Page 47 of Irreconcilable Attractions (Westwend Boys #1)

Colton

My phone vibrating noisily against the coffee table had me scrambling to turn off the show I’d been watching to answer Derek’s call.

I’d gotten a text earlier in the day when he’d made it to his parents’ place, but nothing else till now.

When we’d discussed his coming out, he’d said he’d wanted to get it done the first night and the best opportunity would be during their family dinner.

My heart leapt into my throat noting the late hour as I answered.

“Hi, thanks for calling Hot Bod Services. Tell me, stud, what are you wearing?” I asked, hoping to gauge his mood with a silly joke.

A low chuckle greeted me on the other side of the line, my chest lightening with the sound. Things couldn’t be all that bad if he could laugh at my dumb antics, right?

“Currently, I’m in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt I stole from my boyfriend.” He sounded relaxed which helped soothe my remaining worry.

I gave a mock-gasp. “I was standing right there when you packed! How did I miss you stealing a t-shirt from me?”

“Super ninja skills, baby.” I could hear the grin in his voice and I settled back into the couch, letting out a contented sigh .

“How did today go?”

“Really well, actually. I thought I was going to piss myself when I came out to Lucy, though.” He let out a slow breath, “I know I said I wasn’t worried, and in the end it was fine, but there was something in the moment that had me thinking like, ‘ What if? What if she's not actually okay with it? What then? ’. It made me think back to when you told me in T&T. Did I ever tell you how fucking cool you were that day? Like, especially after coming out on my own, I’m blown away by you. ”

I barked out a laugh, even as my heart squeezed at the layer of awe in his voice. “Baby, I can assure you I was begging every molecule in my body to keep from showing how freaked out I was then. I was trying to look cool.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course, I was coming out to a super hot guy who was going to be living with me for a few months, and it was important you knew. But, I don’t want you thinking that having nerves when telling people for the first time is weird or wrong.

Even after already being out, it’s normal to have a little unease when telling someone new, because there’s never a guarantee they’ll receive it well. ”

Derek seemed to mull that over based on the silence that followed. I could hear him steadily breathing, and I let him have the time he needed. After a moment, he let out a short huff.

“While I appreciate the pep talk, I’m stuck on how you thought I was hot.”

Another bubble of laughter left me and I shook my head. Fuck, I really loved this man.

“Did you tell your parents today too, or just Lucy?” I asked, wanting to steer the conversation back. I didn’t want him to feel pressured to come out faster than he needed to, and telling one person—the main person, according to him—was a huge accomplishment all on its own.

“I told my parents.” I held my breath, the tone in Derek’s voice indicating things may not have gone as smoothly as with his sister.

“Yeah?” I prompted after a moment where he didn’t continue.

He sucked in air slowly before letting it out.

“It went okay. Toni handled it really well, which I had no doubt she was going to. She thanked me for telling her and said she was glad I was coming to know myself better.” There was a short pause before he continued.

“My dad… Well, I didn’t think he was going to accept it at first.”

“What do you mean?”

There was some rustling on the other end of the line.

“He got this real confused look on his face and kept saying, ‘But you’ve always dated women’.

I think it took him a moment to process that I was bisexual and not gay .

When Lucy called him out on how he wasn’t being very supportive, he seemed genuinely hurt. ”

My shoulders dropped a little. Coming out was a daunting task all on its own, but feeling the need to defend your understanding of yourself or your decisions in the moment could be overwhelming.

Though I knew Derek could have handled himself just fine, it was reassuring to know someone had his back.

“He told me he just wanted me to be happy, and if that meant being with a man, then it didn’t matter to him.” Derek continued, “Which shocked me a little, considering how religious my father is.”

“Oh?” I asked, momentary dread festering in my gut.

He hummed in acknowledgement. “I outright asked him if me having a boyfriend would cause any issues with his beliefs.” He let out an amused breath. “But, once again Lucy shut him down. She said, ‘It better not since Jesus calls us to love everyone equally’.”

I cackled loudly. “Damn, your sister is feisty. I love how protective she is of you.”

I could hear the grin in Derek’s voice. “Yeah, she was the best. Held my hand under the table the entire time.” I was beyond happy hearing things had gone as well as they could have for Derek, and I said a small prayer to anyone listening that he’d receive this same open-arm acceptance for the rest of his life.

“Lucy really wants to meet you in person now,” He continued, “And it got me thinking. I know I was supposed to go to North Carolina with Cecilia, but… I want to spend Thanksgiving with you and your family. I’d love it if my parents and Luce could come too. What do you think?”

“I mean, I’d love that. I obviously want to meet Lucy and your parents properly, too. But, what about Cecilia? Isn’t that going to cause a lot of problems?” I asked, trying to not let my excitement cloud over reality.

Derek scoffed, “I should have put my foot down years ago. I don’t know why I keep going back when she’s only ever treated me as a means to an end. I can tell you she won’t be nearly as accepting about my coming out as my parents were. I just need to let it go.”

I itched to be with him in that moment—to wrap my arms around him and hold him close. To remind him how loved he was.

“I’m sorry Derek.” I whispered, once again fighting back words from flying off my tongue.

He sucked in a big breath before letting it out slowly. “It’s going to be fine. Tell me about your day. Did you wallow in misery without me there?”

I laughed before telling him about my half shift at Bikini Beans and parts of my conversation with Bailey that morning.

