foot. “And that is why I never play video games. He beat me, but only because he cheated.”
“I’m starting to see a trend here. Trey loses because the other person cheats. Trey is a sore loser and a braggadocios winner. Hmm, I think Trey is a poor sport.”
“Oh my gosh, Trey, he’s so on to you,” Ash teased. “He totally has your number. Try playing tennis with him. Oh. My. God.”
“I’m not really a tennis player, so I don’t think that will be an issue.” I laughed.
“Not a tennis player? Okay, this relationship is doomed. Doomed I tell you,” Trey said, hand up to his forehead in classic drama queen style.
“I bet you two were a mess in college, weren’t you?”
“Well, not actually in school, those people were such fuddy-duddies,” Ash said with a grin. “But outside of school, we had a blast.”
Trey sat up and gave Ash some weird secret handshake, and they both dissolved into laughter. Ash stood and picked up his trash. “I’m going to go back to the computer and my house hunt. I can’t decide if I want another apartment or to buy a house. Or to rent a house. Or a condo, or a townhouse like one of these, but you know, cheaper. 'Cause Deidre pays me good, but not that good.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Yep, I will. I may try to stay around here if possible. It’s nice to be near friends.” He left the room, and I smiled as I watched him go. I hoped he did stay close by. He was good for Trey, and I liked having him around as well.
I wrapped my arms around Trey and held him tightly. “You doing okay?”
“I am. I’m a little shocked, like I can’t believe this happened. I’d planned to come out at some point, but I didn’t expect it to be like this, and I have this weird feeling of letdown. I’d built up my nerve all afternoon to tell my father, and then he comes over there with this picture of us. So on one hand, I’m like how dare this guy out me, and on the other hand, I’m relieved because I didn’t have to say it. But then again, I was prepared to do it today, so I also feel a little like I was cheated of having my moment of saying I’m gay. I don’t know. My head is just kind of spinning.”
“Trey, I think in this situation every one of those feelings is valid. It’s like the timing couldn’t be better, but it also couldn’t be worse. What matters is, it’s done.”
“And we’re together.”
“And we’re together. We do still have this stalker to deal with, though. And the wording of this recent letter worries me, but we have a plan to keep you safe for as long as necessary.”
Trey
“I don’t want this thing between us to be about you keeping me safe,” I insisted.
“I know you don’t, and it won’t always be. One of these days, it’ll be about us fighting over who cheats at Scrabble and who makes the best mac-n-cheese. But for now, it has to be about keeping you safe.”
“I can’t even make mac-n-cheese unless it comes in a box. Can you?”
“Nope, but I figure one of us is going to have to learn to cook, so I say we have a mac-n-cheese off to see who’s the best.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. Loser has to take classes to learn to cook.”
I looked at him trying to figure out what on earth he was thinking. That made no sense, so I told him so. “Roman, that makes no sense. The person who can make the best mac-n-cheese is obviously the better cook and should be the one to take the classes.”
“Do you want to take cooking classes?” he asked incredulously.
“No. Do you?”
“No, that’s why the loser has to take the classes, but at least one of us will also be able to make kick-ass mac-n-cheese.”
“In some crazy way, that actually does make sense,” I said, laughing. Life with this man was going to be fun. “So what do we do with the rest of our day?”
“I don’t know, watch a movie, play a game, shop on the internet for things for the house.”
“What do you need for the house?”
“I don’t need anything, but I thought you might have some things you wanted. I want this to be your home as much as it’s mine,” he said. Wow, my home as much as his. I’d never had a