“Aren’t you supposed to hydrate after a run?” Blayne said, raising a questioning eyebrow.
“Yes, Mother. But isn’t coffee a liquid? That counts as hydration.”
Blayne didn’t contradict Ethan, because he knew his boyfriend was pushing his buttons. Besides, Blayne hadn’t had enough coffee yet to deal with any of Ethan’s jokes.
“Go. Shower,” Blayne said, pointing toward the bedroom. “We’ll run by the Dream Bean for breakfast.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Bossy,” Ethan said as he turned and headed to the bedroom.
“And you like it when I’m bossy,” Blayne called after him.
Blayne sat down at the table and picked up his cell phone. He’d avoided looking at his messages last night because there would be a flurry of texts. Sure enough, he had texts from friends he hadn’t talked to in years. He had a text from Dr. Reich he responded to immediately.
Ethan and I are fine. I’m glad you and Jamie weren’t at the rally yesterday. Talk soon.
Next, he read a text from Jamie Reich.
Saw your coming out video! Congratulations. Next time, don’t cry… It ages you.
Blayne laughed and shook his head. He thought about it for a second and responded.
Cheeky. You’re just jealous because I’m dating the hottest member of ZERO.
Almost immediately, his cell phone signaled a response from Jamie.
When did you start dating Orr?
Blayne laughed. He finally wrote back.
Shouldn’t you be learning right now? Your mother will kill you if you have your phone confiscated in class again.
This time, he didn’t get a response from Jamie. He scrolled through the rest of his messages. Of course, the one he was surprised he didn’t see was from his parents. Blayne loved his parents, but they had made it clear that they disapproved of his ‘lifestyle’. Unfortunately, that put a lot of strain on their relationship.
Then he pulled up his email. “Holy fuck,” Blayne said as he scrolled through his inbox. “Geez, Louise.”
“What’s up, babe?” Ethan said, coming back into the kitchen.
“I have a ton of emails.” Blayne started scrolling through, just looking at the subject lines. “It looks like I have everything from ‘thanks for saving our lives’ to ‘die, you satanic abomination.’ People sure say the nicest things.”
“Unfortunately, you’re going to be in the spotlight now,” Ethan said. “We kept you out of it last time, but you’ll be the hero of the hour. People will come out of the woodwork…both good and bad.”
“Combine that with our relationship going public, and we’re going to have a lot of scrutiny.”
“I’m just hoping people will think of me asyourboyfriend, and you can take the pressure off me. I won’t be Ethan Bond, an international singing sensation—just that hero’s hot boyfriend.” Ethan threw his arms around Blayne’s neck and kissed him on the cheek. “So, my superhero, ready to go face the day?”
“Superhero?” Blayne said as he wrinkled his forehead. “Do I look faster than a bullet or like I can leap tall buildings? I think not. I’m just an above-average gay sex God with a giant dick.”
“And that’s exactly what you should say anytime someone thrusts a microphone in your face?”
“I’ll put something in your face,” Blayne quipped as he pushed himself up from the kitchen table.
“We don’t have time for that now,” Ethan replied with a wink. “But I’m sure I can help you with that later.”
Ethan
Ethan was doing his best to hold it together for Blayne. Maintaining his cheerful facade after his run wasn’t easy. Ethan had been up early because he hadn’t really slept. Every time he had closed his eyes, he had seen the faces of the people shot in front of him the day before. Those faces had been combined with Danny and everyone who had died on the Peregrine flight. Ethan had begun to worry that he was a death magnet.
He had gone for a run because it was one of the rare moments when he wasn’t performing or being intimate that he could focus on his body moving. He could concentrate on each pound of his shoe against the pavement and each breath he took. If any of those other thoughts crept inside his head, he just ran faster. He almost wished he could just run away from himself, but he couldn’t.
