Page 77 of Our Own Light

“Alright, ready,” Ollie said, pushing to stand, his brow creasing the moment their eyes locked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Floyd said softly, wiping his hand on the side of his pants and lifting it to cup Ollie’s chin. “You’re real special, Ollie. I hope you know that.”

“Oh. I, uhm, thank you, sweetheart,” Ollie said, stumbling over his words.

Floyd kissed him, putting more passion behind it this time, and Ollie smiled through it. After they parted, they started the long walk back to town.

Floyd’s head was still swimming when they reached his house. Even throughout supper, Floyd’s thoughts stayed far away, like he had left his brain back at the burbling stream. He couldn’t seem to stop thinking about how kind Ollie was and how much he liked him.

After everyone finished eating, Ollie volunteered to clean up. Josephine was eager to help him. She was really liking spending time with Mister Oliver lately, even when that time was spent helping Effie clean the kitchen. Floyd wandered over to his favorite armchair and sat, his mind too muddy to remember that he ought to have volunteered to help too.

Once Ollie and Jo were settled with the water that they brought in from outside, Effie came over and sat on the armrest.

“Where’s your head today? Did you lose it in the woods somewhere?” she asked.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ollie was nice to a worm.”

Effie hummed and nodded. “I can see how that would be hard.”

“Hush,” Floyd said, pinching her leg, which elicited a little “eep” sound. “I like him a lot, Effie. I never thought I’d ever like someone this much.”

“Is it scary?”

“No, not scary, really. It’s... heavy, though. It feels heavy.”

Effie squeezed his shoulder.

“Now I feel bad for what I wanted to come over here and tell you.”

Floyd cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Before you two left on your fishing outing, Oliver mentioned how much he wished he could spend the night with you. I took the whole afternoon to think about it, and I wanted to tell you that it’d be fine with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him for you to sleep here every single night.” Effie smiled warmly. “So, what do you think?”

Floyd rubbed his chin. He really liked the idea of waking up next to Ollie. Even though Floyd still felt a sickly sort of sadness about Matt sometimes, he still loved plum-near every second he and Ollie spent together. How could he say no to letting them be close for the night?

“Yeah, I’d really like that, Effie. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Suddenly, there was a big splash of water followed by Ollie saying “whoa!” and Jo cackling in a mischievous sort of way. That was the end of their conversation, Floyd supposed. Effie and Floyd both started toward the kitchen area to help with the mess.

Later, once everything was cleaned up, Ollie and Floyd left together to head to Ollie’s house. Midway there, the sky finally opened up, pouring buckets of rain over them. They had to run the rest of the way. Ollie was cackling the entire time, which made Floyd burst out laughing, too. By the time they reached Ollie’s house, they were both soaking wet. Luckily, it seemed that the rain had washed away some of Floyd’s earlier unease about Matt. Standing inside Ollie’s living space, dripping water all over the floorboards, he wasn’t nothing but happy.

“Look at you, Ollie,” Floyd said, placing his hands on Ollie’s hips. He loved seeing Ollie’s hair soaking wet, raindrops trickling down his face. “You’re so handsome like this.”

“You are, too,” Ollie responded, smiling up at him with so much contentment, Floyd couldn’t hold back from lifting him up in the air.

Ollie wrapped his legs around him, and everything was as it ought to be.

“I’m taking you to the bedroom,” Floyd said, a playful hitch in his voice.

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