Chapter Twenty
Julian opened the door eagerly the minute Isaac knocked on it, grinning at him. He’d been waiting for Isaac to come since he left work, after Isaac had suggested it this morning via text.
It’d been a few days since they’d seen each other, since Isaac was deep in preparations for the tournament starting tomorrow.
Julian was honestly surprised he was okay with coming over tonight.
“Hey,” Isaac beamed back at him, holding both hands behind his back. “Mind if I come in?”
“I’ve been waiting all day,” Julian said, standing back from the door. He tried to get a look at whatever Isaac was holding as he came in, but Isaac was careful to use his body to shield whatever it was from view.
A surprise, then.
Julian’s heart fluttered. He wasn’t used to surprises.
“I was thinking since the tournament starts tomorrow that it’d be nice to have a night in,” Isaac said. “And I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” Julian smiled softly, his heart soaring.
Isaac missed him? That was… nice. More than nice.
He was used to missing Isaac, but he was never sure how Isaac felt about him. Or at least, he wasn’t sure how intense his feelings were.
Isaac was obviously having fun, but Julian had no idea how deep that went.
They’d stayed in pretty much every night since Julian had agreed to this arrangement—which hadn’t beenanythinglike he’d imagined—but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Helikedhaving Isaac all to himself.
He would have liked to have Isaac all to himself in public from time to time, but he understood why Isaac hesitated. Even if that had theoretically been the point.
He’d thought in the beginning that this was more an experiment for Isaac than a publicity arrangement, and that had more or less been confirmed as time went on. The thing was, though, thatIsaachadn’t known that.
In typical Isaac fashion, he’d really thought that he was just pretending. For a little while, at least.
Julian got the impression that Isaac had freaked out when he realized that he wasn’t sure he was faking anymore. And that was okay. Whatever he needed, Julian wanted to give it to him.
“So…” Julian tried again to get a look behind Isaac’s back, curiosity killing him. “Whatcha got there?”
Isaac grinned at him, turning so that Julian still couldn’t see no matter how hard he tried. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” he said.
Julian sighed, but held his arms out in front of him obediently, letting his eyes fall closed. The sound of Isaac’s footsteps told him he was approaching, and Julian’s heart started to pound in his chest.
He liked it when Isaac got close to him, too. He likedIsaac, and he wasn’t about to start lying to himself about that.
Whatever Isaac was holding, it rattled oddly as he moved it, as though it was full of… shards, maybe? But that didn’t make any sense. Isaac put the box in Julian’s hands, laying it across his arms to help him grab it.
It was abigbox. But light for its size.
“You wanna try guessing?” Isaac asked playfully.
“I have no idea what this is,” Julian admitted.
“I guess you can open your eyes, then,” Isaac said.
The first thing Julian saw when he opened them was the excitement on Isaac’s face. His heart swelled, stomach clenching with joy at seeing Isaac so happy.
Then he looked down at the box, and his whole face broke into a grin.
Lego. A Lego car, just like…
