“Hmm, maybe I’ll have to put a sign around your neck that says, If lost, return to Lane Ryan, so we don’t have to worry about that happening again.”
“Do you get one too?” I held his waist, pulled him close, and dropped my forehead to his.
“Obviously,” he replied, and I realized the apartment was quiet. I turned to Ryder and Hutch, who were both staring at us. I didn’t know Ryder very well, but it was clear even he was surprised by our display.
I held Hutch’s gaze. “Shut it.”
“Holy shit. I don’t think I can. This is the best thing I’ve ever seen. Are you going to start humping his leg, because if so, you can go to the spare bedroom. If not, I’m just going to give you shit about the hearts that shot out of your eyes because I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t see you like this before Ryder either.”
“And you tease me too. It’s way more fun on this side of it.”
“Wait, are you saying it’s not fun to be in love with me?” Ryder asked.
“How did you get that out of what I said?” Hutch replied.
“It gives me great joy to find a way to turn things around on you when I need to,” Ryder answered.
“I might need to learn that trick.” Lane gave me a wide-mouthed grin that was cute as hell. He liked them. I could tell. He never had anything in common with my friends growing up, but I could see the four of us spending time together, and I wanted that.
“So, Lane can’t hang out with Ryder. Got it.”
“I have a feeling Lane has you wrapped around his finger and can do what he wants.” Hutch waggled his brows.
“I know how to keep my man happy. Need me to teach you?” I countered, and the room erupted in laughter. This was exactly what we needed, and I wished I’d braved telling Hutch and Ryder earlier. Could it all be this easy? Would people simply find a way to accept us?
“Can I help with anything?” Lane asked.
“We got it. Hutch tells me you’re an artist?” Ryder asked as Hutch poured wine.
“Yeah, I’m a painter.”
“His work is incredible,” Hutch said.
“You’ve seen it?” I asked him.
“Obviously, I had to google your boyfriend.” Hutch winked, and I wanted to kiss him for treating this as naturally as he did. For not even blinking or making it awkward. It meant more to me than I’d ever know how to say. “I also know now where that painting that’s over your couch came from. It’s the only thing on any of your walls, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes, I was ridiculously in love with him for a long time. We get it.” I nudged Lane, who kissed me.
He and I sat at the breakfast bar, drinking wine and talking to them while they finished dinner. Lane shared more about his art, and Ryder about his shop. He was a mechanic.
We had dinner outside on their balcony, sharing more laughter and smiles. I couldn’t help but watch Lane with them, savor the feel of his hand on my thigh and his happiness in my ear as he got to know my friends and did it as my partner.
I wanted every day to be like this.
“Do you have any upcoming shows? I’d love to go,” Ryder said.
“Not here, unfortunately. A good friend of mine, Genevieve, asked me to fill in at the last minute for one of her parties in New York. Isaac and I will be heading out there in a few weeks.”
He’d gotten the call a few days before. He told Genevieve about the series he’d started—Yours—and she’d been interested. She trusted Lane and didn’t even need to see them before she agreed. I wasn’t sure how normal that was.
He wasn’t taking all of them. Some were too personal, and we wanted to keep those for us, but others he was willing to show—not sell.
Ryder and Hutch made eye contact, speaking silently to each other before Ryder said, “We can’t make that, but keep us posted on others. Now I want to look up your website, though.”
After dinner, Ryder pulled out his laptop, and Lane showed him some of his work. “Damn, you’re really good,” Ryder said, and ridiculously, pride swelled in my chest as if it were me he was talking about.
“Thanks.”
“Where did you say you went to school?” Ryder asked, the two of them falling into conversation.
Hutch sat beside me. “I’ve never seen you so happy.”
“I’ve never been so happy. We still have to figure out how to tell our parents—and hope it doesn’t cause problems in the family—but I have him, and I never thought I would. I already won.”
Hutch clapped a hand on my shoulder. “So did he, my friend. So did he.”
“Eh, I guess you’re pretty okay yourself.”
“I’m the coolest person you’ve ever met. Don’t lie.” Hutch and I joked the way we always did.
We enjoyed the rest of our time with them, making plans to do it again the following month. Hutch and Ryder would be coming to our place.
Later that night, we were in bed together, naked and slick with sweat, when Lane said, “I want more days like today.”
“Me too.”
“I think…I think we should tell them,” Lane said, and I must have tensed up because he added, “We can’t keep it a secret forever. The sooner we tell them, the faster they’ll get used to it. And no matter what, it won’t change anything for me.”
He was right, and damned if I didn’t want the same thing, even if it was scary. “It won’t change anything for me either. I’m ready when you are.”
We could do this. We could tell them. They were our parents. They loved us. Somehow, this had to be okay.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Lane
It had been me who called Mom and told her Isaac and I were going to come and see them the following weekend. Isaac had been subdued all week. I didn’t have to ask why—he was worried about how our parents would react, yes, but he was also afraid of what it would do to me. My mom and I were close. We didn’t fight, even growing up. She had supported me in everything I’d wanted, and the only secret I ever kept from her was my sexuality. And while that was obviously a huge one, this was different. I think Isaac thought I would decide he wasn’t worth it, but there was no going back for me. Not now.
Isaac drove, probably because he needed to feel in control. When we pulled onto the freeway, he glanced toward me. “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”
“Are you sure you are? I don’t want to push you.”
“You’re not.” He went quiet for a moment. “I guess I never thought all this would happen. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that it is happening, while being worried that I’m going to lose it.”
“Isaac…”
“She’s your mom, Lane. It’ll break you if she can’t accept this, and I don’t want to be the reason anything hurts you.”
My pulse throbbed, and my chest swelled with his words. “Jesus.”
“Just Isaac is fine.” He looked my way and winked.
“Your heart is so damn big, sometimes I wonder how it fits inside of you.” My fingers suddenly twitched to paint him that way—Isaac with a transparent body and a heart bursting through the seams of him. I could paint nothing but him for the rest of my life and never run out of ideas.