Ryan chuckled. “Only you’d think alligators were sweet.”
“You think it, too,” Oscar said. “Or you wouldn’t have sat and waited until the last one hatched.”
He unlocked his own phone, opening up his photo app and tapping on one of his own favorites of a napping alligator. “I like this one,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s cute,” Ryan agreed. “I was so worried when I saw the first one not moving.”
“I know.” Oscar shuffled a little closer. “I’m glad we didn’t lose any.”
“Me too.” Ryan let his head fall to lean against Oscar’s, the position comfortably intimate now. They were getting used to each other’s bodies in a way Oscar had forgotten could happen. It was soeasyto touch Ryan now.
Oscar kept scrolling through his photos, laughing as he came to a selfie Freddie had insisted they take together. For whatever reason, he seemed to want to hang out at the sanctuary. Maybe it was his mom’s influence, maybe he genuinely cared about animals—though he didn’t seem toknowa lot about them.
Not that he had to be an expert to care, Oscar supposed. It just seemed a little odd.
“You know he’s into you, right?” Ryan asked as Oscar scrolled past the photo to another one of the alligators.
“What?” Oscar turned his head a little way, then realized that he couldn’t look Ryan in the eyes without completely losing his comfy position. Surprise aside, he wasn’t really inclined to move.
“Freddie,” Ryan said. “He’s into you.”
“No he’s not,” Oscar responded, wrinkling his nose. Why would he be? They’d only met twice. He barely knew who Oscarwas.
Ryan sighed softly. “He is,” he said. “But I’m not gonna argue with you about it. I guess it doesn’t really matter.”
It didn’t, but not for the reasons Ryan probablythoughtit didn’t. Whatever Freddie’s feelings may or may not have been, Oscar didn’t care.
His heart had picked Ryan. Even if Ryan left tomorrow, he wouldn’t be interested in Freddie. Or anyone. Not for a long while.
At some point, he’d accidentally handed over the ability to break him to someone who never intended to stay a part of his life. Someone who, eventually, would leave.
That was terrifying, but he’d dropped his guard, and there it was.
The thought made him snuggle a little closer to Ryan, who held him closer.
Maybe he was being stupid. Maybe Ryanwouldstay, for him, or for the animals, or for the sanctuary. He seemed happy. Comfortable.
That could have been enough, right?
“I’m spoken for,” Oscar said, because there was no point in lying about it. “I met this guy a while back. You might know him? He’s got this adorable accountant thing going on, kinda scared of… everything, but I think he’s getting used to being surrounded by things that might eat him. Quick learner in bed.”
“Sounds like you like him,” Ryan responded shyly. Oscar could feel his face heating up where his cheek was pressed to the top of his head, and he could just picture the way he was blushing. Ryan blushed easily, and it was one of the cutest things Oscar had ever seen.
“I guess I do,” Oscar said. “I keep dragging him home with me.”
“He likes you, too,” Ryan murmured, kissing the side of Oscar’s head.
Tossing his phone aside, Oscar turned over and climbed onto Ryan’s body, straddling his hips and curling his fingers around his shoulders. He smiled a slow, easy smile as he looked Ryan up and down, taking in the faint blush still coloring his cheeks, the way his pupils dilated just a little way, the silk-smooth slide of their bare skin against each other.
“Good.” Oscar leaned in, brushing his nose against Ryan’s. “Because I need him to go another round right about now.”
Ryan laughed, rolling them both over and pinning Oscar to the mattress, knocking the breath out of him. “I think that could be arranged.”
