Love Starved by Kate Fierro Read Free Book Online Page B

seriously. Why would you risk it in an environment that clearly wasn’t safe? I wasn’t out in high school either. My hometown was not a particularly accepting place, so I only told my best friends and my parents that I was bi. I wouldn’t deny it if someone asked, but I didn’t volunteer the information to the whole world. There’s nothing wrong in staying safe.”
    “No one ever asked if I was gay,” Micah admitted, feeling strangely reassured. “Though I kind of made sure no one would suspect. I joined the computer club to make myself invisible. I figured if I was seen as a nerd, no one would bother to come close enough to figure out I was gay, too,” he said, the wine loosening his tongue. “It was supposed to be a hiding place, but instead, it became a haven. That was where it all started for me, first attempts at coding and then everything clicked. The spell was cast. I’ve never wanted to stop.”
    He looked at their joined hands, feeling slightly awkward now that he had his bearings again, and Angel let go instantly. Strangely enough, the second he did, Micah wished he hadn’t. It had been wonderfully comforting.
    He busied himself with the cheese board and the assortment of honeys, nuts and dried fruit brought along with it.
    “So when did you come out in the end?” Angel asked after a moment of silence. “If I may ask.”
    “College. Well, I didn’t actually come out, not officially. I just never hid it when I moved here. I told my family right after my high school graduation.”
    “How did they take it?” Angel asked, focused on dripping honey over his Parmigiano.
    “They were great. A bit surprised, but they accepted it right away. Only my sister was pissed that I hadn’t told her earlier. We’re as good as twins. She is less than a year older than me,” he explained with a smile, seeing Angel’s confused expression. “We usually share everything.”
    “But not that. Why?”
    “She has a big mouth. I mean, not like she’s a gossip, she just blurts things out, accidentally. She’s totally unable to lie or keep secrets. Like, pathologically honest. She got us in trouble loads of times because of that.” Micah laughed at an old memory. “There was that one time when we were kids—”
    A childhood story poured out of him easily, fueled by alcohol and the sight of Angel’s curious face. Then, at Angel’s prompting, another, and another, a string of them—glimpses of happy, carefree times at the family’s cabin at the lake, of two kids running barefoot through the rain, making mischief all around and stealing fruit from the neighbors’ trees. Angel listened and laughed and cooed, asking questions and shaking his head in wonder, and by the time Micah stopped to catch his breath, the second carafe of wine was almost empty, the sky above dark. A scattering of white fairy lights, hidden in the ivy, gave the little courtyard yet another touch of magic. Micah felt warm and fuzzy, a little bit in love with this night. The wine, sipped slowly with the accompaniment of food, didn’t get him drunk, just made him happy.
    “Oops. I monopolized the conversation,” he said, grinning. “Do you have siblings?”
    “I do, but they’re much older than I am. We don’t have much of a connection, never had.” Angel paused, clearly unwilling to say anything more. “Would you like some dessert? Coffee?”
    “Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly eat anything else and I’m wide awake, thanks. We should probably get going.”
    Angel nodded and got up. “I’ll be right back.”
    He went inside, and Micah leaned back in his chair, looking around at the flickering candles and chatting people who had been seated at the other tables. It was peaceful, intimate. He felt alive, happily contained in the moment, without thinking about the past or worrying about the future.
    He was curious what else Angel might have planned for the evening, but he didn’t think too hard about it. He would know soon enough.