Once in Richmond, he drove to the Convention Center parking lot where he and Dan had arranged to meet. Dan pulled in shortly after Colin parked, and together they crossed the street to the testing site. On the sidewalk outside the building the two men stood for a moment, gawking at the chaos all around them. The area surrounding the Convention Center was filled with hundreds of bar examination applicants wandering aimlessly as they waited for testing to begin, all projecting varying degrees of apprehension.
“Jesus,” Colin muttered to Dan. “Do we look as terrified as they do?”
“Probably,” Dan said, then stopped and grabbed Colin’s arm. “Hey,” he said, “we worked our asses off during prep. We couldn’tbemore ready. We’ve got this, Irish.” He held out his hand and Colin gave it a firm shake.
“Then let’s go kick some ass,” Colin said. He slapped Dan on the shoulder as they strode toward the Convention Center where their futures awaited.
* * *
Joshua greetedhim at the door when he returned that evening. “Hail the conquering hero!” he crowed with a huge smile.
Colin wrapped both arms around Joshua’s neck and held him close, inhaling deep, steadying breaths. “Man, that was intense!”
“But you think you did OK,” Joshua prodded, leading Colin toward the dining room table. “You feel confident about today’s testing, right?”
“Pretty confident, yeah,” Colin told him, stripping off his suit jacket. “Hang this up for me, would you, babe? I have to wear it again tomorrow.” He collapsed into a dining room chair. “Dan thinks he did fine. He thinks all our prep paid off.”
“Doyouthink that?” Joshua asked as he hung Colin’s jacket in the hall closet.
“I do,” Colin said, then peered at the dinner Joshua placed in front of him. “Grilled salmon?” he asked, smiling up at Joshua. “Pretty fancy for a lowly law student.”
“It’s brain food,” Joshua informed him. “Full of omega-3s! With lots of veggies and blueberry pie for dessert, evenmorebrain food. And tomorrow you get eggs and whole grain blueberry pancakes for breakfast.”
Colin laughed and pulled Joshua onto his lap. “You looked that up on Google didn’t you,” he muttered, nuzzling against Joshua’s neck.
“I did,” Joshua replied, his arms tight around his husband. “Best food to eat before taking important tests!” He pressed a kiss to Colin’s lips. “And you won’t be a lowly law student for much longer. You’ll be Colin Michael Campbell-Abrams, Juris Doctor.”
Colin grimaced and squinted one eye. “Don’t say that too loud. I’m not there yet. Don’t want to jinx my chances.”
“The kind of prep you and Dan did trumps getting jinxed,” Joshua said, scrambling to his feet. “Now eat your dinner.”
* * *
Later that eveningthey snuggled close together on the couch, watching one of Colin’s favorite movies:Twelve Angry Menstarring Henry Fonda. “Perfect preparation for tomorrow,” Colin remarked. He tightened his arms around Joshua and buried his face against his husband’s dark curls. “This is why I didn’t spend the night in Richmond,” he murmured.“This.”
“Because you wanted to watchTwelve Angry Men?” Joshua asked.
“No. Because I wanted to be with you.” He huffed out a breath and lifted Joshua’s face until their eyes met. “No,” he said, “more thanwantedto be with you. Because Ineededto be with you. I needed to rest a while beside my strong oak before returning to the academic trenches.”
Joshua dropped his eyes, a high flush rising on his cheeks. “Colin,” he whispered, reaching to caress Colin’s cheek. “Thank you, my love.”
“You heal me,” Colin said, then grinned and tightened his arms around Joshua’s body. “You restoreth my soul.”
Joshua gave a soft laugh and pressed his face to Colin’s chest. “No,” he murmured. “It’s not me who restores your soul, it’sus.” He lifted his head and met Colin’s eyes. “It’s what we become when we’re together. It’sus.”
Colin bent and kissed him, molding his mouth to Joshua’s, loving the feeling of Joshua’s soft, full lips pressed against his own. He felt Joshua’s hand cup and caress his cheek, felt him turn to press even more of his body against Colin’s. As their kiss deepened, he felt Joshua’s hand leave his cheek and slide down his chest and over his abdomen to the crotch of his pants where it pressed hard against the pulse of Colin’s full erection.
“Tease,” Colin murmured, his words a faint tingle against Joshua’s lips.
“I think not,” Joshua replied, moving his palm in a slow, glide up and down Colin’s hardness, pausing for a moment to squeeze, then continuing his gentle, unhurried stroke.
“We need to put this movie on pause,” Colin said. “Because we can’t get where you’re headed and watch Fonda at the same time.” He paused the movie, then rose to his feet drawing Joshua up with him.
“I thought all you lawyers could multitask,” Joshua teased as Colin steered him toward the steps.
“We can,” Colin said. His arm wound around Joshua’s shoulders as they climbed the stairs and wandered into their bedroom. “But there are times when we prefer a more focused approach.”
Colin moved to the bed and drew down the fancy comforter. Turning, he saw Joshua taking off his clothing, moving with the same athletic grace which had mesmerized Colin from the beginning of their relationship. He watched for a moment as each article of clothing dropped to the floor, and he luxuriated at the sight of Joshua’s flawless olive skin. “Jesus, you are as beautiful as the day we met,” he whispered.
