Page 140 of Puck Hard

“Last week. Apparently, she wanted to make it clear that she’s ready for them and that you’d be a great father.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her we’re still figuring out what our life looks like. But if kids are part of it someday, we’ll let her know.” He chuckles. “I think she was looking for something more concrete.”

“And what do you think? About kids?”

“I think I want whatever you want. Kids, no kids, a house in the suburbs, an apartment in the city. As long as we’re together, I don’t care what it looks like.”

We get out of the truck, walk toward our front door.

“Zane?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He unlocks the door, and we go inside. Into our home. Finally, after years of not knowing what that word meant, I know now.

Home is wherever Zane is. Home is this house we share, this life we’re building, this future we’re figuring out one day at a time.

Home is not having to hide anymore.

In the kitchen, Zane pours two glasses of water and holds one out to me.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks.

“Mark’s speech. About finding someone you can’t live without.”

“And?”

“And I was thinking that’s what I found with you. Someone I can’t live without. Someone who makes me want to be better than I am.”

“You don’t need to be better than you are.”

“Maybe not. But you make me want to try.”

He sets down his water glass, moves closer. “For the record, you make me want to try too. To try to be the kind of man who’s worth loving. To try to build something that lasts.”

He kisses me then, soft and demanding at the same time, and I think about how different this is from that first night in Vegas. How much we’ve both changed, how much we’ve both grown, how much we’ve both learned about what it means to love someone enough to risk everything.

Outside, I can hear the sound of traffic, the distant noise of a city that never sleeps. But inside, it’s quiet. Peaceful. Safe.

We made it. Through the lies and the fear and the impossible choices and the near-death experiences. We made it to the other side.

And that’s everything.