Page 119 of Fish Out of Water

Anything would have sounded good to him. In their relationship, Robbie did almost all the cooking. Sometimes Jake felt guilty, but then he saw the way Robbie relaxed whenever he was in the kitchen, and the way his eyes lit up when Jake praised whatever new dish he’d experimented on.

They had both honed their skills, which were still entirely opposite each other, to use them to their advantage: divide and conquer.

They were quickly becoming Eventide’s next power couple, and though Robbie’s last name was identical to the current king and queen of Eventide, whose crowns were at great risk of being knocked down these days, he’d done it without that name—mostly.

His parents held true to their word about cutting him out of his inheritance. The meeting with their lawyer, which took place in cold, gray January, was as unpleasant as it could be. Jake had never seen a family act so nonfamilial before.

Robbie was removed from the will that day, and instead his parents divided up their riches between various groups and charities. Someday, it might be seen as selfless, both on the parts of Robbie and his parents. But the day it was done, it was seen only as a bare necessity. It was the cutting of the umbilical cord that finally allowed Robbie the freedom he needed to live his life.

Jake wished that everything could have been perfect and worry-free after that. In the months that followed, he andRobbie planned their new life together, putting every waking hour into that damn bookstore. Some extra money, support from the almost in-laws, would have been nice.

Robbie did his best to keep a stiff upper lip and move on too, but Jake knew full well he missed his parents—or at least, the idea of parents—more than he would ever let on. The clues came in the form of quiet nights, when he was more pensive than usual, and long mornings in the bathroom where Jake knew he’d locked himself away to shed a tear or two before he had to face the day.

But they made it work. Robbie hadn’t cried in the bathroom for months, nor had Jake thought about the lost inheritance. Even now, when memories returned of the last time they saw the Eatons in Harry Brown’s beige office, sitting in squeaky leather chairs, Jake didn’t experience the twinge of envy he used to have to try to suppress. It was gone. He was happy, and it was gone.

After dinner, they settled down on the couch to watch a movie. Their days were busy and their nights were simple, but Jake wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“What do you want to do over the weekend?” Robbie asked softly, resting his arm around Jake’s shoulders and pulling him in to plant a kiss on the side of his forehead.

“Oh, whatever,” Jake said. “I didn’t have anything in mind.”

“Safiya wants us to come check out this new museum with her and Connor one of these days. It’s a couple-hour drive, but if you’re feeling up to it, we could do that.”

“Yeah, that’d be fun.”

Jake flipped through the movie carousel on the TV screen as they searched for one to watch. Safiya had always been a true friend to Robbie, even when everyone else iced him out—including Jake. Their friend circle had grown in the last few months, with many people suddenly finding Robbie much more palatable without the ominous shadow of his parents andfortune looming over him, but Safiya had always been there, and she always would be.

Marin jumped onto the couch and planted herself in Jake’s lap. Robbie reached over to pet her, and then he slipped his hand down to Jake’s thigh, where he gave it a squeeze.

“I think we should make time for ourselves this weekend too,” Jake said. “It’s been a while since we went out on a date. It might be nice to do something just for us.”

“I agree,” Robbie said. “We’re long overdue for a date night.”

A year ago, the mere idea of regular date nights would have sent Jake into a spiral, and then the mere idea that future Jake would look forward to such a thing would have sent him into another spiral.

He’d changed, there was no denying that. He didn’twantto deny that. Ultimately, he’d changed for the better, and so had Robbie.

And yet, the key components were the same. Robbie still flashed Jake that pearly white smile on the regular, he still wore his breezy linen button-ups and trousers, and he still looked at Jake with the same intensity that had inexplicably drawn Jake toward him in the first place.

He had sold the car he barely used a while ago, and he spent less time volunteering at the beach since he was so busy at the bookstore, but during Isabel and Alex’s last visit, Alex had come up with the brilliant idea of the bookstore sponsoring a beach cleanup program to get the community invested in itself again. Since then, in his downtime, Robbie had been working tirelessly on that.

Jake, too, had retained some of his youthful, or perhaps childish, demeanor. He still tossed stray quips at Robbie that Robbie always returned, and he still liked to drag Robbie along to the occasional party to which they were both finally invited. Such events didn’t happen often, but when they did, they werefun. And Jake never had to worry about who he might go home with that night again.

Jake had long since stopped worrying about what his parents thought of his life choices, and as the months flew by, he was actually looking forward to introducing them to Robbie over Christmas, and for Robbie to be around the kind of family he deserved.

“Oh, shit,” Jake said, dragging himself up from the couch. “I forgot to grab the mail when we got home. My mom was supposed to send us a package of her soap, remember?”

“You’d better go check to see if it’s there before it melts,” Robbie said. “I’ll pick out a movie.”

“Make it a good one.”

Jake jogged down the front porch steps and up to the mailbox. Their neighbor, a sweet older woman Jake had gotten to know well enough when he was helping Isabel, saw him and waved. “Hi, Jakey,” she called.

Jake half-smiled, half-cringed at the nickname. Even Aunt Isabel had dropped it once she’d been around the adult Jake long enough. “Hey, Beverly. How’s Frank?”

“Oh, you know,” Beverly said. “His arthritis in his hands has been acting up lately, but otherwise he’s doing well.”

“Sorry to hear about that. If you two need help with anything, just let us know. We’re happy to stop by, bring dinner once in a while, whatever.”