A small bolt of guilt pierced me. “It isn’t that I’m not grateful,” I hurried to say. “I appreciate you wanting to take care of me.”
“But?”
“But it’s a reminder my body doesn’t work right. Maybe…” I started and then stopped.
“Maybe what?”
I shook my head.
“Garrett.”
I cringed. Hearing him say my name like that made my stomach twist.
Keeping my eyes everywhere but on him, I said, “Do you think it’s a punishment…?” The words trailed off because I couldn’t bring myself to say the rest. For so long, those words echoed inside me, and though I tried not to believe them, it was hard when it seemed like the universe was intent on proving them true.
“For being gay?” he asked.
“For being me.”
Hiro made a sound and came forward, tossing the box onto the couch so he could lift me off the floor by my waist. My legs automatically wound around him like they knew exactly where to go. Our chests brushed, mere inches apart, and his eyes locked on mine. “No, baby. It’s proof the world is an unfair place, because if the universe was handing out punishment, it would’ve given it to me, not you.”
I shook my head. “You’re not the villain you think you are.”
“I know who I am. But now it doesn’t seem like such a cross to bear because I can use it to protect you.”
A lump formed in my throat, making my voice hoarse. “Can I see my glasses?”
His smile was quick as he sat down with me on his lap. After making short work of the box, he slid a cream-colored case into his hand.
“Open them,” I urged, patting his waist as a combination of excitement and nervousness swirled inside me.
He pulled the top open, and I stared down into the case at a pair of square black frames. Because we’d chosen the same-day option, there weren’t many styles to choose from. Which was probably a good thing because even choosing between three different styles, I’d been overwhelmed. I asked Hiro to pick them, figuring he’d be the one looking at them on my face all the time. Plus, it seemed kinda pointless to pick out frames when my eyes were still dilated and blurry.
“Let’s see them,” Hiro said, pushing the case closer.
Carefully, I pulled them from the case, unfolded the sides, and slid them on.”
“My guy, glasses only work when your eyes are open.”
I smiled but still kept my lashes pressed together, for some reason afraid to look.Will the world look different?
Hiro’s fingers nudged my chin, a soft bump of encouragement. “Look at me.”
Bracing myself for the unknown, I opened my eyes.
It took a moment for my vision to clear and focus, for me to realize there was a change. “Oh,” I said around a sigh, eyes soaking in every detail I’d missed in Hiro’s face.
“That’s it? Oh?” Hiro asked. “Is the prescription wrong? Did they screw them up? I knew that man was a quack. I’m gonna go down there—” He shifted to stand, but my hands slapped his biceps and squeezed.
“The prescription isn’t wrong. It’s… perfect,” I said, slightly awed.
I’d lived my entire life looking through a haze and believing it was normal. But now everything was sharpened. The world, once a watercolor, was now filled with sharp lines.
And Hiro… “You’re beautiful,” I whispered as though the sound of my voice would somehow disrupt the view.
He made a sound, but I shushed him, not wanting to interfere with this moment, the moment when everything seemed to snap into place.
Lifting my fingers, I brushed them softly along the sharp line of his jaw, gliding up to trace the shell of his ear, then wrap around the strand of thick midnight hair always curtaining his secretive eyes. From the very first moment I met him, I knew Hiro was attractive. Strikingly so.
