Page 36 of Persuaded

“Yeah.” Sean’s voice softened and when Joshua looked back at him his eyes were suspiciously bright, his smile wobbly. “Yeah, and it’s beautiful to see.” And then he hugged Joshua hard, thumping him on the back.

Joshua had to surreptitiously swipe at his eyes as they parted. Loving Finn, being loved by Finn, felt like his soul had found its way home—but loving Finn’s family, being loved by Finn’s family, was a joy he’d never anticipated. It made him feel like he’d won the lottery of life.

“Okay!” Finn turned to him from the other side of the room and held out his hand. “Let’s hit the road, Josh.”

Dramatic, since they were only walking back to Joshua’s house to let the movers in, but he went with it—Finn was fond of dramatic gestures and Joshua was fond of Finn.

So he took his hand with a smile, surprised when Finn led him toward the front door instead of back, out across the gardens. “Wait, where are we going?”

“I thought we’d take my car.”

“But your car’s in—” He stopped when he realized the front door stood open, Dee and her girls loitering outside, grinning back at him.

If Finn hadn’t spent weeks planning their road trip in minute detail, Joshua might have expected to see a limo waiting to whisk them off to JFK.

But he knew Finn wanted to drive, that the journey itself was meaningful to them both, so he glanced over at Finn in confusion.

“Come and see,” Finn said, squeezing his hand as they stepped outside. And there, parked off to the right and sparkling in the morning sun, sat a vintage Mustang convertible.

The vintage Mustang convertible. The one they’d driven that long-ago summer, the one they’d borrowed the day they first kissed, the one they’d made love in under the stars.

“You’re kidding,” Joshua said, laughing. “You bought it?”

“I want to do this right, Josh. I want it to be perfect.”

“It will be,” he said, smiling into Finn’s sparkling eyes. “It already is.”

With a laugh, Finn swooped in for a quick, startling kiss.

They’d never kissed in public before and it made Joshua’s heart soar in delight.

Ali hooted gleefully while Finn went charmingly pink.

And suddenly all Joshua wanted to do was drive, streak down the golden highway Finn had once seen stretching out into their future—just the two of them together, burning through the world so fast it couldn’t touch them.

* * *

Turned out, cruising across the country in a ’65 Mustang with the love of your life by your side was as close to heaven as it got this side of paradise.

They had two weeks on the road, the longest time they’d spent in each other’s company since the summer they’d fallen in love, and Finn was enjoying every damn second.

Between his schedule and Josh’s commitments in New Milton, they’d only snatched a handful of weekends together since their miraculous reunion back in January and they both needed this trip.

Hell, Finn had been aching for Josh every hour they were apart, and starting this new chapter of their lives at last—at fucking last —was a relief he felt in his bones. An actual, physical relief.

Today they were halfway between Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Rockies.

Finn drove—he did most of the driving because Josh was, frankly, a terrible driver—and the road was straight, empty of everything bar the occasional truck.

The mountains were only a blur on the horizon, crouching low under a bank of heavy cloud, but the sky above them was a pristine blue.

Finn’s arm stretched along the seat back and Josh’s head lolled against it where he dozed.

Even that made Finn’s stomach tighten happily and he had to fight the urge to take his eyes off the road and just gaze at him.

He contented himself with curling his arm around Josh’s shoulders, letting his thumb brush the faint stubble on his jaw, and thinking about where to stop for lunch.

Neither of them had wanted to rush the trip, so they were taking their time—spending it with each other, talking, laughing, singing along to the radio or riding in silence with their hands linked together and the wind in their hair.

Being with Josh was enough for Finn, driving this road with him like they’d planned all those years ago made him feel like he was finally getting his life on the right track.

Josh would be living with him when they got to LA, which would be awesome, but Finn wanted them to buy their own place soon—somewhere they’d chosen together.

Maybe not in LA, maybe somewhere farther up the coast. Some place quieter.

Neither of them really knew where their careers were going now, but it didn’t matter.

They were together and Finn didn’t care about anything else.

At his side, Josh stirred and Finn grazed his knuckles over his jaw. “Hey,” he said. “Good morning.”

“Ugh.” Josh sat up straighter, rubbing at his eyes under his sunglasses. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s okay, sleep if you’re tired. I don’t mind driving.” Truth was, he loved driving.

