Page 75 of Brad & Finn
Brad cocked his head like Teddy did when he was curious—okay, Finnhadto stop likening his lover to pets.
Finn shook his head to try to get some semblance of sense back. He was, quite honestly, a bit of an asshole in the morning,but naps didn’t usually mess him up too badly. Maybe waking up with Brad was what had him all discombobulated.
Brad held out his hand, and after inspecting it to make sure he wouldn’t try any funny business—even though Finn was tempted to drag him down onto the floor and get up toa lotof funny business—he accepted the hand up, and they once again marched into the shower together.
“What are we doing tonight?” Brad asked good-naturedly as he squatted down in front of his suitcase, clad in a navy-blue pair of boxer briefs.
Finn was gathering up his clothes to once again make a quick dash-of-shame across the hall. “Wear something nice that you’re also fine with wearing outdoors,” he said as he popped the packer out of his underwear and slid on the lace. It chafed against the beard burn Brad had left on his thighs, and he was tempted to wear it that evening for that reason alone, but it wasdefinitelynot clean anymore.
“Hm, could you change and then come back, and I’ll get dressed based on what you’re wearing?” Brad suggested.
Finn popped his head out of his hoodie—which was actually one of Christian’s he liked to steal—and shoved one foot into its correct shoe. “We’re running a bit late. I’m sure whatever you choose will be fine, my love.”
He paused with one foot only halfway into his other shoe. He glanced at Brad and found him also frozen with his hand grasping a band t-shirt.
“Uhm…probably not that, though,” Finn said, slipping his foot in and walking over to Brad’s side. He did a quick inventory of the suitcase and selected a pair of only slightly wrinkled to hell slacks and a blue button down.
Brad stared up at him, his eyes wide and earnest. “I like that.”
He could have pretended Brad was talking about the shirt or pants, or even the act of Finn picking them out for him, insteadof the rather intense new endearment he’d just used, but…he didn’t want to.
“Yeah?” Finn asked.
“Yeah.”
Finn nodded, and since he didn’t know what else to do, he nodded again and then turned for the door.
“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes, love,” he called as he opened the door and slipped across the hall.
Chloe was somehow even more excited the second time around, if her seventeen missed texts were anything to go by. Finn tried to subtly swipe away the notifications and type out a quick “we’re on our way” message as Brad started the rental car and drove them towards the school.
A sudden bout of nerves effectively glued his tongue to the bottom of his mouth, and he grunted and hummed at whatever Brad was saying about his mom and the football field. Brad shot him a curious look, but all Finn could manage was a small, anxious smile. Brad turned the radio on, and after only a brief scan of local stations, found a country song to sing along to. His out of tune—and shockingly off-beat—singing loosened Finn’s jaw, and he hummed along as they pulled into the parking lot.
Chloe was waiting for them at the entrance to the path, just like she’d promised, and she was doing a pretty poor job of hiding something behind her back.
When they approached her, Brad managed to restrain himself for all of about five seconds before he threw his arms around Chloe. She sighed dramatically but leaned her head against his chest, as her hands were otherwise occupied.
“One chance, Braderoonie,” Chloe said firmly.
Brad gaped at her, and Finn choked back a laugh.
“What?” she asked innocently. “Finn has started calling you Bradley, which is fine and cute, and truthfully, I’m honored myjoke has lasted this many years, but that means I need a new nickname for you.”
Brad’s face took on an interesting shape, with big eyes, pouting lips, and a trembling jaw.
Chloe rolled her eyes and pulled the flowers and a new sign out from behind her back. This one read, “Prom?” with a bunch of smiley faces hastily drawn around the edges. She shoved them in Brad’s hands and took two steps back.
Brad looked at Chloe and then at Finn in confusion. Just like Brad had at the coffee shop earlier, Finn blurted out, “I love you.”
Chloe groaned. “He hasn’t even asked you yet!”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I love you, and I want us to figure this out together, which means I want us to try this one more time—together.”
Brad looked down at the things in his hand and then held them out in front of him, the sign bending in his single-handed grasp and the flowers trembling in their plastic wrapping. Finn accepted the flowers, and Brad grabbed the sign with his other hand and spread it out across his chest.
“Finn,” he said, the edges of the sign crumpling a little in his grasp. “I would like nothing more than to spend every day of the rest of our lives together?—”
“Jesus Christ, it’s not a real proposal,” Chloe said.
