laughed lightly. “So was I—about you appearing in my kitchen, and about falling for Lukas.” He met John’s warm gaze and smiled. “But he’s the best thing to ever happen to me. I can’t imagine life without him.”
“Such a sap,” he muttered and leaned forward to press a quick, closed-mouth kiss to his lips. His mom made a small meep sound, but he ignored his parents for a moment. They’d have to get used to him kissing his boyfriend. “But I can’t either.”
They stared at each other for long seconds, simply gazing into each other’s eyes and making silent promises. Promises that involved words like forever and family.
His mom cleared her throat and finally drew their attention back toward her and his dad. She was smiling softly and his dad… Well, he looked confused, his brow wrinkled and lips pressed together.
“We’re sorry for barging in,” she said, giving his dad’s shoulder one last squeeze, then stepping away. “We’ll get out of your hair and—”
“You’re welcome to stay,” John said firmly, eyes on his best friend. “You’re always welcome in my home.”
Lukas watched as John and his dad seemed to size each other up, reevaluating each other and coming to the conclusion that things between them were changed but not necessarily for the worst.
“We brought a roast,” his dad finally said. “Seemed a little chilly to grill.”
Swallowing, Lukas eyed his parents and John as he stood. “That sounds great. I’ll finish prepping the lasagna while the roast is cooking, and then we can have it tomorrow, okay?”
He directed the last part toward John, who nodded but didn’t take his gaze off his friend. Rolling his eyes, Lukas brushed his hand across John’s shoulders as he moved past him and into the kitchen, his mom right behind him. She was as familiar with John’s kitchen as he was, so he could focus on cooking the hamburger and processing what had just happened without worrying about directing her toward anything.
When he was layering the lasagna twenty minutes later, his mom stepped up next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. “I really am happy for you, sweetie.”
He shot her a thankful smile, then focused on the dish again. “Thanks, Mom. I wish Dad really was.”
She blew a raspberry and stepped away to check on something, then was back next to him. “He will be once he’s wrapped his head around the idea that his baby boy is having sex with his best friend.”
“Mom!” He jerked around to make sure his dad hadn’t heard her and was surprised to find he and John were both gone.
“They’re out in the living room watching the game, I think. That or out back beating the crap out of each other.”
“Oh my god, Mom!” He finished in a hurry and wiped his hands clean, then hustled out of the kitchen, her laughter following him.
They weren’t in the living room, though the football game was playing on the enormous television. Worried, he jogged to the back of the house and threw open the back door, but no one was on the back deck or in the yard, and he didn’t hear any yelling. Still a little concerned, he closed the door and leaned against it, trying to figure out where they could be.
The house wasn’t that big, so they had to be upstairs for some reason. He jogged up the steps and heard voices once he was at the top. Following the low sound, he found his dad and John sitting on the floor in John’s room, next to the walk-in closet, Ruby sprawled across John’s lap. Ohh. Ruby must have run upstairs to hide when his dad was yelling, so they’d come to find her and let her know it was okay to come out. But John’s bedframe sat on the ground, so she hadn’t been able to wiggle under it, choosing the closet instead.
“I just don’t understand what he was thinking,” his dad was saying, and Lukas’s heart started to beat faster when John nodded.
“He wasn’t, obviously. No one in their right mind would do something so idiotic.” John ruffled Ruby’s ears and smiled down at her. The jerk. How dare he call Lukas idiotic! Lukas was going to give him a piece of his—
“He was literally our entire defense. Now what the hell are we going to do?”
Lukas froze in the doorway. What?
“I know. Our secondary was built around him. The GM is out of his mind if he thinks this won’t cripple us