Kieran & Drew (31 page)

soul mate
would know I wasn’t just being weird there.” “You’re not weird,” Drew said quietly. “You’re perfect.”

Kieran couldn’t not kiss him then. He kissed his lips, and then pressed soft kisses to his cheeks and eyelids, trying to somehow convey the sum of what it was he felt for him. “What did you want to ask me?”

Drew wet his lip. “Where do I come into this, Kier?” He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Drew let out a quick breath. “Don’t make me ask again.” “Drew, none of this works
without
you.”
“So… we’re doing this? We’re going to be together?”

Kieran smiled softly. “You’re going to go study to become a firefighter, and I’m going to work at the restaurant. At the end of the day we’ll both be coming home to whatever house or apartment we’re renting—which will be as close to your mom as possible.” He leaned close for a gentle kiss. “You’re going to study, and I’m going to bring home the bacon. Maybe in a few years we’ll switch, but either way, yes, we’re doing this.”

Kieran smiled as Drew surged forward and kissed him hard. “Thank you. I… I kind of feel like I just might come out of this okay, if I’ve got you.”

“Drew. You have
so
got me.” He pulled Drew close, feeling stronger and more at home in his own skin than he ever had before. “You doing okay?” he whispered.

Drew nodded. “I’m doing better now.” Drew let out a deep breath, looking around them. “I still love this place.”

 

“I know you love this park.”

 

“No.” Drew squeezed Kieran’s arm that held him close. “I still love
this
place.”

 

Kieran pressed his cheek against Drew’s temple and whispered: “Me too.”
EpiLogUE
Five years later…

 

Kieran leaned against the low, wrought-iron gate outside the restaurant, going through the reminders on his phone.

Dinner with Dad and Steven tomorrow night.
Talk to Drew about a vacation somewhere with mountains. Pick up dry cleaning for Drew’s mom.
“Excuse me, Mr. Appleby? I think we’re about done here.”

Kieran glanced up, his chest swelling with pride as the men with their ladders moved out of his line of view so he could admire the new sign for his restaurant.

K aNd D’s PlACe.

“That’s fantastic. Thank you, gentlemen.”
“Not a problem. We’ll be on our way.”

He leaned back against the gate, allowing himself a moment to take in everything he’d achieved over the past few years.

It hadn’t been easy and there had been a very real fear of letting his father down and failing. But the restaurant was thriving now with his own unique spin on it. What’s more, his father’s branch out in Piney Point had adopted his choice of menu and restaurant uniform too. He still got a kick out of seeing his waiters and waitresses in Hawaiian shirts, suspenders, and bowties. It may not be the classic black that most restaurants adhere to, but it lent a more casual, family-friendly atmosphere to the place and played its part in bringing in the customers and tourists looking for somewhere casual to eat. It had taken a lot of hard work and a business degree from the College of Central Florida, but here he was.

Kieran looked down beside him. “What do you think, Tony?” he asked the elderly beagle he and Drew had rescued two years ago. “Do you like the new sign?”

Tony’s tail thumped in response and Kieran reached down to scratch behind his ear. “Come on, old man; let’s go get you a treat.”

Tony carefully got to his feet but then turned to look behind them toward the road, his tail wagging so much that his butt wiggled. Kieran glanced down the road to see four firemen, still in uniform, climbing out of a familiar, second-hand Chevy truck. He grinned, pleased to see one of those handsome firemen in particular.

“Who’s that?” he asked Tony. “Is that Daddy?”

 

He laughed when Drew whistled and Tony took off as quickly as he could on his old, tired legs.

“Hey!” he called out, following Tony, opening his arms for a hug and then laughing when Drew picked him up and squeezed him, kissing his neck before putting him back on his feet.

“Hey, Kier,” one of the other firemen greeted him. “If I pick you up and smooch you, can I get some freefood?”

Kieran laughed, swatting at the hand that groped his butt. “Behave, you,” he murmured smoothly to Drew. He looked back at the three pouting firemen and rolled his eyes. “Go find your usual booth; you know firemen eat for free here.”

“Thank you, Mom,” one of the other firemen chimed in before pressing a sloppy kiss to Kieran’s cheek, making him laugh and push him away.

“Hey!” Drew called after him. “He’s taken!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, Anderson.” They waved Drew off and headed on into the restaurant for their free chow.

 

“Your shift’s over?”

“Yep. Just came in for some grub and a quickie in your office, and then I’m off home to catch up on some sleep. I love the sign, by the way.”

“Thanks. Me too. Oh! We have dinner tonight with Dad and Steven, remember? So don’tsleep in too late.”

“Are we staying in or eating at the restaurant?”
“Our place. I want your mom to be there.”

For someone who’d been so desperate to leave Keys not so long ago, he was blissfully happy living in the house next door to—for all intents and purposes—his mother-in-law. After Drew’s uncle had been KIA, his mother had given Drew, without hesitating, half of the Servicemember’s Group Life insurance she’d received. It was flat-out serendipitous that her neighbor, Mr. Gullbeck, the weed-selling weirdo next door, had happened to be moving. And so they bought his house outright, and Drew had been able to stay close by, and Kieran had gained himself a mother—something he’d never had.

“You go on in, get yourself something to eat. I want to take a few pictures of the new sign and text them to dad.” He patted Drew on the butt and received a wink in reply. He watched Drew jog up to the entrance, whistling for Tony to follow him, and reflected on just how much he adored his fireman.

Despite his words of reassurance to Drew on graduation day in the park, a part of him had worried about feeling stifled or trapped. But though he had never expected to, he had never felt so at home. He loved his job, he loved his home, and he loved his partner. He smiled to himself, using his phone to take a picture of the restaurant.

Sometimes you do stay with your first love.

 

About the Author
L.A. GILBERT currently lives in a small British town where not much

of anything ever really occurs. Jumping from job to job, she has no real qualifications in anything and is blithely proud of it. Between spectacularly failing driving test after driving test, she generally spends her free time reading about beautiful gay men, if not attempting to write about them. She is perhaps not the most outgoing of people, but is certainly one of the most cheerful.

Her aspirations are to eventually leave England and see a real, live whale (London's zoo is poorly lacking in that respect) and to perhaps one day hold in her hands a published copy of her own work.

One down.
Find L.A. on Twitter: @L_A_Gilbert
on her blog: http://l-a-gilbert.livejournal.com/profile
on her website: http://lagilbert.WebStarts.com
or e-mail her at [email protected].

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