Chapter Six

Ryan studied Santino’s face as he perused the many games Sci-Fi City had on offer. He’d been distracted on the drive to Orlando, and Ryan was nervous Santino already wished he were somewhere else. Of course, they were in Cassadaga on a job, and Santino kept pushing work off to go places with him. Maybe he was regretting it, but when Santino spotted the games, his dark eyes lit up.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many board games in one spot,” Santino said. “Do you play?”

“I rarely have time—well, okay, more like I rarely can find people who want to play these sorts of games. I usually end up playing online ones but these are fun.” Ryan ran his hand over one of the many variations of monopoly. “But pricey.”

Santino nodded. “I would like one of these, but when you travel as much as I do…”

“Sounds lonely sometimes,” Ryan said, wondering again if he should be considering Aspida at all. Could he do it? He wasn’t sure he had the temperament.

“Sometimes. But I love my work, which is why I’m willing to do this.” Santino picked up a geeky version of Clue and held onto it. “Going to buy this anyhow, for when I’m home.”

Ryan grinned. “Good choice. I like that game, but it’s one where the more the better, and Cassadaga is lacking in the more some days.”

“You think my traveling is lonely, but I think the same of a small town with no one to play with.”

Ryan pulled a long face with a slow shake of his head. “Sometimes it’s too quiet. I have some local friends, but often, I have to run all the way to Orlando to find people into the same things I’m into. And as you saw, it’s about a thirty-five-mile drive.”

“I guess that gets old sometimes, but at the same time it’s home.”

Ryan nodded. “Exactly. Hey, you don’t want to miss the geeky T-shirts.” He pointed to the rack hoping to save the mood as it was sinking fast.

Santino brightened and went to investigate. They both riffled through them, the game box set aside on the floor. Ryan pulled out a fun Thor shirt and held it up to himself.

“I think this might be perfect,” he said.

“It does look good on the model.” Santino smirked, and Ryan ducked his head as his cheeks heated up.

“You’re shameless.”

“My best quality.”

Ryan snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind, and I’ll get the shirt.”

“You definitely need it.”

“No argument.”

After dithering over action figures both of them decided they had no space for and gathering up the comics they wanted, they checked out. It was about then Ryan realized he should have planned this trip better. Just a few days ago, coming to the comic book store with a hot guy seemed like something out of a dream. Now that he actually had Santino here, he realized the long drive—while pleasant—should have had more than a short geeky shopping trip attached to it.

“You’re thinking hard,” Santino said as they stood next to the car with the doors wide open to vent its oven-like interior.

“I should have thought of other things for us to do once we got to Orlando,” Ryan admitted, making a face. “It’s a little early to go for dinner.”

“I’m easygoing,” Santino said, though Ryan considered if that were true. Santino hadn’t proven otherwise, but since he’d still not told Ryan the whole truth about himself, he had to wonder about how close to the vest Santino kept things. “I like spending time with you.”

Ryan ducked his head shyly, feeling the heat rise all the way to his scalp. “Thanks. Oh, I know! It’s pretty, and it’s free, if you like nature and flowers,” he blurted out. Santino had liked the woods surrounding Cassadaga, so Ryan held out hope he hadn’t been humoring him.

“I do. What do you have in mind?”

“Leu Gardens. They’re close by, and while we can’t get into the museum, which is a shame, we can tour the gardens. That’ll make for a nice walk, and we can eat after.”

“Sure, sounds fun.” Santino slipped inside the car. “Why can’t we go to the museum?”

Ryan slid behind the driver’s wheel. “It was badly damaged by a hurricane, and they’re still repairing it.”

“Wow. Yeah, honestly, I can say I’m glad I don’t need to deal with hurricanes.”

“We don’t normally get much damage in Cassadaga, but I won’t lie. They’re scary.”

“I’m sure. I’ll take ghosts over Mother Nature any day.” Santino chuckled.

“Can’t blame you there.”

As Ryan drove, Santino related a story about ghost hunting in Newport, Rhode Island, which sounded like a fun trip. Again, he was a little jealous he hadn’t traveled nearly as much as Santino, but maybe the future held something different for him.

The gardens were their usual semicrowded self, but Ryan never failed to love them.

