Page 129 of It's Complicated

“Places you can meet people or hang out that’s free and easily accessible to everyone,” Andy explained.

“Why is it called a third space?”

“Because home and work are considered your first and second spaces. A third space is somewhere you don’t work or live.”

“Makes sense.” Johnny sipped his coffee. “And yeah, it sucks those don’t exist anymore. It would be nice to have places to go where getting drunk wasn’t the endgame.”

“Yeah,” Andy agreed. “But at least you keep us entertained when it is.”

“Speaking of drunken entertainment, I need to hear more about Johnny trying to fight his reflection,” I said.

Andy immediately launched into the story, and Jamie and I relaxed on the loveseat, laughing as he told us more details.

Jamie’s hand, which had been resting on the cushions between us, slowly slid over until he was loosely holding my thigh.

Neither Andy nor Johnny noticed, or if they did, they politely ignored it.

I put my hand over his, relief and elation filling me.

We’d told people, and the world hadn’t ended.

I wasn’t so naive to think everyone would be okay with our relationship, but the important people knew, or would know soon, and we’d be okay as long as we had each other.

Jamie wasn’t just my best friend. He was my partner, my rock, and the person I loved more than anyone else in the world. He’d always been those things, but now he was also the man I was madlyinlove with and the man I was going to keep on loving for the rest of our lives.

EPILOGUE

Isaac

5 years later

“Babe?”Jamie called from the living room.

“One sec!” I shouted through the closed door to our bedroom, taking one last look around.

Tonight was our five-year anniversary, and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. When I was satisfied, I slipped out of the room.

“Dare I ask?” Jamie arched his eyebrow at me as I came into the living room.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I shot him my best innocent face. “I was just getting ready for our night out.”

“Sure you were.” He smiled fondly.

I dragged my gaze down his body, blatantly checking him out. “You clean up nice.”

He’d put on a pair of dark blue pants and a white and blue gingham shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his incredible forearms, and his hair was perfectly styled.

“So do you.” He licked his bottom lip and traced his eyes over my body. “Is that my shirt?”

“And your pants.” I grinned. “It was either steal your clothes or go in my sweats.”

“Do you hear me complaining?” He smirk-smiled. “You look good in my clothes.”

I’d put on a pair of black pants and a white shirt. I’d also borrowed his spare pair of dress shoes. It was handy being the same size as him.

“That’s the one thing no one tells you when you date a guy,” I said to distract myself from how good he looked and how much I wanted to skip the party and drag him into our room so we could start the second part of our night. “Your wardrobe doubles.”

“It’s a pretty great perk.” He held out his hand.

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