Page 108 of True Sight
“So then I probablyshouldn’ttell them why we’re late?” he asks with a wicked smirk. In all honesty, we are late because of me. He came home from being at thestudio all day and I needed him more than a starving man needed a meal. Things got a little carried away which is why I’m now hurrying us inside my friend’s old, restored home.
“You better not unless you want to be punished for it later,” I growl into his ear, smacking him on the ass as he steps inside. Annie takes off as soon as I take her out of her harness and let everyone know that we have finally arrived.
“Annie girl, you’re here. That must mean your dads are here too,” I hear Bailey say from down the hall. We kick off our shoes and set them aside before heading into the kitchen.
“Look who decided to finally show up,” Kolbi calls out from the table that’s set for our weekly game play.
“Why so tardy, Conrad?” Hank asks. “You know it’s rude to not adhere to a set schedule that everyone else agrees to?” I roll my eyes at him using my own words against me.
“What were you doing, crossing swords?” Malcolm jokes, standing at the counter next to his girlfriend who promptly smacks him in the chest, frowning at him.
“Actually, that’s exactly what we were doing,” Henry confirms with a proud smile. My head shoots to him in pure horror. “What can I say, I’m just too irresistible for him to keep his hands to himself.”
I watch my friends’ faces fall in shock at his admission while the girls giggle to themselves.
“Honestly, good for you guys,” Ophelia smirks and walks over to stand next to Henry, looking at him with alluring eyes. “I love a man who isn’t shy about his sexuality.”
“Darling, you’re stunning don’t get me wrong, but I like boys,” he replies, dipping his head at her and matching her energy.
“We can swap stories, because so do I,” she quips backand I know that it won’t be long before she and the other girls know everything about my sex life.
“Alright, kids, let’s get a move on,” Kolbi calls out from where he’s sitting. “Conrad was late so we’re already behind.”
“Am I ever going to live this down?” I ask, looking at my friends.
“No,” they all say in unison.
The four of us find our seats and settle in as each of our respective partners come to say goodbye before they move into the living room. He has been coming to game night the last few weeks, and by now he knows the drill on how the night goes. He comes to stand next to me and braces his hand on the back of my chair to lean down and give me a kiss.
“Have fun, go slay some dragons and what not,” he hums against my lips.
“Funny enough, we’ve never actually faced a dragon in this campaign,” I explain and he kisses me one more time before heading off with the girls to watch a movie. When they’re gone, I look up and find my three best friends staring at me, each one with a different, varied smirk on their face from the other.
“What?” I groan, already annoyed already by whatever it is they’re going to say.
“Nothing, nothing,” Hank says, shaking his head slowly.
“We’re just happy for you, brother, that’s all.” Kolbi shrugs and puts his hands up.
“I have a question,” Malcolm adds and we all groan in unison. “Why do you guys always do that when I say I have a question?”
“Because more often than not, dude, your questions areintrusive and inappropriate,” Hank explains, looking at Malcolm tight lipped.
“Well shame on me for wanting to know about my best friend’s lives,” he scoffs dramatically like he always does when we gang up on him.
“What’s your question, Malcolm?” I ask with my head leaning to one side, already tired from this entire exchange. He smirks at me and sits up straight in his chair.
“So you’re a top, right? I mean, that would make the most sense, but I don’t know, maybe you like to take it in the?—”
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Kolbi cuts him off before he can continue.
I cross my arms in front of my chest and look at my friend. “You know what, Malcolm, why don’t you ask your girlfriend if I’m a top? I’m sure Henry’s in there telling her all about our sex life as we speak.”
“I’m just glad you’re gettin’ some, Connie boy, you needed it,” he shoots back. Hank takes the die in his hand and tosses it, effectively starting our nightly gameplay and ending the inquisition into my sex life.
As we play, my mind replays the last seven months and how much has changed since I got his email back in September. The memory of reading it is clear in my mind as well as the belief that Henry couldn’t possibly be someone I’d want to spend more than five minutes with. And how after meeting him, I wanted to do everything I could to avoid seeing him again because of how different he was to me. He’s loud, bubbly, in your face, and captures the attention of everyone in the room. Meanwhile I’m grumpy, standoffish, and working to figure my shit out with a therapist I didn’t want to see in the first place.
But now, I can’t imagine my life without him. He bringsso much joy and light into my life and lights up the darkest parts of me that I’ve been pretending not to notice for years. He comforts me when I have a nightmare, which are few and far between ever since he moved in with me, and he doesn’t get frustrated when my grumpy tendencies slip out. He loves Annie as much as I do and doesn’t shy away from showing other people how much he loves me. He makes me braver every day just like he promised he would and I never go a day without telling him I love him just like I promised I would. This isn’t how I saw my life going, but I know deep down that if my parents and grandmother could see me now, they’d be proud of the person I’ve become.
