“Forget being friends, and let’s be boyfriends,” he continued, my heart deciding to do a full-on tap-dance routine against my ribs. “I don’t want to tiptoe around my feelings for you anymore. I don’t care if we’re at work or with your friends or at the fucking grocery store. I want to be able to reach over and hold your hand, kiss you, let everyone else around know that you’re mine and I’m yours.”

Fireworks went off in my vision, matching the explosions going on elsewhere throughout my body. I couldn’t believe that I was scared of bringing this up. “I think that sounds like a great idea to me,” I said, unable to hold back a chuckle, produced from the pure bliss that currently bubbled through my veins. “I was scared that you’d want to keep things as just friends, but I’ve been down to make things official since the moment you walked into the office wearing those khaki pants that showed your ankles every time you sat down and crossed one leg over another.”

“Oh, you’re an ankle guy? I thought you were an ass guy?”

“Well, I like having your ankles on my shoulders while I pound your ass, so… I guess I’m both?”

Jake and I both started to laugh, kissing through the happiness. I was almost positive that we were seconds away from breaking the laws of physics and simply floating up into the star-blotted sky, turning into our own constellation: the friends to lovers. Right next to the Big Dipper.

Jake leaned over and tapped on the base of his lamp. A dim light flooded the room. He opened the drawer and took out a notepad and a pen. I propped myself up on my elbow and watched him jot something down.

“What are you doing?” I asked him through a yawn.

“Writing this moment down. Date, time, and the fact that you and I are together, officially. It’s my way of—well, I know how fleeting memory can be. I just want to be able to remember this moment forever. No matter what. That’s all.”

He closed the book and set it delicately back in the drawer. The weight of his words settled heavily on my chest, and I was grateful when he turned the lamp off before turning to me because that way, he didn’t see the rogue trail of tears that decided to make its way down my cheeks.

I dabbed at them with the pillow and settled into bed, back to being the little spoon as Jake wrapped me up, encasing me in his body heat and making me feel like I was the safest and happiest guy in the entire world, and it only made me more excited about what this new chapter between us would bring.

20. Jake Perez

20

JAKE PEREZ