If Wishes Were Horses

by Jm Cartwright

  “You. You. I.” Angel’s words were grunted as he absorbed the force behind Brandon’s fucking. “Uh. Oh. Forget it!” Apparently giving up, Angel buried his face in the pillow as he cried out again.

  “Right there?”

  When Angel nodded rapidly, face still hidden in the down, Brandon kept banging at that angle. He used his teeth on Angel’s shoulder, then licked along the muscles until he reached Angel’s ear. “Gonna?” He was grunting himself. “Gonna come, sugar?”

  Angel shook his head rapidly, then quickly lifted it, panting. “Yes! Yes! More!”

  Laughing breathlessly again, Brandon pulled back and hammered Angel even faster. “How’s…how’s that?” He reached for Angel’s dick and tugged hard.

  “Oh, sí! Sí!”

  Angel froze beneath him, and Brandon stifled a cry as the muscles around his dick clamped down. He tried to keep thrusting—he needed to, desperately—but Angel had such a tight grip on him he almost couldn’t move. “There you go. Come on. Come on.” As those muscles started to ease, Brandon began moving again, driving toward his own orgasm.

  Angel slumped to the mattress, his hips still tilted enough that Brandon could continue to pound inward.

  Brandon grunted loudly, then stiffened as his balls erupted, and he shoved deep one last time, emptying himself into Angel’s ass. He collapsed onto Angel’s back with a moan, relaxing completely. His breath gusted over Angel’s shoulder, and he nuzzled into the satiny skin beneath his cheek.

  Brandon’s heartbeat slowed. His thoughts drifted, and despite his feeling of lassitude, Brandon began rehearsing how to reopen the conversation. Wasn’t it past time they talked for real?

  The music seemed loud all of a sudden, and Brandon fumbled to reach the speaker dock. He usually enjoyed Fall Out Boy, but right then, he was ready for a little peace and quiet so he could think.

  The house phone rang, startling him.

  Angel groaned, shifting. “God. Move over a little, will you?” He sounded raspy.

  Brandon slid to the side and flopped on his back. “Sorry, sugar. Didn’t mean to squish you.”

  The phone continued to ring. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger. “I guess the kids are too busy with that damned video game to answer the phone.” He picked up the cordless out of the charger. “‘Lo? Oh, hey, Maria.”

  Angel yanked up the covers while Brandon mumbled into the phone.

  Brandon nodded as he listened. “Uh-huh. Sure, that will be fine. Okay.” He hung up and dropped handset on the nightstand.

  “What did Mamá want?” Angel rolled onto his side.

  Brandon turned his head on the pillow. “She just wanted to ask if she should bring some of the tamales she made on Friday.” He ran a finger along the five o’clock shadow on Angel’s jaw.

  Angel yawned. “Oh good. I love my mother’s tamales.”

  “Good.” Brandon hid a smile as he slid out of bed. “’Cause she’s bringing Danny to dinner.”

  “Fuck!”

  * * * *

  Angel enjoyed himself despite the fact that his mother’s boyfriend was sitting to his right during dinner. And at his side in the kitchen doing dishes. And hovering there afterward, watching as Angel wrapped up the last of the tamales.

  “You don’t have to hang here, man. You can go in the living room and sit down with Mamá.” Angel looked at Danny out of the corner of his eye. The winemaker had been standing there silently for the last several minutes. It was starting to make Angel nervous. “You know she’ll let you take a turn at Halo.” Maria had surprised the heck out of Angel with her love of first-person-shooter games. She played with the two children regularly.

  Danny cleared his throat.

  Angel frowned and scratched his jaw.

  Danny shifted his weight from foot to foot.

  Angel bit his lip. What the hell was going on?

  “Um.”

  Despite his concern that Danny was having some kind of breakdown, Angel had to grin at the froggy voice. He turned quickly to face the cabinets, rinsing the last of the soap from the old apron sink.

  “Angel. Um, I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

  Angel bent his head, focusing on a spot on the ancient laminate of the kitchen counter. Was that dried salsa? “Yeah?”

  “Will…will you please look at me?”

