As some know – I’m getting married this weekend, so I figured it’d be a good time to see what the ‘guys’ thought about the topic. I’m planning something for Friday on the topic, but this sorta fit the story line so I went with it.

-AQG

“Do you ever think about getting married?” Blake asked then poured water over his head.

The question caused Jason to stop drinking. Blake and Ethan had been ‘dating’ less than a month. “Yeah, I do sometimes. Why?”

Before he answered, Blake shook his head, spraying Jason with water.

“Hey!” Jason flicked his bottle at his friend to no avail.

“Sorry.” He turned and shook again. “It was running down my back.”

Jason rolled his eyes and used the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face. “That usually happened when you empty a water bottle on your head.”

“I suppose.” Blake pulled his shirt over his head and used it as a make shift towel. Sweat matted the dark hair to his torso and Jason had to turn to stop staring at his friend’s body.

Chest hair had always been a turn on, so Jason understood why Peter got that little hitch in his voice whenever Jason mentioned that he and Blake went running. Once he realized Peter’s jealousy, he never mentioned any conversation that took place in the locker room, or worse, the shower.

Rather than dwell on that, he returned to the original subject. “Um, so why the interest in marriage?”

“Oh, well. . . .” Blake rooted through his bag and pulled out a clean white tee shirt with a Graydon logo on the front. “My Uncle Greg and his boyfriend are getting married.”

“That’s great.” Jason noticed all but a couple of their teammates had already left the practice field. “When’s the date?”

“They haven’t picked one yet, but they asked about my schedule so I could be there.” Blake rolled his eyes. “They were hinting I should bring Ethan. Everyone wants to meet him.”

“You don’t sound thrilled.”

“Well, no, it’s not that. I mean, I want them to meet Ethan, but you should have heard the conversation. They sounded like sorority girls the way they were laughing.”

After stuffing his cleats into his bag, Jason motioned toward the field house. “I got nothing. Maybe they were just happy because of their announcement?”

Blake shook his head. “That’s the f’ed up part. I don’t think they’re that excited about getting married – well Corey isn’t. I know Uncle Greg really wants to.”

“Corey doesn’t want to marry your Uncle, but he said okay anyway?” Jason arched an eyebrow. “How’s that work?”

“No, you dork.” He bumped shoulders with Jason. “He wants to get married, but he wants it to mean something. They live in Pennsylvania, which as we both know, doesn’t recognize gay marriages. Corey thinks they should wait until it’s recognized here.”

Jason understood that argument. He and Peter had discussed it several times, but always in the abstract. “So again, why get married then?”

As they neared the building, Blake slowed to a halt. “Corey loves my uncle and I think he’s doing it for him. Uncle Greg thinks it doesn’t matter if Pennsylvania will recognize it. The important thing is to do it to show the world and make a statement.”

“I take it Corey isn’t a make a statement kinda guy.”

“No, not really.” Staring back at the field, Blake didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “I’m not sure which side I’m on.”

Now Jason understood the original question. “Isn’t it a bit early to need to decide?” He tried to inject humor into the question by ending with a snort.

“No,” Blake shook his head and turned back toward Jason. “I don’t think it’s ever too early to think about how I feel about this issue.”

Jason regarded his friend, wondering how their chat turned so serious. “You’re really thinking a lot about this?”

“Not a lot, but you mentioned that the female D.A. treated you like a couple and it made me think.” Kicking a clod of grass, Blake watched it roll. “My uncle says that it’s important. That if enough people do it, even if the state won’t recognize it right now, it might once it sees how many couples want it.”

“That’s a thought, I guess.” He doubted there would ever be enough married gay couples to sway the legislature by sheer numbers to change the law. “What do you think?”

“I think that if two people love each other, and want to get married they should. Whether the state recognizes it or not shouldn’t matter.”

“But isn’t that a waste of time? I mean, whether they’re married or not, they still love each other and everyone that matters in their lives knows it.” Having raised this issue with Peter, Jason was interested to hear what Blake thought.

“I kinda agree with you, which is why I’m not sure. But I think the real issue shouldn’t be whether it’s allowed.” He shook his head. “That didn’t make too much sense, did it?”

“Yes and no. I kinda get what you’re saying, but still don’t understand your position.”

“Basically I think people should get married for love and not any other reasons. Legal benefits and recognition are great, but it’s hardly a good basis to build a relationship upon.” He shrugged again. “I think you should get married because you love someone and want to marry them, not because you want the legal benefits.”

Jason listened to his friend’s argument. He and Peter had said much the same to each other. Finally he nodded. “I can see that. ‘Marry me because I love the legal benefits’ isn’t a very romantic proposal.”

“Ha! Nope.” A smile split his face. “If Ethan said that I’d smack the crap outta him.”

The image of Ethan on his knee, proposing with those words caused Jason to laugh. “I’ll let him know to find a different way to propose when the time comes.”