We laughed and held each other’s hands between us. He rested his head against my chest, and I curled my arm around his shoulder.
“This has been one hell of an illuminating weekend, huh?”
Leo laughed. “Sure as hell has been. A great one too. Maybe the best ever.”
I kissed the top of his head and soaked up the comfort of simply being there with him. Naked, in his clean bed, wrapped around each other. Never a place I expected to be, but it couldn’t feel more right.
“So, what TikTok videos do you have coming up?”
Leo smiled as he placed a kiss against my sternum. He told me about the one he’d filmed yesterday, and I gave him a few ideas that had been kicking around my head.
“You really don’t mind me doing this?” His voice was hesitant, guilty.
“You’re working your ass off and creating a trust fund for my child. Keep it up. It’s like I’m living every cat owner’s dream of getting the cat to pay their own way.”
“With the help of a gorgeous roommate.”
My heart jumped into my throat at my words. “With the help of a gorgeous boyfriend?”
Leo smiled, gentle and accepting. “Who knows, maybe someday we could share a room and turn mine into a filming studio.”
It was one thing to admit we really liked each other and wanted to figure things out, but sharing a room was a big step. Sure, we were roommates and got along great, but I thought I would be glad we’d have our own spaces to decompress. I figured it would be hard enough to navigate dating as a newly out-ish queer man, but doing it with your roommate?
Even though my brain threw out all sorts of possible worries over the idea, peace settled over me. I wanted that someday too. “As long as we keep your bed. I can’t believe your mattress is comfier than mine.”
“That’s why Ledgie visits every night. She likes my bed better than yours.”
They were just words, and it wasn’t like we would rearrange our rooms tomorrow. I knew we needed to ease into this new thing between us, but talking with him like that gave me hope it might actually work.
“You know what? You’re right up my alley.”
Leo turned and aimed his pretty dark eyes at me and smiled. “I’m so glad we found each other. It’ll be easy to fall in love with you.”
EPILOGUE
3 months later
LEO
The lanes on each side of me were quiet as I dragged the heel of my right shoe against the floor three times—a new part of my routine before beginning the approach. Pop music played over the speakers, which drowned out the chatter. All eyes were on me as the last person to play. No pressure. There was only one frame left in the spring season—well, two if I could pull off a strike or spare. I needed at least a spare to tie Gutterade with the Dewey Decimators in the final season rankings. I needed the win. For me, for Hudson, for our team.
There weren’t any perks to winning beyond pride, our team name on the league trophy for the next three months, and free drinks at next week’s celebration between seasons. Some teams never tried to win and only participated for the social aspect. Gutterade had fun, but we wanted to win too. Hudson and I had discovered our competitive sides through bowling, and our win was so close that I refused to let it slip my grasp. Nabbing our first team win the same season Hudson and I got together would be the perfect icing on that bowling cake.
Ignoring the dozens of pairs of eyes on me, I visualized the congratulatory kiss Hudson would plant on me if I pulled it off. When I pulled it off. With the promise of that prize, I took my first step and moved into my choreography. My neon-green ball hugged the right gutter before curving and crashing into the center pin. I balled my fists, ready to punch them in the air when all ten pins toppled over.
But two remained.
7-10 split.
Fuck.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d pulled off a spare with a 7-10 split. Knocking over the two pins at opposite ends of the back row seemed an impossible feat. I squeezed my eyes closed and forced away the dread of a looming defeat as the pins reset and my ball worked its way back to me.
After forcing a breath and shaking myself off before my second turn, I turned around to grab my ball. Hudson stood at the edge of the approach. He looked sexy in his bowling gear. From shoes matching the ones he’d bought me right after we started dating to the dark jeans to the black-and-neon-green shirt and the rainbow pins we wore over our hearts for Pride month, we were a bowling dream team.
My shoulders dropped with his encouraging smile. I strode to claim an encouraging kiss and tasted beer on his tongue. When catcalls and whistles erupted around us, I pulled back to find Hudson’s cheeks as pink as I’d hoped. He not-so-secretly loved PDA, and I was happy to give it to him.
He cupped my neck. “You’ve got this. The librarians are quaking in their cardigans over there. If anyone on our team can pick up a 7-10 split, it’s you.”
