“This is good,” he said between mouthfuls. “I would definitely consider this a benefit of being married to you, just saying.”
Noah snorted and sat at the table as well, twisting open his beer. He sipped it before poking at dinner with his fork, but not taking a bite yet. He was probably waiting for it to cool, whereas Jace was in the habit of eating as quickly as possible because of his work, and no longer felt the effects of food being too hot to eat.
“So if Ididagree to this…” Noah began, trailing off and waving his fork while he searched for words.
Jace smiled. He was getting through. “Then you can move into my place as soon as you want. A marriage license takes forty-eight hours to come through and it’s good for six months. We can take the next available slot, and then immediately file for your green card. There’s no waiting period-”
“For relative petitions, I know. I looked it up,” Noah said. “I really didn’t believe it’d be that easy.”
“Welcome to America.” Jace shrugged. He hadn’t realized it would be quite as easy as it was, but he was glad it wasn’t complicated. There was less that could go wrong, that way. “I think it’s weird, but I also think it’ll work to our advantage.”
Noah sighed, finally taking a bite of his dinner. “I’m going to agree to this, aren’t I?”
“I hope so,” Jace said. “Seriously, I want you to stay. If all I have to do is promise to make sure you behave and don’t end up on the streets? I’m cool with promising that. We’re not taking anything away from anyone, here.”
If Jace thought for a second this was the wrong thing to do, he wouldn't even have suggested it. America was supposed to welcome immigrants with open arms, even if they were only from Canada. Noah wouldn't have much trouble with immigration along the traditional route, anyway. They were just simplifying and speeding up the process.
It wasn't as though Jace was about to engage in a series of marriages with total strangers for green cards. This was a special case, a favor for the best friend he couldn't imagine losing. If the system was meant to let you keep your loved ones close, they were using it exactly as intended.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had,” Noah said. “And I mean that sincerely. I’d be honored to marry you, but I need to be sure you’re happy to go through with it. It’s kind of a long-term commitment.”
“Dude, I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t. I love you, man. This is a way better use of my right to marry than… what? Waiting around for the right girl? We’ve only gotta be married for three years. I can wait that long.”
“Okay,” Noah said. “Okay, fine. We get married. This is a terrible idea and it’s gonna come back and bite us in the ass. But we get married.”
Jace grinned. “Awesome. I’ll go tomorrow for a license.”
“No, I’ll go. I don’t have work to go to, and you do. You’re doing more than enough for me.”
Jace shrugged, going back to eating his meal. He could stand to have someone around to cook for him on occasion, so he was getting more out of this arrangement than he’d thought about already. “I’m doing what friends do. That’s all.”
“Yeah, yeah. This is why we call you Nyquil. You’re incredibly sweet.”
“But I will knock you the fuck out,” Jace finished, smiling. He’d always liked the joke, especially because Noah had come up with it. They’d been fresh meat—new derby players—together, and they’d bonded pretty much instantly. They were already derby husbands. Being actual, legal husbands was almost a logical next step for them. If Jace had been anything other than straight, he would have been interested in Noah anyway. Noah was smart, and funny, andgotJace on a level most people never really did. That was something special.
Knowing that Noah wasn’t about to move back to another country took a weight off Jace’s shoulders. He wasn’t sure he could have kept going to derby without Noah. He wasn’t sure he could have kept living his life the way he did without Noah, considering how much he’d come to mean to him. Now, hopefully, he’d never have to find out.
Chapter Five
Noah dumped the last box of his stuff on the floor of Jace’s living room—well, their living room, now—and flopped down on the couch. His apartment had come fully furnished, but luckily, Jace had a spare bed for him. And a room that had previously been used as storage. As far as Noah could tell, the only thing really being stored in there was the bed.
Noah suspected Jace had a roommate at some point, and had never bothered to get another one when the last one moved out. Nurses weren’t the best paid people in the world, but Jace’s income was stable and the rent wasn’t so high in this neighborhood. He probably didn’t need a roommate.
They’d both save a lot of money by having one, though, which was a nice extra. Noah would be able to appreciate it more once he caught his breath again.
He knew that if he’d waited until after Jace finished work, like he was supposed to, Jace would have helped. Considering what Jace was already doing for him, though, he didn’t want to burden him any further.
A few minutes of rest, and he’d be fine. He hadn’t accumulated too much stuff over the three years he’d been living in his old place, and he hadn’t brought much with him, either. Clothes, a single box of books, and slightly more computer parts than anyone needed.
He should probably have thrown out some of the computer parts, but he was convinced all of them would serve a purpose one day. They’d all been things other people were throwing out. What had started as a small collection had quickly grown into a problem, and Noah hadn’t realized how much so until he’d had to move them up two flights of stairs. Now that he’d moved them, he probably wouldn’t even think about them again until the next time he had to move them. Such was the nature of useless junk.
On the plus side, the walk-up to Jace’s place would keep him in peak derby fitness all year round. Noah had a bad habit of letting his fitness lapse between seasons, which Jace had never seemed to fall victim to. Though Noah had been to his apartment before, he’d never really thought about the stairs until today. Making five trips in a row up and down them while carrying heavy boxes was slightly more difficult than climbing them once, hanging out for a few hours, and then climbing down them again. He should have paid the guy with the van he’d hired another fifty bucks to help him, but it was too late now.
Once he caught his breath, Noah got up and headed to the kitchen. He wanted to have dinner in progress when Jace got home. Jace was doing a lot for him, though he didn’t seem to see it that way. In exchange, Noah intended to be the best damn fake husband who’d ever lived.
The fridge yielded bacon, cheese, beer, and an assortment of condiments, some of which were past their used-by date. Noah couldn’t help laughing. This was exactly what he imagined the inside of Jace’s fridge would look like when he wasn’t prepared for company.
It didn’t help him with dinner, though. He took out his phone to send Jace a text.
