Page 43 of Nicks and Cuts

Shannon laughed. He’d had too many of those conversations with medical friends while everyone else was horrified. “Why don’t we go to Hartsville today?”

“It’s not that exciting.”

“Maybe not, but I’m sure they’ve got a museum or an escape room, and we can just do something together.” Not a date exactly but spending time together outside of the house.

“You want to find out if I’ll hold your hand in public?”

Yes…but they had never done anything together beyond the property. “I want to see if we exist outside of this house.”

“If we can exist in this house despite the baggage we both brought, I don’t think it will be a problem.” Dante stood. “Get your going out pants on…unless you intend to go in your track pants?”

“No, and I need to do my hair.” He gathered up his plate and mug.

Dante pulled him in for a quick kiss. “I missed you last night. Knowing that you were only at the other end of the house but out of reach was painful.”

“I half expected you to sneak down.”

“You realize you’re going to have to move your things into my room now.”

“Is that right? And what happens when I’m on nights?”

“You can have the room closer to mine. I want to keep the guest suite for guests.”

“Fair enough. I guess that means I should also unpack the trailer. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Know anyone who wants a fish trailer?”

“List it for sale. I’m sure somebody will want an oversized goldfish.”

“Sure, there’s obviously a thriving market for fish trailers.”

Dante pressed another kiss to his lips. “We don’t have to do everything today. Let’s just go out and do something because all the unpacking and the business will all be waiting when we get back.”

“That sounds to me like you want to ignore a whole bunch of stuff.”

“Yep…I want to focus on my boyfriend today. Rumor has it he’s not very good at doing that.”

“Yeah, well I heard that my boyfriend hates leaving the house so getting him to go out is a rather big deal.” Was Dante going to back out?

“I think dragging him out is exactly what he needs.”

EPILOGUE

Dante wiped his hands on his jeans for what felt like the tenth time on the short drive to the brewery. He hadn’t been there in ages, mostly because he didn’t like turning up to things by himself, and he didn’t like making small talk, and he didn’t like the looks people gave him as if they were remembering what he’d been like when he first returned to Foggy Basin. Of course, he’d never given them a chance to form a new opinion.

“Are you okay?” Shannon asked.

“Yeah.” It hadn’t been hard to hold Shannon’s hand in Hartsville. He thought he’d need to gather up his courage to make it happen, but he hadn’t. Instead, holding Shannon’s hand felt like being able to breathe freely for the first time in far too long. It was like he’d put down the pack he’d been carrying, been able to roll his shoulders and move on unencumbered.

“Are you sure?”

Dante nodded. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not worried about going in there with you. I’m worried about going in there, period.”

“You know what people are going to think? They’re going to be like, ‘shit, I remember when Dante first came back, and he could hardly fucking walk, and now look at him, he’s running a successful business and he’s dating the hottest paramedic in town.’”

Dante laughed. “True. Okay. I can do this.”

“Yeah, you can…like you said, make one appearance and the town gossip will take care of the rest.”

“And the gossip doesn’t bother you?”