Jace squeezed Noah’s hand. He knew that was something Noah had done with his own father. It wasn’t quite the same thing, but maybe Jace could give him that sense of family back, too. He was definitely willing to share his dad.
“You’re right, he is my new favorite. You’ll have to come down here sometime in the summer. We’ve got some great fishing spots. And you boys are only a couple of hours away. We can make a weekend of it.”
“We’re expecting to see you for Thanksgiving,” Sandra interrupted. “I’m not waiting until next summer to hug my new son-in-law.”
“Noah can cook, too,” Jace said, happy to show off what a good husband he’d managed to find. Noah was, as far as he was concerned, perfect. He wanted his parents to see that.
“I know how the oven works and I can follow basic directions. I’m not Martha Stewart’s long lost son or anything.”
“Don’t be modest,” Sandra said. “Jace grew up with high standards. If he says you can cook, you can cook.”
Noah blushed, squirming in place. “Thank you. I doubt I’m on your level, but he is married to me, so he’s obliged to say nice things.”
Jace celebrated internally as his mom sighed a soft, dreamy sigh. She really was happy for him. He wasn’t sure why he’d been worried about telling his parents, considering.
“So I don’t want to ask a silly question, but are you gay now, Jace?” she asked.
Jace could suddenly feel everyone looking to him for an answer. An answer he wasn’t sure he really had.
“I don’t think so. I still like girls. I just also like Noah. I’ve decided that makes me bi, but I’m also not sure I care so much. I worried about it a lot when I first noticed him.” He rubbed the back of his neck. His parents didn’t need to know that had been more recent than they might think.
“I guess what I’m saying is, I’m still me. I’m still mefirst, and bisexual second,” he finally said, happy with that answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to label himself, exactly. It was that he was afraid a label would overwhelm who he was. That he’d get caught up in it and lose sight of the fact that he was still the same person he’d always been.
“I think I understand,” his dad said. “And even if I don’t, I still love you. And I like Noah.”
“I like you too, Don. And Sandra. I can’t wait to meet you both in person,” Noah responded. Jace thought he sounded like he was being honest. That was a good sign.
“Don’t keep us waiting too long!” Sandra enthused. “But we’ll let you go now, since it’s Jace’s day off and I’m sure you newlyweds have better things to do.” She winked.
“Oh my god,mom,” Jace said, feeling himself blushing. His mom just waved at him and turned the video call off.
He looked to Noah for an opinion, eager to know what he thought of them.
“They seem nice. I would like to go meet them in person, if you’re comfortable with that. I’d love to see where you grew up.”
Jace breathed a sigh of relief. Noah liked them. Noah wanted to meet them, which was amazing.
“We can totally do that.” Jace grinned. “I haven’t been home since Christmas, so I’d love to go see them at Thanksgiving.”
“That’s settled, then.” Noah leaned in closer, looking Jace up and down. “And I’ve definitely got some ideas for better things to do,” he said, climbing onto Jace’s lap and catching his lips, kissing him gently and sweetly, but with the promise of more to come.
Jace settled his hands on Noah’s waist, content to sit and kiss him for as long as he’d allow it. All the other hurdles in their way suddenly seemed much more manageable.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The post-season party was normally too crowded for Noah’s taste, but he was in a good mood. His green card had finally come through today, and Jace was turning out to be the kind of boyfriend who didn’t shy away from hand-holding and soft kisses in public.
Noah loved that. He loved the way Jace had come into himself, become more confident in who he was over the last month or so. He’d always been happy, but now he glowed. Better still, he did a lot of his glowing in Noah’s direction.
Noah couldn’t have been happier. He had everything he wanted.
“You wanna go home?” Jace murmured into Noah’s ear during a quieter moment. His tone was enough to tell Noah what they were going home for.
If it was a choice between a few chaste kisses and sex, Noah was always going to choose sex. He liked the subtle affection, but he liked Jace’s increasing sexual confidence a whole lot more.
“With you? Always.” Noah grinned at him.
“Then let’s go.” Jace tugged on Noah’s hand, grabbing both of their coats and not handing Noah his until they were heading away from the bar. They’d agreed to take a taxi tonight, Noah feeling guilty that Jace always ended up driving and never got to have any fun.
