Chapter 28
Rowan
The buzz of my phone comes entirely too early for my liking. I blink open my eyes, and the first thing I see is Circus’s naked form stretched out beside me. Everything that happened last night comes rushing back.
I still feel sick, of course, but I wasn’t lying when I said there was relief there too.
With a quiet groan, I roll toward the side table and retrieve my phone.
Piper:
Are you okay?
Circus is snoring quietly, and I’m growing to love that sound. But instead of pulling him close, like armor, I climb out of bed, pull on some underwear, and head for the opposite side of the house.
It’s sort of surreal waking up here. The house is luxurious and not what I’m used to for sure, but it also feels right. Circus built this place for his future family, and hey, maybe one day that’ll be me.
I start up his coffee maker once I get into the kitchen, then snap a photo in front of the same view Circus is always posting.
It’s weird thinking that a few months back, I was looking at his photo in the exact same spot, wondering whether I should say good morning like the countless other people were.
Now I get to say it in person.
I post the photo, then open Piper’s message again.
I finally text back.
Rowan:
I really don’t know
Piper:
Yikes
Rowan:
Yup.
Piper:
I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.
Rowan:
Of course you didn’t. I kept it to myself as much as I could.
I pour myself a cup of coffee and take a sip, needing the caffeine before I get into the rest of the conversation.
Rowan:
How were things after I left?
Piper:
Umm … tense. Which you’d probably guess.
Rowan:
Yeah, I figured. Do I want to know what was said?
Piper:
Not really. It was mostly Grandpa, if I’m honest. I don’t think Gran said anything at all, and Mom and Dad were just … I don’t even know.
That doesn’t make me feel any better. At all.
Rowan:
Anyone even try to stand up for me?
Piper:
By ‘anyone’ do you mean me?
Rowan:
You’d fall under the umbrella of anyone, wouldn’t you?
It takes her a while to reply.
Piper:
I feel like shit that I didn’t, if that’s worth anything. He just wouldn’t shut up—you know what he’s like. I ended up just walking out. I’m sorry.
Rowan:
I know you are.
I can’t accept her apology, but I do know what it’s like.
Once Grandpa gets started, no one stands a chance, not even Dad.
I’ve seen them come to blows twice in semi-recent memory—the first time over Leita not working at the diner, and the second about me moving away for college—and those arguments had been so explosive, I really worried they were going to attack each other.
Apparently, accepting my sexuality wasn’t as important as either of those things to my dad.
Warm arms circle my waist as Circus presses a kiss to my shoulder. “Good morning, boyfriend.”
The word makes me all tingly. “Boyfriend.”
“You like that?”
“So much.” I pull him around so I can kiss him, not giving a shit about the morning breath situation we have going on. If I can wake up like this for the rest of my life, all the rest might actually be worth it.
He detangles himself from me to pour his own coffee, and I reluctantly let him go. “Plans today?”
“Hide?”
Circus cracks a warm smile. “Solid plan. While we do that, I was thinking we could talk some more about your gym idea.”
“What about it?”
“Come on.” Circus grabs my hand with the one not holding his coffee. He leads me to his studio and through to another little room I’ve never seen before.
On his desk, he has a pad covered in scribbled numbers.
“What’s all this?”
He clicks his computer and shows me a spreadsheet. “This is what we need to do in order to start up a business. This is some of the equipment I worked out you’d need, along with rent, utilities …”
He wasn’t joking when he said he’d been planning.
I point to an address at the top. “This is just down from Harvey’s.”
“Yep. It’s where I normally display my art for all the festivals, but since it sits empty for the rest of the year, I thought you’d put it to better use than me. We can have the names changed over.”
“But what would you use?”
Circus shrugs. “I have a bunch of options up my sleeve. None of which need a physical space.”
I’m overwhelmed. I have no idea what to say to him, because I’m not positive about how I feel. I’d assumed I’d be left to do all of this on my own, but Circus has done the bulk of the work in one afternoon. When I’d talked about opening a gym, I’d assumed it would be a year or so away.
Then again, I have no idea if I’m even welcome at Harvey’s, and without the diner, I’m technically unemployed.
Something I’ve never been in my life.
I know Circus won’t want rent from me, but I refuse to be a freeloader either. So opening the gym as quickly as possible will stop me burning through the money I made with Circus.
He turns to me, and something in my expression makes his face drop. “Did I overstep? Shit, I did, right? Sorry. I’m not exactly seasoned when it comes to relationships.”
And hearing his uncertainty is the thing that makes me sure. I smile and pull him in for a hug.
“This is perfect. You’re perfect. And you’re an idiot if you think I’m ever letting you go.”
He presses his face to my shoulder and laughs. “That might be the creepiest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Wait until I tell you I want to wear you like a hat.”
“Hmm …” Circus pulls back. “That sounds promising actually.” He grabs my hand again and drags me after him.
“Where are we going?”
“The bedroom. I want to test that out.”