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Lex rings the doorbell and I hear a crash and then the door is flung open.
“Lex!” Emery says, a smile on his handsome face. “I thought you would bail.”
“I would never, Eminem. I am a good, loyal friend.”
Emery bounces from foot to foot and then swivels his head to meet my gaze.
“Hi there, stranger!”
I lift a hand in an awkward wave.
“Hi,” I say, my voice rough and awkward. So I try again. “Hi.”
There. More normal. Good. I can do this.
“Hello again. Come in. Let me take your coat. Very fancy,” Emery says, reaching behind me to help me take it off, but his hands are slapped away by Lex’s.
“Do not touch him, Eminem. Only I touch him.”
Emery rolls his eyes as August rounds the corner.
“Hey,” the handsome and very calm man says, his lips tilted up in a friendly smile.
“Hi, August,” Lex says. “You remember William.”
“Vaguely. I had my eyes closed the whole time.”
“Yes, well, now you can meet him with your eyes open and really get a good look. This is handsome, sexy William. William this is August, Emery’s boyfriend.”
“Yes, mine. All mine,” Emery says with a manic smile. “Now, look, I made dinner but let me tell you, I made a mistake…”
My eyebrows rise as he says, “Instead of a tablespoon of salt, I put in a half a cup. I know…Iknow. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it happened, okay? So, we tossed it and ordered pizza. It should be here in like ten minutes. You want a drink?”
He rushes over to the kitchen and bumps into the wall as he goes. August just watches him go, hearts in his eyes and I feel suddenly so lost.
Is this how it is? Is this what love looks like? My grandma was the most normal adult in my life, but her husband had died, and she never remarried. I never got to see her with someone else. It was always just the two of us.
And for the first time in my life, I’m seeing what a relationship could be like. It’s just a glimpse, but still. I can feel the adoration between them.
It doesn’t always have to be like my parents, with the fighting and the anger and the abuse.
Perhaps that’s why I never ended up with anyone, why I was never turned on by or wanted to be touched by another person, because I was protecting myself.
Except with Lex, my body finally took notice and woke the fuck up.
It said hello and it ain’t saying goodbye…ever.
“Here,” Emery thrusts a can of soda into my hand and then one into Lex’s. I glance at the orange can, not recognizing the brand.
“Oh my god, Eminem. You remembered,” Lex says with a gasp. “I haven’t had this in ages.”
“I know, right? We were talking about it the other week, and I swear to god, an angel reminded me about this when I was at the grocery store.”
“I reminded him,” August interjects, and Emery waves his hand in front of his face.
“Whatever. Same thing. No need to rub it in, August.”
But August ignores him. “I actually had to go back to the store to buy it after he returned home without it.”
