Page 101 of Game On

So Dorian did, while the sound of cutlery clacking on dishes and fragments of conversation reached them from the kitchen as everyone else got started on dinner. He walked Charlie and Matt through everything he had confirmed with vendors so far and showed them his new boxes with the logo on the front and the colour-me design on the inside of the lid. Charlie and Matt oohed and aahed appreciatively—or, at least, Charlie did. Matt was more the grunt-his-appreciation type.

And when Dorian asked Charlie to supply a mix of some kind for his fall box, Charlie nearly broke down in tears.

“You want me in your box? Oh my god, yes!” He burst into action, grabbing a pen and a notepad off Dorian’s desk, and did a little happy dance. “It’s fall, so... pumpkin? No, pumpkin’s gross.” He scratched that off the list. “Apples, maybe? Ooh, apple cinnamon muffin mix? Apple cider donut mix? Cranberry bread mix? Hey, guys!” He skipped out of the office, still writing. “What makes you think of fall?”

Dorian chuckled, his heart lifting into the stratosphere and bursting into a million pieces of joy.

“You look happy, Dorian,” Matt said quietly.

“I am happy,” Dorian said, perhaps feeling it for the first time in his life.

“And it’s not just because of the box.”

“No.” Dorian thought of Jamie and smiled. “Not just because of the box.”

“Jamieson’s been good for you.”

“Yeah. But I think I’ve been good for him too. You won’t...” He bit his lip, debating with himself for a second, then went for it. “You won’t give him a hard time if things don’t work out between us, right?”

Matt’s eyes darkened and his brow creased. “The Orcas aren’t the Cobras. His personal life is his own. If things don’t work out, that’s between the two of you. It has nothing to do with me or anyone else.”

Dorian let out a slow breath. “Thanks.”

“I will give him extra drills as punishment for hurting you, though.”

“No, you won’t.”

“I might.” Matt side-eyed him. “Do you think I’ll need to?”

It was hard to say. Couples didn’t work out all the time, and there was no guarantee that he and Jamie wouldn’t be one of those. But they weren’t rushing into things. Hell, Jamie was moving out because neither of them wanted to rush things. They weren’t Charlie and Blair, already living out of each other’s pockets after only a few months.

They were taking things slowly. And Dorian was looking forward to discovering where that led them.

“I hope not,” he eventually said.

“Good. Now come on. Let’s eat.”

Dorian let Matt go ahead of him, remaining behind for a minute to let the relief flow out of him in a huge exhalation that left him dizzy.

That had gone... well. Very well. They hadn’t been angry or upset or hurt. Just... supportive. Understanding—maybe too understanding. Curious. Excited for him.

Gratitude swept through him, making his nose burn, and he tipped his head back to blink blearily at the ceiling. It was good—better than good—to have people at his back. For a long time, he’d thought he had to be perfect for people to accept him and his ideas. Then Jamie had burst into his life like a flood that had opened his heart, proving that he didn’t have to be perfect at all.

He just had to be himself.

“Hey.” Jamie strolled into the room, a grin playing around his lips. “Charlie and Coach are out there talking about how cool your box is.” He dropped a quick kiss onto Dorian’s mouth. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Smiling, Dorian grasped the front of Jamie’s hoodie and pulled him closer, his heart thumping wildly at the thought of what the future held with his man. “I’m perfect.”

EPILOGUE

TWO YEARS LATER — JULY

“Are you going to help?” Matt asked with an annoyed glower as he lugged one end of Jamie’s couch into Dorian’s house. “Or just stand there and watch?”

“Stand here and watch, obviously.” Dorian moved aside to let Matt and Blair heft the couch by him. “You do know that’s going in the basement, right? And that the basement has its own entrance?”

Blair huffed. “That would’ve been good to know before we carried it up the walkway and up your front steps and?—”

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