Page 126 of Twisted Needs

“You’re ridiculous.”

“It’s real.”

His throat bobs. People are walking twenty feet away. Cars pass. Anyone could see us. And I don’t care enough to stop.

Anders steps closer slowly. “Okay,” he says softly.

“No,” I murmur. “I mean it.”

“I know.”

“I’ll kiss you right here if I have to.”

That finally makes him laugh for real. A real smile. “You’re serious?” he asks quietly.

I slide my hand around his waist. “Very.”

“You’d survive the scandal?”

“I might. Can’t be too sure. TMZ is just swarming the suburbs of D.C.”

He snorts, then looks at me like he’s waiting to see if I’ll actually do it. So I do. I lean down and kiss him right there on the front steps with the entire street still alive around us. This kiss doesn’t need desperation. Just confidence.

Anders makes a tiny surprised sound before immediately kissing me back, fingers curling tightly into the front of my hoodie. His body presses into mine as I pull him closer, lifting him slightly off the ground just to hear him laugh against my mouth.

When we finally pull apart, he’s smiling so openly it almost knocks the breath out of me.

“There,” I murmur, brushing my forehead against his. “Better?”

Anders looks at me for a long moment, then nods once. “Better.”

“Sit still,” I laugh, wrapping my arm around Anders.

He squirms around in my lap. There’s plenty of space on the couch for the both of us, but something about holding Anders in my lap while we eat dinner just seemed way too appetizing…

“I’m trying to get more steak,” he groans, reaching out for the plate. “I need to get my protein in. Lee kicked my ass this morning when we worked out.”

“Protein you ask⁠—”

“I’m actually gonna hit you,” Anders threatens.

I spear my fork through a piece of steak and hold it in front of his mouth. “Peace offering.”

“No, I think you should feed it to me Lady and the Tramp style,” he snorts before biting the steak off the fork anyway.

This is so nice. Just sitting on the couch with him and having such a private moment like this…it feels familiar and intimate, kind of like we’re finding our balance again. There’s no more insanity that’s keeping us apart, which, I fully admit, is my fault. But I never could have imagined Anders would be the one who could fill this void in my life. Not only on account of just being so lonely, but also because I had never seen myself finding love.

I mean—yes, I love him. I’ve loved him for twenty years. But this is different. It’s growing off a completely different vine. This isn’t the love that grew out of bedtime stories and scraped knees and watching him become himself. I just…I think I might really fucking love him. The scary kind of love that makes you do stupid shit all the fucking time. Maybe that’s what this has always been.

“So explain this whole sleepover thing to me again,” Anders says in between bites. He laughs softly when I lean in and kiss him on the neck.

“Long story,” is all I say before another kiss.

“You know—I wanna start a rumor,” Anders murmurs a moment later. “Vandy and Seth. I think they did it, but I can’t prove it.”

“On what grounds?” I snort.

“The night we went out. Pretty sure Seth went home with Vandy.”