Riley shook his head at Josh, the same way the lady had shaken hers.
“Please, never change, Josh. Never ever,” Riley said as he threw an arm around Josh’s shoulders and pulled him toward the dairy section.
“I don’t plan on it. Sounds like too much work.”
Riley’s laugh warmed him from head to toe, much like always.
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When they got home from the grocery store, Riley grabbed the mail on the way to their condo. There was a nice stack of letters and fliers, probably mostly junk.
When they got in their place, they set everything on the counter and began working together to put away the groceries. Once everything was properly stored, Riley started thumbing through the mail, separating everything they didn’t need into a pile to go into their recycle bin.
Josh went to the fridge to grab them some water when Riley’s gasp startled him.
“The swab test from the DNA company arrived,” Riley said, holding out a thick plastic shipping envelope.
They opened the package together and read through the instructions and saw that Riley had been right. Josh had to swab his mouth and send it in with the enclosed packaging.
“Wow,” Josh said as he stared at the contents of the DNA kit. “Why am I nervous?”
Riley stepped closer and wrapped an arm around him in a side hug that helped ease Josh’s fears.
“I’m nervous too,” Riley said, and Josh jumped out of his arms to face him.
“Why are you nervous?”
“Well, what if you find out you have family looking for you in China?” he asked, his gaze remaining on the kit spread out on their counter. “What if you’d rather move home to be with them? I mean, I wouldn't stop you, if that was what you wanted.”
Oh. Josh hadn’t even thought of that. And there was one major reason he hadn’t.
“I’m not moving anywhere without you, Ri,” he said seriously, setting a finger under his chin and lifting it until Riley’s eyes were on him. “You’remy home, and no DNA test is ever going to change that.”
Josh could see the tears filling Riley’s eyes before heblinked them away. He stepped forward to wrap his arms around Josh, pulling him tightly against his own body, his face nestled in the crook of Josh’s neck.
For a minute, they stood there and held each other, Josh running his fingers through Riley’s soft hair as his other hand rubbed his back. When Riley pulled away, he planted a hard but quick kiss on Josh’s lips and turned to the DNA kit.
“Okay, let’s do this. Let’s find the rest of your family.”
Josh was ready, because the most important member of his family was standing there next to him. With Riley, he was capable of anything.
————————
The swab test was even simpler than Josh expected. It wasn’t long before his DNA was wrapped in a package, ready to send back to the company.
With that taken care of, there was only one thing Josh wanted to do, and it wasn’t work.
He pulled Riley down the hallway toward Riley’s bedroom, not stopping until they were at the foot of his bed.
Riley gasped as Josh pushed him backward onto his mattress, following quickly by crawling over him until they were face to face.
Josh held his weight with one hand as he reached for Riley’s face, his fingers sliding across his cheek until he reached his hair.
Riley’s hands rested on Josh’s hips as they gazed into each other’s eyes, and Josh lowered himself until their lips were pressed together, kissing sweetly until Josh teased Riley's lips with the tip of his tongue.
The move made Riley groan as he slid his hands along Josh’s back and up his neck. He held Josh’s head, angling it so he could deepen the kiss. Josh whimpered as Riley’s tongue invaded his mouth and they slid along each other, savoring every second.
Josh sat up, Riley below him and looking like he wanted to devour every inch of Josh.