“Where are we?” Josh said, stretching his arms over his head to unkink his back. And fuck, but Finn loved the way he moved, that lean arch of his spine. He loved it so much he almost veered into the other lane.

“Eyes on the road!” Joshua yelped, laughing as Finn swerved the car back across the central line. “And you say I’m a crappy driver.”

“I’ve never said that.”

“No? Well, you say it with your eyes.”

Finn suspected that his eyes, currently hiding behind his sunglasses, were saying something very different right now. “It’s not my fault you’re so hot.”

“It’s not my fault you’re so insatiable.”

“Hey, it wasn’t me doing unmentionable things in the shower this morning.”

Josh grinned, putting his feet up on the dash. “I’m pretty sure you were there too.”

“Yeah, well, you started it.”

But Finn had finished it. Oh, how he’d finished it, with Josh’s hands braced on the shower wall, head thrown forward and spine flexing as water ran between his shoulder blades, Finn fucking him easy and tender, one arm wrapped around his waist and their hips moving in slow, synchronous rolls.

Fuck, he was getting hard just thinking about it. Josh’s hand sliding across his thigh didn’t help matters. “Yeah,” Finn snorted, “ I’m the insatiable one.”

They ate lunch at a bar in a place called Brady, which had great food for a town that was nothing but a speck on the map, and took care to keep their hands to themselves just in case.

Although Finn doubted any red-blooded homophobe would mistake the heated smiles they shared over their remarkably good burgers, or the way Finn’s eyes lingered on Josh’s slender hips when he headed out to the car while Finn settled up.

Like a dazzled teenager, Finn couldn’t keep his eyes off Josh. He couldn’t stop smiling either.

Storm clouds welcomed them into Denver, brooding over the city and the gay-friendly inn Finn had booked.

The wind picked up while they unloaded the car, and on their way back from dinner the heavens opened with a thunderclap.

Laughing, they ran through the rain, but outside the inn Josh stopped and flung his arms wide, face tipped to the nighttime sky. “God, I love the rain!”

Finn’s heart lurched, swamped by memories of another rainstorm half a continent and a half lifetime away.

He’d been a kid then, just coming to understand his feelings, but he was a man now and he knew exactly what he wanted— who he wanted.

Taking Josh’s face in his hands he gazed into his lovely eyes, watched the tiny raindrops sparkling on his lashes.

“I love you,” he said. “I love you , Josh.” And he wanted to shout it to the world, wanted everyone to know.

Heart thumping with a new, unrestrained joy Finn leaned in and kissed him, right there in the street for the world to see.

Josh tasted of rainwater and the beer they’d been drinking, his lips cool and mouth hot as they kissed and kissed until they were soaked to the skin.

When a passing truck honked, Josh pulled back with a rueful smile. “Maybe we should go inside.”

They stripped, laughing, out of their wet clothes as soon as their bedroom door closed behind them and fell into each other’s arms on the bed’s crisp white sheets.

But then they slowed, Finn propping himself up on one elbow to gaze down into Josh’s face, overwhelmed by a flood of tenderness.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” he said, stroking damp hair back from Josh’s face.

Josh lifted an eyebrow. “Among the bright lights of Denver?”

“You know what I mean.”

His eyes softened. “Yeah, I know.” He reached up to touch Finn’s face, running his thumb over his lips. “I can’t tell you how happy I am, Finn. How happy you make me. I don’t have the words.”

And because Finn didn’t have the words either, he leaned down and pressed their lips together in a deep, languorous kiss. No need to hurry when they weren’t counting the hours until they parted, no need to hurry when their time together stretched out into the boundless future.

Josh was still sensitive from the morning’s tryst in the shower, so he happily let Finn take him apart with his mouth, his lips, his tongue.

Stretched out on the bed, eyes closed, Josh was all feline grace and soft gasps, and it didn’t take long for him to climax with a wordless cry, fingers knotting in Finn’s hair and back arching off the bed.

Then, with hooded eyes, he pulled Finn up into his arms and kissed him thoroughly as they tangled together, whispering Finn’s name into his skin like a prayer.

Finn came like that, in Josh’s arms, with swift and unexpected force, muffling his shuddering groan against Josh’s shoulder, their slick and sweaty bodies entwined, hearts hammering.