I typed on the app and let it speak. “I’m bisexual.”
It was much easier to put a label on it than to explain anything else, and I didn’t want her to begin to wonder why I hadn’t shared parts of my life with her until now. She’d never asked questions and I never given her information. She was too busy talking about her own drama.
“Are you spending Thanksgiving with him?” She offered me a sweet smile. If she hadn’t annoyed me so much, I would’ve felt guilty about not telling her anything about my personal life.
I nodded and typed again. “Yes. It’s his birthday today, too, so we’re double celebrating.”
She bounced in her seat, hands in her lap. “That’s awesome. Congrats! I can’t believe this is the first time I’m hearing about him. Tell me more.”
While I’d never understood talking up your partner to other people, the pride in me had me smiling and typing so fast that I had to backspace a few times to fix typos. Louisa waited eagerly, and by the time the phone was speaking, her grin had widened. “He’s really smart and selfless. Funny. Hot as hell, too.”
Louisa giggled behind her hand. “Tell me more. Everything. Tell me everything, Sam. I love this version of you!”
I did. Even though I’d only known him for a week, I’d learned a lot about Ezra. His favorite foods. How he used to ballroom dance for about a year of his childhood. That his favorite music was a bit of everything—from rap to rock to pop and everything in between. How he liked gaming, and loved horror games.
By the time I was done, I understood what it was like to care for someone so deeply that they became your world. It was a strange sensation and the rational part of me thought that it happened too fast, but I also didn’t care. Who had the right to judge what we were building?
“How long have you been with him?”
The question made me pause. I couldn’t tell her a week, because while I didn’t care what people thought about our relationship, whatever it may be right now, I knew it wouldn’t make sense to someone like Louisa. Normal. I’d studied people like her for too long, learned what was acceptable and what wasn’t, and knew what answer I should give her.
“A few years,” I lied easily through the app.
“Aww.” She clapped her hands together. “That’s cute. I can’t believe you haven’t talked about him before.”
I merely nodded, before our conversation went back to the same as before, her talking about the woes of her life and me half listening. The day went quickly and by the time the afternoon rolled around, I was more than ready to head home. Excitement had my leg bouncing on the drive and as soon as I parked in the garage, I was more than halfway jittery.
Ezra didn’t meet me in the hallway like he usually did, but I found him in the living room, gazing at the laptop I’d let him borrow. I walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder. He was looking at a college website, or more specifically, a course. He was scrolling, which meant I didn’t get to see what degree he was perusing before he realized I was there.
He shouted in surprise and slammed the laptop lid closed. Eyes wide, he gaped at me. “When did you get home?”
I raised my eyebrows and grinned, pulling out my phone to use the speech app. “Just now. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I...no.” He stood and placed the laptop on the couch before jumping over the back to stand in front of me. “Hi.” A grin spread wide across his mouth, lighting up his entire face. His bruises were fading, leaving behind soft pale skin.
I caressed his cheek, and he leaned into my palm with a gentle sigh. “Hey.” Then I typed on the phone again. “What were you looking at?”
He flinched, a flush of embarrassment sliding up his cheekbones. “I...fuck. I was looking at the New Gothenburg University website. It was a dream really, but I wanted to see if there were ways for me to get in without finishing high school.”
I typed on my phone again. “You need to get your diploma. There’s methods around that. I can help you.”
He raised excited eyes to me. “You can? Do you know how? Fuck, I hate school, but maybe I won’t hate it as much withoutGary, right?” He laughed and shook his head, the enthusiasm making him bounce on his toes. “But I never thought about actually going to college. I thought I’d always be on the streets.”
I placed the phone on the back of the couch and grabbed his shoulders, rubbing them gently, attempting to soothe the obvious anxiety that had him rocking on his toes. He gave me a wobbly smile, and I placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. He leaned in closer and tilted his head, and I happily placed another kiss on his lips. He tasted like strawberries, and I lapped him up because I couldn’t get enough of him. I didn’t think I ever would now that I’d had him.
Then, I grabbed my phone again and typed on the app. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
His grin returned to full capacity. “Thank you.”
“I got you the best present, but I can’t give it to you yet,” the phone said. I winked when he frowned.
“That’s mean. When do I get it?”
As if answering his question, the reverberating sound of a knock filled the living room. His frown deepened. He turned an accusing gaze on me. “What did you do?”
I laughed and shrugged innocently.
He pointed at me and rushed toward the front door. I followed, holding back an amused smile as he yanked open the door to find the girls and Dalton standing outside holding dishes full of food.