  Sighing, Angel straightened and tossed the sponge into the sink. “Look, dude.” He turned, leaning his butt against the wood. “If you want to talk about the winery, I’m all ears.” He shook his head. “But if you want to talk about mi madre, well, then, I’m going to have to disappoint you.” Waving a hand, Angel stepped toward the table. “I don’t want to know.” He avoided thinking about the fact that his mother had a…a lover as much as possible.

  “I’mgoingtoaskhertomarryme.” Danny blurted the words out, his raspy voice cracking a bit at the end.

  Angel tripped, the toe of his boot skittering on the old tile floor. He caught himself with a hand on the edge of the table. “What?” His heart started pounding, and he looked at Danny in disbelief. “What did you say?”

  Danny swallowed. “You-you heard me.” He jerked his chin to one side, and then the other.

  Angel could hear Danny’s cervical spine pop, and he cringed at the sound. “No. No I didn’t.” I couldn’t have heard you.

  Chest lifting in a deep breath, Danny spread his feet. “I said I’m going to ask your mother to marry me. And I’d like to have your blessing.”

  Mouth open, Angel stared at the older man.

  And stared.

  Danny started fidgeting again, first winding his fingers together, next stretching them out, then cracking his knuckles.

  “You cannot be serious.” No. No way. Angel’s romantic proposal plan had gone up in smoke, and now Danny was going to get into the game?

  Danny waved his large hands in the air. “I wouldn’t kid about something like this, Angel. Not about this.”

  Angel looked closer. The older man’s face was a bit pale, and now that Angel was paying more attention, he could see that Danny was sweating.

  “Danny. Hombre. Por qué estás—Why are you… What are you—” Frustrated, Angel slapped a hand on the table. “Why’d you have to go and ruin everything?”

  “What?” Danny looked puzzled.

  “It’s bad enough I had to watch you circle around my mother like a lovesick calf until Brandon stuck his nose into the middle and got you two together.”

  “Hey,” Danny protested.

  Angel rolled on. “No, that wasn’t all, was it? Now you’ve actually been…dating, and you’re over at her house all the time, and you take her to dinner, and to those-those musicals up in Eugene.” He was practically sputtering as he gestured with his hands.

  “Well, your mother and I—”

  “Yeah. My mother. She moved up here to spend time with me. And the kids!”

  “Whoa. You’re sounding a little bit like a kid now yourself. Is that a whine I hear?”

  “Bite me.” Even Angel knew that was weak, but he hadn’t been prepared for Danny to recover so quickly.

  “No thanks. I’ve got more interesting things to sink my teeth into.”

  Angel almost snarled. Was the guy taunting him? “Hey, asshole, that’s my mother you’re talking about.” Cabrón!

  “And she’s my-my”—now Danny was flapping a hand—“my lover!”

  Ack! “God! Shut up!” Angel crossed his arms in front of his face. “I don’t want to hear it!”

  The glass door to the kitchen slapped open as Brandon gave it a shove. “What in the hell is going on here?”

  Maria came in right behind him. “What on earth?” She was followed by Trey and Marisa, who squeezed their way through the door around her. “We could hear you two arguing over the television.” The kids nodded in unison.

  “We’re not arguing.” Angel shook his head several times.

  “Oh yes we are.” Danny sounded pretty positive.

  Angel sn
eered at him. “Well, if we are, it sure as hell is his fault.”

  “My fault? How the heck do you figure that?”

  “Because! You came in here hemming and hawing, then you-you—” He turned to Brandon. “He just ruined everything. Everything!”

  Chapter Ten

  Brandon sighed.

  Angel most definitely had a flair for the dramatic. There was no doubt about that. Brandon rolled his eyes as Danny started to protest again, and Angel barked back. Maria tried to soothe both of them, which was almost funny to watch.

  Marisa and Trey seemed very interested, their heads swiveling back and forth between the so-called adults.

  He stuck two fingers between his teeth and whistled. The shrill sound broke the combatants apart, and everyone whirled to face him. “Will you all knock it off? Somebody, please tell me just what the heck the problem is?” He pointed to Danny.

  “Figures you’d go to him first.”

  Brandon ignored Angel’s mutter. “Danny. You want to tell me what’s going on?” He arched a brow at the winemaker.

