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“But Dante’s not a casual World’s End player, he’s like expert level. People would totally watch him stream if he was into that.” Ollie could easily see Dante being a popular streamer. He was funny, hot, and his character had to be one of the highest levels anyone could achieve .

Would Dante be interested in streaming? Part of Ollie wanted to keep Dante’s game commentary all to himself.

It wasn’t wrong to want a small piece of Dante to be only his, even as a friend, right?

Gaming together became a regular occurrence. Not every night. Ollie had boundaries and all that. But he looked forward to meeting up with Dante and his fire mage and didn’t end up doomscrolling on nights they played together.

Almost two weeks later, Ollie was curled up in the armchair watching a movie with Harper and Ash, who were snuggled on the couch so sweetly it made Ollie’s heart hurt.

He didn’t begrudge Harper for having a boyfriend. He wished he could have someone too.

Maybe one day he’d be able to balance a healthy relationship with his independence, but that felt so far off. He didn’t trust himself to not fall into the same bad patterns and still didn’t want a relationship enough to risk it.

The movie was a little slow and Ollie couldn’t help scrolling on his phone as it played. He came across a World’s End meme and sent it to Dante.

As soon as the message sent, Ollie frowned at his phone.

Was it weird to send that after declining Dante’s offer to play tonight? Probably not. They were friends, so sending memes was normal. But they hadn’t texted much outside of organizing when to meet online.

Dante sent back a laughing emoji, and Ollie relaxed. It was like any other interaction with Dex or his work bestie Ellie.

But instead of flipping back to the meme thread he’d been scrolling, Ollie stayed on the text screen, staring at the emoji.

Should he meet up with Dante in person? He kept thinking about it.

The only reason he hadn’t committed was not knowing how to ask.

Everything sounded too date-like in his head.

Making a new friend had never been this hard before, but then, Ollie didn’t usually have massive crushes on his friends.

Maybe he should have avoided Dante rather than try to hang out with him and suppress his feelings.

All the butterflies and sweet tingles didn’t seem to be going away.

If anything, Ollie’s attraction to Dante had grown.

He was hopeless. Why else would he be staring at their text thread like this?

Was this bad?

Did it mean his friendship with Dante was going somewhere unhealthy? Ollie was fixated on Dante, and that wasn’t good. Why couldn’t he get Dante out of his head? Dante consuming his thoughts could be the first step to consuming his life.

Ollie’s stomach twisted. He took a long breath, and the discomfort faded. Maybe he was creating problems that weren’t there. He hadn’t blown off Harper or Dex to hang out with Dante, and there was nothing wrong with thinking about Dante if it didn’t get in the way of anything else.

Ollie turned back to the movie. What were the characters even saying? He’d missed something important but couldn’t bring himself to ask Harper to rewind it. He turned back to his phone.

Having a normal conversation with Dante might stop the worries banging around in his head. He could talk to Dante without turning his world upside down, just like he could with anyone else, and he’d prove it.

Ollie:

How was work today?

They’d chatted about Dante’s conservation work a few times. Ollie couldn’t help bringing it up when Dante was so passionate about it.

Dante’s reply came through quickly. Maybe Ollie wasn’t the only one keeping his phone close.

Dante:

The birds are all doing well. Settled into their nests for the night. Things have been a bit slow with the project I’m working on, but I shouldn’t complain.

How about you?

Ollie:

Glad the birds are all happy and tucked in. It’s so cool you work in the reserve.

My day was booked solid. So glad it’s Sunday tomorrow.

The salon was closed on Sunday and Monday, and Saturday was always their busiest day. Ollie had fun at work—the Ollie and Ellie team was unstoppable—and wouldn’t change his job for the world, but by the end of the week, he was tired.

He rubbed his stiff neck. How good would a massage be right now? Especially a massage from Dante.

Nope. Not going there. That was the last thing he needed to imagine.

Dante:

You’re off work tomorrow, right?

Ollie:

Yep.

A light feeling of anticipation filled him.

Dante:

Would you like to see the birds?

Ollie’s heart skipped. How easy was that? Dante also wanted to hang out in person and managed to ask without sounding like a date.

It was everything Ollie needed.

Ollie:

OMG, yes!

Dante:

Love your enthusiasm.

Ollie stared at the word love. No, Dante didn’t mean it like that. Obviously. Ollie’s cheeks still heated. So much for this chat being the same as with any other friend.

Dante:

I can’t take you onto the reserve, but there’s a good spot near the waterfront to watch the shearwaters coming in for the night. We could also watch them fly out in the morning, but you’d have to be there before sunrise.

Ollie:

Let’s do tomorrow night. I have plans to sleep in.

Dante:

Perfect.

Birds had never interested Ollie before encountering Dante’s infectious enthusiasm for the sooty shearwater, but Ollie’s changed opinion wasn’t about pleasing Dante or adopting Dante’s likes as his own.

New people were allowed to broaden your horizons.

Ollie wasn’t pretending to like birds to endear himself to Dante.

He hadn’t realized the creatures were so interesting and was glad Dante had shown him something new.

He’d love to go to the nature reserve, but it was off-limits to the public. Protecting the shearwater habitat was important, and Ollie could live with not seeing the nests up close. He wouldn’t want to disturb anything.

Ollie put his phone on the coffee table and returned to the movie.

He felt strangely settled, his muscles relaxed and his head clear. He might worry too much, but in the end, he was doing what was right for him. He’d come a long way, and deep down, he knew his friendship with Dante was a good thing.

He’d figure this out. Little freak-outs along the way were fine. He could add Dante to his life without losing anything.

He’d stay true to himself—no matter what.