Page 50 of More Than a Spark

“So, what’s this news?” he asked.

“Oh, I told you I put in an application for AllAction, right?” I chewed my lower lip, my gaze roaming out the window and into the sunny afternoon, the swaying of the tall palms in the breeze.

“Yeah, and? They want to interview you?” He chuckled.

I ran my fingers up and down the condensation of my drink. “Well, not exactly. But I’ve been invited to an on-campus event they’re holding. They said they looked over my portfolio.”

“That’s awesome, Milo. They must really like your work,” he said.

“Yeah, or they’re inviting a bunch of students to meet with them. Who knows.” My pulse flickered in my chest. “It’ll be a good experience just talking to them, I think.”

“You’re right. You can find out firsthand what it’s like to work for a gaming company maybe,” he said.

My thoughts shifted to his dad. “Hey, so how did the coming out talk go with your dad?” I sipped my drink. Maybe it was no big deal and that’s why he hadn’t said anything to me about it.

“Um…” He exhaled a long breath. “Shit, Milo, I couldn’t do it.” Stomping sounded through the phone. “I’m sorry.”

My gut clenched and I breathed through it. It wasn’t a big deal. Everyone needed to come out on their own time. “It’s okay, Ryder.” I fingered the edge of my laptop. “Guess the timing was off?” Or was he just not ready?

“Yeah, the timing was off,” he said. “Fuck, Milo, I got scared.” He scoffed. “I’m not happy with myself. I’ve never been a coward about?—”

“You’re not a coward. Don’t even say that.” I pursed my lips. This wasn’t like him. “Maybe you need some time to let this whole thing sink in, you know?” I forced a laugh. “You’ve only been queer for what, a month?”

“Well, realized it a month ago, yeah.” He took a ragged inhale. “How did you do it? I don’t think I remember us ever talking about it.”

“Shit, I tried on my mom’s high heels when I was a toddler and refused to take them off.” I giggled, my mind flashing with memories of Mom and her matter-of-fact reactions to my fashion choices. She never once shamed me, unlike Dad. “And when I was like, seven, I asked for two Ken dolls for Christmas and a Barbie house, so the Ken dolls could live in sin right under my parents’ roof.”

Ryder burst out laughing. “Are you serious? You never told me that. Guess you didn’t have to formally come out.”

“Nope.” I ran my index finger in a circle on the table, warmth flooding my chest. Yeah, Mom was the best. She’d never questioned me and whenever she’d heard the bullshit come out of Dad’s mouth, she’d lit him up.

“Okay, so I promise you I’m going to come out to him,” he huffed.

“Ryder, do it when you’re ready. Don’t think you have to do this for me, okay?” I straightened my shoulders. “This is a big thing for you, I get it.” I thought a moment. “Maybe, and this is just a suggestion, maybe you could come out to Hazel first?”

His breath caught. “Oh yeah. That would be much easier.” He gave a soft snort. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Don’t know. Maybe because I’m smarter than you?” I grinned at my phone. The fact that we were boyfriends now wasn’t going to stop me from teasing him.

“Okay, wise guy. Like, literally.” He barked out a laugh. In a muffled voice, he said, “Dude, I’ll be right there.” With a sigh, he said. “Sorry, but I’ve got to get back to it. We’re doing some of those big box fire simulations I told you about.”

“Oh, yeah.” I clicked into another email, this one from a professor about a change in the syllabus. “Go show that kid what an awesome firefighter looks like.”

“Will do,Cap.” He chuckled. “Talk to you later. Lo—” His breath hitched. “Fuck, talk to you later.”

My heart stammered. “See you Friday.” He almost said it. But we’d ended our calls saying,love you,a million times. It was habit at this point and didn’t mean anything.

“Yeah, see you Friday. And for the record, I’m ready to try to some new things in bed. So…I’ll leave you with that thought.” He hung up the call.

My dick woke. Holy fuck, what a thought to leave me with. Way to get my mind off the wholelove youthing. I set my phone down and drank my coffee, perusing the rest of my emails.

FOURTEEN

RYDER

Iended the call and stared at my phone. Shit, it was weird now to end a call with our usuallove youbit. And was Milo really serious about being low key with me coming out? I didn’t want to let him down and it felt like I was letting him down.

“Dude, get off the phone with your girlfriend already.” Russ planted a hand on his hip, his yellow bunker gear covering his lower half and academy t-shirt stretching over his broad shoulders.

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