  Huffing out a breath, Danny shrugged. “Well, I don’t really know. I—”

  “Yes, you do!” Angel sounded fairly confident.

  “Sugar, you wanna let the man talk?” Brandon arched a brow. “I want to hear what both of you have to say,” he assured his lover.

  “As I was saying”—Danny shot Angel a repressive look—“I came in to the kitchen to-to talk to Angel about, well, about something.”

  “Uh-huh!”

  “Mi’jo!” Maria frowned at Angel.

  “Angel, sugar, you are not helping.” Brandon patted his hot-tempered lover on the ass and had to hide a smile when Angel grunted at him. He turned back to Danny. “Now. What were you saying?”

  Danny cleared his throat. “Well, it was actually, um, I wanted to ask him… I needed him to—”

  “Oh, not so easy now, is it? Why don’t you just blurt it out to them the way you did to me? You know, when you ruined everything?” Angel didn’t do long-suffering well, and again Brandon had to smother a grin.

  “Maybe I will!”

  Whoa. Danny was showing signs of fire. Quite a change from the quiet, easygoing man Brandon had gotten to know. He ran an assessing glance over the older man, who showed a little more fortitude than usual. Brandon had suspected there were hidden depths to Danny, or Maria wouldn’t have been spending so much time with the man, but he hadn’t quite been sure. “So you wanted to talk to Angel about…?”

  Danny actually shuffled his feet. “I was going to talk to Angel, man-to-man, about something. Something important.”

  Angel took a step toward Danny.

  Brandon managed to clutch at his shirt, hanging on in case Angel decided to get up close and personal.

  “And that’s when he blurted it out! That’s what started it all.” Angel cranked his head around, staring at Brandon as if to say, See?

  Except Brandon didn’t see, and neither did Maria apparently, who had a mystified expression on her face.

  “Blurted what, sugar?”

  Danny squared his shoulders. “I just told him that I wanted to ask Maria to marry me on Valentine’s Day.”

  Maria gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “On Valentine’s Day? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Angel jerked out of Brandon’s grip. He stomped over to Danny, then threw up his hands and stomped back toward Brandon. “You see! This is what I’ve been dealing with.”

  Maria ran to Danny and threw her arms around him. The two whispered to each other, and Maria’s face shone.

  Brandon tried to calm Angel. “But Angel, this is a good thing, right? You know your mamá loves the guy. You know she does.”

  “No! Yes. All right, yes, I do.” Angel closed his eyes for a second. “That’s not the point, though. You don’t know what…how this…how this ruins things.”

  “You keep saying that, but I don’t get it. None of us gets it.” He turned to the kids for affirmation, and both Marisa and Trey shook their heads.

  “We like Danny,” Marisa piped up.

  Trey shrugged. “He’s okay.” The boy spoiled his twelve-year-old coolness with the grin he couldn’t quite hide.

  “See, sugar?” Brandon reached out a hand.

  Angel smacked it away. “No! No, I don’t. And neither do you. You have no idea—” Angel bit his lip, clearly out of sorts.

  “But don’t you want your mother to be happy? Or happier, actually? What’s really going on here, Angel?” Brandon knew Angel loved his mother dearly, but this reaction to Danny’s proposal seemed a little over-the-top. Angel couldn’t be that jealous of his mother’s attention, could he?

  “Of course I do! It’s not that.” Angel grimaced, then sighed. “Well, maybe not totally that.” He shot a look at Danny and Maria, who by now had turned to face the rest of the group. “Maybe it’s a little that.” He turned back to Brandon with an imploring expression. “But-but, he— Now it’s…and I wanted to—”

  “What? You wanted to what?”

  “All right!” Angel blew up. “I was going to ask you to marry me on Valentine’s Day, okay?” He pointed an accusing finger at Danny. “And he stole my thunder!” Angel slammed his arms across his chest, defiance in his entire posture. “You happy now?” He sent a truculent look toward Brandon.

  At that moment, Angel appeared closer to Trey’s age of twelve than thirty-five.

  Brandon’s heart started pounding, and his mouth went dry. “Um.” He swallowed hard. “Actually I think I am.”

  Angel scowled at Brandon. “You am what?”

  “Happy.”

