Page 41 of Perfect Blend

“No fewer than seven people came in this week to tell me about the place and insist I inform you about it. I was pulled into numerous strategizing discussions about how to get you to move to town.Made it damn near impossible to get my work done.” He chuckled.

I bit my lip. “Really?” They wanted me to be a part of their community? The backs of my eyes stung.

“Is that why you came up here to surprise me?”

Dave’s cheeks reddened. “I’d already planned to drive up here and had arranged for Izzy to cover me this weekend, but this morning an Amtrak ticket appeared in my inbox with instructions for what time to be ready and a note that my staff was already prepared to fill in. Then Mabel showed up to take me to the Amtrak station in Portland.” Dave laughed and squeezed my knee. “She spent the entire hour-long drive brainstorming with me about how to get you involved in next year’s Pride festival. I wouldn’t be surprised if she pushed for you to help with the winter festival this year.”

“I’d be honored to.”

He tugged on my shoulders as he lay back. There wasn’t enough room for us to fully sprawl out on the couch, but he made it work. He smiled up at me as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Careful what you wish for.”

“Speaking of what I’m wishing for.” I slid off the couch and onto my knees.

Dave’s breath hitched as I undid his jeans. He lifted his hips without me having to ask. I needed my mouth on him, needed to show him how important he was to me. Needed to prove to myself he was really there in the flesh and not the man who lived behind my screen.

I took my time exploring his body, cataloging every gasp, moan, and twitch I could pull from him. I systematically pulled him apart with my touch while learning what he liked.

We’d gotten to know each other’s personalities, dreams, fears, and hurts so well. I was ready to get to know Dave’s body as well as I knew his heart.

After we made each other see stars, we cuddled with me sprawled across his chest. I traced figure eights around his nipples.

“I think I might fall in love with you so hard, Jack.”

“I’m already halfway there, Bricker.”

EPILOGUE

DAVE

One yearlater

“That’s nothow you contour. Did you not watchanyof the YouTube videos I sent? Give me that.” Tyler, one of the Tap That Brewery owners, snatched the makeup brush from Austin’s hand—another co-owner.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect.” Austin grabbed the brush back.

“There’s perfect, then there’s Picasso. Let’s go for a little less Picasso, yeah? It’s our first year, and we’re the main sponsor. I willnotperform ‘Lady Marmalade’ with you looking like a booger on stage.”

“Booger? My God. You went back to that drag Wiki dictionary, didn’t you?” Austin shot his cousin a disgusted look.

I snorted. The four Tap That Brewery owners were the best thing to happen to Dahlia Springs since Mikey moved here eleven months ago.

After I’d surprised him that first weekend after the Pride festival ended, he’d put in notice at his apartment. His boss had called him less than a week later to offer him the promotion. I was so proud of how he’d negotiated with her to make the position remote. With how successful his Dahlia Springs story had been and how it’d been picked up by media outlets throughout the globe, she was probably thanking her lucky stars that she hadn’t let Mikey get away.

Despite half-heartedly looking at places in Portland and the bigger towns near Dahlia Springs, Mikey had moved into that one-bedroom apartment in town. I was still half convinced the place was specifically emptied to convince Mikey to move there.

Six months after he settled in Dahlia Springs, he moved in with me. He’d spent most nights at my place anyway. Crashing at his place had been great on nights when we’d hung out at the brewery and I wanted to stumble to work early the next morning, but my place had space for our massive LEGO display.

“Did you see where my lipstick went?” Mikey gave me a quick kiss.

I pulled him in for a longer, lingering one, ignoring the whistles of the other drag performers in the room. “Here.” I pulled it from the pile of cosmetics on the card table he’d been sitting at.

“I could’ve sworn it wasn’t there.”

I pinched his ass. “Just like the remote for the speakers wasn’t on the coffee table the other night?”

He mimed clutching pearls. “How dare you bring that up.”

“Get a room,” Bailey teased as he entered the room.

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