Page 61 of Heal Me, Love Me

“Taking it without my knowledge isn’t how borrowing works.” I chuckled.

“It is if I look better in it.”

My eyes raked over him. “Can’t argue with that.”

His mouth curved as he reached over, squeezed the back of my neck, then pulled me in for a brief kiss. Public affection still caught me off guard sometimes. Not because he made it weird or because I wanted him to stop, but because I’d never really been in a place where I could act on my feelings. Rowan hadn’t either, but somehow he’d adjusted faster than I had.

We headed inside and grabbed a booth near the back. The place smelled of grilled onions and fries. A Sacramento Kings game played on the TVs mounted above the bar. We were down by six in the second quarter, which wasn’t exactly shocking, but I still found myself watching the screen as we slid into the booth.

Rowan followed my gaze. “Basketball was the one sport I could get you to watch. Too bad I never played.”

I leaned back against the seat. “It was one of the sports I could play by myself that didn’t require expensive equipment.”

The day we’d met, I’d just finished shooting some hoops. I didn’t have any friends that lived nearby, so whenever things got bad at home, I’d grab the basketball and go outside.

A server stopped by to take our drink order, and after she walked away, Rowan settled back into the booth, looking more relaxed than he had since we got back from LA. “So, is Mason still acting weird?” he asked.

I hadn’t told him about my conversation with Mason yet. It felt like something better talked about in private, rather than during Rowan’s stop at Titan earlier.

“About that, I learned something new about him.”

He sat up straighter. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. He told me he’s gay.”

Rowan blinked. “No shit?”

“Yep, but he’s not ready for anyone other than us to know yet.”

“I won’t say anything,” he agreed. “But I would never have guessed.”

“That makes two of us.”

The server returned with our drinks, and after telling her we still needed a minute, Rowan asked me, “How’d Mason come out to you?”

I gave him the whole rundown about coming home from work to find Mason still awake and about how I’d finally asked whether he had a problem with us. Then I told Rowan about the question Mason had asked that changed the entire conversation.

“What made you stop hiding it?”

“He sounded nervous,” I explained. “I’d never heard him like that.”

“Yeah.” Rowan took a sip of his soda. “I definitely get that.”

“So do I.” I unwrapped my straw and stuck it in my drink. “I think he’s lonely.”

“He hides it well.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s not.”

The waitress returned to take our order, and afterward the conversation drifted into more casual territory. It felt normal, and I was starting to realize how badly I’d wanted that with him. Not only the big emotional moments or the sex, but enjoying dinner after the gym, hearing him laugh at something dumb I said, and looking across a booth without checking who was watching before I reached for him.

It was the relationship stuff I used to think only happened for other people.

As we ate, my phone buzzed on the table, and I groaned when I saw my mother’s name flash on the screen.

“Everything okay?” Rowan asked.

I read the message before responding. “I guess. My mom and my aunt are in Sacramento, and she wants to see me.”