Before he met Nate, Brandon always thought gay marriages were for other guys, not him. He didn’t care that the state didn’t recognize them. As far as he was concerned, God made a marriage, not city hall. No, the reason he didn’t take most gay marriages seriously was because half the gay couples he knew cheated on each other whenever the notion struck. To be fair, he knew of several monogamous gay relationships, he just never thought he’d have one. Even before he knew about Jeff’s propensity for sticking his dick in anything with blond hair and twenty-thousand dollars worth of dental-work, Brandon never even thought about dragging him in front of the family preacher. With Nate, it was different.
It wasn’t just that he knew Nate would never cheat on him. No, he wanted Nate to be a part of him. Hell, Nate was a part of him, his other half, the better half. He knew it, and he wanted to share that knowledge with the rest of the world. In front of a hundred and fifty of their closest friends and relatives, he wanted to make Nathan Morris his, forever.
Unfortunately for both Brandon and his nerves, the object of all his desires and affections was sitting in the bed staring at him with open mouthed astonishment. Brandon got up and started pacing. Damn it, why wasn’t he answering? Was he just going to sit there in silence until Brandon lost what little composure he’d gotten back after nearly losing Nate—permanently—not twenty-four hours ago? No way was Bran going to let him get away with that.
“Look, Nate, I’m not asking you to wear a white dress and carry a bunch of daisies here.” He crossed back to the bed. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Look, you don’t have to answer me right now. Take some time, think about it.”
“Brandon, I don’t need—”
“Nate, I know I’m nothing like Rick, but I do know we’re good together.”
“How do you know you’re nothing like him?”
“Seth was kind enough to point out our differences that first day we met. Seems Rick was into caviar and Cristal. According to your brother, I’m more the beer nuts and Heineken, type.”
“I believe he said you would be more at home at a tractor pull than the opera, but I guess the reference is the same.”
Brandon sat down on the bed again. “You heard all that?”
“One thing you need to know about me, sweetheart: I’m a notorious eavesdropper. I’m the kid who always knew what he was getting for Christmas. I heard most everything Seth said to you. For the record, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He only saw Rick a handful of times. He didn’t even know we were anything more than friends until that last night, and you know how well that turned out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you heard us?”
Nate gave him that sexy smile again. “And admit I couldn’t come into the room and blast my brother for what he said because I was standing in the hall crying like a six-year-old kid? That’s exactly what I started doing when I heard you promising dire retribution if he hurt me again. No one’s ever taken up for me like that before. Well, except for Amy, but she fights like a girl. Anyway, I didn’t mention it because I wasn’t about to dignify Seth’s stupid comparisons by acknowledging them. I was with Rick ten times longer than I’ve been with you, but I never felt for him anything close to what you make me feel.” Nate leaned back against the pillows and patted the bed. “Here, lay down next to me.”
“No. I’m too big. There’s not enough room.”
“There is if you lay real close.”
“I might hurt you.”
The trust in Nate’s eyes was humbling. “Never in a million years. Please, Bran. I love you. I need you.”
That was all it took. Brandon eased Nate over and into his arms, then scooted down beside him. Nate snuggled close and laid his head on Brandon’s chest, his broken arm resting on his side. “Umm, that’s much better.”
Brandon kissed the top of his head. “So, if you love me so much, and I’m such a great catch, how come you haven’t answered my question yet?”
“I was going to when you freaked out on me.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve never proposed before. Forgive me for being a little anxious.” He ran his fingers along Nate’s spine, delighting in the shivers he caused. “Now, for the love of God, quit stalling and answer the damn question.”
“I’m not stalling. I’m about to begin negotiations.”
Brandon smiled. Only Nathan Morris could turn a marriage proposal into a meeting of the minds. God, he loved that man.
“I assume this is the point where I ask you what your demands are, right?”
“Right. They’re pretty simple actually. I want to be married in the church you and your family go to. This marriage is going to be forever. We’re only going to do it once, so we might as well do it right. I was raised in the church, but I haven’t been since my parents and I parted ways. Even through all that, though, I never really lost my faith. I think we should begin our new family by going together. Do you think your minister will marry us?”
“Pastor Oakley has a son who’s gay, so he’s pretty open minded about it. The whole church is, really. I think you’ll like it there. It’s the First Christian Church of Reed, but we have all denominations in the congregation. We’ll have to do pre-marriage counseling, though. Church rules.”
“I don’t mind. It sounds nice actually, especially if it means having our marriage formally blessed. Which brings me to my second point: I’ve known gay couples who refer to each other as partners. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re partners now. When we say our vows, you’ll be my husband. I don’t care what the state says. We’ll be just as married as any other couple. You’ll be my husband, and that’s what I’m going to call you.”
“The first two demands sound pretty damn nice. Number three isn’t where you tell me you want a bachelor party with a male stripper, is it? You know how jealous I get.”
“No, but you may not like it.” He paused. “I want my brother to stand up for me.”
A few days ago, Bran might have fought him on that one. Instead, he said, “As long as you make him wear one of those puffy pink dresses with all the lace, I’m fine with it.”
Nate chuckled, then clutched his stomach. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“Let me call the nurse and get you some pain medicine.”
“No. I’m not done with you yet. We still have to go over numbers four and five before we seal the deal.”
“Okay. Let’s hear them.”
