them the truth—and frankly, he prefers it that way. If there’s going to be any peace between families, he knows leaving out the sugar daddy part is probably for the best.
He doesn’t stay for dinner that night, but he tries to soften the blow by offering up the gifts, and his parents grudgingly accept and thank the both of them for being thoughtful.
Before he leaves, he and Avery stand outside by the little fire pit and feed both contracts—old and new—into the flames, one page at a time. Then Avery puts his hand into Alejandro’s pocket as he’s kissing him goodbye, and it’s in the car he realizes the little wood carving of the skates is there.
He holds it along with the orca in bed, and he finds something like sleep for a few hours, waking to a text from Avery telling him that he’s expected at dinner. He thinks it’ll be a damn long day without him, but Avery texts him again after his shower. It’s a single address in the city, and Alejandro is there ten minutes early.
When he sees his lover coming around the corner bundled up in a parka and a scarf, his heart jumps twice. He looks all wrong and all right, and he kisses Avery against his laugh until it turns into a soft moan.
“This is ridiculous on you,” he says, and tugs on the shiny material.
Avery rolls his eyes and tucks his mittened hand into Alejandro’s soft leather glove. “It’s all my parents had. They bought me this jacket my junior year when I went on a ski trip, and it’s a miracle it still fits.”
Alejandro wants to find some shops and re-dress him, but instead, he lets Avery drag him inside to eat burgers and fries in a little diner on the corner that has windows from floor to ceiling. They curl their feet around each other’s under the table and watch the holiday shoppers, and there’s silence that goes unfilled. But for the first time, Alejandro doesn’t need words. He’s content to stare across the table at the love of his life and know that this is just the start of forever.
Alejandro swears his heart might stop if he’s not careful.
Over pie, they hold hands, and Avery just smiles at him as he steals the last bite and wipes whipped cream from the corner of his mouth with the edge of his thumb. It makes Alejandro want things. It makes him want to drop to one knee and make promises neither of them are ready for.
“Gabrielle’s birthday is in March,” he says instead. The words just kind of slip out, but they’ve been on his mind all day, and he waits to see if Avery’s going to say anything. When he doesn’t, he sighs. “I’m not going to visit on the anniversary of her death anymore.”
Avery bites his lip. “I understand.”
Alejandro doesn’t think he does, so he lifts Avery’s hand and kisses his knuckles. “Just make sure your passport isn’t expired.”
Avery almost chokes a little, and he sits up straighter though he doesn’t release Alejandro’s hand. “Oh. Oh, you want me to…”
“It’s not a very luxurious destination,” he confesses. “Derbyshire’s not very posh—not compared to places I could take you. But… I was thinking,” he hesitates because this has been on his mind too but it felt both too late and too soon. “You’re graduating in May.”
“Yes,” he says slowly. “If this is about what’ll happen with us while I’m in grad school…”
Alejandro’s press of fingers stops him. “I can live anywhere. Anywhere you want me to,” he clarifies, and he sees the way it makes Avery’s cheeks pink. “We can work out the details. But that’s not what I mean. I have a friend who owns a lot of property overseas. He works with universities in Italy, Israel…and Greece.”
The look on Avery’s face says he gets it.
“There’s a program this summer if you’d…”
“Stop,” Avery snaps, and Alejandro’s jaw clicks shut. “If you say another word, I’m going to fucking cry, and I am so done embarrassing myself in public for at least the rest of the year.”
Alejandro feels his smile stretch wider than it has in years, and he reaches for his coffee, taking a long sip. “For now, we can think about March.”
“Yes,” Avery says then clears his throat. “The answer is yes.”
Alejandro had no idea how badly he needed to hear that to feel settled until the words are under his skin, making a careful home full of