Epilogue
“I feel like this is going to be too much.”
Rami turned and looked at Skye, his brow lifted in that way that told Skye he wasn’t sure if he should be flattered by his concern or annoyed. “For you or me?”
Skye sighed. “Both. Either. I’m just stressed.”
“About my family?” Rami asked. He held out his hand, and Skye felt a wave of comfort when he took it.
Skye nodded, biting his lip. ‘What if they don’t like me?’
Rami’s brow furrowed, and he glanced away from Skye toward his parents’ front door. The house was nothing special. It had the same look as most of the other houses on the street. It wasn’t where Rami grew up, he’d told Skye. His parents had sold that place and got something bigger so they’d have room for their grandkids, so they got one of those build-a-home places in a gated community.
Rami hadn’t loved it, but since he’d moved out to live in his grandfather’s place, he liked it a little better.
“Skye?”
“Mm?”
“Do you trust me?”
Skye looked at him, eyes going wide. “Of course I do. Have I given you the impression that I don’t?”
Rami shook his head, a tiny smile playing at his lips. His fingers were twisting together, his nervous stim, but he shook them out, then reached for Skye’s hand and squeezed it. “I don’t know how they’ll feel about you. They won’t be unkind because my parents are never unkind. They’ve only yelled at one of my friends, and to tell you the truth, he deserved it.”
“The dolma spitter,” Skye said, wrinkling his nose. Rami had told him the full story a few weeks ago when Skye began really prepping to meet the parents.
It had been three full months since he’d taken Rami’s virginity on camera. Three long, glorious months of getting to know the man he’d fallen in love with. And time together had only made him want Rami more, in every meaning of the word.
Things were quiet, and still, and so good. Rami had paid off his tax bill, and together, they filmed three or four videos a week, which Rami edited and put up on his channel. His subscribers had gone way down, but they were toying with the idea of bringing back the auctions, allowing people to bid on what Rami and Skye did together.
Rami still wasn’t a hundred percent on board, so Skye wrote it down on a piece of paper and literally pinned it to a board so they could revisit it later. Rami really loved that idea.
For a while, Skye was able to pretend like he didn’t need to do big, important things. Like meet the parents. The first time Rami saw them again, he’d gone on his own with his brother. And he went for dinner once, sometimes twice a week. But Ahmed had apparently spilled the beans one night at a dinner, so…
Now, it was time.
“Can you tell me what’s scaring you?” Rami asked.
Skye looked at the house again. He saw a small face peeking through the living room blinds. One of Rami’s nieces. His heart began to beat a little faster. “If they really don’t like me, is there any way forward for us? I don’t ever want to come between you and them.”
Rami shook his head. “I understand why you don’t get it because you didn’t grow up the way I did, but there won’t ever be a choice between you and them. Even if you’re not the person they’d pick out for me, they won’t ever stand in our way. They want me to be happy. And I’m happy.”
What a novel concept , Skye thought with a wry grin. He knew he’d never be taking Rami home to his parents, but he did bring him home to the Sins, and after the first barbeque where Rami discovered he really did like Stone’s Southern cooking, he turned up at least once a week to eat and visit.
And he had even been given a room at August’s studio to display some of his art. He’d sold a piece the week before, all on his own.
So maybe Skye did understand what acceptance without conditions looked like.
“Let’s go inside. Oh, can you remind me what your nieces’ names are?”
Rami laughed. “The tallest one is Layla. She’s seven. Middle one with the short hair is Maya, and the youngest is Haifa. They will definitely ask you to play Roblox, and you can say no.”
Skye groaned. “Will they hate me if I do? Or if I forget their names?”
“They don’t hate me and I won’t play with them. And my mom forgets even after all these years. She just calls them her little darlings and lets them play on her computer,” Rami said. “Now. Come on. The longer we sit here, the worse your fear will get.”
Skye supposed it was true, so he got out and let Rami take his hand, leading him up to the door.
All of Skye’s fears were unfounded. Well. Mostly. Rami looked exactly like his dad—who had the same sort of serious, thick-browed stare that was unrelenting, even when he wasn’t making direct eye contact. He knew he was being sized up and judged, but in the end, it didn’t feel so bad.
It helped that he knew what to eat and how to eat it. He dove in with his fingers, and followed everyone’s lead, and made sure to compliment without being over-the-top. The girls enjoyed helping him pronounce the names of everything, and Skye could see Yara watching him, trying to hide her smile.
