The Grave Between Us by Tal Bauer

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sun-baked ocean windscrackled over the white sand that slid smooth as milk between their toes. Golden light spilled down on the three of them, scattering shadows and burning away any shade. Cole squeezed Noah’s hands as the waves broke and delicate seafoam splashed around their ankles.

Noah never thought he’d get married in shorts, but here he was. Cole had picked their bright tropical shirts. Katie wore a white sundress and had a hibiscus flower in her braid, and a smile that stretched from ear to ear. There wasn’t much for them to plan, but one thing Cole had insisted on, when they made the reservation, was an arch of white roses on the beach for the ceremony. Katie had squealed when she saw it, and Cole grinned, and Noah fell in love with him all over again.

The resort specialized in destination weddings, and they had an on-site officiant who could marry couples on the beach. Noah had looked at the photos of white sand, turquoise water, and sun-drenched happiness, and certainty had filled him. That’s where we’re going to get married, he’d thought. Right there. In all that light.

He, Cole, and Katie were on a plane to Cancún less than forty-eight hours after he’d shown Cole the website.

The officiant, a middle-aged Hispanic woman in a brilliantly colored muumuu, read their vows. The waves rumbled behind her. She smiled at them, and her curly auburn hair brushed her cheeks, waving on the wind. “Do you, Noah Downing, take Cole Kennedy to be your husband, to have and to hold, to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

He gazed into Cole’s eyes. Held his hands. Watched the sunlight shine in his lover’s gaze, watched waves of love roll in and in and in. Here he was, on the edge of forever. The first time he’d made these promises, he’d been terrified, a little queasy, uncertain what it all meant. How deep those vows extended. How far he’d go for the one he loved.

Now he knew. Now he was certain. He knew what forever meant, and he knew who he wanted to spend it with.

“I do,” he said.

“And do you, Cole Kennedy, take Noah Downing to be your husband, to have and to hold, to love and cherish from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Cole said, almost before she’d finished speaking. “God, I do. I do, I do.”

Noah grinned. Katie laughed, the sound like rays of light turned to joy.

“Congratulations,” the officiant said, smiling again. “It’s my privilege to pronounce you married. Please, begin your marriage with a loving kiss.”

Noah leaned in, his hands rising to cup Cole’s cheeks. Cole wrapped his arms around Noah’s waist and pulled him close, beaming, smiling bigger than Noah had ever seen him smile before. His own cheeks ached.

The world was a wash of waves and sunlight, nothing but Cole and his smile, and Katie’s happy laugh, and the warmth that burst out of his own heart. His lips brushed against Cole’s, both of them smiling too wide to really kiss. He laughed and kissed Cole again, and then again, finally deepening the kiss as his arms looped around Cole’s neck.

Scattered applause rose, beachgoers and onlookers who had stopped and watched, respectfully quiet, as they promised their lives and their hearts to each other. Katie grabbed their hands and tried to hug them both at once, jumping up and down on the sand. She was laughing, she was crying, she was kissing their cheeks, hiding her face against first Cole’s and then Noah’s neck. They wrapped her in their arms and held on, rocking her between them, their foreheads together over her head, hands laced in a circle that never ended.

The resort had bonfires and dancing on the beach every evening, and they turned the party into their personal wedding reception for three. Noah and Cole danced together, everything from silly swing dances on the sand to slow serenades pressed cheek to cheek. Katie danced with each of them, goofy dances that made her shriek with laughter or groan and turn away from Noah, and slow dances, where Noah had flashes of the future and dancing with her at her own wedding. Cole, too, danced with her, kissing the top of her head while she clung to him as if she was afraid to let go, like the moment would vanish like a popped dream. Noah danced with Cole until the band packed up, and then Katie turned on her phone to stream more music, and they danced in the moonlight as waves tickled their feet. He never wanted the night to end.

They spent three days on the beach, snorkeling in the reefs and swimming in the shallows. Noah took Katie parasailing, and Cole got a video of Katie screaming her way from one end of the beach to the other. Cole took her jet skiing and nearly flung her into the ocean when he took a turn too sharply and she wasn’t holding on as tightly as she should have been. They giggled their way back to the shore, breathless and beaming.

He and Cole lazed in the sunshine, holding hands as they lounged on chaises they dragged into the surf. Waves rolled against them, breaking over their clasped hands. Katie went back and forth between the water and the sand. She snorkeled on her own the second afternoon, while Noah and Cole were sharing a towel, cuddling on the beach with their arms and legs entwined.

“Dad!” Katie cried. Pure excitement filled her voice. “Dad! Dad!”

Cole nosed Noah’s cheek, smiling. “You’re being summoned.”

“You know, she isn’t just calling me when she says Dad,” Noah said. He kissed Cole back, smiling at Cole’s wide eyes. “You can answer the dad call, too.”

Cole gnawed on his lip, but he pushed himself up and into the surf, diving in and swimming out to Katie. She was bobbing in the waves, nearly bursting to show them what she’d found, and she passed Cole her goggles as she pointed beneath the waves. Cole dove down, and they spent the next half hour ogling whatever she had found on the ocean floor. Never once did she call for Noah to join them. She was content with Cole, one of her fathers, and Noah was content to watch them both together.

Later, when Cole came out of the ocean, the salt of the waves mingled with the tears he cried silently against Noah’s shoulder. He hid his face from Katie, but he squeezed Noah’s hand so hard Noah lost feeling in his fingertips.

Katie had her own hotel room, and though they spent every moment of their days together, the nights belonged to Noah and Cole. They made love on every surface of their room, from the king bed to the lounges on the balcony, from the walk-in rain shower to the Jacuzzi tub. Noah had hickeys on his chest and his shoulder, and Cole had nail marks going down his back and eight half-moon indents in the skin over his ass from Noah’s fingers digging in as Cole made him come so hard he screamed.

In that room, for the first time, he moved into Cole the way Cole had moved into him so many times, balancing on his elbows as he stared into Cole’s eyes. It was slow and tender, long kisses mixed with languid rocks of his hips. Cole wrapped a leg around Noah’s waist and sank a hand in Noah’s hair, and they traded oxygen between their kisses like they were keeping each other alive. Noah’s orgasm took him by surprise, and he spilled inside Cole with a groan. Cole followed him over the edge, stroking his cock and shivering apart around Noah, kissing him as he came.

They stayed like that until their bodies separated, then tilted to the side, still pressed as close as they could get, arms wound around heads and shoulders, hands threaded together. They watched the sunrise as a reflection in each other’s eyes, kissing away the night and the last shadows lingering in the corners of their life.