Page 41 of The Long Game

Colton:Not necessarily. And in any order. Is that okay?

Grady:We can definitely do that.

Colton:Awesome.

Grady felt more accomplished because of that oneawesomethan he had after an entire shift at work. He took a screenshot and sent it to Jack. When Jack sent backnice work, Grady felt pleased almost to the point of bashful.

Jesus Christ, it was time to take himself out for a run.

Sweating his ass off on a hot July day helped, but when he still felt twitchy after dinner, he spent another hour stretching and doing some light weights. Finally, he felt ready to try to sleep. Alone.

By midnight he’d accepted that, now that he knew what it was like to sleep next to Jack, his workouts were going to have to be next level just so he could get some sleep without him.

The next day Jack was waiting in front of his place when Grady pulled up. He wanted to believe Jack was as eager to see him as he was to see Jack, but told himself not to be an idiot.

Then Jack got in the car, put on his seat belt, and immediately brushed his fingers over Grady’s knee. “Hey. How are you doing?”

Grady focused on his driving and pretended it was absolutely not a big deal to slide his hand over Jack’s. “Good. Nervous.”

“Yeah,” Jack said with a shaky chuckle. “Me, too. And I’m not the one trying to convince Colton to move in with me.”

Grady smiled and squeezed Jack’s hand. “Well, I appreciate that you’re going to help me convince him.”

“Of course.” Jack said it like there was no other possible option.

Colton was waiting for them outside Pathways and jumped into the car as eagerly as Jack had. “Hey, Grady!” he saidcheerfully before winking at Jack and adding, his voice ten times warmer, “Hi,Daddy.”

Jack glared at Colton, his cheeks bright red.

Grady did try not to laugh at Colton’s winsome and unrepentant grin. Jack spent the drive to House of Lau glaring at first one of them and then the other.

Grady slid into the booth and Jack sat beside him, close enough that their legs pressed together. Grady took a deep breath, told his heart to resume normal function, and swore he’d accept Jack’s silent support for what it was and nothing else.

Across from them, Colton gnawed on his lip as he studied the menu.

“What are you thinking, Colton?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been craving egg rolls, but I also love crab rangoon and spareribs and…”

The list was long, and when Jack assured him everything was good, Grady figuredfuck it, and ordered it all. Yes, it was enough food for eight people, but he wanted Colton to eat as much as he could fit into his thin frame. And he wanted leftovers. House of Lau was a zillion times better than anything he could defrost from his freezer or cook in his microwave.

While Colton ate his weight in Chinese food, they talked about nothing of any significance. Colton might be an epic shit-stirrer—calling JackDaddyagain just as Jack was about to take a sip of tea left the teenager dappled in Darjeeling, which served him right—but he was also adept at steering conversations away from what he wanted to avoid.

He had the makings of a gifted politician—an observation Grady shared while Colton was in the bathroom and that cracked Jack up.

After dinner, they stopped in front of his apartment just long enough for Grady to run the leftovers up to the fridge, then drove to Shediac for ice cream and the ocean. It was a beautifulevening, and Grady felt relaxed and hopeful as they strolled through town. Jack’s shoulder brushed his and Grady nudged him back, earning a big smile.

Colton’s eyes lit up when he saw a coffee shop. “Can we?”

“Sure,” Grady said, happy for another means to pour calories into Colton.

“I’m going to get a grandissimo frozen blueberry caramel cappuccino with a turbo shot, coconut milk, and whipped cream.”

Grady made a face. That soundedawful.

“You shouldn’t judge unless you’ve tried it,” Colton sniffed.

Grady could hear his mother saying the same thing. Hell, he could hearColton’smother saying the same thing. Despite that, he held on to his smile and led the way into the café. He handed Colton some cash. “How about you get me a boring old medium latte?”

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