Page 72 of Septembers

He pursed his lips in his patented anti-smile. “Exactly.”

“Give me a second to picture it.” Theo closed his eyes and hummed, nodding in approval.

“Theo.”

Damn, he missed his blush. “Fine, I don’t want to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.” He jiggled his leg as he watched Caleb’s cousin’s hand slide down her wife’s back and settle on her ass. Dae’s chest rose and fell dramatically and the muscles in his jaw worked. Theo couldn’t hear the sigh over the music, but he’d heard it enough times to know exactly what it sounded like. He missed his sigh too.

The music shifted to a slow song, and Dae stood, his shoulders tensing as if bracing for impact.

“C’mon, Theo, let’s dance.”

“I thought you’d never ask!” He took Dae’s hand and was led to the corner of the dance floor where they reverted to middle school dance techniques, with Theo’s hands on Dae’s shoulders, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath his shirt. Dae’s hands hesitated, hovering for a few seconds before settling, solid and grounding on Theo’s hips.

The ache in Theo’s chest wasn’t entirely unexpected, but he hadn’t thought it would be this strong. He hadn’t been prepared to want to tuck Dae in his pocket and steal him away. Hadn’t thought every cell in his body would be screaming at Dae’s touch, begging for more.

“When’s the last bus to Hamilton?”

Dae stared at Theo’s shoulder as they swayed. “Midnight.”

“Will you sleep at my place or pull a Cinderella?”

“Cinderella.” Soft. Almost apologetic.

“Because your suit will turn to rags?”

A tiny blink of his dimples. “Because my family is waiting for me.”

The song changed to a ballad and they kept swaying. Under the smell of flowers and booze was that specific Dae scent Theo could never put his finger on, but always, always needed more of.

“Dae?” Dae finally dragged his eyes up to meet Theo’s. “Are you ever coming home?” Some scary questions he had to ask, because some scary things he needed to know. But he still held his breath.

“Yes,” Dae said, saving Theo’s life. “Probably soon.”

Soon. Never had a word entered Theo so fast, swimming through his veins, lighting his body on fire. “When?”

“About a year.”

Theo huffed and pushed at his shoulder. “We need to discuss your concept of time.”

Dae pretended to stumble, bringing Theo with him before they settled back into their steady, shuffling spin. “That’s when my contract ends. If I make a good impression, I can probably get a reference for a company in Toronto.”

“I’m hearing a lot of probably and not enough definitely. Yes, Theo, I will definitely come back to you. That’s what I want to hear.”

Dae put his forehead against Theo’s, their noses almost touching. Theo almost ceased to be as Dae whispered, “Yes, Theo, I will definitely come back to you.”

His entire body shivered. He knew Dae felt it, because his not-smile turned into a real smile, dimples and all.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Did what?” Dae pulled an innocent face and blinked at him like a cat who pushed shit off the table without remorse. Theo purposefully stepped on his feet, and he laughed, pulling him off the dance floor towards the head table. Theo attempted to get himself together as he watched Dae engage in another round of ritualistic back-slapping bro-hugs with Jason and Caleb.

“You’re a real one, you know that?” Caleb squeezed Dae’s cheeks with both hands. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Caleb.” Once Dae properly told Avery how happy he was for her and what a beautiful bride she was—which he had to repeat several times to be heard over the music—he started towards the door without a glance at Theo, likely assuming he would follow. Theo wasn’t sure why that delighted him so much; that it was expected he’d walk him out.

“We should video more,” Theo said as they stepped into the cool evening air, following a stone path through the lawn. “I want to see the upkeep on the haircut.”

Dae cut him a sideways glance. “I thought you said I should change it.”