Derek seemed just as shocked as I’d been to learn Brooks was planning to move back to town.

I made sure to tell him a few times how proud I was of him for coming out today, and making the decision to put himself first when it came to Cecilia.

By the time we ended the call, I’d made up my mind. When he came home on Sunday, I was going to show him just how much all this meant to me. And that I was all in with him.

“Holy shit, what is that? It smells amazing!” Derek asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Dinner!” I called back, still whisking quickly at the sauce that was thickening in the pan before me.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind and I took a moment to revel in how good it felt. His warm body pressing against me felt so right after being without it.

“What’s this? You cooking for me ?” He teased, pressing soft kisses into my temple as I continued to work to prevent the liquid from burning.

“Hey now, I can cook, you just do a much better job than I do. But, I wanted to celebrate you tonight, so I’m trying to pull out all the stops.”

Once I turned the burner off on the stove and moved the sauce to the side, I turned around in his hold, sporting a huge grin.

Derek lifted an eyebrow before leaning in to press a soft kiss against my lips.

“Welcome home.” I murmured against them.

“It’s good to be back. Do you need help with anything?” He asked, pulling back from me to glance suspiciously over my set-up.

I let out a lighthearted huff before shooing him off. “No, I got this. You can go unpack. Dinner will be ready here pretty soon.”

Derek gave me another dubious glance, a teasing smile giving away his real feelings, before he sauntered off toward our bedroom. I let out a slow sigh, trying to keep my heart and mind from racing away with me.

Part one of the night was going okay, despite me feeling like I bit off more than I could chew when I reviewed the instructions on the recipe I’d picked. The internet told me nothing screamed romance better than steak, so I figured it was the perfect meal to kick off an impromptu date night in.

Except, the recipe told me to sear the ‘ presentation side down ’ and get the butter ‘ frothy ’ and to use an ‘ instant-read thermometer ’ to ensure proper core temperature.

Since when did making a steak require so many fancy gadgets and gizmos?

Instead of letting my brain run away with me, I’d decided I was just going to do my best with a little bit of hope, maybe a few prayers, and a friendly Google here or there.

Our steaks were currently in the oven after having been seared and tossed around with garlic, butter—that did get kinda bubbly, so fingers crossed—and rosemary.

I’d set a timer for what the recipe said it’d likely take for the steak to reach the right temperature, which was just about done.

When the buzzer went off, I pulled the steaks out and set them on the cutting board to rest while I got our plates ready.

Once I’d plated mashed potatoes and some green beans for both of us, I sliced the steak and let out a small sigh of relief when it looked like it was done properly. Just as I was pouring the sauce over the whole ensemble, Derek came back into the room.

“Dang, I seriously cannot get over how good that smells. Is it ready?” He said, sliding into a chair at the table.

I nodded and placed both of our plates down before settling into the spot before him.

“Wow, babe, a steak dinner? While I love the effort, do I need to remind you I’m a sure thing?” He teased, sending me a wink, before digging into his meal.

The groan that came from him made all the effort and momentary worries worth it. My grin split my face as he immediately went back in for another piece of meat smothered in sauce. “It’s good?”

“It’s incredible, Colton. Do I need to go on more trips so you’ll cook like this more often?”

I chuckled, looking down at my plate a bit shyly.

“Tonight is special. I wanted to celebrate you and how courageous you were to come out to your family. I know you probably don’t feel like it was a big deal, but it really is, and I don’t want to discount any of it.

I know you didn’t do it for me, but it still means a lot to me. ”

I could feel Derek’s eyes on me as I loaded mashed potatoes and steak onto my fork. The flavor was pretty incredible and I took a moment to internally pat myself on the back. If the way things had gone so far were any indication on how the rest of the night would go, it might turn out alright.

“I appreciate that.” I looked up from my plate at Derek, whose eyes had gone soft. “But, I did come out for you, in a way. For myself, but also for a future with you in it.”

My throat tightened with emotion and I swallowed thickly to dislodge it. “You want that? A future with me?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

The look in his eyes told me how serious he was.

I would be lying if I said I’d never thought about what a life with Derek at my side would look like.

From the moment he told me he wanted to see where things between us went, I had small blips of visions of what we could be together.

And maybe it was silly to be feeling this emotional over that admission when we were officially dating, but there was something about hearing him admit it.

I didn’t know if it was the way his eyes locked with mine with so much intention behind them, or how loudly my heart was pounding in my ears, but something shifted inside me.

“I’m in love with you.” I blurted.

What the fuck, Colton?

My hand flew to my mouth immediately, almost as if I needed to keep anything else from tumbling out.

The look of pure shock on Derek’s face surely matched my own as we sat there, the silence hanging in the air.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was not how I wanted this to go.

I had a plan for crying out loud! But, now that it was out there, I couldn’t take it back—not that I wanted to.

I knew that my love for Derek was real in a soul-crushing, life altering kind of way.

“Do you mean it?” Derek asked cautiously after a moment.

I swallowed heavily, tampering down the fear that coiled deep in my belly. “I do,” I croaked after taking a fortifying breath, nodding my head in case the words were too garbled from emotion.

We sat there, locked in a stare that felt like an eternity until a slow smile spread over Derek’s face before it bloomed into something radiant.

Something hopeful and real. Emotion burst in my chest as I watched the way the corners of his eyes crinkled with intense joy, a half stunned chuckle coming from him.

And without any words shared between us, I knew he felt the same.