Dreaming in Color by Cameron Dane (mobi reader .TXT) 📗

a red door?” Colin asked. “And about what it meant to you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I wasn't open, so I couldn't give it to him. It would have been cruel to dangle a dream in front of him, but then go and say, 'But I'm not going to give it to you, because I'm never going to come out of the closet and share a house with another man.'“ Marek could feel his face twist into a sneer. “It was wishful thinking from a sullen kid with a crappy home life looking to latch onto something positive. It didn't mean anything. I knew I was gay, and I already knew I never wanted anyone to know, so that pretty much killed the integrity of the dream before it even began.”

“Still, it was a nice senti—Oh fucking shit!” Colin grabbed Marek's forearm and yanked his watch close. “We are supposed to be sitting down for lunch with Jordan and Tag right this second.” He grabbed the journals, painting, and satchel, hopped to his feet, and ran for the stairs. “You jump in the shower first, and I'll go call Jordan to let her know we're gonna be late.” Colin disappeared a few steps down, but stopped with his head still peeking out of the opening. “Oh, and close that window for me too, please?” His voice was sweetly ordering. “Hurry!”

What just happened?

Marek closed the window and grabbed the lantern off the floor. He followed and got ready for lunch, but he couldn't shake the heaviness weighing on his heart and conscience.

Chapter Sixteen

“Colin is the one who suggested Fiji for our wedding, even though he swears he didn't know why at the time,” Jordan shared. She lifted her umbrella drink in Marek's direction, using it as a pointer. “I think subconsciously he knew you and that house were here. You should have seen his face when he saw your place right there in front of his eyes. Colin is the biggest, sappiest, most romantic guy I know. He wants everybody to be in love.”

“I am not! I do not.” Outrage filled Colin's voice and got Marek sitting up straighter in his chair. “Take that back,” he demanded.

“I will not.” Jordan put down her drink and jabbed her short, pink-painted fingernail into the table surface. “Who got me to go out with Tag a second time? Who told me I could trust him and that he wouldn't run away at the first sign of trouble? Who told me I would regret it if I had the wedding everyone else wanted instead of what felt right to me? Hell, who got me to go back to Tag and talk to him when I ran screaming from the room when he proposed to me in the first place? Shoot”—she covered Tag's hand and snorted—“you should take at least partial credit for every blowjob and fuck this sweet man gets from me.”

Marek gasped and widened his eyes. Thank God he didn't have any food or drink in his mouth or he would have spit it halfway across the table. He shifted in his chair and looked around the outdoor dining area of the hotel, relieved to find the place nearly empty and the closest people some twenty feet away.

Tag tapped Marek's shoulder, got Marek's attention, and shook his head with a defeatist look. “Let go of your embarrassment right now, man,” he said. “They talk like this all the time. Well, Jordan mostly. She has a mouth that would make the saltiest cowboy blush.”

Jordan punched her husband in the arm. “Hey.”

“Ow, woman.” Tag rubbed over the spot where Jordan had hit him. “You didn't let me finish.” He lifted their linked hands and pressed a kiss to his wife's wedding band. “I was going to add that I've developed an addiction to the flavor, and I never want to detox.”

Colin groaned and made a gagging noise. “And I'm the one you call sappy and romantic?”

“You're right.” Jordan leaned over the arm of her chair and planted a kiss on Tag's lips. “He definitely wins.” She moved in for another peck, and Tag slid his hand into her auburn hair, holding her close to deepen the kiss.

Marek looked away, giving the couple a moment of privacy. His gaze caught on Colin's, and Colin offered a smile. Marek smiled back; he couldn't help it even though he felt acutely on display. Had from the moment he sat down for lunch.

His eyes going all soft, Colin moved close and put his mouth to Marek's ear. “You doing all right?” He kept his voice low. “You've been quiet.”

Just. Be. Cool. “I'm fine.” Damn it. Marek would not ruin Colin's lunch date. He could sense how badly the man wanted everybody to get along. “I'm enjoying listening to you guys talk.”

Colin narrowed an assessing stare on Marek. “We can go if you're ready,” he insisted.

“No. It's okay.” Marek dipped down and brushed a kiss against Colin's cheek. “Finish your drink. I'm fine.”

Jordan jabbed Colin just as hard as she had her husband a moment ago. “The man says he's fine, Col. Let him be.” She arched a perfectly sculpted brow at him. “Or I might start calling you Mom.”

“Not unless you want me to start nagging you about when you're going to start a family,” Colin shot back with a flash of a smile.

“Geez.” Jordan touched her yoga- and Pilates-trim stomach. “Let a girl finish her honeymoon first.”

“A recklessly planned honeymoon ca—”

Jordan clamped her hand over Colin's mouth and turned chocolate brown eyes on her husband and Marek. “Enough from us. I think it's you guys' turn to talk.”

Tag took a long drag on his beer. “Okay. That's my cue.” He shifted in his chair, crossed his ankle on his knee, and settled in. “Tell me a little something about your boat, Marek. It isn't a bad drive from Austin to the Gulf Coast, and I wouldn't mind being able to afford one myself some day. Give me some dos and don'ts to