Page 47 of They Were Roommates

Diego pressed his face into her neck and held her for an impressively long time. Frankie had to remind himself he’d had Diego’s tongue inside him that morning, so there was clearly no reason to be jealous of a hug. He’d spent so many years pining for Diego, Frankie sometimes had to check himself.

When Sham released Diego, he turned and pulled Frankie into an even tighter hug. “Oh my god, Franklin… you brought Sham Pain back into my life?”

Frankie had no idea these two had known each other, but he was happy to take credit for his efforts. “Do you two know each other from when you were at the bar?” Frankie asked, turning around, and leaning back against Diego’s chest.

Diego squeezed his hips and then they both froze, watching as Sham Pain’s pink rhinestone encrusted eyebrows disappeared under her pink wig.

Frankie took a quick step forward and raised his hands in the air. “Sorry. That was unprofessional.”

Sham Pain let out a very masculine sounding snort. “Sugar, letting your ‘business partner’ hug you in thanks for reintroducing him to an old friend is not unprofessional. And… if you two just so happened to be more than business partners, that would also not be in any way unprofessional… but listen, darlings, you don’t need to tell me anything. If you’re business partners, romantic partners, frenemies, stepbrothers, what have you, I don’t need to know. So long as you're nice to each other in my presence and don’t make me break up fights, I’m happy.”

Frankie beamed at her, but Diego hesitated for a moment. “I’m sorry if you’ve been put in the position of having to break up fights before. I promise you that will never happen here with us or with our friends, family, and staff.”

Sham Pain crinkled her eyes and leaned forward. She gave Diego two loud air kisses. “I would expect absolutely nothing less from you and your wonderful little community here. Now, tell me everything.”

They sat together on the edge of the stage for over two hours drawing up plans for a cozy little drag brunch. Sham Pain called a few of her drag daughters and a few other friends and everyone she called picked up and immediately agreed. One of them offered to MC and Frankie leapt off the stage and cheered. That had been one of the last big to-dos on his list. With everything settled and all of the queens and a king on board, they were able to schedule the big day for three weeks out.

Frankie scampered off to make the two old friends coffee and grab them some pastries. They sat together for another hour, and Frankie learned that Diego had met Sham Pain during a pretty low point in her life when Akil had taken her in as a dishwasher to help her pay her rent. She obviously hadn’t been in her drag persona then. Diego and Sham Pain exchanged a quick look and Frankie waved his hands in the air to assure her she didn’t have to share anything she wasn’t comfortable with. She thanked him and went on to explain how she’d begun doing drag a little over two years ago and she and Diego had lost touch.

Frankie excused himself, claiming he needed to do dishes, but really, he just wanted them to have time to reconnect openly without having to censor anything.

Over the next week, Sham Pain brought each of her drag daughters to the cafe to meet Diego and Frankie. Some of them came in drag and some didn’t. Diego and a guy named Pietro immediately hit it off, and it turned out another of the drag queens had been thinking of joining the group Diego attended.

Frankie wasn’t sure if it was the camaraderie they all clearly felt for each other, or if they were just amazing event planners, but the drag show was a smashing success. They almost completely filled the cafe. The patrons begged for another show for days afterwards.

Sham Pain and Diego began meeting once a week for coffee and cake, because apparently Sham Pain was obsessed with cake, to make plans for a once a month drag brunch, which quickly turned into once every other week as demand continued to grow. They brought on two new drag queens, and one of them openly admitted to being agender, and Diego started talking about hosting a gender queer coffee meet-up at the cafe.

Frankie felt like a proud parent at a playground, watching his boyfriend flourish and make connections. Diego still had bad days. One morning Sofia texted to let him know she was no longer speaking to his family due to some of the things they were still saying about Diego. Another time he found out a few of his old friends from back home had blocked him on social media. Other than those blips, though, Diego truly seemed to be okay.

The Rainbow Bean was thriving and their little community of friends and found family took up all of the time they weren’t spending together or actively working. After how badly the news of their relationship had been received by Diego’s family, they chose not to tell Frankie’s family for now. Instead, they went with the flow around their patrons and friends. A few people figured it out, and it almost became farcical how hard Penelope tried to present them with evidence that they were dating.

Sham Pain proved to be one of the best friends Diego could ever have. Frankie appreciated her wit and banter, and also the tender love she so clearly held for Diego. She recommended a therapist she liked who did telehealth visits. While Diego didn’t reach out immediately, he accepted her contact information and kept it sitting prominently on his desk, waiting for when he finally felt ready to call.

They celebrated their second dating anniversary with a quiet dinner at home. Diego surprised Frankie with an appointment card he had clearly drafted himself. It listed several dates for Diego’s personal therapy sessions, but also had a tentative date listed for a couple’s session.

“I… have been a little nervous to ask you,querido, because of how badly it went when I asked you to sign papers to protect our business from our relationship, but… I think couples counseling really isn’t a bad thing. I think it’s sort of like an investment in our relationship. And… I am. Invested, I mean. I’m in this for the long haul, for… for as long as you’ll have me,” Diego said softly as he handed the paper to Frankie.

Frankie left his seat to hug Diego tightly around his shoulders. “I’d like to think I’ve grown a lot in two years but… frankly you also delivered that news a lot better than you delivered the manilla envelope of documents back on Seth and Obie’s couch.”

Diego laughed and stood up from his seat. He led Frankie to their couch, where he pulled Frankie down into his lap.

Frankie curled his shoulders in and wrapped himself around Diego, fitting himself perfectly into Diego’s embrace. Diego didn’t mind being held anymore, and sometimes he would plop down on Frankie’s lap and demand to be cuddled, something Frankie never could have imagined back in college when he savored the opportunity to even rub Diego’s feet.

Honestly, he never could have imagined any of this life for himself, or for Diego. They’d both been so young and afraid.

Frankie wasn’t afraid anymore though. As he cupped his boyfriend’s cheek and pressed a tender kiss to his lips, he felt like they had the entire world spreading out in front of them.

“Is that a yes?” Diego murmured softly, nipping at Frankie’s bottom lip, and nuzzling his nose into Frankie’s cheek.

“It’s always a yes for you, D. Anything you want, I’ll try to give you.”

“Just you, love. I just want you.”

They sank into deeper kisses, and when Frankie slowly tipped sideways, Diego followed him down until they were ripping at each other’s clothes and sealing the deal with quiet groans and proclamations of love.

Epilogue

Diego

Source: www.allfreenovel.com