“Is this okay?”he asks.
“Yeah,” I say because despite the realization that this is new to me too, it feels right.“How about for you?”
“It’s…” he trails off for a long moment, and it takes me a moment to remind myself not to hold my breath waiting for his response.He’s just trying to find the right word.
Everything is fine.
Finally, he decides on, “Nice.”
I squeeze Reid’s arm into my side and tip my head to the side to rest it on top of his for a moment.
It’s such a simple word, but yeah, this is nice.I’ve always loved the evenings we spend simply existing in each other’s company—parallel play, according to an article about expressions of love in neurodivergent friendships.But something about having Reid’s warm body tucked against my side makes it even better.Maybe I’ve been a little touch starved too.The eight months I’ve lived with Reid have been the longest I’ve gone without a girlfriend since high school.And with how busy I was during the semester, I haven’t even had time to have a movie night with my sister.Actually, I can’t remember the last time I talked to her for longer than five minutes.I should fix that during my winter break.
“Parker?”
“Hmm?”I ask, shaking myself from my internal rambling.“Sorry, were you saying something?I zoned out for a minute there.”
“Yeah, I could tell when your little pixel guy didn’t move for a bit,” he says—not with any sort of judgement.Just an observation.
“Steve,” I supply.
“Steve?”he repeats.
“The Minecraft guy.His name is Steve.”
“I didn’t realize he had a name.”He sets his eReader down.
“Are you done reading?”I ask.“We could turn something on, if you are.”
“No, you can keep playing if you don’t mind me watching.”
“Not at all,” I assure him.
He cranes his neck to look at me without lifting his head.“You could show me your castle now,” he suggests.
“Yeah, sure,” I agree, smiling.
He lets out a soft sigh and relaxes further into our pseudo-embrace as I turn my attention back to the game.
Chapter 3
Reid
Song: Snowflakes by Grapell
There’ssomethingaboutsnowthat I’ve always enjoyed—the look of pristine white flakes falling from the sky, the quiet of the street because everyone is staying clear of the roads.It’s peaceful, as long as I get to stay indoors and don’t have to deal with things like wet gloves or wind-bitten cheeks.Thankfully, I picked a career that has a possibility of snow days, at least when the storm is bad enough.And this storm is bad.
When I woke up at my usual time to get ready for work, there were already four inches of fluffy white powder blanketing the ground and a text in the work group chat saying that the library would be closed for the day, along with the rest of the city government.Normal people—or at least people without kids or other responsibilities, like me—would probably just go back to bed after realizing they didn’t have to go out and be an adult for the day.But I’ve always had a hard time getting back to sleep once I’m awake.So I make a pot of tea and spend most of the early morning curled up on the couch with my weighted blanket and the queer baseball romance Amy insisted I read.I’m not usually a romance person, or a baseball person—any kind of sports person, really.But I have to admit, it’s a cute read.
The only downside to the winter weather is that this building is old, with windows that aren’t very energy efficient.The building also controls the heat.And since the landlord is a bit of a cheapskate, it’s pretty cold in our apartment.It isn’t a huge deal for me; I usually run warm anyway.But poor Parker is probably not going to be happy when he eventually wakes up.
As if I materialized him just by thinking about him, I hear his bedroom door creek open.I look up from my book right as Parker comes into the living room.His curls are even messier than usual from sleep, and he has the navy plaid comforter from his bed wrapped tightly around his shoulders.He actually looks kind of sweet.
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at work?Also, is it me, or is it fucking freezing in here?”he asks, his voice still thick with sleep.
“Look outside.”
I watch as he shuffles over to the window overlooking the courtyard.“Wow, it’s really coming down out there.”He glances over his shoulder to look at me.“So I’m guessing the library is closed today, then.”
