EPILOGUE
Two Years Later
ASE peeked through the lens of his camera, smiling as he tightened the focus. Jase hadn’t even realized Ase had hung back, yet. Too busy basking in the sun and the view, Jase had continued walking, chatting happily with an elderly Korean woman he’d met on the bus.
Ase snapped several candids of Jase as he realized Ase hadn’t followed, turning with a smile on his face, running his fingers through his hair. The golden autumn sun made Jase glow. But to Ase, Jase always glowed.
Jase rolled his eyes, making Ase chuckle and jog to catch up with him.
“Stalking again, Mister?”
“I think it turns you on,” Ase said, smirking as he let his camera fall to his chest, held by his neck strap.
Jase’s lopsided grin was fucking corny and Ase couldn’t help an embarrassed chuckle. “You gotta stop looking at me like that.”
“What? I can’t help it.” Jase reached up and put a hand on Ase’s face, sliding it down to tug gently on Ase’s beard. “Aside from the beard, it was like déjà vu. You looked just like the first time I saw you.” Jase moved into Ase’s personal space. “Except there’s no unhappy ending to this day.” Jase waggled his brows.
Ase groaned. Only this groan was because his dick got hard, his body heating up. “Why do you do this when we’re in public?”
Jase laughed, open and with such contentment. It was such a nice, nice feeling. “You still have some juice left after this morning? And last night?”
Shrugging, Ase averted his attention to the beautiful castle in the distance, trying his damnedest to think of the little old lady they’d been talking to and the history of the castle. Because he most definitely had some juice left for Jase. “It’s like I can’t get enough, you evil little gringo.”
Jase huffed a laugh, ran a hand down Ase’s chest, then turned to join the tour group headed toward Neuschwanstein Castle. And if Ase wasn’t mistaken, the bastard put a little extra bounce in his step to make that ass…
Jase peeked over his shoulder and Ase knew he was right, flirty little shit. He laughed and trudged on to follow his man.
He was in awe, not of the castle—which was as beautiful as he remembered—but that he was here. He was here with Jase all these years later and it didn’t matter if his brother himself was standing across the majestic lawn watching.
Not that Mateo would be there. Ase didn’t have a clue what his family was doing or how they’d fared. He’d not spoken to any of them again. Even the memories of his last encounters with him weren’t enough to ruin his mood, though. Not that day.
It’d taken another year of therapy and of figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, since it was finally his decision alone to make, to get to where he was. Where he was was fucking happy, in love, content. He still strutted his ass off in heels on the weekends, bartending at the same restaurant with his friends, and he dragged Jase away on adventures when they could get away. Sometimes the trips were for photography, sometimes they were to dance their hearts out in gay bars, and sometimes they just went to spend time with Jase’s nieces and nephews. Because things were good with Jase’s family. His mother even accepted Ase in the end.
Sadly, Jase’s mother had died earlier in the year, just as spring bloomed, before they’d decided to take this trip back to where they’d first started.
Jase had decided to let his brother and sister-in-law sell up the ranch, though he’d kept the cottage and the acre it sat on so they could have a place to get away. And they did. They sometimes hid out for the weekend, sometimes had the house full of friends and family.
But they loved San Antonio. They’d built a good life, finally moving in together. Their condo was big and spacious and Ase had his own dark room. He could spend hours in there, and when they’d first moved in he’d had to. The stress of fearing he’d fuck everything up and some of the ghosts from both of their pasts sent them into snark-fests and had them retreating to their own corners. But they’d made it through. It wasn’t all roses, sunshine, and sunny days, but they stuck it out. They fought because they deserved it.
Taking Jase’s hand, Ase shook his head, thinking about all the they, all the us and our in his head these days.
Even when Ase went back to school to become a physiotherapist, he’d done it for himself, but also for his and Jase’s future. He’d remembered how much the physio had helped Jase’s family, and he still wanted to help people. He just didn’t want to be a physician or a surgeon. And Jase had helped him every step, helping with paperwork and studying. It’d been a team effort. The best part of their team was that each of them had grown and was their own man, not completing each other, but complimenting each other.
Ase was still a moody bastard, Jase was still the laid-back, even-headed one. Ase still tended to make rash decisions and impulsively follow his heart, while Jase tended to be measured and thoughtful. But they found that since they’d pooled those parts of each other together, it’d made them stronger, especially together.
Ase couldn’t believe that out of the nightmare and mistakes and separation and complications and all the anger he’d thrown at Jase, not to mention Jase’s daddy issues… here they were.
He pulled Jase’s hand up to his lips, kissing the simple gold band he’d placed there in the JP’s office the night they flew out of Texas. It’d been just the two of them and that’s how they’d planned it. They didn’t want a fuss, didn’t want a party. Ase and Jase took each other to be the other’s spouse and it had felt like the rest of the biggest moments of their lives: special because it was just the two of them.
Of course, Ryan had found out and immediately told Dustin—why they were together was hardly a mystery, though they pretended they weren’t an item—and now everyone wanted to celebrate when they returned home. But for the next two weeks it was just the two of them, dancing and singing and on another adventure. Even if it was an old adventure.
The kiss made Jase turn to look at Ase, eyes full of wonder. Love you, he mouthed.
Ase pulled Jase into his side, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I love you too,” Ase said. Then lowering his voice said, “And tonight, I’m gonna fuck you in nothing but a jockstrap and your wedding ring.”
Jase’s cheeks held a pink glow, but he asked in a husky tone, “What was it you were saying about me being evil?”
“What was it you were saying about not having any more juice?”
Jase huffed. The tour group had gotten away from them, heading into the castle while Ase and Jase stood several yards away. And Jase stopped Ase, turning to kiss him and it may have gotten a little deeper than they’d intended because stopping was hard—pun intended.
“God, I get the whole newlywed cliché, now,” Ase said, roughly.
With a tug on his hand, Jase started them moving again. “If I’m wearing a jockstrap, what about you?”
Ase raised a brow, and in his most sultry Ariel Del Rio tone said, “Only heels, darling.” Jase shuddered, dropping his forehead to Ase’s shoulder.
“Come on, babe. Don’t wanna miss the tour!” Ase said, tugging on Jase now, using his brightest smile. And they went in with their group. And then they went to have a pint and chips at a familiar pub. After that, they sped down the Autobahn in their rented car and went to see familiar friends at a drag bar in Glockenbachviertel who wished them happy.
And at the end of the night, they left together. No one was driving away, leaving the other behind this time. They had new heels to break in and a future to start.
THE END