Page 75 of All I Want Is Love
“Definitely not,” Aspen and Leo say in unison.
“My place is small,” Leo says. “But I can stay at Soren’s place, and you can sleep at mine,” he offers. He looks at me. “Is that okay for you? Sorry, I didn’t even ask beforehand.”
Fucking yes! Anything but to have him stay anywhere together with Mr. Handsome. “More than okay,” I reassure him.
Leo turns red when he looks at Michael. “Soren is my boyfriend,” he says. Even the tips of his ears have turned red. For somebody with his backstory, this had to be so difficult to say. To come out to someone from his previous life.
Now I feel silly for being jealous of Michael.
Wrapping an arm around Leo, I pull him closer. “Very proud boyfriend,” I add.
“I am so happy for you,” Michael says, sounding genuine.
Robin turns to Leo, beaming at him. “You don’t need to give up your apartment for the night,” he says. “I have plenty of room.”
“Me too,” Aspen adds. “Michael, you can either stay with Robin or me. We both have a guestroom.”
Robin nods rigorously until Michael smiles.
“Thank you,” he says. “I will take you up on your offer then.”
“Come, we’ll show you around,” Aspen offers. “The town might be small, but we know how to celebrate Christmas.”
“I actually grew up in a small town myself,” Michael says. “Christmas was always big there. Actually, all holidays were. I bet you have good food here.”
“We have,” Robin says, walking ahead a little. “Come, we’ll show you the best food stands.”
Before he can leave, Michael turns to Leo again. “Leo,” he says, surprisingly insistent. “Please think of my offer properly. Take a night to sleep on it at least.”
Leo tilts his head, his eyebrows furrowed, then he nods. “Alright. I will.”
I was so preoccupied with Michael being somewhat attractive and the shock of him popping out of nowhere that I completely forgot about what he came for. Robin even told us that the first thing he did was to offer Leo his job back.
I was focusing on the wrong problem—
I force myself to stop thinking any further. It’s petty. Leo was broken when he lost his job and when he was framed forsomething he didn’t do. He was fucking devastated. I have no right to stop him from moving on and from returning to his job.
My god, my mind is spinning.
I just know I need to support Leo. I can’t hold him back and stop him from doing what he loves, and I certainly don’t want to stop him from reclaiming his life.
“The snowball fight was hilarious,” Leo says, taking my hand. He grins, looking more relaxed than ever. His whole face seems to radiate, and somehow it gives me a pang in my chest. “I still don’t get the rules, though.”
“Yeah, they are a bit silly,” I say. “There is a whole rulebook for the game.”
“No way!”
“It’s seventy pages long,” I explain.
Leo chuckles. “You meant to say, seven.”
“No, seventy,” I clarify. “This area is very serious about their snowball fights! Some regulars train for it the whole year.”
Leo laughs at my explanation, his grip around my arm tightening. I love this so much. I love walking with him like this and just talking to him. I love having him close. I love having someone who listens and who appreciates those around him.
A genuinely good person agreed on dating me, which makes me the happiest man alive.
Or rather, it should make me happy, but instead, I can’t help my thoughts from spiraling. I just don’t want to lose him.
