“Let him. I don’t care.” And it was true. I wasn’t jealous anymore, if I’d ever truly been. I’d been hurt and embarrassed, but I’d never wanted Steve back, even in the beginning of this whole thing. I’d hated how inadequate the breakup had made me feel, but the intervening time had healed a lot of those more petty feelings.
And from the very first kiss, I’d wanted Arthur. He, not Steve, had consumed my thoughts for months and he was truly all I cared about.
“He lost out.” Arthur tugged me closer for another kiss, this one way more possessive and showy. Laughing, I kissed him back.
“You’re cute when you go all caveman,” I said to him.
“I could say the same thing to you.” He beamed at me. There was so much more I needed to say to him. Simply him being here was amazing, but it was a start not an endpoint. I was ecstatic, but not deluding myself into thinking everything would work out from here onward.
However, right then, I only wanted to kiss him more, bask in his realness and there-ness. True conversation could wait.
“You got my message.” I pointed at his sign. He’d had balloons too, but those seemed to have escaped at some point.
“I did.” Eyes deep with meaning, he nodded. “Thank you for sending it. But I was coming anyway, and I want you to know that.”
“For real?” I met his intense gaze, trying to suss out whether he was simply being nice.
“For real and also not because you left me your sweet ride.” His chuckle was as welcome as his words and smile. “I was coming for me.”
“Good.” I grabbed his hand because I couldn’t not touch him. Around us, people were chattering, hugging, taking pictures, a chaos I was so happy to be a part of. And for maybe the first time ever, I did feel part of the festivities, not removed and watching at a distance.
“Welcome home, Derrick.” Arthur’s mom gave me a hug.
“You both came too?” I finally registered the presence of Arthur’s parents on the other side of Sabrina.
“Wouldn’t miss it. You’re practically an honorary Euler at this point. Good work, son.” That was maybe the longest I’d heard Arthur’s father speak at one go. My chest went so tight, it was surprising that my uniform didn’t crack.
“Thank you, sir.” I maybe should have been a little embarrassed that Arthur’s parents had had to witness yet another highly enthusiastic kiss between Arthur and me. But this one had been real, not fake, and there was no ruse about my feelings for their son. Also, I was a little too giddy to care overly about shocking anyone right then.
“Dad’s right. You’re one of us now.” A deep voice I’d recognize anywhere came up behind me, and I whirled. Except for this guy. Maybe I did care a little more than I’d thought about shocking or pissing Calder off. He was wearing a work uniform and was slightly out of breath, like he’d jogged across base.
“Sorry, man. I almost missed it. Finally got free.” He clapped me on the shoulder hard and his expression was difficult to read. Not affable like normal, no easy smile, and his usually sparkling eyes were cloudy, but there was also no anger there. And he’d come. That had to count for something.
“You sure you want to claim me?” I asked, a quiver running down my legs. Losing his friendship would suck, and his approval meant possibly more to me than even Arthur’s parents’. I was doing this thing regardless, but I couldn’t deny wanting to keep Calder in my life too.
“Dude. I’m always gonna claim you.” Calder regarded me solemnly. “You kissing my brother doesn’t change anything between us.”
“Ride or die,” Sabrina supplied.
“Yup. And if you want to put up with this guy, you’re welcome to him. Man, he was the king of misery at Dad’s birthday. I didn’t think he could miss anything that much. Guess it is the real deal.” Calder shrugged, all relaxed now, but my back tensed.
“I wasn’t that miserable.” Arthur made a pained face at Calder. “He’s overstating.”
“No, he’s not. You sulked—”
“Sabrina,” Arthur said sharply.
“Oops.” Sabrina giggled. “Sorry, Arthur was the picture of patience. All zen and chill.”
She offered me a winning smile, but I wasn’t convinced. “That so?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Arthur squeezed my hand tight. “Not now. Please?”
“Okay.” I agreed because this was neither the time nor the place, but I also added it to my mental list of conversation topics.
“I know exactly what you both need.” Arthur’s mom had an alarmingly wide smile.
“Oh?” I kept my voice upbeat even though I was almost certain that the answer involved a Euler family dinner. Which would be fine and fun and eventually, some century, I would get Arthur alone and we could have the first of what promised to be several important conversations. Maybe we’d get lucky and Liam and Craig wouldn’t be around tonight. At least I had a few days’ leave and an Arthur to spend them with.