Chapter Twenty-Nine
“How many pairs of shoes do youhave?” Rusty asked as he came back into the room. Blake looked up to see him stack the box he was carrying neatly beside the other two.
“About as many as I need,” Blake said. “Although I guess I don’t have to dress up for work anymore.”
“No one needs more than three pairs,” Rusty said.
“It’s easy for a man who left his entire wardrobe to charity and still only owns one pair of jeans to criticize,” Blake responded.
Rusty rolled his shoulders, sitting down next to Blake on their brand-new, much bigger bed.
They’d gotten a good deal on the place, especially at short notice. Blake had wanted to move out of his parents’ house as soon as possible, and Rusty had managed to find them somewhere they could move into by the Sunday before he started work.
“I’ll buy jeans,” Rusty said. “And new underwear, probably.”
“Not probably. Definitely,” Blake insisted. “No husband of mine is going to have three pairs of underwear to his name.”
“If I only had three pairs of underwear, I’d have to walk around the house naked. I can’t believe you’re passing that opportunity up.”
Blake paused, licking his lips and staring off into the middle distance while he imagined that. “No,” he said after a moment. “I want you to have achoiceabout whether or not you walk around naked. But if you’re gonna do that, we probably need net curtains.”
Rusty chuckled. “You mean I’m not allowed to flash the neighbors?”
Blake shrugged. “It’s your body, I guess. I just think they’ll complain.”
“Good answer,” Rusty said, kissing Blake on the cheek.
The logistics of moving to a new country aside, he seemed happier than Blake had ever seen him.
That made sense to Blake, because he was happier than he ever had been before, too. He couldn’t wait to live the rest of his life with Rusty at his side.
“I found the marriage certificate. The novelty one, I mean,” Blake said, reaching behind himself on the bed and then presenting it to Rusty.
“You kept it,” Rusty said, a smile spreading over his face. He looked excited to see it.
Blake shrugged. “I told you so. I thought you’d like it.”
“I’m framing it,” Rusty said. “If I say ‘this is going straight to the pool room,’ you won’t understand, will you?”
Blake stared blankly at him. He didn’t have the first clue what that meant.
“It’s a good thing,” Rusty said, excited at the thought of all the things he could show Blake for the first time. “Remind me about it, and we’ll have a movie night.”
“Movie nights work for me,” Blake said. “Is that my sweater?” he asked.
“I was cold,” Rusty defended. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to share your stuff when you’re married?”
“You’re gonna be a nightmare to live with.” Blake chuckled, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. “I can’t wait.”
“Me neither.” Rusty grinned, standing up as well.
“I guess this is our happy ending, huh?” Blake asked, looking around at the full and discarded boxes littering the room.
Rusty shook his head. “Nah. This is just the beginning,” he said.
Blake turned to look at him, his eyes soft and his lips turning up into a smile.
“I’m gonna expect you to be this sweet all the time.”
“I think I can handle that,” Rusty said.
