There is nothing unseen,
My head swims with little joys
No symphony.
No notes.
Not a thread to be found in the night.
But in the day?
There we are. Eyes soft against the
Bright, glittering sky.
Maybe this was the poetry all along.
Rowan returned to his animals while Jamie and Tyler cleaned up the kitchen. Jamie hand-washed the dishes, while Tyler put leftovers away in recycled yogurt containers.
Jamie came up beside him, placing a hand on Tyler’s back. “What are the chances you have something sweet?” Jamie nuzzled the side of his neck.
Tyler glanced up to see the sheepish hope on his boyfriend’sface. Tyler rolled his eyes good-naturedly, and grabbed a little box of ginger snaps that he’d stashed in a cabinet.
Jamie thanked him and opened the box. He frowned. “You have a mouse problem,” he said.
“What?”
Jamie held up one of the large cookies, which was missing a corner.
Tyler laughed. “Oh, that’s me.”
“You’re a mouse?”
“No!” Tyler couldn’t stop laughing now, giggles spilling from him with every breath. “I just eat a little nibble when I feel like it.”
Jamie looked completely taken aback, staring open-mouthed at Tyler like he’d just revealed he routinely ran naked around Lake Minocqua in January. “You’re telling me you have tasty treats in your house and you have the discipline to only take these tiny little bites? Who the hell are you?”
Tyler crossed over to him, going up on his toes to put his mouth right next to Jamie’s ear. “It’s called edging, big guy,” he whispered. “Ever heard of delayed gratification?”
Something between a laugh and a groan rumbled from Jamie’s throat. “You’re crazy for this,” he said, leaning down to give Tyler a hard, demanding kiss.
Tyler pulled away, running his tongue over his wet lips as he looked up at Jamie’s kiss-softened mouth. “Later,” he said, his words a promise.
Jamie grinned. “Later.”
“I thought he was never going to go down,” Tyler said, shutting the door of his room behind him.
Jamie smiled lazily from where he lay sprawled out on Tyler’s bed. He pointed to the monitor, which was turned on and emitting the low, staticwhirof the sound machine. “I never knew there were so many verses in “Old MacDonald.””
“Oh, that one has infinite possibilities. Don’t be fooled by the limitations of traditional pastoral fauna.”
Jamie snorted. “Whatever the hell that means,” he muttered fondly. “Get over here.”
Tyler climbed onto the bed and into Jamie’s open arms. Any remaining tension in his body melted away as he dropped into the curve of Jamie’s arm, laying his head on Jamie’s broad chest.
Jamie’s arms tightened around him, and Tyler felt the ghost of fingertips trailing down his back. They dipped beneath his sweatshirt, finding bare skin before arriving at the waistband of his lace panties.
A low hum vibrated against Tyler’s ear. “I want to see these,” Jamie said.
