Page 74 of Disciplinary Action
Des shook his head. “I live right upstairs. I’ll make sure she’s not alone,” he promised. “Okay?”
Cal studied the other man’s face before giving a hesitant nod. “Yeah, thanks.”
Des gave Gideon a half wave and then turned and called for his next patient. Once the waiting room was quiet again, Gideon turned back to Cal, who was chewing on his bottom lip. “See? Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Everything’s not going to be fine,” Cal cried, pushing Gideon out of the way and bolting out the door.
The other pet owners stared at Gideon in confusion, but he could only sigh and follow Cal out the door. He didn’t have to go far to find him. Cal had run out of steam next to Gideon’s car, his hands covering his face as he sagged against the passenger door.
“What’s wrong with you today?” Gideon asked, wrapping his arms around the boy and pulling him close.
“I got my email from Harvard while I was sitting in there waiting for them to tell me whether Alexa would live or die,” Cal said, like he’d just received his own death sentence.
“That’s a good thing,” Gideon reminded him. “Harvard was all you ever wanted, remember?”
“It’s not, though. Not now,” Cal said, voice thick. “It’s supposed to be a good thing. The best thing. I’ve wanted to go to Harvard since I was a kid, since my mom let me wear her t-shirts as sleep shirts when I was little. Then she died and it became something I needed, not just wanted. I needed Harvard to be close to her, to have something I shared with her, but now, I have you. You and Alexa. And that means Harvard has a great big black cloud hanging over it because gaining Harvard means I lose you guys.”
“But th—”
Cal cut him off. “Don’t tell me there’s holidays and vacations. I don’t want to only see you guys on vacations. I don’t want to only talk to you via FaceTime with some dumb roommate eavesdropping on our conversations. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning and eat breakfast together and cook naked and get punished every night and have you fuck me awake some mornings.” Cal’s voice cracked as he asked, “What if you find somebody else or realize you’re better off without me?”
Gideon couldn’t stop himself from laughing, but watching Cal’s face crumple into tears stole his delight. “Stop. Please, don’t cry. You’re not losing me or Alexa. We’re coming with you. That’s what I’ve been trying to put into place. I’m going to sublet the loft, and we’ll find a place together in Boston, if that’s what you want. If not, Alexa and I can find our own place and you can stay in the dorms and have your real college exper—”
Cal shook his head. “No. No. No. I don’t want dorms and keg parties. I want you. Just you. Just us. You, me, and Alexa. Our own little family.”
Their own little family.Gideon couldn’t ever have dared to dream of a life where he had everything he’d ever wanted, but Cal was it. Cal was everything. It seemed hard to believe. So little time had passed since they met, but it felt like a lifetime in some ways and no time at all in others. Gideon just wanted as much time as possible. Whatever time Cal was willing to give him.
“Are you certain, little bird?” Gideon asked, praying Cal didn’t change his mind.
“I’ve never been certainer,” Cal said with a giddy laugh.
“More certain,” Gideon corrected.
“Whatever. Just kiss me, Daddy.”
Gideon kissed him hard. “Don’t forget who gives the orders around here.”
“As if I could,” Cal said with a wistful sigh.
“Where are we going?” Cal asked again for the tenth time since they’d left the hotel.
“For the one millionth time, it’s a surprise.”
“Haven’t you given me enough surprises this weekend?” Cal asked, gazing down at the simple black band on his left finger.
Gideon had given Cal a new bracelet, one made of titanium. The front held the coordinates to the hotel, but on the back it read,Forever mine. G.Like Cal’s ID bracelet, it took a special tool to remove it. A tool only Gideon had. Cal had thought that was the end of the surprises, but this morning, Cal had woken to Gideon on one knee beside the bed and an open ring box. When Cal had questioned Gideon, he’d simply said, “The bracelet is so you know you’re mine forever. The ring is so you know I’m yours too.”
It all seemed so surreal. Cal was engaged. Gideon wanted to spend their lives together. It seemed like a million years ago when he’d sat in the car on that rainy night with Bastian, talking over how he was going to make it through just one night with Gideon. Now, he couldn’t imagine spending even one night without him.
Boston was everything Cal had hoped for. The classes were challenging, the weather was sometimes treacherous, but he and Gideon had carved out a place for themselves. They had a ridiculously overpriced apartment in Harvard Square within walking or biking distance to both colleges and had adopted another dog, a tiny pug named Tinkerbell. A month ago, they’d also adopted a kitten named Montague. They walked Alexa and Tink together every morning and every night, then Gideon graded papers while Cal sat on the floor and did his homework.
Some people probably thought their life was boring, but for every night of early bedtimes for finals, there was over-the-knee spankings, remote controlled sex toys, and Gideon fucking Cal against the window of their bedroom. Their sex life was anything but boring. They’d been together almost two years now, and Gideon was still the sexiest man Cal had ever seen up close.
The summer after graduation, Gideon had taken Cal to Italy to celebrate, but this year, they’d opted to stay home with their menagerie of animals. While all of Cal’s friends were taking trips to Mexico and Costa Rica, Gideon and Cal had spent an entire month naked, fucking on every surface of their apartment with Cal screaming, “Fuck me, Daddy,” until the neighbors complained and the landlord left them a very stern letter that had sent Cal into spasms of laughter. He kept it in a drawer with all his other keepsakes of their relationship. The next door neighbors still gave Cal and Gideon dirty looks whenever they caught sight of them in the hall.
Boston was perfect. Their lives together felt perfect, even when they fought about laundry and who forgot to start the dishwasher, there was never fear of this being the end. Boston felt like home to Cal, which is why Cal didn’t understand why Gideon had brought him back to their old town—back to Roosevelt—where every bad thing had happened to him. Every bad thing but meeting Gideon.
After they’d left the hotel, Cal had expected to hit the highway. Instead, they’d grabbed burgers and fries at a drive-thru and headed farther into town, detouring back to the place that still appeared in most of Cal’s nightmares.