He took Santino through the tropical stream garden to see the wide, expansive banana trees. They sauntered slowly as they took in the well-tended “jungle.” Neither of them spoke much at first, soaking up the atmosphere. Santino pulled out his phone to capture the brilliance of a thick patch of colorful bird of paradise plants. He stepped backward on the wide path, right into a vine. He jumped, making Ryan chuckle.

“It’s just a vining palm.”

“Hey, I’ve seen those giant banana spider webs you have around here. This would be ideal for them.” Santino pouted at him.

Ryan maneuvered Santino deeper into the vines and pulled out his own camera. “Smile. And I think they might remove any webs from the walkway areas. Is the big bad monster chaser afraid of little spiders?”

“Yes, and those spiders are the size of tennis balls, I swear.”

Ryan laughed harder, herding Santino along. He wanted to take his hand, but his sweated so much it would more likely be gross rather than romantic.

“Do I hear the stream this part of the garden is named for?” Santino cocked his head to the side.

“You do. There’s a pretty bridge around the next bend, I think.”

“Cool.” Santino paused to take a picture of a violently orange bromeliad, and he inspected the dense bamboo thicket. “I didn’t know bamboo got so big around. Now I can see why they’re touting it as a sustainable crop for so many things.”

“It definitely grows fast but out of control down here, but you’re right—it has its uses.”

They followed the path and the sounds of the burbling stream to the bridge. No one was around, so Santino stopped midway across, beckoning to Ryan. He looped his arm over Ryan’s shoulders and held the camera out.

“Part of me really hates selfies and the other part of me sees something as beautiful as this—” He gestured to the expanse of green hanging over them, the stream bubbling along under them. “—and I have to have a picture.”

“Me, too, so send it to me.” Ryan tucked in tight with Santino beaming brightly.

A few pictures and one stolen kiss later, they ducked back into the path’s shade. Ryan nearly collided with Santino when he pulled up short, surveying a strange tree with “trunks” jutting down from its massive spreading branches. His full lips parted slightly as he studied the odd sight.

“What is that?”

“A Banyan tree. I think they’re from India. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah.” Santino snapped another picture.

Continuing on, the path led them to a wooden overlook and the small lake beyond. In the distance, Orlando loomed into view. Ryan took the selfies against the water this time, tall bald cypresses waving in the breeze, and then pointed to the gazebo, which only had a single elderly couple watching the water from the shade.

“Lake Rowena is nice, but a cool sit-down would be good right about now,” he said.

Santino didn’t need to be told twice. He beelined for the gazebo and took a bench farthest from the other couple. Ryan sat next to him.

“I noticed you picked up a couple vintage Hellblazer comics today,” Ryan said as they relaxed.

“As much as I liked superheroes, DC’s Vertigo line with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and Moore, Ridgway, and Bissette’s Hellblazer were something special—thought provoking.”

“Absolutely. I love them too. I have the entire original runs of both.”

Santino smiled like the Cheshire cat. “Fantastic. I did like the short-lived TV show for John, and I’m glad Constantine is on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.”

Ryan nodded. “It’s a good time to be a geek.”

He snorted. “True.”

Ryan rested against Santino’s shoulder. “I am so happy to have someone to talk geek crap with. I started playing D&D online, but it’s not quite the same.”

“I imagine not. I wish I had time for that, but I’m often all over the place. It’s not conducive to gaming with groups.”

“It eats into my writing time, so sometimes I wonder if I should.” Ryan rolled his shoulder. “But since it’s a stress reliever, I allow myself that the luxury.”

“We need those. I used to play Magic the Gathering for that in college.”

“Nice. I miss that game too.”

“You’d have liked how we played it.”

Ryan cocked up his eyebrows. “Oh?”

Santino smirked. “We played strip Magic.”

Ryan laughed loud enough to get the attention of the other couple. He tried to smother it with a hand. “Oh my god, I wasn’t expecting that. How does that even work?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Oh, but I do.” Ryan patted Santino’s knee.

“If I had a deck, I could show you.”

“I’ll root through my storage unit if I have to,” Ryan promised, and Santino chuckled.

“This could be fun. Okay, shall we see more of these lovely gardens or do you want to race home and attack your storage unit?”

“Storage unit. But we’re here, and we should enjoy it first.” Ryan stood, held out a hand to Santino, and hauled him up since he appeared a bit wrung out from the humidity.

“Where to now?”

