Alphabet Pasta Read online

  Alphabet Pasta

  By Drew Hunt

  Published by JMS Books LLC

  Visit jms-books.com for more information.

  Copyright 2019 Drew Hunt

  ISBN 9781634868563

  Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

  Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

  All rights reserved.

  WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted.

  No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission from the publisher, with the exception of excerpts used for the purposes of review.

  This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Published in the United States of America.

  * * * *

  Alphabet Pasta

  By Drew Hunt

  It was a Friday night and Giuseppe’s Italian restaurant was busy. Opera played on the sound system but was almost entirely drowned out by the hum of conversation, laughter, and the scrape of silverware on plates. The place was full. Waitstaff moved back and forth carrying trays of food. Near the entrance, a knot of people stood at the bar, drinks in hand.

  Garth Morgan and Tony Luciano were in their favorite booth at the back of the restaurant. It was the first time the two of them had been able to go out on a date since the horrific events at the Pulse nightclub in Florida two weeks before.

  The morning after the shooting, Adam, Garth’s ten-year-old son, came into their room and crawled into bed between them and cuddled up close—an action that both surprised and worried Garth as it was most un-Adam-like behavior. It seemed Adam had gotten up to watch cartoons but the TV had been left on the news channel. The live coverage from the scene had scared Adam, somehow convincing him the next attack would be closer to home and…

  It had taken Garth and Tony some time to reassure Adam they were safe and no one would be coming after them with a big gun. Tony’s assurances that he was a trained Marine and his promises to always take care of them and keep them safe had seemed to do the most to calm Adam. They had helped Garth feel safer, too. And when Adam had left the room to go watch his cartoons, Tony had spent more than an hour showing Garth just how strong his Marine protector was.

  Back in the restaurant, Tony raised a curious eyebrow when Garth ran a socked foot up Tony’s leg.

  Garth grinned but soon sat up straighter in his seat when their antipasto platter arrived.

  Tony picked up a huge black olive and, leaning forward, fed it to Garth.

  Once they’d finished their appetizer, the empty platter was taken away and Garth gazed over at his square-jawed lover, still sporting a high and tight haircut. Even though Tony had been out of the Corps for years he still had that total incredibly sexy, don’t-mess-with-me bearing that never failed to get Garth’s motor running.

  “What?” Tony asked. “Do I have something stuck in my teeth?” He stuck a finger in his mouth and ran it around.

  Garth laughed. “No, you’re good.” Under his breath he muttered, “Better than good.”

  Tony grinned and flexed his arms, causing Garth to squirm in his seat. Tony’s muscles were a big turn on, and the big Italian knew it and often teased Garth with a display.

  “Stop it!” Garth hissed and reached under the table to adjust his equipment.

  Tony’s green eyes twinkled. “Wanna skip the rest of dinner and…?” He waggled his eyebrows.

  Before Garth could answer, their entrées were delivered.

  Garth could only cook the basics, and although Tony was pretty handy in the kitchen, he worked long hours as a security guard in a shopping mall, so they ate out about once a week, sometimes taking Adam with them, and other times dropping Adam off at his grandparents.

  Although they ate a wide variety of cuisines, each time they had pasta, Tony insisted Garth try a new dish, systematically working their way through the alphabet.

  On their first date Tony had chosen angel hair pasta. Garth had no idea what had been served with it; he’d been too mesmerized by his dining companion. How had Garth—Mr. Average, middle school science teacher, with custody of a kid from a failed marriage, ever landed a date with the tall, Dark, and Drop-Dead-Sexy former Marine?

  “Earth to Garth?” Tony waved a hand in front of Gath’s face.

  “Uh?” Garth looked up at his lover. Seemed little had changed over the past year and a half. Garth was still amazed Tony was his.

  “Your penne alla vodka okay?”

  Garth nodded, swallowed, and said, “Love the sauce.”

  Tony smiled.

  They’d reached P on Garth’s A-Z pasta education course. Previously, Garth had asked what they could eat when they reached X.

