Ben and Ryan and the rest of Salvation put Mandeville and all unpleasantness behind them as they head out on their first road trip! Everyone is in high spirits, including Abby. A chance sighting of a billboard near Baton Rouge initiates a conversation about Ryan's late father. See how the boys are doing in this chapter of In Pieces. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them! Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
In Pieces #54 (13.2)
Heading north out of Mandeville, they stopped at a gas
station/convenience store on the outskirts of town in order to fill the tanks
for the trip to Lake Charles. Ryan was glad their route didn’t take them across
Lake Pontchartrain for a change, although he felt as though he was starting to
get used to the long bridge. Of course, a lot of that had to do with Ben’s
presence.
After pumping gas,
they went inside and bought breakfast sandwiches and hot coffee, as well as
bags of chips and pretzels and sweet treats for later, dividing them between
the two vehicles. Deacon was in charge of driving the van, as usual. While it
wasn’t equipped with GPS, Keanu’s phone was, and he was happy to play navigator
for his lover. Ben decided the sedan would follow behind the van. That way, in
case of trouble, they’d be in a better position to help, seeing as the van was
the older of the two vehicles.
Ryan was happy to see Abby showed no ill effects from the
night before and actually seemed to be her usual happy self. She took great
delight in teasing Aiden about the shorts he was wearing, telling him they
belonged on a school boy and not a grown ass man, and he retaliated in kind,
asking if she thought she was Daisy Dukes.
Ryan thought Abby was prettier than Daisy Dukes, to be honest, and since
she had the legs to carry off short shorts, why not? Everyone was casually
dressed, a far cry from their stage personas. That only made sense in a state
like Louisiana, that was more often than not humid, especially in the summer. Ben had even persuaded Ryan to follow suit. He
felt self-conscious at first about his legs, which he thought were too thin and
far too pale. But Ben quickly put him at his ease, telling him they were sexy
and anybody could have a tan, and he soon forgot about anything except this
road trip, and being with Ben.
Ryan had left his laptop with the rest of their luggage, in
the trunk, but he’d thought to bring his notebook and a pen, in case he wanted
to take notes on the drive. When Ben saw the notebook, he immediately removed
it from Ryan’s hand and set it behind them. “Maybe later,” he said, snuggling
close to Ryan, claiming his hand with a grin. Ryan certainly wasn’t about to
argue. Whatever Ben wanted, he could have.
Ben rubbed his face against Ryan’s arm, purring like a
contented kitten. “We have time for that later,” he said. “Right now is you and
me time.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Me too,” Abby chimed in with a grin. “Let us know if you
want us to go for a walk or something.” She winked at them broadly, and they
had to laugh. Ryan heard Aiden snort his laughter.
Undeterred, Ben replied, “We’ll let you know.” He nuzzled
Ryan without hesitation, as if they were truly alone in their own little world.
Baton Rouge was the first big city on their route from
Mandeville. As they drew closer, Ryan spotted a billboard on the side of the
highway, that had a picture of a naval destroyer. USS Kidd, the legend read. Located
in beautiful downtown Baton Rouge. Come visit history!
“Dad was in the Navy,” Ryan blurted out the first thing that
came to his mind.
“I didn’t know that.” Ben had been lying with his head in
Ryan’s lap, while Ryan stroked his hair. He pivoted his position in order to
look up into Ryan’s eyes. “What made you think of that?”
“Oh, a billboard we passed, that’s all.” Ryan was sometimes
hesitant to bring up Dad around Ben. He knew Ben had loved him, and he was sure
their separation had to be painful for him. Coupled with his inability to even
come to Dad’s funeral. “USS Kidd. It’s
moored in Baton Rouge, apparently.”
Ben didn’t say anything immediately, and Ryan wanted to kick
himself. He needed to edit his words a little better in future. But before he
could make any sort of amends, Ben spoke first.
“You know we’re playing Baton Rouge on the way back, don’t
you?”
“We are?”
“Yeah. Want to visit the ship when we do? I mean, even if
Dad didn’t serve on that particular ship, it could be interesting, don’t you
think? Something to remind us of him?”
Ryan was touched by Ben’s words. “I-I hope it doesn’t bother
you when I mention Dad,” he said. “I know you must miss him as much as I do.
Maybe more. I mean, I got to see him, up until… when he… “ He didn’t want to
say the word all of a sudden. Dad’s death was still too fresh. He might know
intellectually that his father was gone, but in his heart, sometimes it seemed
as though he was just a phone call away.
“Not at all,” Ben assured him. He sat up until he was
sitting in Ryan’s lap. Ryan was pretty sure that was illegal, but he wasn’t
about to say anything and ruin the moment. He could see that Ben’s eyes were
wet, even as he felt a tear fall down his own cheek.
Ben used his thumb to brush away Ryan’s tear, then kissed
him softly. “He was a good man. I’d love to hear more about him, when you’re
ready to tell me.”
“I’d like that,” Ryan said, returning the kiss. It was on
the tip of his tongue to ask about Ben’s mother, it almost made sense since
they were discussing the past, but the words refused to form. Even now, he
didn’t want to think about her. Maybe Ben would bring her up. But he didn’t,
and the moment passed.
to be continued
Now go see what the other Briefers are up to!
.
No comments:
Post a Comment