V: The V in Vigilant

the last thing Vic ever expected to hear. In fact,they were so foreign to him, they almost didn’t register at first.Turning his wrist to take Vic’s hand in his own, Matt gazed up athis lover with conflicted eyes the color of wet grass after asummer storm and whispered, “Vic, will you marry me?”
Suddenly Vic became aware of a rapid poundingin his chest and dick. “Matty, I—”
“Not right this second,” Matt clarified, hiswords tumbling out in a rush. “And I know it’s not legal, but Idon’t see myself loving anyone else for the rest of my life. When Ithink about getting old, you’re right there beside me. So I’m notasking if you’ll meet me at the altar or anything because Godknows, neither of us are real religious, and shit, what churchwould have us? But maybe a private ceremony, you know? Somethingquiet, just us and our friends. And we can pick out a pair ofrings, something gold, something real, to wear on our hands andshow the world I’m yours and you’re mine. Something that will lastforever. What do you think?”
At first, Vic couldn’t think. Matt’srush of words left him breathless and shaky—they were everythingVic would have liked to say, everything he thought and felt wrappedup neat and succinct like a tiny package. Velvet-lined, perhaps,housing inside twin bands of love.
Forever.
“Vic?” Matt sounded nervous, his hand damp inVic’s. “Say something.”
A slow grin broke over Vic’s lips.Something? He wanted to shout from the rooftops and howlinto the night. But despite the tumultuous whirlwind of emotioninside him, his usually gruff voice trembled as he raised Matt’shand to his lips to kiss his lover’s oiled knuckles. What elsecould he say? “Yes, Matty. Yes. A thousand times,yes.”
* * * *
Matt couldn’t recall a sweeter evening. WithVic’s affirmation ringing in his ears, they’d made love slowly,their previous ardor banked from a raging fire into a smolderingflame. They came together in a fusion of flesh, a press of souls,both enveloped in the desire and love each felt for the other. Theyfell asleep with Vic curled tight in Matt’s embrace, Matt’s wiltingerection still lodged deeply inside his lover. In the morning, Mattfound their positions hadn’t changed, and it took all the strengthhe had to finally pull back and break the bond they shared.
Now that he had talked with Vic, there was noneed to hide the jewelry catalogs any more, and he dug one of thelatest ones from under his side of the bed before he slipped on hisshoes to take Sadie out. On the stoop in the chilly morning air, heflipped through the pages, looking at the rings within as if seeingthem for the first time. The prospect of picking out a matching setmade him giddy and nervous—he wanted the right one, and he’dknow it when he saw it. There were catalogs to pour over, jewelrystores to visit, websites to Google…when he’d mentioned theimpending search for the perfect ring to Vic the night before, hislover had groaned. “God, Matty. You know I hate to shop.”
So in the darkness of their bedroom, whiletheir heart beats returned to normal and sweat cooled on theirflesh, Matt had agreed to do the shopping. He wanted Vic’s opinion,but he didn’t want to subject his lover to the task at hand. “Tellyou what,” Matt had whispered, his lips close against the nape ofVic’s neck. “I’ll pick out like four or five really awesome ringsand you’ll help me narrow it down to the one we’ll get. How’s thatsound?”
Vic’s rough grunt was noncommittal, but Matttook it as a yes. Snuggling closer to his lover’s broadback, Matt murmured, “Let’s set some guidelines first. I don’t wantto pick something out of our price range—”
“Any price.” Vic’s voice seemed to come fromthe depths of his soul, and Matt realized his weary lover wouldsoon fall fast asleep. Half-turning, Vic stretched his arm behindhim—Matt ducked beneath it and leaned over Vic’s side to plant akiss on his lover’s rough cheek. “I’m only going to do this once,Matty. You’re it for me. So we might as well do it right the firsttime. Pick out a few rings and we’ll settle on one together.”
Matt would do just that. He looked throughanother catalog while eating breakfast, and had a third in thepassenger seat of his car that he glanced through at stop lights.All three glossy booklets had dog-eared pages now, turned down tomark possible contenders. He had a long search ahead of him and, tobe honest, he intended to savor every minute. Vic was right—thiswas it, for both of them, and Matt wouldn’t settle foranything less than the best.
Because his mind lingered on the rings, hedidn’t notice the knocking sound coming from under the hood of hisJaguar until he neared the gym. At the next red light, he turneddown the radio and listened—thud thud chugchugthud, an uglynoise coming from his engine. “What the hell?” he muttered,clicking off the radio completely. Easing his foot off the brake,he inched forward and noticed the sound grew into a metallicrattle. Matt hit the steering wheel in frustration. “Fuck.”
He’d just had the car in the shop. After somepunk kids had ripped out his stereo and messed up his hood, he’dneeded to have it repaired. Of course, he took the opportunity tothrow in some body work, as well, at the insurance company’sexpense. The car had been running fine for weeks, and nowthis.
When the turning lane beside him got thearrow, he waited until the traffic cleared before turning left fromthe middle lane, running through the intersection just before thelight turned red. The mechanic wasn’t far from the gym, and theyhad a shuttle he could take into work. But the insurance companyhad already paid for the repairs. If this noise didn’t stem fromthat incident, Matt knew he’d been forking over the money out ofhis own pocket. There went buying a ring any time soon.
* * * *
Leaving his car at the shop, Matt took theshuttle into work. Once he reached the gym, he managed to avoidrunning into Roxie before he reached his office—she wasn’t at thefront desk, but that wasn’t unusual. The woman did everything