Page 41 of Wolf

"I'm lucky. They're letting me work from home and as long as I meet deadlines, they don't care if I have to step out for a few hours to go to a doctor's appointment or anything like that," Gareth replies. Now that he can look down at his cards and everyone's a little distracted it makes conversation flow easier.

"And what are your intentions with our Trey?" Eve asks, and I tap her leg under the table narrowing my eyes at Eve who just smiles smugly.

"You don't have to answer that," I snap quickly, dropping my hand to rest on his leg. I know Eve's just trying to protect her friend, but I'm a grown ass man and Gareth's not exactly out of the closet, yet. So, this is pressure he doesn't need.

But I'm surprised when his hand lands on top of mine and squeezes it.

"I want to give him everything. I want to make him happy. For however long he'll have me."

Eve softens at the easy confession. But she's not done yet. "Does that mean in public, too?"

She knows about our restaurant explosion. I know she wants to make sure I'm not settling for being someone's dirty little secret, but right now I don't care. If he comes out of the closettoday, a month from now, or a year from now. No one outside of our relationship matters to me.

He swallows, his hands going back to hold his cards.

"You know, a funny thing happened when I was in the hospital..." he starts, and I've forgotten all about the cards. I'm hanging on his every word. "None of my so-called friends even came to see if I was okay. I'd texted my boss that I had been in an accident and was in the hospital. And I'm sure she told my coworkers." He lays a card down before continuing. "And it kind of put things in perspective." He looks up and meets Eve's gaze. "Why am I worried about the opinions of people who don't care whether I live or die?"

The silence sits heavy in the room at his confession. But when he looks at me, the smile that splits my face makes my cheeks ache. I drop a chaste kiss to his lips, so goddamn proud of him for making that leap to come out of the closet. He deserves it. He deserves to live completely authentically as himself. He's an incredible man who deserves the world.

"Alright, I guess you can stay," Eve says, and a relieved chuckle escapes from Gareth.

"Thank you," he says, laughing, looking lighter than he has in a long time.

“But if you hurt him, I'll key your car,” she finishes.

Harold snorts into his beer. “You don't even know what kind of car he drives.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll figure it out.”

Jamie leans back in his chair, studying Gareth for another second before nodding once. “You look at him like he hung the moon,” he says and it’s my turn to blush.

Harold clears his throat. “You know, I always found your tattoo interesting…” he starts, still looking down at his cards. Somehow, though, I know he’s talking to me. Unless Eve or Jamie got one I don’t know about.

I’d shown it off the poker night after I’d gotten the work done last year. I don’t know what inspired it, but I woke up one day with the image in my head and knew I wanted it on my back. I’d found the best tattoo artist in the area and booked an appointment for that afternoon. It was random, but it was nagging on me to get it done. I always follow my instincts.

“Yeah?” I ask, matching the bid.

“My Harriot was one of those women I think the kids call ‘woo woo’ these days. She completely believed in symbols and signs from the universe. Do you know what a wolf means?”

“No?”

“Wolves are known for their loyalty - their family. If you see a wolf as a symbol, it’s supposed to be telling you to value your pack, or your family - to embrace your instincts and to live life with courage and adaptability.”

The silence that falls on the group is deafening. Because, wow. That’s exactly what happened. When I woke up and trusted my instincts that demanded I get a full back tattoo. When I chose to embrace courage and try this scary thing called love. When Gareth adapted to a life out of the closet so he could live truly and completely free.

Tears prick my eyes so I close them and breathe in the moment and the meaning. Gareth laces his fingers through mine and brings my hand to his mouth to press a kiss to my knuckles.

“Alright,” Harold breaks the moment with a clap. “Who wants to give me their money?”

The heaviness of the moment disappears. The conversation evolves into easy camaraderie after that. Harold and Frank start arguing about movies. Eve steals Jamie’s chips when she thinks no one’s looking, and he slides her more when she’s not paying attention. Gareth slowly relaxes more and more beside me until his laugh comes easy and unguarded.

And somewhere between the second round of poker and Frank dramatically declaring himself bankrupt, Gareth leans into my side.

It’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The moment he chose to be “out”, to show affection to another man without fear. It’s the moment when Gareth truly, wholly, and authentically let himself come out of the closet as a gay man.

Gareth catches me staring and bumps his shoulder against mine softly. “What?”

I smile before pressing a kiss to his temple.

“Nothing,” I murmur. “Just thinking about how lucky I am that my high school bully reached out to hire me,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood.

He brings his face closer to mine. “About as lucky as I am that you said ‘yes’.”

I press a quick kiss to his lips. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

The End