A Riot of Roses - 1. Chapter 1

Dedicated to @CassieQ, who, through her own ups and downs, never hesitated to lend me a helping hand and a perceptive ear, and whose writing style never fails to inspire.

A Riot of Roses
Written by Ben

Cade's green eyes held a glint of amusement as he observed his close friend seated akimbo on one of the hotel beds while Tristan glanced between twelve open pamphlets.

Their vacation had barely begun, and Cade had a feeling he'd chosen the right person to join him. His closest friend had a family to worry about. Bringing any of their female friends carried the risk of sending the wrong signals. Not to mention some of their male friends might have feared Cade would overstep their boundaries. So, it was a relief Tristan trusted him to this degree.

His only plan was to explore some of the many parks upstate. Cade didn't want to travel alone.

"It says here that we can catch sightings of eagles on this one, but the walking path is super steep," Tristan relayed. "The path is fairly flat on this one, but there’s a legit warning about an ornery owl attacking visitors-"

"An ornery owl?"

“Yeah,” Tristan insisted, holding up the part of the pamphlet with the warning printed on it. “This guy’s not tame enough to deliver letters to any schools of wizardry.”

The corner of Cade’s mouth lifted in a half-smile as he locked eyes with Tristan and took the offered pamphlet, tossing it blindly over his shoulder. “How much trust do you have in me?”

Tristan’s hazel eyes shifted a little from side to side as he tried to read Cade’s, but he didn’t so much as blink. “Enough to become a hapless murder victim,” he finally said.

Cade blinked first with a laugh. “Dude, I’m not going to murder my travel buddy. That’d defeat the point of not touring alone.”

“You asked! If I really thought you were going to kill me, I wouldn’t have come with.”

“The kind of trust I was talking about was having me choose the park,” Cade clarified, a grin still lingering on his face. “One that’s not on any of these pamphlets. Are you brave enough to explore without looking at a map?”

Tristan was unusually quiet as he stared at Cade for a long enough time to make him feel self-conscious. Cade cleared his throat and was about to retract his suggestion when Tristan finally said something.

“Uh, yeah,” Tristan responded. “Sorry, I just never noticed the blue spots in your eyes before. The lighting in this hotel room is something else.”

Cade fought down a blush and headed towards the restroom. “Then, we better get going.”

“Don’t forget your sunscreen!” Tristan called out behind him.

Cade shook his head, but applied some while in the restroom. He’d forgotten to put some on one time and was red for days. He doubted Tristan ever burned red with his deep olive skin. That day, his skin had just turned a shade darker.

When he opened the door to get out, he almost walked right into Tristan on the other side.

“Sorry, I wanted to ask if I could use some of your sunscreen, too,” He said. “My nose and ears can’t take the heat.”

Cade nodded and opened the door wider to let him pass. Tristan gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder in thanks, and Cade tried to ignore how warm his shoulder felt at the simple contact.

A half hour later, they parked their car rental in a lot at the base of a hill and pulled on their snack- and water-filled backpacks from the trunk.

Cade saw a couple walking down one path, a family walking down another, and a man with a dog taking a third. “Looks like there are three possible paths,” he commented. “Since I chose the location, you get to pick the path. But, remember, no looking at any of the posted maps.”

“Alright, alright,” Tristan replied, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. “Let’s try that way!” He motioned with his head towards the path the couple had taken earlier, and Cade followed.

The walking path was thick with greenery. Some of the trees they passed were so huge that they couldn’t even fit them in the frame of the cameras on their phones when they took pictures. Their pace was quite slow because Tristan wanted to snap a picture of everything. Cade was surprised at some of the minute details his friend was able to catch, things Cade hadn’t even noticed.

Every time Tristan rushed over to him with a discovery, Cade couldn’t help but smile. He was once again reassured he’d brought the right person with him. A couple of miles into the path, they stopped at a bench to eat some of their snacks. There was no one ahead of them or behind them, which made Cade wonder if the path they’d chosen was one that the locals were bored of.

“Oh, man! Just take in that oxygen!” Tristan said as he recapped his water bottle and tossed his head back, staring up at the lush canopy.

Cade mimicked him and took a deep breath, glancing at the top of the trees. The two of them soaked in the moment in silence, but the woods were anything but still. The sounds of different groups of birds chirping in the distance, chipmunks and squirrels rustling in the bushes, and a stream trickling reached their ears.

Tristan wrapped an arm around Cade’s shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze. “This is awesome. Thanks for inviting me.”

Cade shook his head. “We haven’t even reached the end of the path yet,” he taunted as he stood up and held his hand out to urge Tristan up.

Tristan grinned and took the offered hand, and the two friends started walking again.

As they rounded a curve, Cade realized Tristan had stopped taking pictures. When he felt the other man’s fingers threading between his, he was finally aware that they hadn’t stopped holding hands since back at the bench. Cade held his breath and tried not to tense up his arm. Close friends held hands sometimes. He shouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

Tristan gasped when they began to walk downhill, and he caught sight of something. He squeezed their joined hands and pointed. “Cade, look at that!”

