Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Asher launched himself at me. I wrapped him in my arms and buried my nose in the crook of his neck, breathing him in like a fine wine or a beautiful bouquet. I’d known for a while now that he felt so right, so perfect. I never wanted to let go.
“I love you too.” He lifted his chin and pulled at my nape. I lowered my head and sealed my mouth over his.
When we came up for oxygen, I rained kisses over his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his jaw, then kissed each lens on his glasses to make him laugh. He chuckled as he pushed me aside to clean the smudges on the hem of my T-shirt. The odd show of intimacy made my heart soar. Fuck, I was nuts about this guy.
I caressed his cheek lovingly. “I’m not done coming out. There’s a lot of people to tell…at work.”
“You’ll know when the time is right.”
“It’s now. I asked for a meeting with the headmaster at Westgate tomorrow. I’m not waiting until summer break. I’m not waiting for them to quietly let me go. If they fire me, so be it. I’d rather set an honest example for my students and be known for who I really am.”
“That’s…wonderful. But don’t do that for me. It has to be for you,” he insisted emphatically, returning his glasses to his nose.
“Yes, it’s time. I want this. I don’t want to hide. I don’t want that life anymore. I want you. My perfectly beautiful man.”
He furrowed his brow and twitched his nose. “I’m not perfect, Blake. Sadly, I’m not close to perfect.”
“You’re kidding,” I teased. “You? Not perfect?”
“Well, technically no. I can try, but—”
“Don’t. You don’t have to try so hard, baby.” I drew him close again and kissed the top of his head. “I love you just the way you are. You’re perfect for me.”
We swayed slowly under a blanket of stars in the darkening twilight sky. I didn’t want to let go. Ever.
The world worked in mysterious ways. My heart belonged to the man who’d written me a script to help me uphold truth. Yet he was my truth all along…my honesty, my fresh start, my clean slate. The next part of our journey was about to begin. No script necessary. Just us.
Epilogue
“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.”—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Asher
“No oranges?”
“No way.” I shook my head and pointed at the pears. “Pears, please.”
Blake snickered. “So, tell me why you hate oranges again.”
I shot an annoyed sideways glance at my boyfriend as he handed a bag of pears over. “The fruit is fine. The color is terrible. Particularly in puke form, and I’ve told you that story one too many times.”
Blake paid the vendor, then slipped his arm over my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. “Something about orange schnapps and vodka.”
“Something like that. It happened more than once. The first time, I was a pumpkin for Halloween and overindulged in pumpkin treats…as one does. It made an impression. The orange schnapps incident just sealed the deal. Orange is not my friend. And I look terrible in the color.”
“Not true. Come on, there are some beanie hats at the next stall. I see a lot of orange, but I see some blue ones too. You need one for our trip.”
My pulse sped up a notch at the mention of our upcoming journey to Upstate New York to visit Blake’s family. I tried to feign nonchalance, but the truth was…I was petrified to meet them. And I didn’t know why. I talked to them on FaceTime nearly once a week and they seemed perfectly lovely, but they might hate me in person. I’d been told I could be a tad…much. Not by Blake, though.
He loved me. He told me often. Which probably made him a little biased. However, the feeling was mutual. I was head over heels in love with the most handsome coach-slash-college-professor on the planet.
The past six months had been a bit chaotic. But in a good way.
See, I’d always thought completing my master’s degree and working full-time at my dream job at JPL was a huge achievement. And it was. But I was equally invested in my boyfriend’s future. And so very proud.
Blake came out to the headmaster at Westgate Prep the Monday after the big CIF win. Sadly, it went as expected. His boss expressed appreciation for his candor, then basically asked him to remain in the closet. Blake told him that wasn’t possible as he’d already posted his coming-out video along with a blog entry on social media.
It was pretty darn amazing.
“Hi, there. I’m Blake Johnston. Some of you know me as Coach J or Mr. J or Blakey or Blakester or whatever. I’ve never done a post like this, but it seems like a good way to get the word out and do this in one shot. So here goes…I’m bisexual. That’s it. I’m attracted to men as well as women. It was always something I felt like I had to hide. I didn’t want the label. I thought it meant I would be considered less than and that was ridiculous, but it was something I had to unlearn.