Page 96 of Zero Confusion

“I can walk,” Zach said with a laugh, tapping Miles’s shoulder to put him down. When Miles didn’t, Zach gave up and burrowed his face in Miles’s neck, breathing in his favorite smell. His head swam with happiness. Even in his wildest dreams, he never imagined Miles would join him so soon. It felt unreal.

They settled in the backseat, and Mara pulled out of the driveway. After being on the road for ten minutes, Zach’s brain caught up.

“Wait, now? You’re coming now? Like, you’re flying back with me?”

Miles chuckled. “Yeah. There were plenty of seats left on your flight.”

“I guess not a lot of people in Montana want to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to go to Portland.”

“Their loss,” Miles murmured. “You can take a nap.”

Zach smiled gratefully and leaned on Miles’s shoulder.

His eyes closed on their own, blocking out the bright rays of the rising sun, and he drifted deeper into the haze of Miles-induced happiness as the purr of the engine lulled him to sleep.

Until an errant thought startled him awake.

“Miles,” he gasped. “Does this mean you need more than one drawer?”

Epilogue

THREE YEARS LATER

MILES

“We said no gifts!” Zach swatted at Miles before accepting the rectangular package wrapped in dark blue paper with a snowflake design left over from Christmas. They faced each other on the couch, the remnants of their anniversary dinner still on the coffee table in front of them. Miles should have cleaned up first, but he’d been too impatient.

Their third anniversary. Three years together. There’d been so many changes, and at the same time, everything was still the same. They’d moved to a slightly larger apartment but kept Zach’s furniture, and if Miles ignored the hallway leading from the living room to the bedroom, he could imagine he was back in that tiny studio, never more than a dozen feet away from his favorite person.

He would have been happy to stay there forever, living under Zach’s skin, but there wasn’t enough room for all their stuff. Once Miles’s internship turned into a real job—albeit entry-level—and Zach managed to balance his MBA studies with working as a TA, they made enough to upgrade to a one-bedroom.

The first thing they did after getting the keys was hang their horseshoe on the wall.

“We said no spending money on gifts,” Miles corrected. “And this was…well…not free, but… Oh, just open it.”

He wasn’t nervous. He was fine. Zach would love it.

Miles shoved a hand in his pocket and brushed his fingertips against the soft velvet.

There was no reason to be nervous.

Zach tore through the wrapping and pulled out a heavy frame. His gorgeous gray eyes were filled with confusion when he glanced up at Miles.

“It’s cute, but I don’t get it.”

Miles smiled, not offering an explanation. Zach looked back, examining the picture closely as if trying to work out a puzzle.

It wasn’t much of a puzzle. Miles had recruited Mara to help him get the perfect shot at Thanksgiving, waiting until Zach’s slender fingers were wrapped around his wineglass and his expression glazed over after listening to Jerry’s incredibly detailed stories of tractor repair.

Miles had cropped the picture at the waist and photoshopped himself next to Zach, changing the background from the living room of his family’s house to the Portland skyline. It wasn’t a perfect approximation of the painting he’d tried to emulate, but it was close enough. Zach would get it.

Miles watched his face, anticipating the moment realization dawned.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“Hey, I get it! It’s like American Gothic but updated for modern sensibilities.” Zach laughed without taking his eyes off his gift. “I love it. I look so severe with my very intimidating wineglass, and you’re definitely giving off I have a terrible secret vibes. I don’t know if you remember, but I once made a joke about—”

That was his cue. Miles slid down onto one knee and revealed the little box he’d been clutching in his sweaty hand for the past few minutes, fumbling a bit to flip it open.