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I drop my head to my chest, laughing. “Yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see how that goes.”
“A new adventure.”
She smiles big and it reminds me of the girl who stood at her mom’s side on the day we met, then confidently introduced herself. Full of joy and life and always wanting to see the people around her happy.
“…only if you want to catch the house on fire,” Aaron is saying to Trevor as they step onto the deck.
“You worry too much,” Trev says with a laugh.
Aaron just shakes his head and walks over to Rae. “Hey, Beautiful.” They share a standard—gross, PDA-heavy—kiss, then he wraps an arm around her. “Ready for the fire?”
“Mm. Yes, please. Let’s get everyone else.”
They head for the back door, and Rae looks over her shoulder and winks at me.
A jolt of excitement rolls up my spine as I imagine a similar future. My arm around my girl, a house full of family and friends and all our kids as we gather around a fire in the backyard. It took me a long time to admit and accept the dream, but now that I have, it keeps growing into the beautiful future I want for myself. One I’m excited to build with Amelia, starting with our date tomorrow night.
Amelia
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Miles Hyun-Hansen knows how to plan a date. From him “picking me up” by knocking on my bedroom door, to the beautiful bouquet on the kitchen counter, to hiring a car to drive us, and now enjoying our meal in a private room at a swanky restaurant. I know better than to ask him how much this cost, but I know it’s a lot.
“You know, watching you house four McDonald’s cheeseburgers in less than ten minutes is hot, but watching you eat a steak is even sexier.” He grins at me as I take another bite.
“Good to know me eating turns you on because I’m going to be doing a lot more of that now that I’m in my second trimester.”
“I’m good with that. I love watching you eat.”
I scrunch up my nose. “I think that’s weird.”
“Nah. You’re nourishing your gorgeous body and our baby. Nothing more attractive than that.”
“You’re a smooth talker.”
He shrugs. “I’m not trying to be smooth. It’s the truth. Speaking of talking, we haven’t done much of that yet.”
“When the food is this good, there are better things to do with my mouth than talk.”
A huge smile grows on his face, then he bursts out laughing. “Some people would argue there’s always better things to do with your mouth than talk.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re such a guy. For that, you get to be in the hot seat first.”
“Hot seat, huh? Okay, hit me with it.” He wipes his mouth and leans back in his chair, waiting for me to come up with something good.
I sit back as well, trying to come up with a good question.
What do I want to know about him?
He seems like an open book. Everything I’ve asked about, he’s given me an answer to. But is there anything he hasn’t told me?There it is.
“Tell me something you’ve never told anyone else before.”
His eyes widen a little, then he smiles. “Good question. I don’t hold much back, but there is one thing I’ve never really talked about with anyone. I sort of mentioned it to Mackie at one point when she came out. I started researching sexuality and what all the letters and the plus sign in LGBTQ mean, and it got me thinking about my own sexuality. I’ve always solidly considered myself straight. I’m firmly attracted to women and I’ve only ever been with women, but I’m pretty confident I’m pansexual. If I’d met someone and connected with them the way I have with you and they were a man or nonbinary, I’d have been just as attracted to them, and I would’ve been open to pursuing a relationship with them.”
I rest my hand over his, warmth blooming in my chest at his unfiltered honesty. “Thank you for sharing that with me. Can I ask… is there a reason you never told your friends?”
“Not really. It’s never come up, I guess, except for with Mackie, but her coming out was well in the past by the time I figured this out about myself. There was never much more discussion about sexuality within the group, and since I wasn’t interested in actively pursuing hooking up or a relationship with a guy, it didn’t feel like a big deal to me. I’d never hide it if anyone asked me, though.”
“You seem to know yourself well. I mean that as a compliment because so few people do. I’m not sure I do.”
