“I’d kiss you,” Ezra said softly. “But I can wait.”
Mike stopped, waiting for Ezra to do the same and then standing in front of him. His stomach tightened at what he was about to do, but hewantedthis. He wanted to be with Ezra, and everything that meant, and screw anyone who didn’t like it.
“You don’t have to,” he said, watching Ezra’s eyes light up with wonder, and dammit, it wasworthsetting his fear aside for this.
Mike took a breath, heart pounding as he went to lean in.
“Mike!”
For a moment, Mike felt as though his heart had stopped.
He turned to see his mom and dad walking toward him, mom waving enthusiastically…
Dad staring at where he and Ezra were still holding hands.
Automatically and without thinking, Mike dropped Ezra’s hand, shoving his own deep in his pocket as though hiding it would make it any less obvious what he’d just been doing.
His dad chuckled. “Didn’t know you two were coming out here tonight,” he said.
“We, uh, we weren’t,” Mike said. “I wanted to go for a walk, and I ran into Ezra. We were just talking.”
The lie tasted like ash in his mouth, his heart sinking even as the words escaped him. This was so much worse than not defending Ezra when he wasn’t around. He’d never felt more pathetic than he did in this moment.
Mike didn’t even have to look at Ezra’s face to see the devastation on it. Heknewhe was letting him down right now, but he couldn’t make himself stop.
In front of all these other people was one thing. In front of his dad?
He couldn’t do it. No matter how much he wished he could. How badly he wanted to grab Ezra’s hand again and sayyeah, we’re in love.
Because he was in love. Maybe he’dalwaysbeen in love with Ezra.
“Right,” his dad said, and the thing was that Mikeknewhe’d seen. There was no way anyone here didn’t know what was going on.
“Well, if you two are done, we brought the car. Want a ride home, Mike?”
Mike swallowed.
So that was how it was going to go.
As long as he walked away now, they could all pretend this hadn’t happened. Ezra wasn’t invited.
Mike felt Ezra go stiff next to him, and his heart clenched in his chest. He’d already screwed things up there, and maybe Ezra would come around, but then…
Maybe he wouldn’t.
Maybe Mike had just blown his one shot at this.
So now he had to choose between Ezra and his family, and maybe he’d already lost Ezra, and…
Dammit.
Just when he’d thought things were going to be okay.
“You should go,” Ezra said.
Mike’s stomach sank. Oh.Oh.
He’d lost Ezra.
