Page 23 of Breaking the Surface
He didn’t.He stayed where he was in the living room while Braden went to open the door.He closed his eyes as he listened to the voices, relaxing when he recognized Vincent’s.Everything was fine.
“I’m going to my office for a bit,” Braden said, peeking back into the living room as Vincent walked in.“Yell if you need anything, and I mean that, Peter.”
“We’ll be fine,” Peter promised.
Braden still hesitated for a moment.Peter gave him a soft smile, and Braden’s cheeks flushed.He did leave, though, and when Peter turned to look at Vincent, it was to find his best friend staring at him.
“What?”he asked.
“You’re going to tell me what happened between the two of you, aren’t you?”
“Who said that anything happened?”
“Uh, my eyes?I mean, the two of you were pretty sweet on each other already, but it’s clear that something’s changed.”
Peter knew that with Braden in his office, they would have privacy.Braden wouldn’t spy on them, not like Lou would have.Hell, Lou wouldn’t have been discreet about it, either.He’d spent a lot of time with Vincent and Peter because he thought they would talk about him if he didn’t.He probably hadn’t been wrong, although Peter never would have told Vincent what Lou was doing to him.
He flopped on the couch, wrinkling his nose at the strong scent of paint in the room.Maybe they should’ve taken this to the kitchen, but before he could say anything, Vincent sat down and grabbed his hand.
“Talk,” he ordered.
Peter laughed.“You’re so impatient.”
“I am when it comes to your love life.”Vincent paused.“I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.I’m glad you’re not miserable anymore, and I want to know if I should congratulate the two of you.”
“Well, I don’t know about congratulations, but I did tell Braden that he’s my mate.”
Vincent beamed.“That’s great.How did he take it?What did he say?”
“He was as perfect as I could have wanted.I told him the day Lou came here.I couldn’t sleep that night, so I went to his room and asked if I could sleep with him.”
“Peter!”Vincent said, looking delighted.
Peter pushed his best friend.“Not like that.I just didn’t want to be alone, you know?And being the sweet man that he is, he immediately welcomed me under the blankets.I just couldn’tnottell him after that.He’s been taking care of me, even though he didn’t know.He’s been everything I could ever want from a mate, and I was tired of telling myself not to hope.”
“Are you letting yourself hope now?”
“Well, we decided to paint the living room to make the house feel more like it’s ours.I don’t have another place to go, but he does, so I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re making the decisions together.”
“What’s going to happen is that you two already live together.Neither of you has a reason to leave.From what I can see, you’re already settling down.”
“But we’re not together.”
“Aren’t you?Your relationship might not be what you thought it would be, but it doesn’t mean you’re not together.”
Peter blinked.Vincent wasn’t wrong, was he?He and Braden had expectations from a relationship between mates, but not hitting them didn’t mean theirs wasn’t a relationship.Maybe they’d already taken the first step towards having one.
Or many steps, just not the ones Peter would have expected.
* * * *
“ARE YOU SURE YOU’REup for this?”Braden asked as he and Peter hovered by the front door.
Peter swallowed heavily enough that Braden noticed.“I’m fine,” he promised.
“I didn’t say you weren’t fine.You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready for it, though.”
Peter set his jaw.“Iamready for this.It’s just a small gathering at a friend’s house, right?Why wouldn’t I be ready for it?”