  Tony had merely grinned and said Garth should focus more on Z. When Garth had asked why, Tony had told him he’d celebrate his graduation with baked ziti as part of their wedding feast. Seemed ziti was a traditional bridal food.

  Garth had opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, so not expecting Tony to offer to marry him. But on reflection it was exactly the “I’ll protect you and keep you safe” type of thing Tony would do.

  The only slight downer to their current evening out was Garth’s concern for Adam.

  The night after the Pulse nightclub shooting, Adam had wet the bed. This had caused him, as well as Tony and Garth, much distress. Again Tony had come to the rescue. He’d called his employer to tell them he wasn’t coming in. Garth would have preferred to have stayed home with Adam himself, but he’d recently changed schools and, although the pay was better in the Ann Arbor public school system, he found he had a lot more non-teaching crap to deal with. Therefore, Garth had felt it would be difficult to take a day off at such short notice.

  That evening, Garth discovered Adam and Tony had spent the day bonding. This made Garth more determined to put into action an idea he’d been mulling over for a while.

  Adam had been okay to attend school Tuesday, although Garth had still seen signs of separation anxiety. Reluctant to go out and leave his son with his parents the weekend after the shooting, Garth and Tony had taken Adam out with them. They’d let Adam pick the venue and he’d chosen Chucky Cheese, telling a smirking Tony, the second-generation Italian, he would like it there because they served real Italian pizza.

  Tony had insisted he and Garth were going out on a date alone on Friday, June 24, as it marked their eighteen-month anniversary. In truth, Garth had completely forgotten, although hadn’t admitted this fact to Tony.

  Tony, superhero parent that he had become, had had a serious talk with Adam and they’d come up with a strategy that the two of them had planned with military precision. Garth’s mother would come and watch Adam. Usually Adam went to his grandparents’, but they didn’t have Wi-Fi, and that was crucial to the mission. Adam had added Tony as a ‘friend’ on his iPad so he could track the location of Tony’s iPhone on a map. Tony had also agreed Adam could iMessage him any time while they were out. Garth knew he should have been the one in contact with his son, but as he only had a basic cell phone, that wasn’t possible. However, Adam’s texts soon turned humorous, or at least what passed for humor to a ten-year-old. When Tony’s cell went off for the eighth or ninth time, Garth threatened to take the phone from him, but Tony held it out of Garth’s reach before pushing it down the front of his pants.

  “Don’t think I won’t go in there to retrieve it.”

  Tony smirked. “Am hoping you will.”

  Seconds later the phone sounded again, and Tony got a strange look on his face.

  “What?” Garth asked.

  “I forgot it also vibrates.”

  Garth laughed, which only increased when Tony struggled to retrieve his phone.

  “Is everything okay with your meal?” the perky waitress seemed to pop up from nowhere and asked.

  Garth nodded, too busy chuckling at Tony’s antics to speak.

  “Yes, thanks,” Tony said, setting his phone on the table, where it sounded again shortly afterward.

  The text tone was a short extract of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story. It had taken days of careful consideration to pick the right tune, Garth rolling his eyes at how seriously his son and his lover took the decision. His only half-serious suggestions of anything from Wicked or Michael Jackson’s “Bad” had been met with long-suffering sighs and groans of “Daaad!”

  Adam’ had claimed his choice of alerts for messages from Tony was easy. It was a group of U.S. Marines yelling Oorah! Adam proudly announced it was the battle cry for the corps. Garth could tell Tony had been moved by Adam’s choice.

  At the restaurant table, Tony wiped his mouth on his napkin and picked up his phone. After reading the latest message from Adam, his expression changed to puzzlement.

  “What?”

  “He’s just asked me if you’ve asked me yet.” Tony shook his head in confusion. “Asked me what?”

  Garth was going to save his big question until dessert,
but he guessed this was as good a time as any. It was a miracle Adam hadn’t spilled the beans the moment Garth had discussed the idea with him. Garth had had to threaten his son with loss of iPad privileges, withholding his allowance, grounding him until he left for college and…Garth picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp of chianti. The wine sloshed a little in the glass.

  “Garth?”

