“You think she said, ‘Ohhhhh! Your MAAAAJESTY!’”
“You thinkyouwill?”
“You guys have a preference on which bedroom you want?” Colin asked.
“Well, I just peed in that bathroom,” Nate said, hitching his thumb toward the nearest bedroom. “So, I’d say that pretty much marks our territory.”
Chuckling, Joshua fell onto the couch.
“OK,” Colin said. “We have forty-five minutes ‘til our dinner reservation.”
“Colin, you never told me what my share is for this,” David told him, sitting on the couch across from Joshua.
“This one’s on me, Davy.”
“That doesn’t seem fair, buddy. Let me pay our share.”
“No, David,” Colin told him. “This was me wanting Josh to spend a night in a castle. Otherwise, we’d be at Danny’s. I’m covering this one.” He spun and glared at Nate. “But if I hear you screaming ‘Ohhhhh! Your MAAAAJESTY!’ while I’m trying to sleep…” he let his voice trail off, then stabbed at Nate with his index finger. “I’m coming for you!”
Nate giggled and flopped down on David’s lap. “Colin’s beingmeanto me!” he fake-whined.
“Is that a fact,” David muttered, peering around Nate’s body to inspect the pile of pamphlets scattered on the coffee table.
Colin snickered and set down beside Joshua. “Take a walk with me after dinner?”
“Can we walk through the forest?”
“That’s the plan. The forest trail starts at the end of the driveway. We follow it to the top of a hill where a fairy is supposed to have granted a wish to whichever pansy-assed Irish lordling once owned this place.”
“Well,you’rea fairy!” Nate told Colin with a wink. “Andyou’re a pansy-ass Irish lordling! Maybe you can grant Joshua’s wish!”
Joshua nuzzled against Colin’s cheek. “He already has.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
GALWAY
That evening, after dinner, Colin and Joshua left Castle Hacket and strolled down the driveway that led to the Forest Trail. Joshua’s arm was linked with Colin’s, and he lifted his head as they walked, letting Colin guide them forward while he gazed at the stars. The evening was cool and clear, and above their heads, the night sky was brilliant with stars. As they stepped onto the path and moved deep into the forest, branches from the trees on either side intertwined above them, forming a leafy roof that obstructed their view of the constellations.
Joshua held Colin’s arm with both of his as he gazed around. “It’s like being in—a cathedral.Alivingcathedral.”
Colin covered Joshua’s hand with his own and indicated an open area at the end of the pathway. “There’s the wishing hill.”
They strolled into the clearing and moved to the top of the slight rise, leaving the trees behind. The stars were once again visible, and overwhelmed by the beauty all around them, Joshua leaned against Colin’s shoulder and wrapped both arms around him.
“You want to make a wish?” Colin asked.
“No.”
“No?”
Joshua lifted his head and gazed into his husband’s eyes, then laid his palm against Colin’s cheek. “There’s nothing left to wish for.”
Colin smiled and bent to kiss him. “Well, I have a wish.”
“What is it?”
“I wish to always be the man you need me to be.”
