I looked into the mirror on the back of the closet door nervously, adjusting my tie. “I can’t get it to sit right.”
Keaton moved fluidly over from his side of the room. He looked amazing, of course. He’d put on a burgundy suit that made his brown eyes pop, and his hair was artfully messy. In contrast, I felt like a bear trying to wear human clothes.
“You look fine,” Keaton said. He pulled the tie undone and left it loose around my neck. “You don’t even need a tie, honestly. You look fine as you are. It’s just dinner.”
I balked at his words. “It’snotjust dinner,” I said.
Keaton rolled his eyes. “I know, it’s dinner with both of our families,” he said. “But I don’t get why you’re so nervous. You know Clara and my Mom pretty well by now. It’s me who should be nervous.”
“I don’t see why,” I muttered. “My parents are going to love you.”
Keaton grinned. “Well, then, what’s there for you to be nervous about if I shouldn’t be nervous either?”
I sighed. He was probably right. Still, I couldn’t help it. It was like bees were running through my veins. Buzzing all over the place. “I have to tell my parents about my grade.”
“About your amazing, incredible, higher than we ever expected grade?” I chuckled. “Getting those dyscalculia accommodations really paid off. They’re going to be so proud of you.”
I sighed, rolling my shoulders. The grey suit felt tight. It was brand new. Keaton had insisted on getting one for me as a six-month anniversary present. Which made me feel like crap for not being able to afford to get him anything. But then, he had won a small grant to keep studying film and working on documentary projects for the college next year. After his professor put him in the running for it without telling him, we were both equally surprised to see my face flash up on the college website’s homepage as an announcement of the prize winners.
And now I looked like some kind of giant animal who thought he was human.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I picked it up, checking the text.
“Who’s that?” Keaton asked. “Not someone canceling?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s from my teammate, Caleb,” I said. I frowned. “He’s been asking me for some advice.”
“Advice?” Keaton asked, his eyebrows popping up. “About what?”
“His little brother’s gay,” I said, shrugging and putting the phone back in my pocket. “So apparently being gay too means I should be able to answer every single question he has.”
Keaton made a face. “He’s not asking gross stuff, is he?”
I chuckled. “No. Apparently Cade got into a relationship with some guy who’s bad news. Caleb’s not great at communication but he wanted to support him. Find a way to stop him getting hurt.”
Keaton’s eyes looked like they would fall out of his face. “So he askedyou?”
I scowled. He was right, though. I hadn’t been able to tell him much. I fidgeted with my collar, trying to see if it was even. Was it supposed to stand up at that angle? Maybe that was why the tie wouldn’t sit right. I pushed it up slightly to see.
“Stop fussing,” Keaton said, slapping my hand away from the tie. “Honestly. You look hot as fuck. Would I lie to you?”
I grumbled and growled low in my throat. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re biased. Aren’t you nervous? Even slightly?”
“Of course, I’m nervous,” Keaton chuckled. He put one of his hands to the side of my face. “But I know it’ll be alright. You know why?”
I shook my head. “Why?”
“Because I have you,” he said, leaning in to kiss me sweetly on the lips. “We have each other. We could get through anything. And a fun little dinner with our families definitely falls under the banner of ‘anything’.”
I smiled back at him. Yeah. It would be fine. My parents hadn’t flipped when I told them over the phone that I was dating another guy. They were just curious to meet Keaton. Maybe, if they were honest, a little bit relieved that I had done something that might sabotage my football career. Maybe a little bit relieved that I wasn’t going to collapse entirely if I got dropped from the team.
Not that that had happened, yet. And with my team winning their division, there was no fear that I was going to lose my partial scholarship for next year.
In fact, Coach had recommended me to be upgraded to a full.
“I hate this,” I sighed, leaning my forehead against Keaton’s.
“What?” he asked. I felt the muscles over his brow crease.