  Marisa squealed and began dancing around Brandon, humming “The Bridal March.” She grabbed his hand and swung it as she moved, then reached for Angel’s and dragged him closer.

  “Oh.” Angel let himself be pulled forward, but his face was hard to read.

  “Seriously, dude?” Trey shuffled forward and bumped his fist against Angel’s arm. “That’s kind of girly, don’t you think? Valentine’s Day? Sheesh.” He hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. Brandon was sure he saw a hint of a smile, though it was quickly hidden.

  When Angel aimed a cranky look at the boy, Trey’s lips twisted into a smirk.

  “Oh Angel, mi’jo,” Maria gushed as she left Danny’s side and rushed to her son. She enfolded the still-scowling man-child in her arms, squeezing tight. “How romantic! You were going to take Brandon to the wine caves, yes?”

  With his pulse still racing, Brandon had to bite his lip to hide his own grin as Angel nodded reluctantly.

  “And propose to him there? How sweet.” Maria planted a kiss on Angel, then used her thumb to wipe at the lipstick mark on his cheek. “And then Danny was going to ask me that same day? And now he’s done it ahead of time? Santa Maria, I just don’t know what to think or say…”

  Maria rambled on, so unlike herself that Brandon had to stop for a moment and watch.

  But his lover’s body language was way too intriguing. And that sexy pout was back in full force. Brandon was tempted to step over there and take care of it with a hot-and-heavy kiss. Angel wanted to get married.

  Holy shit.

  With a quick murmur to Maria, he pulled Angel forward with a yank. Marisa obligingly let go of Angel’s other hand, and he sent the little girl a wink as he wrapped his arms around his man. “Sugar, that is absolutely the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever heard you say.” He took Angel’s lips, wanting to conquer and tame his feisty lover.

  I’m getting married.

  He thrust his tongue deep, moaning softly when Angel immediately began sucking. Brandon’s hands slid down Angel’s back, heading for that sexy, bubbled ass. He caught himself just in time.

  They were in PG-13 territory. Maybe even G, since Danny was looking a little wide-eyed. Oops.

  He tilted his head just enough to stare down into the brown eyes he loved. “Angel. Cariño.” He smiled as Angel sighed. “I’m sorry yo
ur surprise didn’t work the way you planned.” Brandon was man enough to admit he would have liked the whole hearts-and-flowers routine. “How about if I hold off giving my answer until next Saturday? Maybe we can do this the way you wanted. Is your mother right? Do we have reservations at the tour?”

  Angel bit his lip and nodded, watching from under his lashes, then darted a heated look at Danny. “Yeah. We do.” His look turned mulish. “I just wish that we didn’t—that he didn’t—” He jerked his head in Danny’s direction. “I mean, I wish that—”

  Momentarily feeling sympathy for both Angel and Danny, Brandon hugged Angel tightly. “Sugar, my grandmother used to say, ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’”

  Angel drew back far enough to frown at Brandon. “What? What the hell does that mean? I don’t want to ride a stupid horse.”

  Laughing softly, Maria reached out and ran her hand down Angel’s arm. “Mi’jo, it just means that wishing about something doesn’t get you anywhere. You have to do something about what you want.”

  Angel arched a look at Brandon. “Really? I ask you to marry me, and this is what I get?”

  “My old man used to say, ‘Wish in one hand, and spit in the other, and see which hand gets filled first.’” Danny grunted. “Used to hate that saying.”

  Angel actually shared a commiserating look with his mother’s lover.

  Brandon eyed the two of them. Could that moment be the start of some connection?

  “Well, I hesitate to remind you, but technically you haven’t really asked me.” Brandon ducked in for another kiss. “Can’t we do this again in just six days? Please?” He nuzzled Angel’s cheek with his nose. “You can take your time figuring out what you’re going to wear. I can go get my haircut…”

  “Yeah, ’cause it’s so long.” Trey was never shy about his opinion on Brandon’s brush cut. “Dude, why don’t you just grow it out?”

  Brandon flicked his finger at Trey and caught the boy in the biceps. “You know I like my haircut just the way it is.”

  “Ouch!” Trey hopped out of reach. “Child abuse!”

  Maria laughed, pulling Trey into a hug. “Muchacho, you are such a little devil.”