Page 59 of Flash

“I don’t care how much porn you watch while you wait for an oil change, you make my brother smile and that’s good enough for me,” he declares loudly.

“I don’t…” I sputter, stumbling a little when he sets me down. “It was just an open tab I forgot about. I wasn’t watching it.”

“An open tab that you left playing all the way through the grand finale?” Beetlejuice Two asks with an arched eyebrow.

I sigh. “I’m going to need a drink.”

ARROW

In spite of Lewis’s initial embarrassment, the night turns out to be a blast. We play darts and shoot the shit with Henry and the rest of the guys filling the bar. For years it was just me and my club, but as our outer circle has grown to include the mechanics at Big Bull and, to a lesser extent, the guys who own Four Bears Construction, there’s a definite sense of community I didn’t know we were missing out on.

“I need you to weigh in on this, Lewis,” Henry says, leaning back comfortably in his seat, a few empty beer glasses littering the table between us, the drinks spread out over the course of the last handful of hours. “Skins—cool or creepy?”

“Creeptastic,” Lewis says without hesitation.

“Hey,” I complain.

My boyfriend laughs and kisses my cheek. “Sorry, but it’s weird. You sound like you skin people.”

“They’re not wrong, bro,” Hero says.

Henry holds his hands up victoriously. “I fucking told you, it’s weird.”

“Fine, you guys want to change the name?” I look around at my traitorous crew and all but Piston nod.

“Why don’t we just call ourselves the Ink Slingers?” Jag says.

“Seconded. No need to make it complicated,” Tex says.

“Thirded,” Hero chimes in.

“Alright, Ink Slingers it is. But one of you can organize getting the patches on our jackets replaced.”

There’s a ripple of agreement and laughter, and then the conversation turns, and I don’t bother to follow it. I reach over and pull Lewis out of his seat, dragging him onto my lap. He giggles and comes easily. I nuzzle his neck and he slides a hand under my jacket to tease the bare skin underneath.

“Hey, I was thinking,” I say quietly.

“Yeah?” Lewis traces his finger along the trail of dark gray hair that leads down from my belly button and my cock swells against his thigh.

“What if you move in?” The question has been burning on my tongue for over a month now, and finally saying it out loud takes a weight off of my shoulders.

Even in the dim light of the bar, I can see his cheeks darken as a shy smile spreads across his lips.

“I kind of already have.”

I frown. “What?”

He laughs. “I thought you’d noticed. I’ve been slowly moving my stuff in for weeks. The only stuff left at my apartment is my furniture, and I’ve been considering just telling the landlord they can keep it and rent it as furnished to the next person.”

My heart leaps and I chuckle. “So, we live together?”

Lewis bites his lip and nods. “We live together.”

I catch his mouth in another greedy kiss, licking between his lips and savoring the faint flavor of his cherry lip balm. The part of me that’s been waiting for him to change his mind and decide I’m too much after all finally settles, and I think he can feel it. He melts into me and kisses me deeper.

“What do you say we get out of here and go home?” I murmur against his lips.

He smiles into the kiss and nods, his nose bumping mine.

Home. The word has a different meaning now that it’s Lewis’s too. It’s not just the place I live, it’s where we’re going to build a life together. We can pick out new furniture together so it’s not just mine, it’s ours. We can get a friend for Gregory if Lewis wants, and the four of us will spend lazy Sundays in bed and throw big, noisy Fourth of July barbecues.

“I want forever with you, Lewis,” I whisper gruffly, and he nods again.

“Tell you what, I’ll start planning a wedding and you can propose after we’re married,” he teases.

“Deal.” I drag him in for one more kiss because I’m greedy like that. Because when it comes to Lewis, I’ll always need one more, and thank fuck he feels the same way.

The End