Page 79 of Someone Like You

It didn’t seem fair, not when most people out there didn’t have a fraction of what he had.

A reply popped up on the phone:

Abigail

Pretty and happy

That’s all I wanted to see

Phil blushed to his toes. It was going to take some getting used to this. Ian snatched the phone to reply, forcing Phil to crane his neck to spy what he was typing.

You

Promise I’ll get him home in time for his medication

Abigail

We’ve got a keeper here, Phil

I’ll be waiting for you both with a luscious breakfast

You both.

So Phil would get to spend the night with Ian, wake up with him on Sunday morning and go home to Abby with him, and all three of them would sit together in the kitchen and… He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Knowing Abby’s curious nature and incorrigible brazenness, it wasn’t unlikely she’d be expectingdetails, which Ian would most likely be happy to provide, for the mere pleasure of flustering Phil. A family-like sort of dynamic, something Phil had daydreamed about, never truly believing it would ever be anything more than an unrealistic fantasy, becausewhat were the odds?

“Where’s the catch?” he wondered out loud.

“Be more specific.”

Phil sighed. “In all of this. I get to keep Abby, I get to have you… Isn’t it, like…too much? It’s like winning the lottery twice.”

Ian pulled himself up to a sitting position. “No catch.” He patted Phil’s thigh way too energetically. “You’re just a lucky bastard.”

“Talk about an understatement.”

It still sounded too easy, but he guessed he would have to accept that, for once, the simplest answer was the correct one: hewasa lucky bastard. He didn’t know if there was a god to thank for this, or the stars, of destiny, or if it had truly been just a chain of random events with a very fortunate outcome. All he knew was that it would’ve made him feel better to have a source to be thankful to, to know that all this luck had been intentionally bestowed on himrather than raining on him for no reason — that it was rightfullyhisand couldn’t be taken from him by a whim of chance.

“I can hear you overthinkin’,” Ian chided, glancing back at Phil.

“Yeah, sorry.” Phil sat up with a groan. “So, what do you want for dinner?”

“Just feed me, Handsome. I’m a simple guy.”

“Don’t complain when the food arrives.”

“Said the professional complainer.”

In the end, Phil ordered burritos from one of his and Abby’s favourite restaurants.

“Estimated delivery time: half an hour,” he conveyed. “Think you can lend me some clothes in the meantime?”

Ian tutted. “You’re mental if you think I’m goin’ to put clothesonyou.”

“Wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when you have to tell Abby you let me die of hypothermia.”

“Never said I wasn’t going to keep youwarm.”

The deep, scratchy brogue spread a wave of hot tingles all over Phil’s body. That was admittedlyveryeffective. Phil let Ian push him back into the mattress and pin his wrists at the sides of his head to capture his lips into an agonisingly delicate kiss. His legs pliantly spread to welcome Ian’s bulk, but as the kiss started deepening a weird impression convinced Phil to crack an eye open, realising there was a spectator in the room.

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