“When I was younger, yeah. But it’s…” He thought for a second. “New York is too big for me. My hometown is too small—everyone up in everyone’s business, and no gay community to speak of. I’d want to settle in a place that’s somewhere in between, you know? A city that isn’t overwhelming, nature within easy reach.”
“Yeah, same. I think, you know—maybe that’s why I like feeding birds. Because it’s at least a hint of wildlife among the skyscrapers.” I watched bright leaves spiraling down, caught by a breeze. “You said your mom’s an artist?”
“She is.” His mouth tilted in fond indulgence. “Painting, mostly. So, very different. All she’s ever wanted for me was to find a sense of balance and happiness. Yoga, meditation—she took me along from a pretty young age, so picture meat awkward fifteen with a bunch of thirty-five-year-old women doing Downward Dog.”
It tugged a laugh from me. “Well, hey. I’d watch. I mean—maybe not fifteen-year-old you.”
He shot me a smile, dimples flirting around the edges of it. “Nothing you haven’t seen before, though.”
Oh. We were doing this, then.
“True.” I let it sit for a moment. “But with true craftsmanship, you can’t take it all in on the first viewing. It deserves…repeat studies.”
His dimples pressed in further, fully visible now. “All you have to do is ask.”
Not quite true. But this bubble felt too bright to burst, so I slid him a grin. “Maybe later.”
“Just say the word.”
For a second, we watched each other, tension stretching thick and syrupy between us. Then he ducked his head, a small flush on his cheeks, smile only just visible. I exhaled a chuckle, and we kept walking, our steps rustling across the trail strewn in dried pine needles and rusty leaves, the forest opening ahead of us.
No answers, no promises.
Just an unspoken sense ofI want to be here with you.
“Wow,” Finn said, and—yeah.
The lake opened like a revelation. Sun glistened on the water, a breeze rippling the surface and cooling sweat on the back of my neck. Kids were flinging flat stones toward the glitter, far enough that their voices blurred into ambient excitement.
I stopped beside Finn and took a deep breath that carried the smell of pine and damp leaves. “Yeah. Just needs a couple of frolicking deer and a swarm of butterflies to complete the Disney setting.”
“And a squirrel giving us the side-eye.”
We claimed a spot under a sugar maple—half shade, half patchy sunlight, set slightly apart from the human buzz that hugged the shoreline. I set down my pack and spread out a thin, lightweight blanket. All very laid-back, if you ignored the two hours I’d spent hunting down this exact spot. Casual date energy, yup.
Finn dropped down with a happy sigh, palms braced behind him, all lean, easy length, as if a painter had poured him into that specific pose. He took in the view, then me, face going soft. The skin under his eyes still carried the dull bruising of a long week, but the spark was back. “Thanks, J. This is… I didn’t even realize how much I needed a day away from skyscrapers and traffic.”
J. There it was again, just like when he’d been sick and his guard down, familiarity slipping through.
“It’s a brain reset, isn’t it? Looking at a skyline that isn’t a cityscape.” I smiled as I started laying out our lunch—nothing fancy, just foil-wrapped sandwiches, a couple of apples, a bag of chips, and a thermos with coffee that didn’t taste and look like dishwater. As Shane would have put it: respectable for someone who used to drink instant by preference. There was dessert, too, but I kept that hidden inside the pack for now.
Finn watched, something bright in the corners of his eyes. “No swans folded out of napkins?”
I laughed. “The local wildlife might get territorial.”
He tipped his head back and inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. I studied the stubborn slope of his nose, the tilt of his lashes, and the generous curve of his mouth. When he caught me staring, his lips tugged up further.
“Just a reminder,” he said, teasing. “A picture will last longer.”
I lifted a brow like a question mark. “Will I have to go through your agent?”
It took a beat, then a full grin washed over his face. “Oh, we’re actually ready to joke about this?” he asked. “Then no, not today. Sunday special—take one, get one for free.”
I paused, then laughed. “Pretty sure there’s a quip about cum shots somewhere in there, but I can’t think of a good one.”
“I’ll take a bad one, too.”
“Low standards?”