When no one was looking except Skye and Rami, she signed, ‘I like him.’
Rami flushed deeply and scooted just a little closer to Skye, though they were avoiding all PDA, which was a thing Rami had warned him about. His family was a little on the conservative side and preferred no PDA from anyone, and while Skye wouldn’t have minded a few kisses just to settle his nerves, it didn’t take long before he felt comfortable under their watchful eyes.
Ahmed showed up after dinner, and Skye found it fascinating how they managed to make communication work without his parents really knowing much ASL. They used a lot of home signs that didn’t make sense to him, but he hoped one day he’d be around long enough to get it.
He’d had lunch more than once with Ahmed though, so it was nice to have a friendly face join him when he stepped outside for a little fresh air.
‘Hi,’ Ahmed told him, knocking on the railing to get his attention.
Skye grinned and nodded. ‘Hey.’
‘Too much?’
Skye shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder through the kitchen window, where he could see Rami’s mom squeezing his cheeks and kissing his forehead. ‘It’s nice.’
‘Rami told me you don’t talk to your parents.’
Skye nodded. ‘I haven’t seen them much since they handed me a check and the key to my first apartment. But growing up, my house was never like this.’
‘We were lucky,’ Ahmed told him, though he looked a little sad. ‘They did the best they could—even if their best wasn’t always great.’
‘Signing?’
Ahmed let out a long sigh, an unconscious hum following. ‘Not just me. Rami too. They thought they could parent the Autism out of him. They were frustrated when it didn’t work. Just like they thought if they forced me to speak instead of sign, I would assimilate better. Eventually, they understood that Rami and I are different.’
Skye didn’t know what to say to that. ‘I like him different.’
Ahmed laughed and rolled his eyes. ‘I know. It’s very obvious. And I’m happy. I’ve never seen him loved the way you love him. I haven’t seen a lot of people loved the way you two are with each other.’
Skye felt warm in his chest. ‘I didn’t think it was possible.’
‘You scared me at first,’ Ahmed confessed.
Skye’s brows flew up. ‘Me?’
He shrugged. ‘Rich, white, drives a sports car. I thought maybe you knew about his secret and were playing with him.’
Shaking his head, Skye turned his gaze out onto the horizon for a long beat. ‘By the time I found out, I didn’t think twice about it. It’s just part of him. I love everything he is.’
‘I believe you,’ Ahmed assured him. He turned, resting his side against the railing. ‘I hope I find someone as good as you.’
‘Aren’t you?—’
Ahmed shook his head. ‘It’s over. Neither of us were sad about it. I think I realized after seeing you two, I want something more.’
‘It’s worth the wait,’ Skye told him.
Ahmed looked down, then took a breath and nodded. ‘I hope so. Anyway, I just wanted to come out here and tell you that of all the men lucky enough to know my brother, you’re the most worthy.’
Skye grinned and knocked his elbow against Ahmed’s. ‘Thank you.’
‘And if you’d like to call me your brother someday…I’d like that.’
Skye’s stomach did an almost violent swoop. He hadn’t thought about that before. Not marriage or kids or anything so…average. But his life wasn’t always going to be the Tower or Rami’s channel. There was room for other things too—a foggy future that was coming more into focus every single day.
And God, he was so happy.
‘I’d like that,’ he eventually answered. ‘You might be the first to know.’
Ahmed grinned at him, then turned and settled by his side, watching as the last tendrils of dust faded into the dark night sky.
“I’m going to marry you someday,” Skye whispered. He was sated now, still breathing a little heavy, his cock slowly going soft inside Rami. He’d have to pull out soon so the condom didn’t leak, but he was taking a moment.
Rami stiffened, then eased away, releasing Skye in a soft slide as he turned onto his back. “What?”
Skye swallowed heavily, then reached for Rami, cupping his cheek. “I’d like to marry you someday,” he amended.
Rami licked his lips. “Officially?”
“Mm. If you want. Only if you want.”
“When you ask me, I’m going to say yes,” Rami told him.
Skye didn’t realize how badly he wanted to hear those words. He had no idea if the other Sins felt this way. If they thought about actual marriage and what came after all this. But he realized he didn’t want to live his life in some sort of faded echo of their own.
He wanted to walk his own path. And Rami was part of it. He leaned in and took a small, quiet kiss. “I love you.”
Rami laughed. “Yes. I know. You tell me every day.” He kissed back. “I like it. Never stop.”
Skye pulled back and met his gaze. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I never will.”