Jake’s brow furrowed with confusion, but he complied and then shook his head. “Alright. Butwhyam I closing my eyes?”
Rye didn’t answer. Instead, he started walking again in Jake’s direction, watching carefully to be sure Jake wasn’t peeking. He stopped just in front of Jake, who had turned to face Rye as he’d approached, and he glanced up briefly at his boyfriend and then back down at the sea turtle.
He hadn’t quite thought all of this through, and he frowned. “Mmm, hang on,” he said. And Jake grumbled something—though his tone was playful—as Rye left, hurrying over to the coffee table. He paused for half a second before setting the sculpture right in the center of the table. Then he turned around and got the two mugs full of hot tea, which he also brought to the coffee table.
When everything was set up, he returned to Jake and took Jake’s hand, threading their fingers together. “Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed.
Jake laughed. “Okay, but, uh, promise you won’t run me into anything?”
Rye shook his head, though he knew Jake wouldn’t see, and he squeezed Jake’s hand. “Trust me.”
“I do,” Jake said with a grin.
“Good.” Rye took Jake’s other hand, too, and then started walking backwards slowly, leading Jake the short distance over to the couch. He guided Jake the rest of the way, helping to position him facing the coffee table right at the middle cushion.
“’Kay, sit here,” Rye said, releasing Jake’s hands. “And keep your eyes closed.”
Again, Jake complied, although he frowned a little as he carefully lowered himself onto the couch. Rye stood there awkwardly for another moment, considering, and he glanced back down the hallway. His mom’s door was still closed. She’d retired to get ready for bed shortly after Jon and Tanya had left a half hour or so ago, and Rye figured she’d probably already fallen asleep. Like him, she was exhausted. The whole last few days had been rough on all of them, and he knew she’d probably been nearly as affected by everything as he had.
He did want this momentjustfor him and Jake, though, and so he quickly turned back to Jake. “Just a minute.Do notopen your eyes,” he said sternly.
Jake’s smile widened, which sent a rush of warmth through Rye’s chest, and Jake lifted his hands up and covered his eyes. “I won’t peek. Promise.”
Satisfied, Rye jogged back down the hall, his light footsteps silent on the plush carpet. He paused just in front of his mom’s door and then grinned. Her snoring was perfectly audible, even from the hallway. He turned back around and made his way over to the couch again. Then he lowered himself onto the cushions and pulled his feet up to sit cross-legged.
Jake’s eyebrows arched, and he tilted his head. “So? Can I look now?”
“Mm-hmm. Now you can.” Rye’s heart leapt in his chest as he watched Jake first lower his hands and then blink his eyes open. It seemed to take a moment for Jake’s vision to adjust and then for him to find the table and the sculpture. And then his smile faded and his eyes widened, and he mouthed a quiet “oh, wow” as he scooted forward to the edge of the couch.
“Wow. Wow, Rye . . .”
Jake reached out, his mouth slightly parted in awe, and gently picked up the turtle, cradling it in both hands as though it were the most fragile thing he’d ever held. He lifted it slowly, bringing it up closer to his face so he could study it. And he seemed at a complete lossfor words.
“I made it. For you,” Rye mumbled, his voice faltering as Jake tore his eyes away from the turtle. The amazement in Jake’s gaze sent another warm shiver through him.
“It’s... it’s stunning. I don’t know what to say. It’s incredible. Youmadethis? The detail, the—I just... I love it. I love it.”
Heat spread up Rye’s neck and into his cheeks, and he pursed his lips and nodded. “I finished it last night. I couldn’t sleep, and I needed... something to, you know...” His words stuck in his throat, and he swallowed and frowned.
But Jake just shook his head again. “I understand,” he said softly, and he looked back at the sea turtle again, carefully lifting it to inspect the detail on the underside of the belly. He murmured another “wow” or maybe two, and then he said, “It’s a loggerhead, right? The shape of the scutes and the detail, even the eyes, it’s all just... wow, I can’t believe it...”
With infinite care, Jake set the sea turtle sculpture back down on the coffee table, and then he turned to Rye, his expression softening. “Thank you,” Jake breathed, and Rye nodded, holding Jake’s gaze for several seconds.
Finally, when he couldn’t stay still any longer, Rye pushed himself over until he was closer to Jake, folded his knees under himself, and cuddled up against Jake’s chest. He breathed in deeply, then muffled a quiet laugh into Jake as the faint scent of sawdust tickled his nose.
“What?” Jake asked, his breath hot against the top of Rye’s head. Jake’s arm slipped around Rye’s shoulders, and Rye sighed and melted into the embrace.
It felt good and comfortable, and for a moment, Rye forgot that Jake had even asked him a question. He chuckled again and shook his head. “Nothing. I... like this,” he said, and then some more words started to spill out, though they weren’t what he’d been thinking about at all. “Ididmiss you the last two days. I’m sorry I needed to rest. Thursday was... Thursday night was not easy... at all.”
He didn’t want to say more. He didn’t want to go back to the place he’d been for the last few days—lost in an exhausted, fitful sleep filled with strange nightmares that never seemed to end. He’d finally woken up out of it earlier that afternoon, and he’d had a good evening with his mom and uncle and aunt.
And with Jake.
Jake made pretty much everything better.
And really, from here, everything had to get even better.
Because in a way, Rye wasmorefree now. The always-there tickle in the back of his mind, the voice—thatvoice—hushed but ever angry, the cloud over him... threatening... Those things were still there, and he thought they probably always would be. But there was now maybe some other layer of something separating him from all of it. A space, protecting him.
