Chapter 23
OLIVER
“How can I help?” I ask when I pull up in front of Matthias’s house. They’ve either gotten a lot done, or Frank has surprisingly few things. I think it might be the latter. Lucky for him, Matthias has everything he could ever need.
“Grab anything you see out here and bring it in. We’ll figure out where everything goes later.
” Matthias claps me on the back as he speaks.
I still can’t get over how great all of Aaron’s friends are.
Maybe they’re a little bit my friends, too.
Frank definitely is, but that’s different.
It’s Nathan, Tyler, and Matthias that I worry about.
Hopefully, after today, they’ll be firmly planted in the pro-Oliver camp.
Today is when Aaron and I have agreed to tell his friends. He’s been to a couple of Thursday nights at The Flaming Unicorn since we got back, but we want to tell them together.
Today is the first opportunity. Matthias sent out a mass text asking for help moving Frank in with him. Of course, it includes a housewarming party after. The perfect opportunity to let them know we’re dating.
Officially and finally.
No matter how I came into the group, they have to be willing to admit that things worked out.
I doubt anyone even remembers that I went on an almost date with Colt.
He and Nathan are so in love with each other that it’s practically sickening.
As currently evidenced by the fact that they’re wrapped around each other instead of moving any boxes.
I hope they say that about Aaron and me.
Once we get through with the whole telling them thing.
Thus far, we’ve had to keep ourselves apart at these gatherings, making sure no one guesses at our status.
I think that’s what I’m most looking forward to, not having to edit myself when we’re with his friends.
Honestly, I’m pretty sure they have an inkling. Aaron doesn’t give his friends enough credit. We cannot possibly be that great of actors. I mean, my family figured it out pretty fast.
I grab a medium-sized box and haul it inside.
I thought I was past the life stage where people ask for help moving.
When I got the group text asking for assistance getting Frank out of his parents’ home and properly moved in with Matthias, I thought it was a joke.
Or, at the very least, didn’t concern me.
The longer I sat and watched the messages come in, the more I realized that Matthias was very serious.
When I duck back outside, there’s only a small box and a backpack left sitting on the front lawn.
“This is the last one,” I yell out as I carry them inside. I set them down in the living room with the rest of the stuff. No one else is around, which figures. I’m pretty sure I carried more boxes than anyone else.
Of course, Aaron’s not here yet. I’m trying not to let that make me nervous. It’s still early, and I know he had a long run on his schedule.
“Hey.” I nod as Frank and Matthias make their way inside, both of them looking a little shocked at the state of the place. There might not be that much stuff, but when it’s all piled in the middle of the room, it looks daunting.
I try to give Frank a reassuring look. It’s different, but it wasn’t that long ago I was sitting in a new place getting ready to start a whole new life. It’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time.
When my phone buzzes, I reach into my pocket and pull it out. Aaron. If he’s calling, that’s not a good sign. Usually, he texts, but I’ve learned that phone calls mean bad news.
I excuse myself and step around the corner into another room. “Hey. Are you almost here? We already moved all the boxes, so you’re off the hook. I think Matthias is getting ready to fire up the grill.”
“Oliver.” I knew it was bad, but the tone of his voice nearly undoes me. Even before he says anything else, tears start welling up in my eyes.
“You’re not coming.”
“Oliver, it’s not like that. There’s an emergency at work. I have to go in.”
“I—” Words completely escape me. I know somewhere in the back of my mind that he’s not doing this on purpose. That it’s not because of our plans for today, or that he no longer wants to be in this relationship. None of that makes it easier to hear. “Go.”
“If it wasn’t an emergency…” Then what? He wouldn’t go? Tell them he had other plans? He’d pick me? “Can I call you when I get off?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know what time it will be, but I’ll call you.”
“Okay.” One-word answers aren’t a solution, but they’re all I can manage at the moment. If I say anything else, I’ll fall apart completely. That’s going to be hard to explain to Matthias and Frank, especially when I can’t tell them why.
“Oliver, please know that this doesn’t change anything between us.” There’s a bunch of noise in the background, some alarms, and yelling. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”
He’s gone before I can say anything else. Probably for the best since I’m not sure what exactly I’d say. I take a few minutes to steady myself, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. Maybe I can sneak out without anyone noticing.
I step back into the kitchen to find that it’s bustling with activity.
All eyes turn to look at me, waiting for something.
Probably an update on their friend. The real one, the one I tag along with.
“Uh, Aaron called. He’s tied up at work.
I guess they had too many people call out, so he’s not going to make it.
” That’s not quite what he said, but I figure it’s close enough to the truth.
There’s a long pause. People are probably trying to figure out how to uninvite me from the rest of the event. I’ve never been here at an event without Aaron. If we don’t come together, I make sure he arrives first and leaves after me.
“Sucks for him. More burgers for you.” Nathan claps his hand on my shoulder, leading me toward the food.
“Oh, um, okay.”
