Chapter Twenty #3
“Well, Lauren and I talked about that too. She doesn’t really use her loft office all that much, since it’s all too open and there’s a lot of background noise.
I thought about getting her one of those she-sheds she could turn into a new office, more private, and, uh, that would leave the loft open for—”
“For Aaron?” he cuts me off. “You would… be okay... with Aaron moving in?”
I nod. “I mean, obviously that would take a lot more discussion about logistics and whatnot, but yeah, that would be our long-game goal.”
Tears well in his eyes. “You have no idea how much that means to me. How elated Cam would be. I can’t imagine you and Lauren both wanting to take on such a thing though. There would be nurses and aids in and out all the time…”
I cover his hands in mine, silencing his fretting.
“C, Lo and I wouldn’t have discussed it if we weren’t on board with it.
We obviously understand that he is in need of round the clock care.
You act as if we’re agreeing to add on some sort of burden to our lives, when, in all actuality, seeing you and Cam reunited with Aaron—knowing that you’d be relieved about being an active participant in his care—is our only desire. ”
Caleb suddenly stands and rounds the table to stand beside me. I rise out of my seat and he wraps his arms around me. He weeps—hopefully tears of joy—onto my shoulder. On my back, I feel his fingers tracing out letters.
T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U.
I kiss the top of his head, fully aware we’re causing a scene in the middle of a restaurant right now, but I could give a shit less. I cup his cheeks, tilting his face up to meet mine. I swipe the tears away, thankful to see the soft, appreciative smile on his lips. Then, I crush my mouth to his.
“Does this mean you’ll consider putting your house on the market?” I ask him out loud when we finally break apart.
He nods.
I look around the room and find most eyes on us.
No one paid me much mind when I strutted in wearing a bright purple cropped hoodie, so the gawking must be from our make out session.
I smirk, addressing the room—I know, breaking my promise about not using my voice, but this is too exciting to hold back.
“My boyfriend’s officially moving in with me,” I tell everyone.
I’m met with a mostly unenthused crowd. There are a couple of cheers and claps, but mostly everyone looks confused.
I mean, I get it, but hey, at least I’m excited about it.
Lauren will be too, once I shoot her the text in our Three’s Company group chat—yeah, I know it’s corny.
I’m still trying to think up a more clever name for it.
Just as we go to sit, our food arrives. I shoot off a quick text to Lo because I’m still so friggin’ pumped and I just want to tell someone who will be excited with me—unlike these strangers here.
She’s working, I don’t expect her to answer right away, but I’m sure she’ll be just as thrilled.
We talked about this at length a few nights ago when C had to run out with Cam to get new snow tires put on his car.
Caleb looks me up and down while I dig into my meal. “I’m proud of you, by the way,” he mentions.
I arch a brow up at him. “For what?”
He gives me an exaggerated look now, one that suggests that perhaps I’m thoroughly stupid for not knowing the obvious. “You not only went out in public in a crop top—which I haven’t seen you tug down even once, by the way—the gaucho pants you’re wearing look fairly skirt adjacent—”
“They’re gorgeous, aren’t they?” I beam, cutting him off.
“They’d look better pooled around your ankles,” he notes, winking with a devilish grin. “At any rate, though, you’re getting braver about being true to yourself in public.”
I bite my lip and add, “Without hesitation.”
He nods. “Without hesitation. And no one has said boo about it either. Up until you practically shouted it from the rooftops that I was your boyfriend, we were both conversing entirely in sign. Everyone probably thought we were deaf. If they were going to talk some shit about it, they’d have done so—kind of like that day back at Portside. ”
I grin.
“Doesn’t matter anyway,” he continues. “What they think should have no bearing at all. It’s how it makes you feel. And how do you feel?”
“Cute,” I admit. “I like the idea of presenting femme. I just”—I hesitate, biting the corner of my lip—“well, let’s face it, I’m a bear. Bears can’t really pull this look off.”
Caleb shakes his head. “They can, because you are. Furthermore, you could be setting a positive example for those who are also too afraid.”
“I can’t imagine wearing anything like this back in Ternbay and not being ridiculed.”
“You only really tried to on Halloween.” He gives me an unimpressed look.
I sigh. “Let me work on it. Maybe I will. Eventually.”
He pops a shoulder, casually. “I’m not forcing you to do anything. I just wanted you to know that I think that you’ve been very brave in doing it today. That’s pretty damn big.”
A sheepish smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “Thank you.”
He grins back, kissing the air in my direction. “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
“After we leave here, do you want to go look for more outfits?”
My brows zip together. “You’d go clothes shopping with me?”
“Only if you walk the runway for me.” He waggles his eyebrows.
I smirk. “Deal.”