Page 136 of The Blame Game

Dom froze, frowning. “The primary bedroom? Why? Oh, did you … I mean, I guess you could stay in one of the other rooms, if you want. But I do have a cleaning service and …”

“Uh, no, that’s fine.”

They hadn’t talked about what it would be like for them to live together. They’d discussed what they’d show the public, but not how that would impact their day-to-day lives together.

But sharing a bedroom made sense. Why risk someone leaking information?

Shea hadn’t expected everything to be quite so awkward though.

“I’ll, uh, take my stuff in there and get settled in then,” he said.

The walk-in closet was roomy and had clearly been designed for two people. So even though Dom was a total clothes horse—though Shea was the one to blame for that—and Shea had quite a few clothes too, there was plenty of space for him.

He still felt strange as he unwrapped the plastic garbage bags from the bundle of clothes on hangers then slid them into the closet beside Dom’s wardrobe. It wasn’t the neatest packing job ever, but he’d only been going across the city and it had done the trick.

When Shea was done, he stared at the row of Dom’s suits and jackets, reaching out to touch the sleeve of one. The space smelled faintly of Dom’s cologne and leather and Shea suddenly wished that this wasn’t so transactional.

He’d never expected moving in with a partner to feel so … anticlimactic.

Of course, it was all a farce. Or was it?

Audra seemed so sure now that Dom was in love with him and didn’t know how to say it. She was sure this was his grand gesture.

And coming from the most skeptical—and, frankly, sometimes downright cynical—person Shea had ever met, that was saying something. Audra wasn’t the type to get swept up in the romance of things. Shea was far more prone to it than she was.

So a part of him was tempted to believe it.

But the other part, the part that was afraid to get his heart broken, couldn’t quite trust it.

“I’m sorry,” Dom said when Shea stepped into the bedroom.

He raised an eyebrow and walked over to the bed, where Dom had put a few of the boxes marked ‘personal’.

“You weren’t supposed to be lifting these,” Shea pointed out.

Everything hurt no matter what he fucking did. The least he could do was help Shea move in. “I’m fine.”

Shea flipped the box flaps open, then took out some photos, setting them on the dresser. “Are you apologizing for moving the boxes?”

“No. For the situation. You seem unhappy.”

Shea froze. “You don’t have anything to apologize for and I’m not unhappy. Just … trying to process it all, I guess.”

“Okay.” Dom wanted to reach out, tug Shea close and pull him in for a kiss.

But he didn’t know what this arrangement meant for the physical side of things between them.

“Have you done your social media post yet?” Dom asked.

Shea shook his head. “No, but I can do that now.”

Since Dom never posted anything personal on his social media, Kate had suggested Shea post it and Dom could share it. It was mildly out of character, but less so than any other approach that they could think of.

Shea stepped back and held up his phone, angling it a few different ways before he nodded to himself. After fiddling with the device for a few moments, he held it out so Dom could see the screen.

It was a shot of the bedroom that showed the bed with packing boxes, Dom’s neat but clearly often-used nightstand, and one that was empty of anything but a lamp and a stack of Shea’s books. Dom stood in the corner, facing away, just enough of his body and hair visible to be recognizable.

He scrolled to see the caption Shea had typed out. Dom and I are finally moving in together! He’s a very private person so we’ve been trying to stay out of the public eye. Since it looks like the cat’s out of the bag now, we figured we might as well take advantage. So excited to finally be able to tell the world how much he means to me!

---