“Veggie burgers. We’re grilling veggie burgers today.” I almost laugh at the protective way Matthias says it, as if we don’t all know about Frank’s dietary restrictions.
“There better still be chips.”
Graham shakes his head before planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “We brought the chips, Tyler.”
“In that case, veggie burgers sound excellent.” Tyler interlaces his fingers with Graham’s.
I can’t help but stare at the point where they’re connected.
Wishful thinking on my part. I waited so long to get to today.
Now I have to wait again, this time for an undisclosed period.
Maybe a month, maybe two. Hell, we might be celebrating our six-month anniversary before another opportunity comes up.
Spiraling? Me? Never.
AARON
Today sucks.
I was awake all night, worrying about telling my friends. Not so much that they wouldn’t accept him. As far as I can tell, they already have. No, I’m more worried about how they’ll react knowing that the two of us have been sneaking around behind their backs.
That shouldn’t be Oliver’s concern, though.
He’s not the one who’s been lying for months.
Mostly through omission, but it still counts.
They’ll get over it. The four of us have been through too much together for something like this to tear us apart.
It’s how they’ll look at Oliver after that worries me.
Or maybe it’s how he’ll look at me.
“You got this?” Barrett asks, handing me a toolbox.
“Yeah, what’s next?”
Barrett has the tablet in his hand, working through the long list of tasks we have to get done. “Once we confirm that the electrical is safe, we can get the power back on in this segment.”
The emergency at work wasn’t a lie. The call came through while I was out running about a fire at the airport.
I called a ride share from where I was and had them bring me straight to the airport.
The whole ride, I kept checking the news, trying to figure out how severe the damage would be.
The building we can fix, but the number of potential casualties was catastrophic.
By the time I got there, the fire department had the flames under control.
Thankfully, only a few people were taken to the hospital, all for minor injuries and smoke inhalation.
That’s a massive relief. Now, the real work begins, at least for my team.
Figuring out what caused the fire, assessing the damage, fixing systems, and getting everything back online as soon as possible.
Most of the airport is still operational, but there’s a backlog of flights that were cancelled or delayed.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal, especially considering what might have happened. Still, people will complain. Loudly.
“Where are you supposed to be?”
“What?” I snap my head up to look at Barrett.
“Obviously, you had plans today that didn’t include work.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well.” He shifts his weight to one side, propping up the metal panel he removed from the wall.
“You’re distracted. If I had to guess, your mind has wandered off to wherever you were supposed to be.
” When did he learn to read me this well?
I thought only Oliver and Matthias had that skill.
“Plus, you’re wearing the spare clothes you keep in your locker, which means you didn’t come from home. ”
That makes more sense. “My friends are having a get-together. Not a big event or anything, but it was important.”
“Ah. That guy you’ve been seeing there?”
“What?!”
“Look, you don’t have to tell me anything, but it’s pretty obvious.
You check your texts all the time, often with a goofy expression on your face.
” His face goes soft, and he smiles. “I know it’s not the same thing, but I started dating this guy over Christmas.
We’re supposed to be at the park with his dog today.
Being here is really important, I get that and so does Wyatt, but it doesn’t make it any easier. ”
Fuck. I’ve spent hours running with Barrett. During all that time, I never thought he was so introspective.
“If you want to tell me about it, you can. Might give us something to do while we go through all these panels.”
So, I spill my guts. I tell him everything. How Oliver was supposed to be on a date with Colt. How Matthias and I interrupted it to yell at him, only to end up in bed together. I even tell him how hard I tried not to end up dating him, only to find myself absolutely unable to resist.
Then I tell him about today, our plans, and what I’m going to say to my friends about our relationship. The last thing on the list to make us truly a couple.
“Wow,” he says as I finish my story. “That’s a lot.”
“Right? Got any good suggestions?” I’m not expecting much.
Honestly, I already know what needs to be done.
There’s nothing I can do to change what happened today.
I can’t even promise it won’t happen again, since it probably will.
Not this exact set of circumstances, but something.
But I need to make it up to him and prove that, when it counts, I’ll be there.
“Do you love him?” Barrett asks, setting his tools down on the ground and wiping his brow. It’s hot down here in the underbelly of the airport, all the machines around us starting to function again.
“Yeah, I do,” I answer without hesitation. That’s the most straightforward question anyone has asked me today.
“Then you prove it to him.”
“Yeah…”
“No, I can see you working through a whole big plan. This isn’t some new project. There’s no need to spend the next six hours planning. Just do it.”
“When did you get so wise?” A month of dating someone can’t possibly have turned him into such a guru on love.
“I don’t know. Maybe you should’ve been listening to me the whole time instead of running in silence.” Barrett slaps me on the shoulder. “Wait! You said you run with him. Do you let him talk while you run?”
I shake my head, laughing. “Yeah, I let him talk. Sometimes, I even talk back.”
“Sounds like he’s special. My two cents? Do whatever it takes to keep him.”