Page 89 of Under Water

Elio looks happier than I have ever seen him as he moves his chair through the wide-open door without even a bump. I take a minute to process everything as Easton pulls his brother in for a hug, and then Leo turns to me and opens his arms, slightly hesitant.

I tug him into a tight hug. “It’s good to see you.”

He squeezes back, then grins up at me. “When I heard you and Easton were going to watch the house together, I was happy. But…surprised.”

“What? That I have such a hot boyfriend?” Easton asks, sliding his arm around me and tugging me back from Leo.

For his part, Leo stares, then blinks, then bursts into laughter. He slaps a hand over his mouth, eyes wide. “Really?” The word is muffled by his fingers, but clear enough that it makes me smile.

“Sorry,” Easton starts, but I’m not about to let him apologize for existing. Not this time.

“Yeah, really,” I answer for us both. “It’s new.”

Leo takes a step back. “Who knows? Everyone? North?”

Easton bites his lip, then nods. “Technically, yes. Elio sold us out this morning. I’m going to talk to him more about it today. When is he supposed to be back?”

Leo digs his phone out of his pocket and opens the screen. “He’s on his way back now, actually. Oh, he wants to know if you want burritos.”

“Oh my god, yes,” Easton groans. “I’m starving.”

My eyes widen. “You just ate like twenty nuggets.”

He shrugs me off. “I’m a growing boy!”

I suck in a breath to reply, but then I hear Elio calling from inside the house, “Dad! Dad! The bird shit on me!”

Elio is a fan of crows but not crow shit, so that pretty much answers my fear about whether or not I’m going to have to get him a damn bird. Especially after Leo explains that half of his day is cleaning up the mess Russell leaves all over the house.

“I think I’ll just come visit,” Elio says with a grimace as I pull a new shirt over his head.

Easton’s sitting in the window seat with Russell eating seeds out of his hand, and Leo’s beside him. It’s in this moment that I can really see the resemblance between both brothers.

It wasn’t easy, at first. Leo’s hair is darker, his face rounder, with his cheekbones mostly hidden behind the apples of fat and muscle underneath his eyes. He’s shorter and thinner—kind of delicate in a way that would make me feel like I could break him.

But I’ve seen North with him. I’ve seen how he’s both careful and careless in a way that makes Leo smile, and I wonder if there will come a time that I let myself believe I am just as perfect for Easton.

“North is here,” Leo says. “After he gets in, we can do the tour, and I can show you where we keep everything.”

“Is there a way I can go upstairs?” Elio asks. He rolls forward in his chair, skirting the recliner so he can stare up. Then his eyes go wide. “Oh! Look, there’s a…thingie. You know, for old people!”

Leo flushes, and Easton covers his mouth as I let out a small sigh. “It’s a stair lift, and I’m assuming Leo uses it”—he nods—“so it’s not just for old people.”

Elio rolls his eyes. “Everyone in this room is old as he—uh. Heck.”

“Anyway,” Easton says, still holding back his laugh. “Maybe while we’re here, we can keep your second chair upstairs so we don’t have to lug the big one up and down?”

Elio shrugs. “Mm’kay.”

Easton flicks an eyebrow up, and I shrug. “That usually means he’s cool with it.”

“I’m cool with it,” Elio clarifies, rolling to the stairs. He jabs the button, and it begins to ascend. “Amazing,” he whispers.

“Please stop pushing buttons,” I beg. I turn to Leo. “I will pay for anything he breaks.”

Leo just shakes his head, then turns as the front door opens. A second later, North walks in and makes an immediate beeline for Easton, who backs up several steps.

“If there wasn’t a kid watching, I’d knock you on your ass,” he says. “Rune? Really?”