Page 50 of Jack Frosting

“That’s right, and that means you must be Jack.”

I shook his hand, trying to contain my surprise that he knew who I was.

“Both Eli and Trey have mentioned you, and of course, Gareth. I’m Ben’s father.”

It was coming together now. I should’ve known, but it seemed they gave me a heavy pour. Ben was watching Henry, Trey, and his sister at Eli and Gareth’s house tonight. Henry was staying for a sleepover.

“Ben’s a freshman at Boston College, right?” Clayton asked. “How’s he liking it?”

I was thankful he could carry the conversation.

“He’s great. Home for Thanksgiving break, as you know. Someone’s doing something right there. To be honest, he struggled a little in high school, but according to him, college is really working out for him. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not going to question it.”

“That’s great. We’ve got a few years before Henry is there – if he wants to go that route – but he seems to be struggling lately too.”

The fact that he used ‘we’ did not go unnoticed, but it was also time to tell Clayton what I thought might be going on with Henry. I didn’t want to start our official relationship with any secrets.

“He’s here! Get ready!” Gareth yelled, jumping into the room like a cuckoo clock before disappearing.

Somebody dimmed the lights and Lane wandered back over to his wife. Warmth pooled in my chest when I felt Clayton’s hand on my back. I smiled, because of Clayton and because I was imagining how Gareth must be feeling at this moment, leading Eli to us.

FIFTEEN

CLAYTON

Eli and Gareth were very sweet together.

I didn’t know if it was the dressy clothes or referring to Clayton as my boyfriend, but it felt like something had changed between us. Playful as always, Jack still made the joke about the opal buttplug, but he respected my request to not be teased and it seemed…different.

Jack from earlier in the fall would’ve had at least three minutes of material, but now…ugh, I felt so out of my league. I had never dated a man. This was all so new, but I wanted what Eli and Gareth had. I felt like Jack and I were heading there.

Our similarities made it an easy comparison.

“How’s it going, Clayton?”

I turned to see Eli, smiling and holding a beer.

“Going great. Happy birthday.” I held my glass towards him to clink, then took another sip. “Were you surprised?”

Eli shrugged. “Yes and no. I thought he’d do something special, but I wasn’t sure what.”

I nodded, not sure what else to talk about.

“Not to pry, but Gareth may have mentioned slash been excited about you and Jack getting closer, as he put it. Is having a roommate working out for you?” Eli paused, then added, “And please forgive me if I shouldn’t have said anything, it’s just-”

“I get it,” I interrupted. “It’s not a problem. Makes me feel better actually because it means that Jack is likely talking to Gareth about us”–I watched Eli’s reaction–“and yes, there is an us.”

Eli smiled, crossing his arms. “I thought you two looked a little closer.”

“Yeah, it kind of came out of nowhere, and now…”

“It’s growing into something you hadn’t even imagined.”

“A little bit, yeah.”

“To be honest”–Eli dropped his voice so low I had to lean in to hear him–“I’ve been carrying two rings around for a month, trying to figure out when to ask the question. I keep telling myself maybe he’s not ready.”

I followed his gaze across the room to find Gareth and Jack laughing together.