Epilogue
ARAVIND
I absolutely loved San Francisco. I was with Tiago in not wanting to actually live here. But if things panned out, I could see us getting a little beach house right on the coast, just outside of the city.
It was so different from back East. The richness of the humidity didn’t feel as heavy, and the bite of the Pacific against my feet was so much sharper. The waves were uncontrolled and wild when too often the Atlantic was like a glassy lake, the water gently lapping at the shore.
The people weren’t my people either. They smiled less and didn’t make as much small talk.
Even in the smaller suburbs, they always seemed to be in such a hurry.
But I liked the change. I liked that in the city, there were plenty of people who looked like me.
I liked that there were whole neighborhoods dedicated to different cultures.
Boston was like that too, but it didn’t feel the same.
Just as I was reaching the end of the driveway, my phone began to ring. I glanced down at the screen and was unsurprised to see my dad’s contact.
“Baba.”
“Am I interrupting anything?”
I groaned. “No. I’m just getting back from a meeting. What’s up?”
“I won’t keep you,” he said. “I just thought you might like to know that I read an article today about a man named Dr. Leon Jones.”
Everything in me turned frozen. “Oh?”
“Yes. It seems he’s under investigation for having inappropriate relationships with his students. An anonymous source turned him in after trying to exchange passing final grades for sexual favors.”
Holy shit. I needed to sit down. No, I needed to run upstairs and tell Tiago. Fuck, I didn’t know what I needed. “Oh my god. I…I kind of thought he’d never get caught.”
My dad was quiet for a moment. “It wasn’t like that for you, was it?”
“He was never my professor, but now that I’m so far away from our relationship, it’s giving me the ick.”
My dad sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have said something.”
“It wasn’t on you. And it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m happy now.”
“Well, beta, you’ll be even happier to know that the article said he’s on unpaid leave pending investigation and that he’s decided to head back to Utah to stay with his parents until it’s over. I doubt he’ll be showing his face around Boston ever again.”
That was…that was something. That was amazing. I almost laughed, and I also kind of wanted to cry. “Thanks for letting me know, Baba.”
“Of course. I love you, Aravind. And tell Tiago I said hi, and I can’t wait to see you both when you get home.”
“Love you too.”
Ending the call, I took the stairs two at a time, and I could hear music playing just beyond the door. The apartment we were renting was above a garage that neither of us was using, but it made the hallway sound strangely hollow as I made my way up.
My heart skipped a few beats in my chest the way it always did when I was about to get my hands on Tiago. We’d officially been together for six months now, but coming home to him never got tiring.
Sweeping through the front door, I dropped my keys in the little bowl on the curio table, where Tiago had his white cane, and then I kicked off my shoes and moved into the kitchen just as he turned off the music.
He turned and smiled at me as I hovered in the doorway. “Well?”
My socked feet slid across the tile as I made my way into his arms. It took me a second to remember what he was waiting to hear.
Not about Leon, but about our next destination.
“Normandy for three weeks, then we’ll be taking a very large yacht and stopping in Norway and Finland before flying into Switzerland. ”
“Oh,” Tiago breathed, his hands moving to my waist. “I’ve never done a yacht before.”
“Me either.” I felt oddly giddy as he spun me and pinned me to the counter. “I’ll be given the next assignment after that. He’s thinking rural Scotland for a few weeks.”
“Mm. I’ve always wanted to see the Highlands.”
“Is that where the Highlands are?” I asked as his mouth quickly devoured mine.
He smiled into the kiss. “No idea.” He pressed his lips along my jaw before pulling back and resting his elbows beside the cutting board he’d just been using. “Are we going to have time to make it back for Quinn and Ferris?”
“Yep. I made sure to pencil that in. Also, I got an email from Vanya about Micah’s birthday party. And…something about a new school or…?”
“He just passed his first semester of college,” Tiago said with a quiet laugh. “Vanya’s going to make a big fucking deal about everything Micah does. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a group chat for when Micah has an easy morning shit.”
I wrinkled my nose as Tiago turned back to cutting up vegetables for our roast. “Well, I know you miss them, so I penciled that in too. I have more news.”
“More than that?”
“Yep.” I took a breath, then relayed every word my dad had given me.
There was a long silence, and then he said in the deepest, most growling voice I’d ever heard him use, “Good. Fuck him.”
For that, I wanted to kiss him, but I took a moment to just appreciate the way he looked—terrifying with the knife in his hand, a look of brutal satisfaction on his face. I breathed out a sigh. “I love you, Tiago.”
He glanced over his left shoulder at me so I knew he was looking at me. “I love you.”
“Mm. Love hearing that.”
Tiago’s face softened, and he went back to being my gentle giant D-man. “Good. I, ah…I should tell you I talked to Tucker today. He said the meeting with the GM and the owner went okay. They’re not willing to push me into retirement, but if I decide to come back, they’re going to trade me.”
“What! Those fuckers,” I spat.
He set his knife down and shook his head. “No, my heart. That’s the nature of the game. If I’m cleared to go back next season—and I really don’t think I will be—I won’t be playing at the top of my game. I’m not worth my salary anymore.”
“You’re worth a thousand of them,” I said viciously.
He yanked me close again. “You—” He kissed me. “—are biased.”
“Yes. Love apparently will do that to me.” I sighed and then hopped up on the edge of the counter next to the sink. “What do you want to do?”
Tiago was quiet for a moment, then shrugged.
“Retire, I think. But it comes with such a fucking fuss. There’s a ceremony and a party and then press tours, and half the time, ESPN will do some kind of historical piece on me, which means cameras following me around.
I want to travel a while and not have to think about it. ”
I swung my leg out and grazed his hip with my toes. “Another season’s salary doesn’t hurt either.”
He turned a playful glower on me. “Mon coeur.” He shifted closer, then grabbed the hem of the long black maxi skirt I was wearing and rucked it up to my thighs.
His hand slid over my skin, fingertips a featherlight touch.
“I have invested. I don’t need their salary.
But I’m also not sure I’m ready to say goodbye forever. Not yet.”
My heart ached for him. “I know, honey. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head and situated himself between my legs, fingers going higher until they reached my panties. “What color?”
“Blue,” I said, groaning when he laid a touch over my half-hard dick. I wasn’t really in the mood, but I liked being touched like this. But only by him. “You can peel them off me with your teeth later.”
“I can’t wait.” He stroked a little more over my thighs, kissing me gently with a soft, playful press of tongue, then bit down on my tongue ring before letting it go. “Aravind?”
“Mm?” I twisted my fingers in his now shaggy hair.
“You’re happy, right? With me? With all of this?”
“Honey, we could be living in a broken-down bus somewhere, and I would be happy as long as I was with you.”
He laughed. “That is a lie. You would be miserable in a bus.”
“Fine, but you know what I mean. This job is cool. I get to take photos and write about people and…I don’t know, tap into those creative places I’d shut off for such a long time. And I get to do it with you. But the you part is what matters. The you part is what I need.”
“I think I’m starting to believe you,” he murmured.
It might have been cruel, him using my words against me like that, but I knew what he meant. It was coming full circle. It was learning to trust each other and letting the past fade behind us.
It was understanding that we were safe here. That we were safe anywhere. As long as we were together.
“Kiss me again, my sweet boy,” I told him, yanking him close by the back of his neck. “Like you mean it.”
And oh god.
He did exactly that.