“Which is also totally fine,” Zach responded, breathing a sigh of relief. Theyhadwandered into personal territory, and that was why everything had suddenly felt tense and strange.
That, and the fact that Aiden was hanging over this relationship like the goddamn sword of Damocles, suspended by a single hair and destined to come crashing into their lives someday.
He was Flynn’s brother. As much as Zach hated to think about it, Aiden was coming back someday. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but… he’d always be blood to Flynn.
What Zach was most afraid of, he realized, was that Aiden would ultimately be more important to him. Because they were family. And because Aiden was the only family Flynn had left.
“I wanted to say…” Flynn began, stroking Zach’s neck again. The gentle contact was just enough to force the thought of Aiden from his mind. “It, uh… it means a lot to me that you were my first. I couldn’t have asked for someone kinder.”
A soft, happy sound rumbled in Zach’s chest. That was exactly what he needed to hear right now.
He turned his head to kiss Flynn’s cheek, feeling some of the tension in his stomach ease off. Worries were fine, and normal, and they didn’t mean things wouldn’t be okay.
If an Aiden-shaped bridge happened to come up later, they could work out how to cross it then.
“So how about a gallery opening?” Flynn asked. “Do you go to those?”
“Uh… yeah?” Zach responded. “If I’ve got a piece in it, or a friend does, or there’s something I wanna see.”
“Not for the free wine?” Flynn asked, nuzzling the top of Zach’s head.
Zach chuckled. “I consider the free wine a bonus perk. So you’ve… been to those, too?”
“Uh. My ex took me to a couple,” he said. “She was into reading articles on the internet about what constituted an interesting date and then making us both go on them whether we liked it or not.”
“Holy shit,” Zach said in response. “I… how long did you date her?”
“Nearly a year,” Flynn said. “Looking back… not sure how that happened. I guess… I guess I was lonely, and I didn’t…hateher, or anything. I think we were just clinging to each other.”
“I wouldn’t have lasted that long.”
Flynn shrugged. “It was mostly fine. We didn’t do anything super weird. I actually kinda liked the gallery openings.”
“For the free wine?”
“For the free wine,” Flynn confirmed. “I had a good conversation with one of the artists, though. He gave me his number. I couldn’t work out why at the time.”
Zach blinked, amazement at how oblivious Flynn managed to be filling his entire brain for a moment, pushing out all other thoughts. Laughter welled up in his chest, and he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at the thought of Flynn quietly accepting some poor man’s number and not realizing what was going on, maybe not even realizing that he’d been flirting the entire time.
Like the barista.
Flynn obviously made a habit of breaking little gay hearts wherever he went. Without ever meaning to.
“I knownow,” Flynn defended. “Just… took me a while. I figured gay guys would have better taste.”
Zach snorted. “Better taste than tall, dark, and handsome?” he asked, shifting his position so he could look Flynn in the eyes.
By the time he turned around, the tips of Flynn’s ears were glowing.
“Well, when you put it likethat…” A tiny smile danced around Flynn’s lips. He was stunning when he was happy, especially when he felt flattered.
It wasn’t hard to imagine some other artist, somewhere, desperately wanting to see him again.
“Anyway, I was thinking we could just… replace that guy with you. Since that way it’s kind of a true story?” Flynn suggested.
“This… isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Zach admitted, thinking back to all the times he’d been desperately flirting with unavailable men in art galleries.
He’d done more of that in his life than he cared to admit.
