Page 52 of Surrender

I pulled him to me again and kissed his smirk. It didn’t occur to me that we had an audience until everyone in the foyer started whooping and applauding. Tracy turned red, and I gave thecrowd a wave before the two of us hurried down the stairs and out the front door.

On the way to the curb, I texted Josh and Darwin to let them know we were leaving, and to apologize for the glitter cannon. Just as we reached the street, a cab pulled up. A pair of gorgeous drag queens climbed out, and we took their place and gave the driver our address.

Fifteen minutes later, we were back in our apartment. “Let’s change into something more comfortable and meet on the couch,” I said, and Tracy and I went off in opposite directions.

When we reconvened in the living room, both of us were dressed in cozy sweats. I’d brought a tray with a bottle of wine and some snacks, and Tracy had brought us a warm blanket. I filled two glasses while he turned on one of the New Year’s countdown shows, prerecorded in New York, where midnight had already come and gone.

We curled up together under the blanket, and I kissed him again. Phil jumped onto my lap and tucked his legs under himself, and Tracy put his head on my shoulder. Both of them fell asleep within minutes.

A sense of calm and contentment settled over me as I held Tracy securely and thought to myself,I could get used to this.

15

Tracy

January came and went, but Ever didn’t move out of our apartment. He said his new place wasn’t ready yet, which was surprising, because it had seemed close to being done back in mid-December. I was glad about the delay, because I wasn’t ready for anything to change.

In early February, we hit a weird milestone—the anniversary of our fateful hook-up a year before. “I think we should celebrate,” Ever told me, as we crossed our apartment building’s lobby on our way back from the gym. “Let’s go out to dinner tonight.”

“Is that really something to celebrate? The day I bit you and ran off?”

“It’s the day we met.”

“Technically, yes. But isn’t the day we met again more significant?”

“We can celebrate that, too,” Ever said. “For tonight, there’s a new Japanese restaurant that opened near my building, and I’ve been wanting to check it out. What do you say?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

“Great! I’ll be spending the day in my office, so why don’t you come by around five-thirty? That way, I can show you all the new additions to the fitness center before we head to dinner.”

“Sounds good.”

When we reached the apartment, he turned to me and asked, “What are you doing with your day off?”

“I’m visiting Vee. He’s hosting an intervention.”

“For who?”

“For himself. Apparently he thinks he needs to get his life back on track.”

It turned out to be a bit more involved than that. When I got to the pink Victorian, Embry and Hal were waiting in the living room, tucked into opposite ends of the couch. I asked Vee, “Will the rest of your housemates be joining us?”

“No, they’re all at work or whatever. This is just for the four of us.”

Hal was in the process of collecting his long, dark hair into a ponytail. He froze with his hands above his head and shot Vee a suspicious look. “Why us four?”

“Because we’re the single ladies of our group.” Vee started to sing the instrumental part of that Beyonce song, while doing a little dance.

“I thought this was an intervention for you,” Embry said. He was wrapped in a fuzzy blanket and wearing a pink hoodie with teddy bear ears.

“It is.” Vee took a seat between his housemates, and I got comfortable on one of the club chairs. “After we fix my shit, we’re going to fix each of yours.”

Hal crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t need fixing. I’m doing just fine, thank you very much.”

“In some ways, you are,” Vee said. “You’re kicking ass in design school, and you’re going to be super successful one day. But you haven’t gone on a single date since you caught your last boyfriend cheating on you, and it’s been, like, two years.”

Hal frowned at his housemate. “I’m too busy to date. I’m working three jobs to pay my tuition, and all I care about right now is graduating and starting my career.”

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