This week’s Rainbow Snippet comes from the box set of my collected Jason/Colby Character Bleed short stories – it’s called “Serendipities,” and it’ll be out from JMS Books June 8!
(In case you’re not familiar with #RainbowSnippets, each week, authors post six (or more, if you’re wordy like me!) lines from a story, wip, etc – sharing the delight! Come check out the Rainbow Snippets Facebook Group – new posts every weekend (depending on time zones). The weekly pinned post will collect comments from authors linking to their six-line Rainbow Snippet post for the week.)
This snippet is from the story “The Naming of Weather,” which is the wedding-planning story!
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Colby Kent, stretched out between sunshine and shade across cushions beside the backyard swimming pool, heard the purr of the classic Mustang as his future husband came home. He recognized the rumble—Jason’s stunt-driver expert trainer father had wanted an opinion about the handling, though Colby suspected his fiancé might be stealthily trying to discover what sort of car Colby himself might like as a gift—and so he did not jump, or drop his pen, at a noise and an approach.
Los Angeles sun, summer sun, traced his arm. A whisper of breeze ruffled leaves and citrus trees and landscaping, which was still in the process of filling itself out, because they’d only bought the house a few months ago. Everything was growing, though, light and bright as California skies.
Colby thought the trees and the lounge cushions and the blue water of the pool must be happy, being here. He hoped they were. The gold of it felt so bright in his own heart that it almost hurt, except that it didn’t, it couldn’t, it was wondrous.
He ran a hand through his hair, and picked up his pen again, and then touched the screen of his tablet, where he’d been looking up various film-producer-related tasks and also wedding centerpiece ideas involving antique leatherbound novels. He’d been idly drawing on the side, on an open notebook page: random calligraphy practice, stray letters and lines in various hands and styles, nothing focused, only keeping his fingers occupied. The sunlight slid along the bare sole of his right foot.
The garage hummed.
He counted steps in his head, not with any real accuracy. Jason coming in, through the garage door. Jason pausing to close the garage: another low hum. Jason kicking off shoes, looking across bookshelves and sofas to the wide-open glass doors—
Jason’s voice said, “Colby?”
“Out here!” Colby called back. “By the pool!”
“Not a surprise—” Jason came out onto the patio, framed by open sunny door-frames, and as ever filled up the whole world: a giant kindhearted shaggy brown oak tree, ready and willing to offer shelter to all, currently wearing loose gym shorts and a very old pale green athletic shirt. The shirt was, as usual, losing to the biceps underneath. The stitching on one sleeve was giving way.
Colby drank in the presence of him shamelessly, not bothering to get up. Jason Mirelli was thoroughly glorious, large and masculine and powerful and considerate all at once, and Colby wanted to lick him everyplace, in the sunshine.
Jason’s next step paused. Small, but noticeable. And then he came the rest of the way over, chased by the flirtatious breeze, and looked down at Colby. His eyebrows went up, a question.
“I did get a decent workout in,” Colby said, mostly for something to say. “I like that we have the pool now. And I knew you’d be a few hours. I’m more out of shape than I thought, though, I should’ve been able to manage more distance in that amount of time.”
Jason’s expression changed a fraction. “Did you eat something?”
“Did I…well, I meant to…”
Jason breathed out, not quite a sigh. One big hand touched Colby’s shoulder. “Babe…”
“I didn’t not eat on purpose,” Colby explained. “I was planning to, I just picked up my phone first and then I had to answer Laurie and then he asked me a question and then Jill needed an answer about finances and the timeline, and I know what you’re going to say about working out and energy, and I know you’re right, I’m not arguing—”
Jason sighed again, but with unshakeable affection. “Stay there.”
“Oh,” Colby said. “Yes.”
He watched Jason head back into the house. He watched Jason’s back, and the shape and bulk, and the movement of muscles. He wanted so much, just then, in a shivery radiant way.
K.L. Noone Writes 