Page 61 of Sass in the Grass

“I told you I don’t mind.

Jovian lay his head on Dixon’s shoulder, purring, “I know. But…I don’t know why you even like me.”

“Shh, Jovian. Stop with all that. I like you for a lot of reasons.”

“Take me…away from here. Take me to your house.”

Dixon chuckled a little. “We’ll talk, and I’ll make you tea.”

“That sounds so wonderful.”

“And you’re walking. I’m not carrying you the whole way.”

Jovian laughed. And it was a great feeling. “I think I can handle that, but you’re walking in front of me. Sorry to say, I’m still selfish enough to let you get bitten by the hordes of snakes around here instead of me.”

“I like honesty, but ouch! That hurts!”

He was grinning, so Jovian whispered, “I’ll make it up to you.”

“I believe you will. Okay, let’s go, but I’m leaving a note for True. He’ll worry if someone reports you missing. That’s a serious thing around here.”

After setting Jovian back on his feet, Dixon wrote out the note for True and left it at his desk. Taking his hand, Dixon led him out the door and they started on the familiar route to the cabin.

It looked completely different at night. It was terrifying. The evergreen trees looked like tall black specters; the white trunks of the aspen were the bones of giants. Each crunch of their shoes on the dirt and rocks sounded like those giants were crunching on the bones of their enemies.

Swapping his fear of snakes for the terror of the darkness, Jovian sped his steps and wrapped Dixon’s arm around him.

“You okay?”

“It’s a little dark. I just don’t want to lose you.”

“Yeah. Okay, honey,” he said, though his words were dripping with humor.

Up the trail they went, the long trail that led to the home Jovian had seen at a distance. The closer he got, the more lovely it looked, however. Even in the dark, with the silvering wood like a beacon, it felt more like home than anywhere he’d been.

“If you’re still here when it gets light, I’ll give you the outside tour, but for now, we’ll go inside.”

Walking up three stairs, they were on the rather wide porch and reached around each side of the cabin. The house wasn’tespecially wide, but close up, it was bigger than it had looked when he’d last seen it.

A bench with thick beige cushions was on the right side of the porch, and two old-fashioned rockers on the other. Plants were on each side of the door.

Jovian hadn’t known what to expect, but he figured he’d see a lot of camo and leather. When he got inside, however, he was surprised completely.

The inside wasn’t raw wood walls like the outside, but flat, painted a soft milk chocolate, and on them were shelves filled with books, macrame hangings, plants and hand-drawn pictures in raw wood frames.

It was positively bohemian, but not in the cluttered, gaudy way. Even his sofas were soft brown with white and dark brown pillows.

“I love your living room.”

“Thank you. I want it peaceful and comfortable.”

“It’s definitely that,” he whispered.

The rug was thick and light colored, and it lay over the wide planks of the floor. Everything was so beautiful, so…homey.

“Why are you crying?”

He hadn’t realized he was. “I have no idea,” he said with a laugh, while his tears just fell harder. “It’s pretty. It’s…not some dump.” He heard himself and spun around to face him. “I’m sorry! I am so stupid.”

---