“Yeah. Is it weird how when they finally pass I feel invincible for a while afterward? Like I made it through my mind going nuts, so now I can leap tall buildings in a single bound?” Dane paused and frowned. “Never thought about that phrase before. How weird is the word bound? Never really thought of it as meaning jump. More like location or being tied up.”
“Please don’t try to leap from buildings.” Bas shoved himself away from the wall, dislodging Dane. “Let’s get you to bed while you’re feeling good. I’ll show you where your room for the night is. If you decide to stay longer, I’ll talk to your therapist about any changes we might need to do here, but the bathroom closest to your room has the mirror covered.”
Dane let Bas steer him out of the bathroom and flick off the light. Up the stairs and down the hall he led them, to a room with sage walls, a queen-sized canopy bed, and an antique dresser. Bas pointed to a door across the hall.
“Bathroom is there.” He pointed to another door. “My room is there. Paige is down the hall. Adam and Ru are downstairs. Tommy almost never stays the night, but he did bring in the bag of clothes he bought you. I know there are some pajamas in there. Unless you like to sleep nude and plan to give us a show on your way to the bathroom at night. Just let me know ahead of time so I can pop some corn and sit back to enjoy the scenery.”
“You shouldn’t tease me. I might think you like me.” Dane leaned in close. The relief of the panic attack being over made him bold. He was thinking things that would have had his father pulling out a belt. Maybe touching Bas wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe they could have it like Adam and Ru had it, just making each other feel good.
“’Cause you’re so unlikable?”
“What if I said I like you?” Dane asked, studying Bas’s face.
Bas’s eyes widened.
“I’d say you have good taste in friends, sunshine.”
Dane smiled at the nickname. “And if I like you in a different way? I like touching you.”
“Are you ready for that?”
He shrugged. He didn’t know, but he knew a lot of his issues were also Bas’s. “Are you?”
Bas let out a nervous laugh. “No? Yes? I have no idea. I think I’m overtired, and it’s probably not a good idea for me to make any decisions tonight. And what if liking me makes you gay?”
“You’re a good person. Me liking a good person doesn’t make me bad. My therapist says that people are made good or bad by the deeds they do, not the gender of who they like.”
“True.” Bas smiled and leaned forward to kiss Dane on the cheek. “Get some sleep. If we have time tomorrow, we’ll do some cooking. We both know you like that.”
Dane put his hand to his cheek as Bas walked away. His skin felt warm, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He could hear his dad’s words raging in his head, but for once it didn’t matter. Dane’s only regret was that he hadn’t packed his rainbow pony to snuggle with as he nodded off to sleep. If he stayed with Bas more often, he was going to have to evolve to a unicorn sooner rather than later. Nothing else would be good enough for Sebastian Axelrod.
