Page 95 of Just Forever

“Tell me about your game,” Lake says.

I indulge him. For a while, we both do our best to talk about hockey. Lake makes all the right noises and says all the right words, but it’s clear his heart isn’t a hundred percent in it. Neither is mine. The game feels like ancient history at this point.

It doesn’t matter.

The waitress comes over with our food. Pancakes for him, an omelet for me. I press the side of my foot against his, and then we eat for a while in silence.

Once we’re done, Lake looks down at his hands and then up at me.

“Scott wants to run for governor and looking me up was just a way to make sure I wouldn’t spill the beans about him accidentally knocking up his brother’s girlfriend.”

He says it all in one big rush of breath, and once he’s done, I add my own deep exhale into the mix.

“Fuck,” I say, and, “Baby.”

“Yeah.” He toys with his knife and fork. “It wasn’t so much that he wanted to get to know me, more that I was a liability he had to deal with.”

“I can’t picture my life without you,” I say. “Just so you know. Fuck him. Good riddance.”

He sends me a small smile and drops the fork on the plate.

“I freaked out,” he says. “And I’m honestly not even sure why it hit me so hard, because it’s not like I even wanted him in my life to begin with, but then when it turned out he was basically just screwing me over… it just started to feel like the world wasout to get me. Or something. I’m so sorry about earlier. None of this was about you. Or us. And now you should be sleeping because you have another game tomorrow, but instead you’re here dealing with my mess.”

“I can go a night with less sleep. And we can always have a nap later today.”

Lake sighs and rubs his hand over his mouth before he leans his elbows on the table and frowns at me. “Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“I tried for a minute. It didn’t stick.” I smile at him, but he still looks worried. “Even if I was angry, it wouldn’t really matter in the long run. We’re still us. You and me. In this relationship together. So, we’d work it out.”

I can see from his face that he’s tempted to make a joke or say something self-deprecating or sarcastic. He would with anybody else. With me, he pushes those instincts aside. Instead, he goes gentle and open. Here we are, him and me. Lake and Ryker. Ryker and Lake. And we’ll be fine no matter what happens. The knowledge is a solid ground under our feet. The inescapable gravity of us.

He licks his lips, and his eyes move over our surroundings. The place is almost empty, and the waitress is busy flirting with the cook by the large window behind the counter.

Lake reaches across the table and takes my hand.

It’s such a simple gesture, but to us it’s an important one.

I squeeze his fingers, and we smile at each other.

“Are you going to tell me how you managed to get arrested now?” I bite back a smile.

Lake groans and thumps his forehead against the table a few times before he looks up.

“It was just a teeny tiny misunderstanding.”

“I’m listening.”

He waves me off. “It’s not even worth mentioning. Should we get milkshakes?”

I lean back and wait. He caves in just a few minutes.

“I… might’ve had a minuscule fender bender,” he mutters.

“That doesn’t sound like something to get arrested for.”

“I might’ve backed into a police car.”

“And?” I prompt when he doesn’t say anything else.

---