Page 93 of The Shots You Take

“God, I know.”

“I’m tired, so I’m going to see if Shep’s ready to go.”

Darren’s brow furrowed. “Who’s Shep?” Then he smiled. “Is that your little nickname for Adam? That’s sexy.”

Riley rolled his eyes. “It’s what everyone calls him.”

“What does he call you? Tucky?”

“Good night, Darren. Thank you for a lovely evening.”

“Wait. Does he call you Ri-Ri?”

Riley flipped him off, then left the kitchen. He found Adam still talking to Bea. Lucky was resting at Adam’s feet.

“Riles,” Adam said, all smiles. “I’m learning about honey!”

Riley’s heart fluttered again at the nickname. He’d told Adam not to call him that, but it wasn’t because he hated it. It was because he fucking loved hearing it again. He crouched to scratch Lucky’s head while Adam asked a few more questions about bees.

Finally, Adam said, “You tired?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

They said goodbye to everyone, Adam even getting a few hugs. Riley was standing beside him when Tom hugged Adam and said, “Remember what I told you.”

“I will,” Adam said. “Thank you.”

That certainly captured Riley’s attention.

When they were back on the road, Lucky’s head peeking over Adam’s shoulder again, Riley asked, “You had an okay time?”

“I had a great time. Your friends are awesome.”

“They are. You had some good conversations then?”

“I did.”

Riley waited for Adam to elaborate. Finally, Adam said, “I always knew honey came from bees, but I’d never really thought about how it was actually made, y’know?”

Riley sighed.

“Did you know they use smoke to put the bees to sleep?”

“Yes, Shep. Everyone knows that. What did Tom tell you?”

“Tom? Oh! That.”

Another silence passed where Riley tried not to scream.

“Tom wanted me to know that he was in his thirties when he came out, and that he’d actually been engaged once. To a woman.”

Riley nodded. He’d known all this, though Tom rarely talked about it. It had all been before he’d met Darren.

“He said that he felt guilty sometimes, about how happy he was after coming out. To do it, he had to hurt the woman who’d been planning to marry him. And he told me that if he’d waited longer, if he’d married her and had kids, and then came out, he probably would have felt even worse about it.”

“Oh,” Riley said, understanding now.

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