant to say he died and left Stevie and me Pandora’s Thrillville. You know, the theme park outside Amherst?”

“I’m not familiar with it, no,” Ryan said.

Right, Ryan was new to town. This was perfect.

“You’ll have to come with me sometime. It’s terrible, but amazing.

He built it in the seventies and dedicated it to his cat, Pandora.

Ancient animatronics, creepy functional art.

I always say, you haven’t lived until you’ve climbed into a cat’s ear and toppled out its mouth. ”

“Is that right?”

“It is. Sandpapery tongue and all.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ryan said, smiling.

“Well, it needs a little work. It always needs work. But Stevie and I think we can manage it okay.”

“I’d love to see it. And I’m pretty handy, if you ever need anything.”

Jasper needed a lot, he decided. Starting with kissing Ryan’s lips right there, in the kitchen.

Stevie slipped in through the door seconds later. Jasper barely noticed, until she spoke. “Come on, guys. Dessert time. You can’t spend the whole time in the kitchen.”

Jasper glared at her but followed anyway, irritated until he felt Ryan’s hand press against the small of his back.

Hours passed after they joined the larger group, but they stayed near each other the whole evening. Still, Jasper was disappointed when the party started to die down.

With Ryan’s number saved safely in his phone, Jasper readied himself to say goodbye.

He hugged his sister first, then Beni, telling them he loved them.

When he got to Ryan, he accidentally offered him the same thing—a quick, love you that rolled off his tongue far too easily.

He tried to pull away, horrified and fully convinced he’d ruined everything.

Ryan just laughed, pulled him back into a hug, and whispered, “Goodnight, Jasper.”

When Jasper got home and finally braved a peek at his phone, Ryan had texted him.

I’m sorry I can’t quite say I love you yet, but I would really like to see you again. Soon.

Jasper buried his face in his pillow to hide his ridiculous grin, and when he woke up the next morning to another text from Ryan, it was like reading the opening line to the rest of his life.