Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

misunderstanding. How to do that? How could a ….
    A stray thought captured Rico's attention and he knew what to do. He backed up and turned the car back towards town. He had a phone call to make.
     
    Two days later…
    Rico pulled in front of Dan's house, nervous as hell. This was so far outside his comfort zone, but that's what made it perfect. He hoped Dan would understand. Actually he knew Dan would understand, because Dan was good with stuff like that. What he really hoped was that Dan would forgive him. He had been an ass and it had taken him a few days to clue in to just how much of an ass he had been.
    He walked to the front door and took a deep breath. Here goes everything, he thought to himself and pounded loudly on the door.
    Rico could hear quick steps before Dan threw open the door. Concern and annoyance warred on his face before what he was seeing fully registered. Now, the only thing Rico saw was wide eyed shock. He could work with that.
    "I have tickets to the San Diego Fair for today. I thought you might like to take the day off and come with me."
    Dan didn't say anything yet, he was still busy staring at Rico. He smiled and offered Dan a small shrug.
    "No comment?"
    "You look like you got shit out of a unicorn's ass."
    Okaay… not exactly what he was looking for, but not an outright rejection either.
    "I'm sorry. Apparently I needed a little bit of time to get my head out of my ass."
    "And you stuck it up a unicorn's instead?" Dan had the barest hint of a smile on his face.
    Rico breathed a small sigh of relief. This might be worth the embarrassment. At least Dan wasn't shutting him down.
    "I needed a way to make you understand just how sorry I am that I hurt you."
    "Is that what this is, an apology?" Dan asked softly.
    "An apology yes, but also more," Rico stated firmly. "You already know I'm an emotionally stunted jack-ass..."
    "And color challenged," Dan interrupted with a small smirk.
    Rico took a deep breath filled with joy and satisfaction. This was going to work. He would have to grovel some more, but Dan was going to forgive him. That was worth everything he had done. It was worth anything he had to do.
    He had gone to Mickie's artist friend and was currently sporting a rainbow paint job that covered his entire body and would fit in nicely at any Gay Pride parade. Actually it was all he was wearing except for a pair of tiny shorts and some lace-up Doc Martens. Talk about out of his comfort zone, but he couldn't care less now.
    "And color challenged," Rico agreed happily. He took a step closer to Dan and cupped his jaw.
    "I. Am. Sorry. Not just for the pain I put you through, but also for not immediately recognizing what a wonderful gift you offered me. Your friendship and your love are everything to me. And jerk that I am, it took me a few days to get it."
    Rico leaned his forehead against Dan's. "It's probably going to be a pattern of things to come, you know. I'll forget or not realize the importance of something, piss you off and have to find a way to make it up to you."
    A slow smile started across Dan's face as he pulled back to look Rico in the eyes. "You're going to have to work on that."
    "Yeah."
    Rico could feel Dan's warm breath on his face and leaned in for a kiss.
    Mickie popped up behind Dan's shoulder. "Can we all get painted for the fair?"
    Rico smiled at Mickie's interruption, but his focus never left Dan.
    "I love you Dan Saunders. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, which I am sure will be filled with a lot of apologizing for all the stupid things to come."
    Dan pulled him in for another kiss.
    "You've made a great start of it."
    THE END
    Author bio: Sassy currently resides in northern California and is frantically packing for her return to San Diego, where her squirrel-on-crack personality doesn't even raise eyebrows. An avid reader of fantasy, she is new to the M/M genre. She used to think hot man-on-man sex only happened in her head (and in good porn) and she was thrilled to learn how wrong she was.
    Happy and single, most of her free time is taken up with the antics of her two, oh-so-feral children (12 & 24), who keep her in stitches. One of their favorite pastimes is snarky interpretations of those deemed Too Stupid to Live.
    Yelling the words "Road Trip!" will instantly stop any activity and send her two hellions racing for the door.
    Aside from this story, Sassy had another short story previously offered by XOXO Publishing. She has gotten the rights back