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“I’m so happy for you, Aleksei. This is huge!”
“It is. It feels really fragile right now, and I’m worried about screwing things up again. But I’m determined to make things right between us.”
Timothy gently caressed my cheek. “It’s going to work out,” he said. “I know it is. I can tell how much he means to you, and I know you won’t let anything stand in your way.”
‘You’re right. I won’t.”
“I hope I get a chance to meet him.”
“You will, very soon actually. I gave him a pair of tickets to the fundraiser on Friday. It seemed like a good idea to spend time with him in a fun setting, since things are always so serious between us.”
“That’s a great idea.”
After our makeshift dinner and a bit of clean-up, Timothy asked, “Is it okay if I spend the night?”
“Of course. I didn’t mention it because I thought it was a given.”
“We’re basically starting from scratch here, so it seemed best not to assume.”
“The answer to any question like that is always yes. I want to spend as much time as possible with you.”
He slid closer and told me, “I want that, too.” After a pause, he said, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you. I hope it doesn’t seem like too much too soon, but a good friend of mine is getting married weekend after next in Las Vegas, and I want to know if you’ll be my date. It’s on a Saturday night, and I was thinking maybe we could fly down Saturday afternoon and fly back Sunday, so you don’t have to miss work.” He quickly added, “It’s fine to say no. I know this is short notice, but I didn’t know if I should ask before you and I were officially a couple.”
“I’d love to go with you.”
Timothy’s face lit up in a beautiful smile. “Awesome! I’ll make all the arrangements.”
I kissed his forehead and asked, “Do you feel like watching a movie? It’s still early, and I’m not tired yet.”
When he agreed, we found a movie on my laptop and curled up together under the covers. Pretty soon though, I forgot all about the action flick and just focused on the moment. Timothy was right beside me, with his head on my chest. He felt so good, so warm and cuddly, and his skin beneath my fingertips was wondrously soft. Everything about this was perfection, and more than anything I just wanted to relax and enjoy it.
So, why did I have a feeling in my gut that something bad was coming, something that could knock our world off its axis?
16
Timothy
On Friday afternoon, I was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch and being a complete slug when my absentee roommate Hal came home. I sat up and exclaimed, “Harold Nakamura, is that you? Why, it’s been so long that I plum forgot what you looked like!”
He grinned at me as he came into the living room and took a seat on one of the mismatched club chairs. Hal was an ex-model who was always either working, at school where he was studying fashion design, at his internship, or at the gym—and all of that made me feel like an even bigger slug. “I’m pretty sure we saw each other last week.” He tilted his head and asked, “Are you growing a beard?”
“Nah. I just haven’t bothered shaving for two or three days.” Ever since my restaurant job and both my classes ended, I’d been pretty unmotivated to do much of anything. It felt like most of my time was spent waiting for Aleksei to get home from work. At the moment, I was also waiting until it was time to get ready for the fundraiser. Which reminded me. “You’re going to that retro prom thing tonight, right?”
“I am. Daniel gave me his extra ticket after his boyfriend Brad blew him off.” While he was talking, he pulled an elastic band off his wrist and used it to gather his shoulder-length dark hair into a ponytail.
“I’m glad you’re coming, but that’s a bummer about his boyfriend.”
“Yeah. He claimed he had to finish a project tonight, so Daniel’s planning to drop by the office to see if he catches him in a lie.”
“Damn,” I muttered. “I wonder if he really is cheating.”
“As someone who’s been cheated on, I think there’s a very good chance. All the signs are there.”
Daniel joined us a few minutes later, breezing through the front door with a shopping bag and announcing, “I just found the most amazing tux at a secondhand shop. Wait ‘til you see it!”
When he unpacked an elegant black tuxedo, I asked, “Is that for tonight?”
“Yup.”
I frowned and said, “I thought the retro prom theme was meant to be campy. I’m wearing a burnt orange corduroy tux from the 1970s with bell bottoms and huge lapels. Which one of us is doing it wrong?”
