He kissed my cheek, and I sighed, leaning against his lips. “Don’t be afraid. We’ll fight. Gay people have always existed, Micah, and they’ve tried to shove us back into the closet a thousand times. We won’t let them win.”
I wanted to believe him so bad. Slipping my eyes closed, I let him pull me into a hug. He was smaller than any man I’d imagined myself with, but he had strong arms. The force behind his hold made me relax, and I exhaled, letting the anger from my ranting slip away like a leaf in the wind.
He pressed pause on the movie and the quietness created an even more relaxing atmosphere, and any anxiety I had about the idea of having sex disappeared with the irritation. He was sweet but also dominant, and I enjoyed that—more than I should.
“Do you want to keep watching?”
I hummed and laid my head against his chest. “No. I’m done. It was stupid.”
He laughed gently. “Yeah, it was.”
“You would think at this point Hollywood could make a good Alexander the Great movie.” I pouted.
His laughter deepened and echoed in the room. His easygoing mood was addicting, and the rhythm of his heart thumped as though beating to one of his rock songs, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes. At some point, I must’ve fallen asleep because when I startled awake, he wasn’t hugging me.
Yukio stood in front of the couch, his phone pressed to his ear as he whispered furiously into it. I couldn’t hear him at first, but as the conversation went on, his voice rose. “Damn it, Milo,I’m on a date.”
Whoever was on the other side of the conversation spoke back, and he exhaled loudly, rubbing a tattooed hand over his face in exasperation. A couple of solid rings on his slim fingers caught my attention, and I focused on them, curious why he loved that kind of jewelry. Everything he wore fit him perfectly, though, from the beaded necklaces to the small silver studs in his ears. He was gorgeous and definitely not the type I’d expected to be with. He wasn’tskinny, but his chest was sinewy. Yet, he was also very gruff androck ‘n’ roll— something that had also not been my thing.
“Now?” He groaned and glanced at me, stilling when his gaze met mine. He winced and mouthedsorryas he reached out to card his fingers through my hair, and I raised my chin to get more of his touch. He chuckled and smoothed his palm down my cheek and across my jaw. Finally, he sighed. “All right. I’ll be there in about half an hour. Don’t leave. I’m serious, Milo. Don’t move an inch. You’re too drunk.” He ended the call.
“A friend of yours?” I yawned so widely that my jaw cracked, and I cringed.
“Yeah. He’s at that new club, Void, and needs a lift home.” He went to his knees in front of me and rubbed my shoulder. “How about we do this again sometime?”
“I can come with you?” I offered. I didn’t know why I said anything because meeting Yukio’s friends this early in the relationship—was this a relationship?—was probably stupid, but I held my ground anyway. Who cared that his friends were likely the same age as him, thus making them early twenties? Jeeze. That was crazy.
“Would you want to?” He tickled his fingers down my arm, and I didn’t mind it. “They’re really drunk. I can’t promise they won’t say anything stupid.”
I shrugged. “I work with college students. I’m sure I can handle it.”
He grinned and stood, holding out his hand. Hesitantly sliding my fingers along his palm, I let him pull me to my feet. “We could take my car, but it’s a Porsche Boxter and there isn’t much room in it.”
“Oh.” I chewed on the corner of my mouth and gave him a small smile. “We could take mine. It’s a Kia, but it has a back seat. How many guys are we taking home?”
“Two at the most. My buddy Milo and maybe one of the guys on the team. He’s also in my band.”
I nodded and went to the kitchen. There was a hook on the bottom of the cupboard above the end of the counter, and I grabbed the keys I kept there so I always knew where to find them. To my surprise, he took my jangling keys from my fingers and stared at the cartoon dog with Macedonian armor I used as a key ring. He chuckled, and my cheeks burned.
“Sweet,” he murmured before he closed his hand around the keys. I assumed the gesture meant he was driving, and while it was very forward and I thought wasn’t exactly normal, I wasn’t angry because I hated driving at night. The streetlights and headlights from other cars hurt my eyes and it was hard to concentrate.
I led him out the front door, and he locked it, since he had the keys, before he followed me to the driveway. He went straight to the driver’s side, and I dutifully headed for the passenger door. We got in, and as soon as he turned the Kia on, he was backing out.
We took off down the small street, and I settled in, my eyes burning from fatigue. I yawned again, and he reached across to run his hand down the back of my head. He was very touchy, and as much as I hated that with everyone else, I didn’t mind it too much with him. I had a feeling that if I told him no, he would listen, and maybe that was the difference.
I yawned too many times on the way there, and I hated how tired I was, but he was a good driver, so I was able to relax and close my eyes. I rested my head against the window. When we got to the outskirts of the city, the lights weren’t as present or bright, and I could keep my eyes open without them burning.
“Why is the club so far out?” I asked tiredly.
He shrugged. “Probably because it’s a rowdy scene. They have raves and shit from what I hear.”
“Are you from New Gothenburg?” Even though I whispered, my voice was loud in the otherwise quiet car. He hadn’t turned on music, and I assumed it was because he wanted to let me sleep without disturbing me. He seemed very considerate, unlike Alex. Maybe I was wrong about his maturity.
“Nah.” He snorted. “I’m from Cali. I showed you my driver’s license, remember?”
“Oh right! Why here?” I scrunched up my nose. “It’s not the most amazing place in the world.”
He chuckled. “It’s on the other side of the country, and that makes it damned good to me.”
