Page 74 of Small Sacrifices

Reid grips his thighs to keep himself from reaching out. This is important, and it's clearly difficult for Everett too. The situation feels delicate.

Everett doesn't speak until he's settled on the couch, one leg propped up on the cushion, his body angled towards Reid. His eyes dart over Reid's face as if searching for clues.

"Okay," he says. "Well, the reason I said that is that I'd pretty much be up for anything where you're concerned. I really like you, and I wanna see where this goes if you're up for it. I'd also be happy to be your friend, I just... It might take a bit for me to get there."

As soon as Everett is done speaking, he's got his bottom lip between his teeth and is chewing on it. It's so distracting that it takes Reid a moment to realize that he's supposed to talk now.

"Oh."

Everett's teeth are unnaturally white, which makes them even more striking against the dark pink of his lip. Reid has to avert his eyes and stare at an art print of play fighting magpies on his wall to gather his thoughts.

"I'm afraid I can't give you a precise answer. I don't really..." He hesitates. "This is all new to me."

It's not something he tells people, because it's a surefire way to get made fun of. He's twenty-five years old. Most people have been in a few relationships by his age. And even if they haven't, they've had sex. Men are supposed to want these things, Reid knows that. Briana always tells him it shouldn't matter what other people do or expect from him. But itdoes.

Everett just nods. "You've never been with a guy. I get that."

Ah. Well. If only.

"I've never been with anyone," Reid corrects.

At first, Everett frowns. But the moment his eyes widen, Reid knows he understood. He can see the thoughts racing behind Everett's eyes.

"On purpose?" Everett asks finally. "Like, do you not want to or..."

As tempted as he is to let Everett think and find out how he would continue that sentence, Reid takes pity on him.

"Not on purpose, no. But in high school, I was bullied quite a bit, and it's been difficult for me to let people in ever since. I spend a lot of my time alone. Not exactly prime circumstances for meeting a partner."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Reid shrugs. "I'm fine now. I enjoy being alone. Too many people exhaust me."

"Do I exhaust you?" Everett asks, an edge of vulnerability in his voice.

Reid considers it. "Not anymore. The first few times..."

Everett winces at the thought. "Yeah, I get that. We didn't exactly get off to the best start. So... are you just generally unsure of this? Because if you have questions, I'll try my best to answer them."

Reid almost laughs. Of course, he has questions. He always has questions—usually far too many of them. Best get them out of the way now, if they're already doing this.

"When you say 'up for anything', do you mean a relationship?" he asks. "Because I'm not interested in casual sex."

His eyes home in on Everett's lips when they give an amused twitch. "I kind of got that. But yeah, I guess. I mean, usually, I'd call it dating first, just to see if we're compatible. Never been one for commitment." He laughs self-deprecatingly. "But if you feel better calling it a relationship, we could do that."

"Oh." Somehow, that's a lot more honest than what Reid was expecting. "And your father?"

Because that's the crux of the issue, isn't it? His father was the entire reason to avoid this. Everett made that decision only a week ago. What's changed since then?

With a groan, Everett throws his head back. "Fuck my father, honestly. He can't control my life forever. I'm mostly concerned that it'll hurt your job if he finds out. You said it was important to you."

That's true. Reid did indeed say that. Before he found out that Governor Mackenzie knew about the faked assessment. And before Mr. Wright did what he did.

"Circumstances may have changed a bit," Reid says. God, he'll have to tell him, won't he? Going by the way Everett sits up straighter, he definitely will.

"What did he do now?"

"Nothing," Reid says. Which is true. That assessment was falsified over ten years ago. And the thing with Mr. Wright isn't the governor's fault. He'll tell Everett, just not today.

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