Whoa.Drew’s eyes filled with tears and he sniffed loudly as he reached for Bas’s hand and wound their fingerstogether.
Bas blew out a breath. “That’s, uh… that’s it. That’s all I came up with.” He licked his lips. “I want to be with you. I love you. I don’t have the first idea what I’m doing, but Iwillbe all-in when it comes to figuring itout.”
Drew ran his free hand over his mouth. So many things he wanted to say to this man. So fucking many things he’d been storing up since he’d first realized he was in love with his best friend the summer he turned fourteen, and they all toppled over one another in his mind, paralyzinghim.
“So… what do you think?” Bas asked, his beautiful face stark withanxiety.
Drew shook his head and said the most important thing. The only one that reallymattered.
“I love you,” he whispered, and as Bas blinked, disbelieving, Drew figured out what he needed to say. “Sebastian? At the risk of quoting that old movie, you kinda had me atgoodmorning.”
Bas laughed, a helpless sound that seemed forced fromhim.
“I’m serious,” Drew said. “Knowing you were still here this morning, I think maybe I started to believe you were serious about everything you said last night. About wanting me. And you’ve gotta know, I’ve wanted you forever.” He swallowed hard, squeezing Bas’s hand and looking up at the ceiling as he admitted, “I’ve beenin lovewith you forever. You’ve been the star of every fantasy I’ve had for the past fifteen years. I’ve never needed to be convinced that we’re perfect for each other, Bas. I just needed to be sure that you weresure.”
“And you are now?” Baswhispered.
Drew looked at him. “I’m gettingthere.”
Bas nodded, looking down at their joined hands. With the fingers of his free hand, he traced the ridges of Drew’s knuckles tenderly. Then he looked back up wearing a smuggrin.
“Get back to the part where you love me. And thefantasies.”
Drewlaughed.
Lovewith this man would never be precious. No sparkling hearts, no dancing fairies. And that was absolutelyperfect.
“I love you,” Drew told him, and Bas’s smile wasglorious.
“Now that I think about it, there were clues,” he said, and Drew’s brows shotup.
“Besides the kissing? And the frottage the othernight?”
“That’s sex,” Bas said. “Not love. But the sand dollar gave youaway.”
“Pardon?”
“The sand dollar. The keychain?” Bas explained. “The one I gave you when we were kids atcamp.”
“Right. What aboutit?”
“I saw it on your keychain when you gave your car keys to Cain and Damon a couple of months back. When they went toTennessee.”
“I remember,” Drew said. And he’d wondered at the time if Bas had understood the importance of it.Apparentlyso.
“After everything that happened on Halloween, it just cemented to me that you’d had these feelings for me for a while. Messed with my mind that you hadn’t ever said anything.” He played with Drew’s fingers. “When I’d thought we were really honest with each other abouteverything.”
“Wehavealways beenhonest…”
“Not about the things that counted, though.” Bas dipped his head and gave him a self-deprecating smile. “I never told you I was questioning things with Amy, and you never told me about your feelings. We’ve both heldback.”
Drew nodded quietly. Bas wasright.
“Anyway, it was all symbolical to me.” Bas rolled his eyes. “Like this thing you’d been keeping forever, this reminder of me. And uh, I worried, after I saw your keys the night we met Gary at the pub. You didn’t have the sand dollarthere.”
“It broke,” Drew told him. “Came back unscathed from Cain and Damon being shot at in Tennessee, and then fell out of my cabinet onto the counter andcracked.”
“You told me it wasgone,” Bas reminded him, and Drew rolled hiseyes.