  Garth shook his head. “Sorry. I’m nervous, and it’s stupid because I know what your answer will be. You’ve asked me to marry you and that’s, like, huge. As huge as this I guess.” He closed his eyes momentarily. He always corrected his students when they misused the word ‘like.’ Garth plowed on. “Would you be prepared to adopt Adam? I’ve checked and—”

  “Yes.”

  “—although the state of Michigan doesn’t exactly embrace the idea of two men adopting, they—”

  “Yes,” Tony repeated more loudly, taking Garth’s hand and giving it a squeeze for extra emphasis.

  “Oh.” Garth wasn’t sure what he felt. Relief he’d finally asked but foolishness at how he’d asked. More relief that Tony had agreed and…

  “Oh?” Tony smirked, green eyes twinkling again.

  “It’s just…With the shooting the other week and everything, it made me think about the fragility of life and what would happen to Adam if I died and you’re totally wonderful with Adam and—”

  Tony raised Gath’s hand to his lips and kissed Garth’s knuckles. “You’re not going to die, not for a long time.”

  “Even so, I want Adam to have two parents. In the legal sense I mean. You’re already a dad to him in every way that matters and…” Garth knew he was babbling but couldn’t seem to help himself. “What if I wasn’t around and Adam needed to go to the hospital and…”

  “I agree,” Tony said, releasing Garth’s hand and smiling broadly over at him. Tony took a drink and let out a sigh. “I’ve always wanted kids, I get on well with them.” He smiled. “Probably ‘cause I’m a kid at heart myself.”

  Garth wasn’t sure that was entirely accurate. Yes, Tony did get on great with children, but he was all adult. Maybe that was what kids respected. Tony didn’t demand respect, he just naturally received it. People—both adults and children—gravitated towards him because he oozed calm authority, but that authority was inextricably bound up with fairness and a willingness to consider the needs of others, often putting those needs ahead of his own. Letting Adam track him and text him being a prime example. Right from the start, Tony had recognized and even celebrated the fact that Adam and Garth were a package deal. Garth saw Tony was talking and realized he hadn’t been listening because he’d been too busy mentally listing Tony’s parental qualities.

  “…as a gay man I never thought I’d have kids of my own. But you and Adam came into my life, and…” A faraway look drifted into Tony’s eyes. “It’s been…perfect. I got a family and I didn’t have to change a single diaper.”

  Garth laughed. “You lucked out there.” Adam had been a prolific diaper filler.

  Tony’s cell sounded again. He glanced down at the screen then over at Garth. “I don’t want to tell him something as important as me becoming his official other dad in a text.”

  Garth nodded in agreement. “Want to get this boxed up,” he gestured to the partially-eaten food, “and go home?”

  “You mind? It’s our anniversary and—”

  Garth called over their waitress. He was eager to see Adam’s reaction to Tony’s decision.

  Tony unlocked his cell and burst out laughing.

  “What?”

  Tony read the message aloud. “If we’re celebrating, bring me some Geritol.” Confused, he asked, “Why’d he want senior’s vitamins? Does he think I need ‘em?”

  Garth laughed. “Think he means gelato.”

  Tony joined in Garth’s laughter. “Don’t you just love autocorrect? I’ve half a mind to stop at the drug store on the way home and…” His eyes were twinkling again.

  “And speaking of, home I mean, tell him we’re on our way.”

  Tony nodded and tapped out a quick message, the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. Then he announced to the diners around them, “I’m going to be a daddy!”

  THE END

  ABOUT DREW HUNT

  Having read all the decent free fiction on the net Drew could find, he set out to try his hand at writing something himself. Fed up reading about characters who were super-wealthy, impossibly handsome, and incredibly well-endowed, Drew determined to make his characters real and believable.

  Drew lives a quiet life in the north of England with his cat. Someday he hopes to meet the kind of man he writes about. If you’re that man, or even if you’re not, Drew would like to hear from you—[email protected]. Visit him online at drew-hunt.co.uk.

  ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC

  JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!

 

 

  Drew Hunt, Alphabet Pasta

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