Chapter 12 #11
Leo’s initial impulse was to react with a flat-out “no” to cut the discussion off before it started.
Seriously, did Joshua believe that this was the time and the place?
On the other hand, they were about to take the final step, jump off the cliff together.
After this, so much would change, for both of them.
Maybe this was indeed the time and the place.
“I can’t just take your money,” Leo said. “It wouldn’t feel right.”
“I’m not saying now,” Joshua assured him, his gaze clear and steady. “But a year from now. Let’s make a deal that in exactly a year, when we’re still together—”
“If we’re still together,” Leo suggested, not quite a question and not quite a statement.
Joshua shook his head. “When we’re still together,” he repeated.
“Okay, when.” Something about the word settled like molten gold in Leo’s stomach, radiated certainty. When.
“Yes. So…” For once, Joshua appeared determined when he was usually easy to distract with both kisses and banter. “Starting a year from now, you’ll let me toe the line between what’s yours and what’s mine a bit more.”
A year from now.
It sounded massive. At the same time, Leo was planning to stay with Joshua for—for something as thoroughly cheesy as forever, and a year was only just the beginning.
Joshua must have mistaken Leo’s silence for refusal, because he widened his eyes, voice intent.
“Just think about it, please? Like, if this is supposed to be an equal relationship… I do have so much more money than you do, Leo. It’s just a fact, and if we make it fifty-fifty, it’s actually unfair because the relative impact on me is way smaller.
” He made a sweeping gesture, then dropped his hand and continued with quiet sincerity.
“There are different ways of fairness, you know? And in that sense, it would be fair if I contributed more because I can afford more. Like, it should mean the same, yes, but in the respective context.”
It made sense. It did, but Leo couldn’t quite bring himself to admit it, not just yet. Not when the following days would determine the public reaction to their relationship and carried the risk of a violent backlash.
The glimmer of hope in Joshua’s eyes dimmed.
He hesitated, studying Leo, and eventually added, “It doesn’t make you dependent on me.
Or, like, a kept man or something. You’d still have your job, your financial independence.
But we’re also in this together. And I want to share the good parts of my life with you. You know?”
It made sense.
“I’ll think about it,” Leo said. “I… Maybe. Just give me a little time, okay? Might not even require a year.”
Joshua’s eyes shone with startled delight. “Really?” he asked, his whole face brightening. Clearly, Leo had made the right decision.
He nodded. “Really. I’ll think about it, I promise. But definitely no jumping right into it by paying off my flat or some such, are we clear?”
“Perfectly clear, yes.” Joshua still seemed a little disbelieving, watching Leo as though expecting him to retract the easy agreement.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Leo grumbled. “I know how to compromise.”
“Only when it suits you,” Joshua told him, mouth curving up.
“It suits me when it makes you happy.”
“For the record…” Joshua’s voice dipped low, and he leaned in, disregarding the attention focused on them. “You’re doing kind of okay with the making me happy thing.”
Leo arched an eyebrow. “Only kind of?”
“Kind of very, perhaps.”
“Your eloquence continues to astound me.”
“You’re being a little shit.” Joshua grinned, wide and true. “How about you put your mouth to better use, huh?”
“Such as?” Leo asked, shuffling closer, closer, anticipation humming in his bones.
He rested one hand on Joshua’s hip. Even through the layer of Joshua’s shirt, Leo’s thumb fit perfectly into the hollow dip next to the jut of his hipbone, a spot Leo had come to consider a personal favourite, right along with all other spots of Joshua’s body.
“Shut up,” Joshua said, barely more than a whisper, “and kiss me.”
So Leo did.
* * *
The pictures hit the news before they even made it home.
“We look gorgeous,” Leo decided, and while Joshua laughed at that, he couldn’t disagree.
They did look good together—their bodies aligning naturally, turned into each other with Leo’s fingers tangled in Joshua’s hair and Joshua’s hand clasped around Leo’s bicep.
It spoke of warmth and intimacy, and there was another angle that showed their faces after they’d separated, staring at each other.
They looked stupidly, idiotically happy.
“So I guess we’re doing this,” Joshua said.
By way of response, Leo grinned and tugged him into a sweet, lazy kiss that wasn’t intended to be shared with the world; a kiss that was just for them.
Just them.
*
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