My brother nodded as he played with his phone. “This client better be worth a last-minute trip to Chicago. Keep your eye on your phone tomorrow. I’ll call if I need any help.”
Leo saluted. “Sounds good, captain.”
Kai hurried off, and after a minute, Leo closed his laptop and set it on the coffee table. “You feel like watching a movie?” he asked. “I think I finally ran out of steam.”
I tossed my book aside. “Sure. You pick. I’m down for whatever.”
I turned and leaned against the armrest, stretching my legs down the couch. Leo did the same on his end as he scrolled through the new releases, pausing over action movies that I knew he wanted to watch but then moving on until he found the drama category.
A glow warmed my cheeks. He was trying to pick something for me. “Maybe try the action movies with a strong female lead category,” I offered. Those ones would be a nice compromise between our viewing habits, and otherwise, I knew Leo would just pick something he hoped would please me.
I laughed quietly, surprised to find myself in the a totally different position than I was used to. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so addicted to catching matinees on my own if I actually had someone willing to watch what I wanted to watch.
Leo turned the movie on and tossed me a little pillow. I got more comfortable, and our legs bumped together as we each stretched out. Kai pretty much never left us alone in the condo, not for more than a few hours, and I was surprised at how deeply satisfying and right it felt to just relax with Leo like that at home.
Without really thinking, I wiggled my toes against his side, and Leo grinned, then wiggled his toes back at me. Heat tingled up my legs and swelled my cock, and when I realized how close I was to giving in to the sensations, I pulled myself up.
“Water?” I asked.
Leo chuckled, his mind obviously on the same page. “Yes, please.”
When I came back, he had paused the movie. I handed him a glass of bubbly water and took a seat across the couch, my legs crossed beneath my body to keep me in place.
“Do my feet smell or something?” Leo asked, cocking an eyebrow, and I realized how much I was clinging to the opposite end of the couch.
I laughed and uncrossed my legs but kept them folded under me. “Sorry. I just started to doubt my self-control.”
Leo folded his legs under him, too. “Right,” he agreed. “No hanky-panky while Kai is out of town.”
I laughed at his expression. “No hanky-panky,” I agreed. I wasn’t sure if I was hesitating because my guilt about Kai was catching up to me or if maybe I sensed that this was another one of those moments when I risked losing control with Leo.
Whether I was doing it for myself or for my brother, though, I wanted to prove that I could hold a boundary in place. The evening alone with Leo needed to be about establishing a little more self-control after the camping trip, and I trusted Leo would be okay with that.
“You know,” Leo said, his hand on his chin, “this is another thing that’s new to me.”
“What is?”
“Lying on the couch together, just watching movies. You remember when you teased me about never getting flowers from a date, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I remember.”
“I’m just saying I don’t want you to think I’m totally disappointed if we don’t hook up.” He paused, then laughed. “I mean, I can’t pretend I don’t think about it. But sitting here on the couch and chilling with our legs tangled together is pretty nice, too.”
I stretched my legs out again, then wiggled my toes. “Yeah, it is pretty nice.”
Leo laid his hands on my ankle and held it softly. “Glad you think so, too.”
“This was always my favorite part of being with someone,” I admitted. “I got obsessed with the big romantic gestures and melodramatic declarations, but it was always really just about having someone there in my bed, to share my nights and the quiet mornings.” I shook my head and laughed. “When I was a teenager, I was convinced that it was some weird side-effect of having a twin. Like I was so used to having someone there by my side all the time, I didn’t know how to not have someone.”
“You seem pretty happy now, even though you don’t have someone in your bed every night,” Leo offered, and I could tell he was being careful to support my goals.
“I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that.” Since arriving in Pittsburgh, time by myself didn’t feel painful and lonely. It just felt good, like I was recharging, and I knew that taking that space was part of what made it possible for me to spend time with Leo like I did and with the other parts of my new life.
It turns out that it was possible to be closer with someone if I took care of myself first, rather than sacrificing it all for them.
“You should know.” I smiled. “You’ve been happy flying solo for years.”
Leo finally stretched his legs out, extending them beside mine. “I have been happy, sure. But you know, I used to get a lot more out of my hookups. When I was younger, it wasn’t unusual for a guy to crash in my bed for the night or to meet up for dinner before we got back to my place and undressed each other.”
