Page 13

“WHERE DOES THIS one go?” Nicholas asked, head barely peeking out from behind the massive box. “I can’t see what’s written on the top!”

Kai stretched onto the tips of his toes as his boyfriend leaned forward.

“Bedroom,” he said. Nicholas moved in the direction of their room, grinning as he walked past.

“Ohoho,” he said with a wink. “Is this the box with all the sex stuff?”

“Jesus fuck , Nicholas!” Kai hissed, shoving the other man out of the main room. “Someone will hear you!”

Nicholas laughed as they made their way to the bedroom. “I love when you’re mad enough to use my full name!” Kai rolled his eyes.

“I don’t really need Ori asking me what you meant by ‘sex stuff,’ he’ll start searching all the boxes so he can tease me about it all later,” he said plainly, watching as Nicholas sat the box next to their bed. “Besides, I think that one’s all of your shoes.”

Nicholas stared down at the box. “I don’t have that many shoes.”

“You definitely have that many shoes,” Kai said. He tried- and failed- to keep a stern look on his face as he moved across the room.

“Well,” Nicholas said, reaching out and pulling Kai toward him.

Even after so much time had passed, four years since they’d finally gotten together, it still made Kai’s pulse tick up a notch whenever his boyfriend wanted him close.

“Even if I do have that many shoes, it’s fine because we have a big closet now. ”

Nicholas looked around the room as his arms tightened around Kai’s waist. Kai followed his gaze, taking in the space. Their space.

The room was empty save the bed and the box. Nicholas had insisted on setting the bed up first.

“Just in case,” he’d said with a wink as they were unloading boxes with their friends.

Ori had snickered like an actual child, while Theo had only rolled his eyes as Kai’s cheeks had heated.

He hadn’t actually minded, though. No longer having to deal with sneaking around each other’s family homes sounded wonderful.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Kai said, voice low as he pulled himself back to the present, let himself soak in the feeling of Nicholas' arms wrapped around him. Nicholas glanced back down, his sly grin shifting into something softer, something just for Kai.

“Sure it does,” he said, lifting a hand to brush Kai’s hair back from his face. “It’s everything we’ve talked about finally happening.”

The words rang through Kai. They’d been together for so long now, had talked for years about getting a place together, about what it would be like to not have to leave at the end of the night, about how they would spend all their extra time with one another.

Nicholas had a lot of suggestions for that.

Kai had started streaming his gaming as just a fun hobby.

If he was going to be playing the games anyway, he might as well try it.

He’d never expected to gain so many followers so quickly.

The last year had been a struggle to find the right balance with his classes, his boyfriend, his part-time job at the arcade, and the streams that had quickly become more profitable than his job.

He’d quit the arcade six months earlier, had moved that energy into his gaming, upgrading his equipment and turning the whole thing into a more professional venture.

And it had worked. It had worked so well that he and Nicholas had finally been able to afford renting a small apartment together.

It wasn’t in the nicest part of the city, and Kai really would have preferred to move to a more rural location, but it was still theirs .

A place for them to be together, fully together.

“I’m glad it’s finally happening, Nicky,” he said, letting a smile slip through at last. Nicholas beamed at him.

“Me too,” Nicholas said, leaning down to press their lips together. Kai could feel him still smiling.

They broke apart after a few seconds, when the sound of footsteps echoed through the empty main room and Ori’s excited voice rang out, asking where to put the box he was carrying.

Theo barked something at him, his clipped south London accent making him sound more stern.

Their friends might be dysfunctional, but they’d jumped at the opportunity to help Kai and Nicholas get settled in their new place.

Ori had always been around, since their school days.

They’d adopted Theo in shortly after he’d moved to the states and started taking classes at the University of Chicago.

He was a teaching major, just like Nicholas, sharing many of the same classes.

Ori had latched on to Theo as well, the only other openly gay man on the volleyball team.

The four of them had been a little unit ever since.

“Come on,” Nicholas said, grinning as he grabbed Kai’s hand and pulled him out of the room. “Let’s go find the box with all the sex stuff! ”

Kai only glared as Nicholas' laughter echoed through the apartment.