Page 109 of Panty Dropper

He wasn’t wrong. I knew many couples that would fit that bill.

“Now that we got that cleared up, let’s get back to you.” He snuggled closer to me. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Yellow. What’s yours?”

“Green,” he replied. After a pause the corners of his eyes scrunched. “Yellow, huh?”

“Were you expecting me to say pink?” I hated that gender stereotype. I had no idea why the genitalia I was born with was supposed to predispose me to liking a certain color. It was a little irritating that Billy would think that way.

“Or blue, or green, or even black.” He said. “I’ve just never met anyone whose favorite color is yellow.”

“Oh, okay.” I smiled, happy to have been proven wrong. “Actually, it’s not my favorite because of the color itself. It’s my favorite because it was Hal’s favorite.”

“Your stepdad?”

“Yeah.”

“So you two got along?”

I could feel my eyes watering, the way they always did whenever I talked about Hal. “He was the best. He saved me and my mom.”

As we lay in bed I told Billy what an incredible man Hal was. I opened up to him about the struggles in my childhood before Hal came into my life at age eight. He talked about how different his life was before and after he lost his mom at the same age. It was like our lives were in reverse. His life was happy and carefree before the age of eight. Mine was that way after.

It might be just a coincidence, but it felt like more than that.

Far too soon, the sun began rising. Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I knew the magical time we’d shared had to end. “We better get going if we’re gonna make it to the police station before I have to be at work.” I sighed and started to get up.

He held me in place and I turned toward him.

“Thank you,” he said in earnest.

“For what?”

“For telling me about your childhood, about your mom, about Hal. I might be wrong, but I don’t think you open up to people that often.”

“I never open up to people.” I let out a nervous laugh. I’d told Billy things I’d never told another soul.

“I’m honored.” He ran his thumb along my jawline. “And I promise to work every day to be the kind of man that Hal would’ve been happy and proud to see by your side.”

With that declaration, he kissed me on the forehead and hopped out of bed. I lay there in stunned silence for several seconds. There were so many things he could’ve said. How did he know the ones that would hit a bull’s-eye when it came to what really mattered to me? All I’d ever wanted was for Hal to be happy and proud of me and the life I chose. And that included my partner.

One of the things that had always bothered me about Blaine was that I knew Hal wouldn’t have approved of him. How did Billy know that him saying that would mean more to me than a thousand I love yous, or a million promises of happily ever afters?

I had no idea, but I was done trying to make sense of it. From here on out, I was just going to enjoy the ride with Billy.

“Showers warmed!” He called out. “Get your cute ass in here.”

They weren’t pretty words, but they were perfect words.

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