Gage hugged him and said, “Thanks for being so understanding, Jase. It means a lot to me.”
Luis walked up and put his arms around his twin brother. He kissed him gently on the cheek and said, “Do you need any money to get back to Brooklyn?”
Gage smiled. “No. I’m fine. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Good,” Luis said. “Call my cell. I have a shoot in the morning in Central Park. But I’m free after one o’clock. Maybe we can meet for a late lunch at the hospital tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Gage said. “I’ll be there most of the day.”
When he was gone and Hunter and Camp were upstairs, Jase walked up behind Luis and said, “I’m still a little shocked at how much you both look alike. It’s almost creepy.” They were in the kitchen. Luis had just cleared the dishes and he was stacking the dishwasher.
“That’s always been the main problem,” Luis said. “We look alike, but we’re complete opposites. You heard Gage. He loves fishing and hunting and playing baseball. I’d rather be reading a good book, running in the park, or strolling through a museum.”
Jase kissed the back of his neck. “I’m glad I got the one who likes to read good books,” he said. “I like my guys soft and sweet.”
“Do you really?” Luis said. “I was kind of wondering about what happened between you and Gage this past weekend. I know nothing sexual happened. But I was wondering what went through your mind when Gage kept turning you down.”
“Are you kidding?” Jase asked. He lowered his hand and slipped them down the back of Luis’s pants. “I thought you’d lost your mind. I was totally freaked out and I was going to insist you see a doctor this week.”
“I’m sorry I put you through that,” Luis said. “But I had to do it. I thought all weekend about calling you and warning you. But I knew you wouldn’t have gone along with the plan, let things play out. It was the only way to really know whether or not I could trust my brother for sure. I hope I can make it up to you someday.”
Jase still didn’t understand this part completely. But he didn’t want to drag it out. He knew Luis was being sincere and he knew Luis trusted his brother in spite of the circumstances. He reached down and squeezed Luis’s ass hard. “Oh, I’ll think of a few ways for you to make it up, Luis. One of those ways might include a long weekend in an electric motor home with all the luxuries of home.”
Luis laughed. “I knew that was coming. You’re an evil man, Jase Nicholas.”
“Seriously. Would it really be so bad to leave Gage with Hunter for a few days? I can tell you firsthand Gage got along very well with Hunter his past weekend. They love each other. And we never get a chance to just get away all by ourselves.”
“I’ll think about it,” Luis said. “It might not be a bad idea. But you have to promise me one thing in return.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m really missing Alaska for some reason,” he said. “We need to plan a trip there.”
“I’ve been missing home, too,” he said. “We’ll set a date and make plans. I’ve been thinking about building my dream house there.”
“You have?”
Jase nodded. “It’s always been my dream to have a house on the water. And my father has been offering me the property next to his for years now. Would you be open to building a house up there? We couldn’t live there permanently until Hunter is much older, but we can spend time there.”
Luis practically fell into his arms. “I can’t think of anything I’d love more than that.”
* * * *
When Luis finally agreed to spend a long weekend with Jase in an electric motor home, he only had one stipulation: they had to be in a campground where there was an Internet connection because he was working on a blogging event with Elena from Elena’s Romantic Treasures and Tidbits, and he couldn’t put it off. The event was an international contest that included everything from best lgbt books to the most artistic book covers and the artists who created them. Elena had named the Internet event The Over the Rainbow Awards. Although Elena did most of the work on her own blog, Jase knew how much Luis loved Elena’s blog, with all the romantic gay novels and artistic photos of nude and semi-nude men, and Jase knew how hard Luis had worked on the blog as a contributor. And he was completely devoted to Elena and the concept of promoting positive, enlightening images of the international lgbt community Elena had been building for a long time. The blog was Luis’s main hobby, and the one place Luis always said he could go and feel wonderful whenever he was upset or depressed about something. Jase didn’t want to take that away from Luis, especially now when Luis was helping Elena with an important event.
So Jase found a gay campsite in California that had Internet service, a place surrounded by redwoods in Russian River wine country, not far from the ocean. Then he arranged to pick up one of the electric motor homes near the airport in San Francisco so he could test drive it himself. The company that designed and built these electric motor homes was based on the West Coast and traveling to California was the only way to actually test one out. Jase knew the company needed serious investors, but he wasn’t willing to commit unless he liked and trusted the motor home himself.
Gage took the weekend off from the male strip club he worked in downtown so he could spend the long weekend with Hunter at the house on 95th Street. Daksha, Gage’s new boyfriend, was out of the hospital by then, but he’d just landed a small part in a Broadway play and he was busy rehearsing all weekend. When Gage arrived at the door with his suitcase on Friday night, Jase had just set his suitcase on the floor in the front hall beside Luis’s. The cab that was taking them to the airport had arrived with Gage, and the driver was outside honking the horn.
Jase waved to the driver and said, “We’ll be right out. Turn on the meter. It’s okay.” Then he turned and yelled up the stairs, “Luis, the taxi is here. We have to leave.” Jase had booked a commercial flight. He hated using the company jet and wasting both money and energy on just two people. He’d always frowned on politicians who did this, and he didn’t want to be like them. But he was starting to have second thoughts now. Luis tended to be late, and he despised flying so much he often clenched the arms of his seat most of the way to his destination. If Jase had taken his own small jet, they wouldn’t have been pressed for time.