Henderson and Doba laughingly went to claim their drinks, take them to the unit’s table, and mark it since the place was filling up.
Emily moved into Natalia’s arms, the happy slope of her neck as she rested her cheek on Tal’s shoulder somehow one of the sweetest things Gideon had ever seen.Manny teased Pearson into doing a slow dance, his posture and stance that of a professional dancer, although his hand in the small of her back spoke of tenderness.Partners or, well,partners, Gideon had to admit, they’dallgrown closer in the last few months, and since Crosby and Garcia had paired off, andeverybodyknew Clint was married to Harman now, maybe the SCTF would simply be a DOJ anomaly.Partners who were partners allowed.
And as he turned to Joey to meet his eyes and share the joke—and to head back to the table because God knew he was lucky not to have caught any of the women, at least, in the ear with his wild flailing elbows—he felt a small, callused hand in his and Joey’s cable-strong arm wrapping around his waist.
“Oh,” he said softly, assuming the dance position.“Hello.”
“Here,” Carlyle murmured, resting his head against Gideon’s chest.“Call me sentimental, but I think an LGBTQ dance club in Queens is the perfect place to come out.”
Gideon chuckled and pulled him closer, dropping their formal “dance arms” so he could hold Joey against him while Joey wrapped his arms around Gideon’s neck.For all the music they’d listened to, they’d never danced like this—not even in the privacy of Gideon’s apartment—and the intimacy of their bodies, the synchronicity of their feet, their movements, their heartbeats, was suddenly all he could think about.
He had no urge to glance around to see if the rest of the unit saw and approved—or disapproved—or was even surprised.Right now, with Joey in his arms, leaning against his chest,trustinghim, all he wanted was Joey.
“Kid,” Gideon said, because he couldn’t break the habit, “you know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, Gid.I love you too.”It hadn’t rolled smoothly off the tongue for either of them at first.But then once a day, in private, one of them would stare at the other in surprise.
Joey, what?
I love you.
Yeah, that’s weird.Love you back.
Or,
You thought about it again.
You complaining?
Naw, Gid.I love you too.
Or that evening as they’d been getting dressed,
What?I like this suit.(Joey always liked his suits, no matter how doomed for the rag pile they’d be in the next two weeks.)
Yeah, I like it on you.
So, is that, uhm, lust in your eyes?
No, moron, it’s love.I can’t lust after you in a suit that shows me how long it’s been since you waxed.It feels unclean.
So “I love you” was getting easier, was starting to fit a lot more comfortably (at least more comfortably than Joey’s suit, which was about to burst at the seams, and it wasn’t like Joey had an ounce of fat to spare.)
And right now, the music washing over them, this thing they both loved, Gideon had no qualifiers.No embarrassment.They loved each other.This—them moving in sync, their breath mingling as Gideon lowered his mouth for a kiss—this was as happy as he was ever going to get, and it was astunningamount of happiness for a man who’d never dreamed of romance or partnership or love.
It was probably a stunning amount of happiness for a man whohaddreamed of those things, but Gideon felt so much less prepared for it than one of those other men.
And maybe a smidge more grateful.To say being in love with somebody who was exasperating, fierce, and damned near as amoral as Gideon was such an amazing surprise.Who knew life could give such a gift?
Gideon had never suspected.
The kiss deepened, and the dance went on, and like Ed Sheeran was saying, everything was “Perfect.”
The dance ended, and the floor grew more crowded.Joey let Gideon retreat to the drink table while he be-bopped with Swan and Crosby.He was surprised to see the rest of the unit there, quenching their thirst and chatting happily—and more surprised to get a cheer as he sat down.
“I have no idea what you’re going on about,” he said, and Garcia elbowed him in the ribs.
“Crosbysocalled you guys.Kept going on and on about you two singingHamilton.I thought he was crazy.”
