Cultivating Love Read online

  Nobody complained about the non-traditional setup for their reception. They’d all been told to wear outdoor casual, comfortable clothes and to bring their appetites. Sawyer’s offered bottled craft sodas, iced tea, lemonade, and of course, beer. They provided a spring mix salad, fresh vegetables, fruit, and dip, and a carving station with turkey, brisket, and pork. There was bread, a mac and cheese bar, roasted corn on the cob, green beans, and smashed potatoes. If anyone walked away hungry, it wouldn’t be their fault.

  Everyone ooh’ed and aah’ed over the cake, a work of art created by Scott’s wife, Penny, who freelanced baking specialty items. “I feel kind of bad cutting into this,” Joe whispered as he placed his hand over Ed’s on the knife. The three layers were decorated to look like rustic barrels, each overflowing with brightly colored sunflowers.

  “Remember,” Ed said. “You promised.”

  “I wouldn’t anyway!” Joe managed to look affronted even though Ed had needed to practically wring the promise to behave as they fed each other their first bites of cake from his then-fiancé.

  Their eyes locked as Ed went first, feeding a piece of the marble cake to Joe. “Mmm, it’s as good as it looks.”

  Joe winked, but toed the line as he eased a small bite between Ed’s lips. They shared a sugary kiss to another round of cheers.

  Their first dance was to Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me,” because Ed had insisted on a slow song he could safely navigate without tripping, and because the words fit his feelings for Joe. He wanted little more from life than to have Joe stay with him. Forever. Traditional country music for the upbeat hoedown began afterward.

  * * * *

  Joe hadn’t expected the trail of rose petals leading to the bedroom. Eliza must have done that right before leaving, because there’d been a continual trail of people using the bathroom all evening, and everyone helping with the teardown had been in and out of the house for a good hour after the guests had left. The petals would have been trampled—not to mention seen—if they’d been placed any sooner.

  Joe felt it an incredibly romantic and thoughtful gesture, as well as the fancy scented bubble bath canister sitting on the sink in the bathroom. He smiled and placed the stopper into the oversized clawfoot tub, then turned on the faucet and poured a liberal amount of the lavender and sandalwood crystals into the running water.

  When he turned, he found Ed in the doorway. He no longer wore the vest, his shirt hung open revealing the dark hair covering his chest, and his feet were bare. “Ah-ha! I thought I heard water running in the tub.”

  “Did you?” Joe slipped his hands inside the open shirt and ran the palms over Ed’s torso with his fingers splayed. “Have I ever told you how much your body hair turns me on?”

  Ed’s pupils dilated, and his mouth dropped open, but Joe’s mouth landed on his before he could reply. He knew damned well the answer was “no,” anyway. He’d never mentioned how much the sight as well as feel of the thick patch of hair on Ed’s chest, trailing down his abs, and covering the man’s forearms and legs revved his libido.

  His hands cupped Ed’s face. He groaned as Ed wrapped his strong arms around him and pulled him in tightly. He’d have to be sure to tell Ed how sexy he found the added muscle in those biceps, too.

  He’d been doing a little self-analysis lately but still wasn’t entirely sure what had driven his avoidance of anything more than reaching that finish line in the manliest way possible when it came to sex. Probably something to do with the fallout with his dad. Who knew? If he’d learned anything these past few months, it was that people were complicated. Ed had been the same way—or maybe he’d just played along. Either way, it had enabled the perpetuation of their folly.

  Breaking the kiss, he nibbled his way along Ed’s jaw, then down his neck as his husband’s head fell back. He had the rest of their lives to make it up to Ed.

  THE END

  ABOUT ADDISON ALBRIGHT

  Addison Albright lives in the middle of the USA with three peculiar cats. Her stories are gay (sometimes erotic) romance, and tend to be sweet man-love in contemporary settings. Her education includes a BS in Education with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Chemistry. Addison loves spending time with her family, reading, popcorn, boating, french fries, “open window weather,” cats, math, and anything chocolate. She loves to read pretty much anything and everything, anytime and anywhere. For more information, visit authoraddisonalbright.com.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!