“This? Lie in bed all day. Maybe curl up on the couch. Watch TV. I don’t care. As long as we’re together.”
“We can do that all of today and tomorrow. We don’t have to leave the apartment again until tomorrow night for that New Year’s Eve team thing at Wendell’s. Good timing on telling me. Now we get three days off to enjoy each other.”
“No,” he whispers, trailing kisses across my chest. “I should’ve told you sooner. Should’ve let myself fall sooner. I’ve been missing out on the depth of your love.”
Then his lips are on mine again, and I can’t fully process that word.Love. I can’t deny I love him. The question is if that means he loves me too. It’s almost too much to hope for.
Can all your dreams really come true at once?
“You’re thinking too loud,” he whispers, breaking our kiss and cupping my cheek. “What’s on your mind?”
“Just hard to believe this is real.”
He grabs a handful of my ass. “Believe it. You’re stuck with me and all my craziness.”
“I’ll take all of it. As long as you’ll take all my quiet moments where I get lost in my own head.”
“Share those moments and those thoughts with me, and we’ll call it even.”
Emotion flickers in my chest.
“It’s real,” he whispers. “I need you as much as you need me. Maybe more. We all know how needy I can be.”
I chuckle at that. “When do you think we should tell the rest of the world?”
He glances at the window. “Think it’s still out there?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Well, safe to say the kids know. Think we scarred them last night?”
I look over at the plants. “Nah. They know when to close their eyes and look the other way.”
“Unlike everyone else in our lives who will be waiting for this news.”
I groan at that. “One thing I’m not excited about. I don’t want to be a spectacle.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Always.”
“Then trust that I’ll know the best way and time to break the news to our friends and families.”
“And the team?”
He inhales deeply. “Yeah. We’re going to have to talk to HR.”
“How do you think they’ll react?”
“I don’t know. But legally, there’s nothing in our contracts that says we can’t date anyone in the organization, only that it has to be reported.”
“Look at you doing your research.”
His deep brown eyes lock with mine. “So we’re clear, even if it said no, I’d have done it anyway. You’re worth breaking the rules for. I just like to know what rules I’m breaking.”
“What about coming out? Once the team knows, it’s only a matter of time before news breaks. Football is one of the least forgiving sports for coming out.”
“Fuck all of that. I don’t care. I’m not going to hide who I am. Christy set the example for me when I was young. She showed me how important it is to be true to yourself. People who support you will step up, and you’ll realize you don’t need the people who step out.”
