for the rest of the season.”
They were talking about football. On the floor in John’s bedroom, Lukas’s dog between them, they were talking about fucking football.
Turning around, he stormed back downstairs and into the kitchen. His mom took in his face and set down the knife she was holding. “Oh god, I was joking about them beating each other. Are they seriously fighting?”
“No. They’re fine. Absolutely fine. Just talking about football.” He shook his head and sat at the island. “Why am I mad that they’re not fighting?”
His mom laughed and got him a beer from the fridge, setting it in front of him and then taking the seat next to him. “Because you’ve been worried about telling us for a while, I’m sure, and since things blew over so quickly you feel let down a little?”
He grunted and twisted off the top of his beer, drinking half of it in one go, then practically slamming it onto the counter and turning to her. “John wants me to move in, and I told him we’d talk about it after you guys knew.”
Her eyes widened, and she grabbed his beer, taking a slug. “Are you ready to move in with him?”
“I don’t know. I think so? But what if we get in a fight or he finds living with me annoying after a while?”
A deep laugh from behind him startled him so much he splashed beer on himself, then turned to glare at John. His dad was grinning behind him, so he got a glare for good measure.
“I think these are legitimate concerns,” he said, pointing his beer at John. “I could have hidden annoying traits. Or maybe you do, you jerk.”
John laughed harder and even his dad chuckled. They moved farther into the kitchen, John walking right up to Lukas and clasping the back of his neck. “When was the last time we didn’t sleep next to each other?”
His dad made a choking noise, but Lukas ignored it, glancing away from John’s laughing eyes to try and think. “Umm, a couple weeks ago? You had that work emergency, then came home instead of coming over to my place afterward because you were so tired.”
“No, because I forgot you weren’t here,” John argued, not for the first time. Lukas grinned up at him. “My point is, we already spend almost all of our time together. How could you possibly have hidden traits that will annoy me?”
Chewing on his lower lip, he glanced down. “You don’t know. It could happen. People who are dating break up all the time.”
John’s fingers twitched on his neck, but he didn’t say anything for a few moments. “You’re right. So, we’ll wait until you’re sure.”
“John, it’s not you that I’m unsure of—”
“I know, baby,” John said softly, leaning down to kiss him gently. “I love you, and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.”
He was so caught up in smiling up at John that he almost missed the soft smacking sound next to him and his mom whispering loudly, “Why don’t you ever say anything that sweet to me anymore?”
He was laughing when John grinned and kissed him again, ignoring his dad’s groan and the sound of their retreating footsteps. He’d been so worried for weeks about how his parents would react, and now that they knew, it was like a weight was off his shoulders. The familiar taste of John’s lips sent him soaring higher than ever, and he couldn’t wait until his parents left.
He needed to thank his man for choosing him. Properly.
Chapter Eighteen
Two months later
“How did you have so much stuff in that tiny house?” Kevin asked, heaving a box full of… John actually wasn’t sure what was in the box. Lukas hadn’t done a great job labeling things, so as the boxes were unloaded from the moving truck, they were being stacked in the living room to be sorted later.
“My house wasn’t that small!” Lukas threw a wadded-up newspaper at Kevin from where he was sitting on the floor, pulling out and unwrapping… kitchen supplies.
“Baby, why don’t you do that in the kitchen? Or, you know, wait until we have everything unloaded?” John set his own boxes on a stack and planted his hands on his hips, trying not to appear amused at the innocent look Lukas was giving him.
“I figured you all had the unloading handled. I wanted to see what was in this one.”
John shook his head. “Considering you packed it, you should know. I can’t believe you