Page 16 of Poolside

Chuck did that thing where he bunched his shoulders up and let out a sort of bashful chuckle. “Nah, I do. I mean, I want a boyfriend. A partner. I’m ready for that.” And then he looked around the table at all of them. “And, thanks for being cool. I knew you would be, but still. It means a lot.”

“We’ve got you, man,” Keaton said.

“We love you,” Tommy rushed to say, looking Chuck right in the eye so he’d know Tommy meant it.

“And if anyone fucks with you, they’ve got to go through us first,” Sage added, crunching down on a chip. She was a little scary, if Tommy was honest.

David must like the scary shit, because he proceeded to kiss the hell out of her right there at the table.

Keaton made a retching sound and shoved the back of David’s head, sending them careening to the side and almost tumbling from the bench. Without breaking the kiss, Sage reached blindly over and flicked Keaton right on the cheek.

It was the kind of chaotic comfort that made this group feel like family. He looked over at Chuck, at the way his posture slumped, and for a second Tommy was worried. But when he really examined his expression, it looked a whole hell of a lot like relief.

CHAPTER4

WHATEVER THEY STARTED TONIGHT

CHUCK

He’d done it.

A sense of ease filled him, relaxing muscles he hadn’t even realized were tensed like he was bracing for impact. He’d come out to his friends and everything was fine. Everything was good and normal, and yeteverythinghad changed. There was no longer any reason to hold back any of those parts of himself he hadn’t necessarily hid, but the ones he’d always kept small. Kept out of direct eyesight.

He’d told them and life was going on.

Across the table, he caught Rebecca grinning at him with a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

“What?” he asked.

Her grin widened. “I guessed, you know.”

“That I was gay?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I didn’tknow, and I would never assume, but I wondered.”

Darius turned to his wife. “Seriously? How?”

Her gaze sharpened as she looked him up and down. “There was just something.”

“I had no idea,” Tommy chimed in, and there was something about the way his friend was watching him that made Chuck shift in his seat.

“My queer friends have told me that I’m pretty good at hiding.”

David’s surprised face came into view. “You have queer friends?”

Chuck nodded. He hadn’t even thought about that. How coming out to this group meant there was no reason to keep his life separated. There was no reason to hide, not anymore.

Rebecca clapped her hands together. “When do we get to meet them?”

“Whenever. They’re around. They want to meet you guys, too.”

“So,” David said, leaning forward on his elbows, waggling those thick brows at the group. “Back to the business of setting up Chuck. Any good gay bars around here?”

Chuck groaned, but he was smiling. He couldn’t help it. And twenty minutes later when David and Tommy agreed the group was due for a night out that weekend, he didn’t even protest.

Everyone started to pack up, since most of them worked early the next morning. Each hug was accompanied by words of support and encouragement, and with every embrace Chuck felt a little closer to breaking down in tears. Not bad tears, but tears of relief, and tears because all of this had been really fucking overwhelming.

Rebecca left him with a kiss on the cheek, and then Tommy was standing there in front of him, hands shoved in the pockets of the slacks that fit snug around his thick thighs. There was something about the look on his face that had Chuck’s senses prickling, like maybe he needed to build up some of his defenses again.

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