Page 26 of Doors & Windows
They were getting better at this—the casual touching. Getting comfortable with it, though, didn’t mean getting used to it. Liam’s heart still jumped into his throat when Jonah surrendered easily to the invitation, twisting his hand to lace their fingers together.
“I’m here,” Jonah agreed. With his free hand, he held up a lilac envelope. “Happy birthday.”
A quiet beat passed between them, separate from the noise of the party. Jonah’s eyes flicked to Liam’s mouth. Liam answered the silent prompt by leaning forward and kissing him.
Something had shifted in the month since that day at the beach house. Neither Liam or Jonah ever took for granted the other’s interest, always checking thatthe other was on board before doing anything sexual, but Liam knew they both felt the sizzling electricity between them when they shared a room. They’d spent several more nights together since, alternating between Liam’s place and Jonah’s.
Weekends were their haven. Between Friday night and Sunday evening, they were attached at the hip. During the days, they explored the city they were learning to call home, new neighborhoods each week, expanding their horizons to the places tourists didn’t frequent.Jacob Riis Beach before the weather turned for the season, historic pizza shops in Gravesend, museums in the outer boroughs where Liam would study the art and Jonah would study Liam in his element.
On the wall above his bed, Liam had been collecting a montage of memories captured in a Polaroid camera he found at a thrift store. There was one of Jonah standing beneath the “Prince St.” station mosaic subway tile sign. Another of Liam trying his first cigarette (and another of him hacking up a lung immediately after). His favorite was the photo of the two of them on Liam’s living room floor, taken by Tucker the night Izzy convinced Liam to let her pierce his ear. Liam had one hand clutching a pillow and the other clutching Jonah, who looked at him like he was the brightest color in the world.
At night, they found new horizons in each other, inside darkened rooms, two explorers drawing their own map.
Tucker wolf-whistled from across the room, breaking apart their kiss. Jonah laughed and pressed the envelope into Liam’s hands.
“Looks like I have some catching up to do.” He lifted a hand to Liam’s ear, just above his new piercing. “Can I get you another drink?”
Liam nodded, because it was hard to form words when Jonah was touching him like this, casual and affectionate and perfect. “I’d stay away from the concoction on the counter,” he warned. “I think we accidentally made jet fuel.”
Jonah glanced past him, toward the kitchen. “You mean the plastic tub of grey, opaque liquid? Yeah, I think I’ll stick to something out of a bottle.”
He departed with one last kiss to Liam’s temple, waving a greeting to Liam’s roommates on his way over.
Liam took the moment alone to carefully tear open the envelope, making sure not to damage any of its contents. The card he pulled out featured a cartoon dog from a children’s show and big, bubble letters across the top that readHAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY,with an extra2crammed in withmarker. A laugh startled out of him, endlessly elated by these rare glimpses into Jonah’s sense of humor, but it weaned to something softer when he opened the flap and saw the messy handwriting scrawled on the interior.
Liam,
Happy birthday.
Your boyfriend,
Jonah
Like a moth to flame, his eyes found Jonah’s from across the room. Hisboyfriendpaused halfway through opening a bottle at the kitchen counter, a slow, sheepish smile spreading across his face.
The party went on around them, oblivious to the strange, cosmic feeling of rightness that settled over Liam. Like this moment had been written in history long before they arrived at it. Like no matter how unlikely it might have seemed a year ago, they were always meant to find each other. They were exactly where they were meant to be, and happiness stretched out like an open road before them, theirs for the taking.
Liam closed the card and pressed it to his chest with gentle fingertips, hoping maybe Jonah felt it too.
The party thinned out well after midnight.
Tucker barely made it past eleven before crushing Liam in a final happy birthday hug and stumbling off toward his bedroom. Izzy corralled their friends out of the apartment in search of a bar with an all-night kitchen. They’d invited Liam and Jonah, but it was a pretty clear formality. By that point in the night, there was no secrecy in their body language to hide the fact that they couldn’t wait to be alone together.
Finally, when the living room was empty except for the mess of cups and bottles that would be tomorrow’s problem, they got their wish.
Jonah had him pressed against the inside of his bedroom door, both hands cupping his jaw as hekissed him. His sweatshirt was already discarded in a heap on the floor, leaving his arms bare for Liam’s exploration. It didn’t take long before the kisses migrated to his neck. Liam let his head fall back against the wood. He was weightless and invincible in the afterglow of several glasses of cheap Prosecco, after a night of freedom and friendship and rare, selfish happiness.
But his mind was still clear enough to sense when Jonah’s intentions shifted, his lips brushing the collar of his shirt, then trailing lower. Liam caught Jonah’s sleeve before he could slip onto his knees, careful not to be forceful with his touch. Still, Jonah winced, a flicker of surprise giving way to confusion as he glanced up.
“Hey,” Liam said, a little out of breath. “You don’t have to do that tonight.”
Jonah blinked. He studied Liam for a moment; cheeks pink from the alcohol and the heat between them. “You don’t want me to?”
“I wantyou,” Liam said, cupping Jonah’s face, “to keep kissing me. Is that okay?”
Jonah searched his expression a moment longer, then granted Liam’s request with enthusiasm.
Liam wasn’t sure which of them made the first nudge toward the bed, or if their bodies were just in sync enough to feel the gravitational pull of it, but it wasn’t long before they were stretched out on Liam’s mattress, legs tangled and mouths moving.
