Page 19 of Anything But Convenient

“I’m agreeing to marry you because it makes sense. I don’t have to stress about work visas and prejudiced people who don’t like the fact that I’m not a full-blown citizen. Plus, I’m not in a relationship at the moment, so it’s a good time to tie the knot.

“As to my age, I’m twenty-three. My birthday is in a few months. And the secret is going to be a tough one. I’m a pretty open book.”

He frowned at my words. I wondered if it was because I didn’t have a secret at the ready to tell him, or if he was upset I shared my life so openly with people. Would it make a difference to him if I admitted I only had a few key people in my life who knew me? The rest were acquaintances who never looked past the surface level.

“I guess the only secret I have is my fear of missing out on life. It’s not something I typically tell people. My whole life, I’ve dreamt of having an epic adventure of some kind. It’s actually part of the reason I learned so many languages at a young age. I hated not knowing what the people around me were saying. Mom used to say I just wanted to be able to gossip with them. I knew it was much more.”

Takeshi took up the board, erasing it quickly before going in to ask more questions. I waited again, curious to know what else he had to say.

This time didn’t take as long. When the board flipped my way, I read over the words he’d written.

‘Marriage is an epic adventure to those willing to take the risk’.

It felt as close to admitting he wanted to marry me to as I’d get from him. Smiling, I nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. I’ve never been the type to dream of a certain type of wedding. To be honest, I simply wanted to have the freedom to do as I chose and marry who I wanted to. Back home, simply being gay was enough to be ostracized in the community. Here, I don’t have to worry near as much.”

He grabbed his marker, then went back to writing again. I watched him closely, noting the lines of concentration in his face. Even when scowling the man was handsome.

His hair was short, almost close to a buzz cut, and his features were soft. Genetics had given him an advantage, because though I didn’t know his exact age, I had no doubt he was older than me. There was a maturity about him you couldn’t find in other people my age.

When the board flipped around, I found three more questions there.

1. How soon do we need to get married?

2. Should we tell your family the truth or lie?

3. Do you want to see other people for your needs?

My eyes widened the more I read. From these questions, I could tell he was going to go along with the plan Tank laid out.

The concern I faced was how I felt about what he asked me. Questions one and two were easy enough to answer.

“We can do it whenever is easiest for you. Tank said he’d coordinate,” I said with a shrug. “My family probably only needs to know the bare minimum. We talk often, though I don’t relay much of my dating life to them. I could have been married for months now, and they’d likely have no clue. Like I said, it’s never been a huge deal for me.”

He tilted his head, then tapped the final question.

Here we go. Time to take on the big one.

“If I’m honest, I feel weird about this. While marriage isn’t some huge deal to me, I do believe in being faithful. It’s not like I’ve just been out hooking up with people left and right anyway, so I’m not going to miss anything if I don’t have someone on the side. What about you? Are you asking to fulfil your own desires? And how old are you anyway? I think I deserve a few answers too.”

His smirk at my petulant tone sent shivers down my spine.

Was it bad that I kind of wanted to fuck my soon-to-be-husband? It probably was. Especially since we weren’t in love or anything.

This was going to be a marriage of convenience. We would both get something out of it.

Though, honestly, I didn’t know what Takeshi would get. He hadn’t mentioned learning ASL at all yet, and I was hesitant to bring it up myself.

The answers to my questions were easy enough.

‘I do not have a need to seek pleasure as often as others might. Our marriage will remain sacred. I am thirty-four.’

Oh, shit. He was eleven years older than me, give or take a few months. Why was that so hot?

I’d always liked older men. Something inside me just fell head over ass for them. Not romantically. More in a carnal way, since I’d never gotten the courage to talk to any people like that.

And given I didn’t get out much, there was nowhere to meet them.

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