They were descending into what Cade could only describe as a riot of roses. Rose bushes of many different kinds, sizes, and colors lined the path of a maze. But the scent was gentle, not overpowering. Tristan glanced back at Cade, and the sheer delight on his face caused a fluttering in Cade’s stomach.

Tristan finally let go of their hands to rush about taking pictures. “I didn’t even know roses came in so many colors! Those are even splattered like a Pollock painting!”

Cade got a hold of himself and walked over to the rose bush Tristan was photographing. “Rosa ‘Peppermint Twist’,” he read off the plate on the edge of the path.

“Cade, this is my new favorite flower,” Tristan stated in awe.

“What was your favorite flower before?”

“Black orchids, cause they’re badass.”

“Are peppermint twist roses more badass now?”

“They are to me,” Tristan said. “Here crouch down in front of them. I want to take a picture.”

“Don’t you want to be the one pictured with them?” Cade asked.

“It’s for memories,” Tristan insisted as Cade stilled himself for the pic. “Besides, I already took a selfie with them a moment ago.”

“Why don’t we take a selfie with them together, too?” Cade suggested after he was done.

“I don’t think my arms are long enough.”

“Mine should be, come here.”

This time, Cade wrapped his arm around Tristan’s shoulders and used the other to snap their selfie.

“Thank you,” Tristan said as Cade handed his phone back to him.

“Let’s go see how far this rose maze goes,” Cade said.

The further they walked into the maze, the more surrounded they became by the roses. Cade was starting to realize why this was a popular path for couples. On the subject of couples, they finally caught up with the pair he’d seen at the start. They were so entwined in a lurid kiss that Tristan and Cade actually tiptoed past them.

When they were deeper in the maze and out of earshot, Tristan snorted. “Good Lord, isn’t it a little early in the day for that level of PDA?”

“They were almost eating each other’s faces.”

The two of them broke out into raw, unfiltered laughter.

“Come on, I’ll race you to the end of the path!” Tristan taunted.
As they ran through the rest of the maze, they found that the path looped right back around to the parking lot.

“That works, too,” Tristan said after he caught his breath.

“Want to stop by the visitor center?” Cade suggested.

“Am I allowed to pick up a map pamphlet now?”

Cade nodded. “Grab one for me, too.”

Tristan rushed over to the posted map and pamphlets, and Cade wondered how he still had that level of energy left.

“Awesome! The peppermint twist rose is on the cover!”

Another grin formed on Cade’s face.

---

They spent every day of their vacation in a different park. Tristan managed to get a picture of the eagle on the steep path. They evaded the ornery owl on the flat path.

They behaved and treated one another the same as ever, or did they?

A frown formed on Cade’s face. On the fifth day of their vacation, they chose to have a picnic at one of the larger parks. Cade’s back was resting against a tree trunk, and Tristan’s head was laid on his lap as he napped.

Tristan’s energy seemed to have finally been depleted to the level that he fell asleep. As Cade reached down to stroke away a lock of Tristan’s dark hair that made his nose scrunch up in his sleep, he marveled at the amount of trust he’d been given.

Cade had a dilemma.

While he’d always felt a certain level of attraction towards Tristan, he’d never allowed it to get in the way of their friendship, nor did he allow himself to yearn for anything that wouldn’t be reciprocated.

Tristan’s actions didn’t appear to be anything beyond friendliness. But Cade was reading more and more into them with every passing day. Was he getting ahead of himself, or was Tristan consciously giving him the green light?

If he asked Tristan about his suspicions, would that fracture their friendship?

Cade dropped the back of his head against the tree trunk with a groan and slapped his forehead. The sound was enough to stir Tristan awake.

Tristan yawned and peered up at a red-faced Cade. For a moment they just stared at one another. Then, Tristan scrambled up into a sitting position.

“You should have just shoved me off,” Tristan said as his hands hovered over Cade’s thighs. “Are you okay? Did your legs fall asleep from lack of circulation?”

“I’m fine,” Cade insisted. “More importantly, Tris, are you into me? More than as a friend, I mean?”

Cade had never seen such a deep shade of red form on his friend’s face.

“Yeah, but it’s okay if you’re not. I swear I’m not gonna do anything to ya.”

“Ha!” Cade exhaled, and the tension he felt began to fade. “Want to go on an actual date when this vacation is over?”

“Are you sure?”

Cade nodded.

“And you’re not just saying that because I made you feel pressured just now?”

Cade shook his head. Tristan planted a loud kiss on his lips in response.

“Then, hell yeah!”

---

Six years later:

Cade’s green eyes held a glint of amusement as he observed his husband seated akimbo on their shared hotel bed while Tristan glanced between ten open pamphlets.

“Everything is literally just a few hours away,” Tristan bemoaned. “There are so many places, I don’t know what we should do first!”

Cade swiped the pamphlets aside and leaned over to place a tender kiss on Tristan’s lips. He shifted to pull away, but Tristan followed him with a kiss of his own. A smile formed on Cade’s face.

“How much trust do you have in me?”

THE END