Graham shakes his head before planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “We brought the chips, Tyler.”
“In that case, veggie burgers sound excellent.” Tyler interlaces his fingers with Graham’s. I can’t help but stare at the point where they’re connected. Wishful thinking on my part. I waited so long to get to today. Now I have to wait again, this timefor an undisclosed period. Maybe a month, maybe two. Hell, we might be celebrating our six-month anniversary before another opportunity comes up.
Spiraling? Me? Never.
AARON
Today sucks.
I was awake all night, worrying about telling my friends. Not so much that they wouldn’t accept him. As far as I can tell, they already have. No, I’m more worried about how they’ll react knowing that the two of us have been sneaking around behind their backs.
That shouldn’t be Oliver’s concern, though. He’s not the one who’s been lying for months. Mostly through omission, but it still counts. They’ll get over it. The four of us have been through too much together for something like this to tear us apart. It’s how they’ll look at Oliver after that worries me.
Or maybe it’s how he’ll look at me.
“You got this?” Barrett asks, handing me a toolbox.
“Yeah, what’s next?”
Barrett has the tablet in his hand, working through the long list of tasks we have to get done. “Once we confirm that the electrical is safe, we can get the power back on in this segment.”
The emergency at work wasn’t a lie. The call came through while I was out running about a fire at the airport. I called a ride share from where I was and had them bring me straight to the airport. The whole ride, I kept checking the news, trying to figure out how severe the damage would be. The building we can fix, but the number of potential casualties was catastrophic.
By the time I got there, the fire department had the flames under control. Thankfully, only a few people were taken to the hospital, all for minor injuries and smoke inhalation. That’s a massive relief. Now, the real work begins, at least for my team. Figuring out what caused the fire, assessing the damage, fixing systems, and getting everything back online as soon as possible. Most of the airport is still operational, but there’s a backlog of flights that were cancelled or delayed. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal, especially considering what might have happened. Still, people will complain. Loudly.
“Where are you supposed to be?”
“What?” I snap my head up to look at Barrett.
“Obviously, you had plans today that didn’t include work.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well.” He shifts his weight to one side, propping up the metal panel he removed from the wall. “You’re distracted. If I had to guess, your mind has wandered off to wherever you were supposed to be.” When did he learn to read me this well? I thought only Oliver and Matthias had that skill. “Plus, you’re wearing the spare clothes you keep in your locker, which means you didn’t come from home.”
That makes more sense. “My friends are having a get-together. Not a big event or anything, but it was important.”
“Ah. That guy you’ve been seeing there?”
“What?!”
“Look, you don’t have to tell me anything, but it’s pretty obvious. You check your texts all the time, often with a goofy expression on your face.” His face goes soft, and he smiles. “I know it’s not the same thing, but I started dating this guy over Christmas. We’re supposed to be at the park with his dog today. Being here is really important, I get that and so does Wyatt, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”
Fuck. I’ve spent hours running with Barrett. During all that time, I never thought he was so introspective.
“If you want to tell me about it, you can. Might give us something to do while we go through all these panels.”
So, I spill my guts. I tell him everything. How Oliver was supposed to be on a date with Colt. How Matthias and I interrupted it to yell at him, only to end up in bed together. I even tell him how hard I tried not to end up dating him, only to find myself absolutely unable to resist.
Then I tell him about today, our plans, and what I’m going to say to my friends about our relationship. The last thing on the list to make us truly a couple.
“Wow,” he says as I finish my story. “That’s a lot.”
“Right? Got any good suggestions?” I’m not expecting much. Honestly, I already know what needs to be done. There’s nothing I can do to change what happened today. I can’t even promise it won’t happen again, since it probably will. Not this exact set of circumstances, but something. But I need to make it up to him and prove that, when it counts, I’ll be there.
“Do you love him?” Barrett asks, setting his tools down on the ground and wiping his brow. It’s hot down here in the underbelly of the airport, all the machines around us starting to function again.
“Yeah, I do,” I answer without hesitation. That’s the most straightforward question anyone has asked me today.
