Page 113 of Dickathlon

I laughed, told him we’d see, and made sure my dick was fully back into my shorts before stepping out of the Wrangler. Ty had apparently forgotten his vow to milk it dry.

“We getting lunch here too?” he asked.

“Sure. I’ll meet you in there after I fill up. Thanks, babe.”

“No problemo.”

I withheld my eye-roll as he gave me a quick kiss before heading inside the rest stop.

A few minutes later I found Ty in line. “So, when are we announcing our relationship?”

“Uhhh, what do you mean? Our families and friends know.”

“Yeah, but…like, publicly. On Instagram or something,” Ty added.

“Hi gentlemen, can I take your order?”

We ordered lunch and stepped aside to wait for it.

“Do you not want to announce us?” Ty asked, one hand on his hip, the other pressed against my chest.

I scoffed. “I’ve been posting photos of you for months. I guess I was waiting for you to say something.” I pushed his hand aside, then grabbed hold of it. “Wait, is this about Ian? You want everyone to know about us, don’t you?”

Ty pulled out of my grip and crossed his arms. He avoided eye contact. “Well, kind of.”

“Babe, everyone knows already. There’s like a hundred photos of us on my profile. We went to Italy together. There are romantic dinner shots of us with the Colosseum in the background. I’m sure he knows.”

“Yeah, I guess. It just isn’t like official official.”

“Well, we can make that happen. Not sure if a rest stop is the right moment.”

“You mean that?”

“I do. But you realize that it’ll be your official coming out too. You ready for that?”

“Oh.” He paused for a second. “I hadn't actually thought of that, but yeah, I don’t care. If anyone has a problem with it, delete. Block. Done.”

“You do realize there will be assholes calling you too weak to admit you’re gay, saying you’re hiding behind the label of bisexuality.” I was proud of his confidence, but worried anyway.

“I am aware of bi-erasure, Declan.”

“Okay, I just wanted to make sure you’re prepared. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ve seen it all with Luke and he’s talked me through a lot of it already. I’ve just been feeling a lot more coupley with you lately and I want to share it with everyone.”

“And Ian.”

“Fine! I want to rub it in his ugly, little face that he lost the best person he could’ve ever hoped to live a long and happy life with.” Ty stood, legs apart, hands firmly planted on his slim hips. “Is that okay with you?”

I chuckled, then grabbed his open flannel shirt, pulling him towards me. “Jealous Tyler is kind of hot.”

“Order number sixty-nine.”

Ty’s giggles forced my chuckling to turn to laughter as I grabbed the tray from the smirking worker.

“I can’t take you anywhere,” I grumbled as we found a table, but I was beaming on the inside. Ty wanted to come out publicly, officially as my boyfriend. I did not miss his rhetorical exchange he fake-had with Ian about living a long and happy life either. It was the closest Ty had come to saying something like the L word and I was going to remember this rest stop for the rest of my life.

Halloween