“For what?”
“For messing everything up. For being stupid. For—”
“You’re not stupid,” Wyatt told him firmly. “And you didn’t mess anything up.”
Izzy raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, I did.”
“No.” Wyatt cupped his cheek. “No, because if you had, we wouldn’t both be standing here right now. And that’s what counts, okay?”
The smile Izzy showed him was almost shy. “Okay.”
Wyatt took his hand and drew him inside. The lights were still on, but there was nobody downstairs. One of the dogs wandered toward them, its tail wagging. Ever since the break in, Dad and Justin were happy to let the dogs roam free in the middle of the night. The door to the garage was left open all the time now, and Wyatt knew he wasn’t the only one who slept better because of it.
“They really do know I’m coming over, right?” Izzy asked, leaning down to pet the dog.
“Yeah,” Wyatt said. “Justin and I talked it out. Well, Harper talked it out and we both listened, I guess. Justin’s even thinking of going with Dad when he goes to film his new show.”
“Your sister,” Izzy said, and shook his head. “Jesus, she’s a force of nature, isn’t she?”
Wyatt pulls up short, sudden anxiety biting at him. “Do you like her?”
“Yeah,” Izzy said, and then he shook his head quickly. “But not like I like you! She’s got a wicked sense of humor and she looked smoking hot in that dress she was wearing earlier, but I guess I’m a harder sell than that or something.”
“Do you know what demisexual is?” Wyatt asked him.
Izzy shook his head.
“It means you have to have an emotional connection with someone before you feel sexual attraction for them,” Wyatt said.
“Huh.” Izzy shrugged. “Maybe. I never did get what the big deal was about one-night stands.” He huffed out a breath. “My cellmate, he used to have theseSports Illustratedpinups on the wall, and he’d always talk about how hot they were, and how he wanted to fuck them, and they just never got my engine running the same way, you know?”
Wyatt nodded. “I think I get it.”
“But you…” Izzy held his gaze. “Everything feels different with you.”
Warmth spread through Wyatt’s chest as he drew Izzy up the stairs to his bedroom.
“You can’t stay the whole night, sorry,” he said. “But maybe you can stay a while?”
Justin had said Izzy could visit now, but he didn’t want him staying overnight. Wyatt figured that was because he wanted to stay in denial about the fact they could have sex, and he wasn’t suddenly going to be cool wandering downstairs in the morning and finding Izzy making breakfast in his boxer shorts or something. So while Wyatt wasn’t totally happy with still being treated like he was a kid with a curfew, he got that Justin really was trying his best. And he knew that Justin was trying to show he trusted him here, and he had faith that Justin would eventually come around. Or, even if he didn’t, that he at least wouldn’t stop Wyatt and Izzy from seeing each other. It wasn’t perfect, but Wyatt would take it.
Izzy squeezed his hand. “I’ll stay as long as it’s okay for me to stay, Wyatt.”
Wyatt led him into his room, and closed the door.
Izzy wandered over to his desk and then his bookshelves. He inspected the books for a moment, then turned around with a smile. “These are all books about baking.”
“Yeah.” Wyatt flushed.
“I didn’t even know there were this many books written about cupcakes.”
“That’s a drop in the ocean, trust me,” Wyatt said. “You should see Dad’s bookshelves.”
Izzy’s smile grew. “Shit, this room is about as big as my whole trailer.”
Wyatt shifted awkwardly, because he didn’t know how to respond to that. Was he supposed to apologize for his family being rich?
But Izzy didn’t seem to be looking for a response. “Oh, hey!” He grabbed a figurine off the shelf. “Groot. Cool!”
