Page 23 of Everywhere You Look
I am a fucking idiot.
This is probably the most inconvenient moment to find myself overwhelmed with need, but everything feels so heavy right now. The lawsuit, themarriage, the three girls sleeping upstairs. My attraction to Dean seems to be the only thing my mind can wrap itself around at the moment, and it’s turning me into a needy, touch-starved little slut.
“Right. That’s…yeah. Like a reverse lavender marriage. Except we’re not trying to trick anyone into thinking we’re straight. Just in love. Bro-husbands who are platonically in love,” Dean stammers, and it almost seems like he isn’t unaffected by all of this….newness, either.
“So, is that it for the rules?” I ask, and Dean nods and slides his phone over to me.
“Yup, for now. Maybe both of us should reserve the right to request an amendment at any time?”
“I think that’s a fair plan.”
“Alright, then go ahead and type your initials here. A legally binding note, right here in the app.”
I take the phone, tapping the screen to bring up the keyboard. I hit the ‘L’ and then the ‘C’ but my finger hovers there. It doesn’t feel complete like this, even though ‘LC’ have been my initials my entire life. I take a breath, then tap out one more letter before handing the phone back to Dean.
LCM.
Luke Cannon-McKenna.
When he sees it, the corners of Dean’s lips tip upinto the slightest of smiles. He runs a hand over his jaw before typing out his own entry.
Setting the phone back on the table, he angles the screen towards me so that I can see the screen, too.
DCM.
Dean Cannon-McKenna.
The proverbial ink sealing our love story. Or, really, ourhalfa love story.
Half or not, I like the look of our combined names way more than I probably should.
10
TAKING THE PLUNGE
Dean
I’ve been living in San Francisco for a few months now, have visited the city more times than I can count, and I’m still not used to the ridiculous weather.
It’s late spring, the sun is shining high in the sky without even a whisper of cloud cover. I can feel the heat on my face and I know that when I wake up tomorrow, the freckles on my nose are going to be much more prominent from all this direct sunlight. There’s a light breeze, but it’s not enough to even ruffle my hair. If I were to take a snapshot and post a picture online, people would think they were looking at a beautiful, warm and sunny day.
And yet, I’m fucking freezing. Luke tried to explain to me the whacked out weather system once, spewing some scientific shit about cold air from the ocean meeting the warmer air inland and causing microclimates, but I have my own theory. I think that this city is actually a figment of my imagination and one day I’m going to wake up and realize that I was actually just dreaming about the weird, rainbow-colored, half-sunny, half-foggy polar vortex that is San Francisco, because there’s no way that this place is actually real.
The dream theory is especially convenient because it would also explain why I’m standing here in front of City Hall in a suit and tie in the afternoon, waiting for my good friend to show up so that we can get married.
Luke and I have an appointment with a judge in half an hour, but I showed up an hour early. I had too much nervous energy after I slipped out of the house this morning, wanting to uphold the tradition of not seeing the bride—or groom, as it were—before the wedding. Kira and Warren took the kids for a sleepover last night, which allowed me to sneak out for a nice, long run and to grab breakfast alone without any guilt, since I wasn’t going to be leaving Luke alone with them.
I pull my phone out of my pocket to check thetime, and my text thread with Luke is still on the screen.
Dean
I’m out for the morning. Enjoy your last few hours as a single man. See you at the altar, hubby.
Luke
*thumbs up emoji*
I sigh, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. I’ve been unsuccessfully trying not to let it bum me out that all I got was an emoji thumbs up as a response—I mean, is it too much to ask for the person I’m committing myself to to show a little enthusiasm at our impending nuptials? There are way worse people that Luke could have to tie his life to, even if I’m not his first choice.