“Follow me. I wish we could see the camellia garden. Well, we could go to the garden, but they’re not in bloom right now. It’s glorious when they are. You might like the color garden.”

They wandered slowly past the myriad of annuals and perennial flowers. When it opened into the expansive rose garden, Santino grinned, his aura flaring as bright and beautiful as the flowers around him.

“This is amazing!”

“Mary Leu, she and her husband started all of this, loved roses, and this is the biggest formal rose garden in Florida. We’re lucky to have it,” Ryan said as Santino read one of the informational plaques.

“My grandmother would love this.” Santino caressed the soft pink blossom, sending up a plume of sweet scent. “Think about it, a rootstock going back to the time of the Civil War? You don’t find old roses like this just anywhere.” He moved on to a whiskey-yellow rose, taking a deep breath in.

“I’d love to have a garden someday. Nothing like this, but still.”

Santino chuckled. “Can you imagine the work this takes?”

“I’d rather not.”

Santino tugged him into another picture in front of the rose garden’s fountain. Ryan usually felt shy about photos, but Santino made it less daunting somehow. He needed to get each and every one of these from Santino when they returned home.

Ryan led the way to the butterfly garden, where they lingered. Kids chased after the butterflies, their parents calling for them not to grab them. Butterflies flitted like stained glass on the wind, diving and whirling about the patrons. They drank sugar from the bits of fruit and water set out for them. Some settled on blooms while others dive-bombed excited children. Ryan captured a picture of Santino with a big swallowtail perched on his head.

Ryan smiled. “I’m betting Cam will love this one.”

“Don’t you dare!” Santino stabbed a finger at him, making the butterfly take flight. “She’ll laugh. She’ll send it to our boss, and she’ll laugh.”

“Oh, in that case, you better offer up something to keep my finger off the Send button.” Ryan smirked.

Santino grabbed his wrist, hauling him close. “I have a few things to offer,” he replied, his voice husky.

“Good,” Ryan murmured, taking a reluctant step back. They were far from alone in the butterfly garden, and he was always apprehensive about being too openly affectionate here in the Deep South, even though Orlando would be a more accepting area than most. The Parliament House and the Gardens stood as proof, but Ryan was a worrier, not to mention naturally shy. “You can prove that tonight.”

“I will.” Santino’s answering grin was downright feral, making Ryan a little weak in the knees.

“Until then, let’s keep exploring,” Ryan said, trying for distraction before he embarrassed himself in public. “You, with your love of cooking, will enjoy the herb garden.”

“Right up my alley,” Santino replied, letting him change the topic.

Grateful, Ryan brushed his hand over Santino’s wrist and took him on a search for the highly fragrant herbs.

*

“I had a great time,” Santino said as Ryan pulled into the drive of Santino’s home.

Ryan remembered when the big house had been white. As much as he liked color, he preferred it in white to its current blue.

“I really liked Sci-Fi City.” Santino’s smile rivaled the Florida sun in brightness. “And the gardens.”

“Good. I’m glad. It’s fun to have someone along who enjoys going to geeky places.”

Santino nodded, leaning over the center console to kiss Ryan. Ryan cupped the back of Santino’s head to deepen the kiss. The modern Civic wasn’t made for making out, too tight, too awkward. Ryan let Santino go reluctantly.

“The gear shift is digging into me, and I think your partner is watching us.” Ryan pointed to doorway where Cam was waving.

Santino pulled out his phone. “Damn, this went dead. Bet something is going sideways with work. I didn’t want this to end so soon. I was going to invite you in.”

“I’m literally a five-minute walk down the street. If it’s not work, come over,” Ryan said, hoping it wasn’t work related. It would be nice to spend more time in a private setting. His voice caught a little with the invitation.

Santino’s face brightened again. “I will. To make it up to you, I’ll make dinner at my place. Give me a day or two to get it ready.”

Ryan couldn’t remember the last time someone cooked him a meal. Santino’s aura flicked with his excitement, and Ryan’s danced to match it. “The grand Italian tour?”

Santino stole another quick kiss. He opened the car door and grabbed his comic book bag and a takeout dinner he’d brought Cam. “You bet.”

“Sounds perfect.”

And damned if it didn’t. Santino jogged up to the house and disappeared inside. Ryan drove home disappointed the night had ended far too early.