Six Months Later
“So, when’s the wedding?”
Logan nearly dropped his phone. “What? C’mon, Rachel, stop kidding around.”
“We’re not kidding,” argued a stereo version of his youngest sister’s voice.
Abby jumped in. “Seriously, if you get engaged without telling us, there will be blood.”
Logan leaned forward from his seat on the sofa and glanced into the kitchen. An oblivious Ellis was busy cooking dinner. Good thing Logan hadn’t put the call on speaker. Though with Ellis’s tendency to burst into random snatches of song while he chopped vegetables, it might not have mattered.
Logan lowered his voice anyway. “We only just moved in together. What makes you think we’re getting married?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Rachel said. “I mean, Ellis is all you ever talk about, and you let him totally take over your apartment, and every time we see you now, you’re practically glowing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he knocked you up.”
“Regardless,” Abby chimed in, “we’re expecting a save-the-date in the mail any day now.”
“Ellis did not take over my apartment.” That was the only point she’d made that Logan could argue. Although, as he looked around the living room, he noted changes at every stop. It was no longer devoid of personality, and it was more like an art catalog than a page from IKEA. Gone were his plain white walls. They were now an assortment of electrifying colors, from orange in the kitchen to teal in the bedroom. Ellis’s sculptures adorned every flat surface, and the remaining furniture was a hodge-podge of their mutual belongings. Logan’s barstools had stayed, but the dining room table had become a worktop for Ellis that was buried under a layer of what Logan could only term “art crap.”
“Hm.” He switched his phone to the other ear. “I guess we did do a little redecorating.”
“Don’t fight it, lil bro,” Abby joked. “Getting a boyfriend made you a lot more interesting.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Are you talking to your sisters?” Ellis was suddenly right beside him, a hand planted on one hip while the other brandished a spatula. “Gimme the phone.”
“You didn’t even let me answer.”
“Babe, I love you, but only three people on this Earth call you, and I’m right here.”
Damn. Falling in love had done nothing to blunt Ellis’s tongue. Logan tried a different tactic. “What could you possibly have to say to my sisters?”
“Ooh, is that Ellis?” Rachel squealed. “Hand us over!”
“Traitors.” Logan did as they instructed.
Ellis blew him a kiss before taking his phone. “Hello, my loves. I have something very serious to ask you.”
Logan leaned up, trying to hear their response, but Ellis swatted him away. “How exactly did your brother end up with such dismal decorating taste? You two have great style, so I know it’s not genetic.”
Logan started to protest, but Ellis wasn’t paying him any mind. He listened intently. “Really now? Wow, that explains so much. And what age was he when he did that?”
“That’s it.” Logan snatched the phone back. “No more embarrassing stories from the Brontë sisters.”
“I’m just trying to learn more about you, I swear. Though I still don’t see why we kept your couch and threw mine out.”
“Because you cannot have a futon in your living room if you’re over the age of twenty-three. It’s the law.”
Ellis stuck his tongue out and wandered back into the kitchen.
Logan returned his phone to his ear. “I hope you two are at least keeping your big mouths shut with Mom and Dad.”
“Of course we are.” Abby sounded affronted. “You think we’d out you before you’re ready? No, if anything, we’re hoping you’re going to make a spectacle of it. You’re going to tell them soon, right?”
“Yeah, I’m ready. I couldn’t have put it off much longer anyway. Things between Ellis and me are getting serious.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m waiting for the perfect moment. You know, like over Thanksgiving dinner.”
“No way! You wouldn’t.”
“Probably not,” he admitted. “But just picture it. All of us, sitting around the table, like one big family. Ellis will charm the pants off of them, of course, and then when Mom asks what I’ve been doing lately, I can just point to Ellis!”
“Don’t you dare,” they said in unison before dissolving into giggles. Logan giggled with them.
Ellis turned at the sound. “What’s so funny?” Logan’s best saucepan slipped from his grip, clattering onto the stove.
“Hey.” Logan mustered up a glare. “Be careful with the merchandise. You can abuse your own belongings, but not mine.”
“But baaabe.” Ellis grinned. “These are our belongings now.”
Logan rolled his eyes and said to his sisters, “It’s true what they say about living with someone. You see a totally different side of them.”
“Did you find out all his deep, dark secrets?” Rachel asked. “Like, does he kick puppies or eat pineapple on pizza?”
“Nothing like that. Remember how I worshipped him in college?”
“Yup. It was disgusting.”
“Well, I still think he’s the coolest guy ever—you know, with his whole artistic, whiskey-drinking, rock-music-loving shtick and all—but now it’s like . . .” He struggled to articulate what he meant. “It’s like I’ve peeked behind the curtain, you know?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, lemme try again. Back then, I thought he wore the best clothes and had read all the best books and had seen all the best movies. That’s still true, but now I also know he’s a giant dork. He gets excited about paint primer the way most people get excited about new cars. He followed the entire drama between Anish Kapoor and Stuart Semple as if it were the Super Bowl. And God forbid you suggest that he wash a shirt before he’s worn it three times.”
“Doesn’t that drive you crazy? You’re so neat.”
“Oh yeah. It’s a mess. Literally. His schedule is all over the place, and he has no plans for the future, and he has none of the qualities that I ever imagined my future partner would have. And I don’t think I have ever, ever been this happy.” Logan couldn’t stop a dopey smile from crawling onto his lips. He added one more thing in his own head. And he is, without a doubt, the love of my life.
Rachel’s voice took on a singsong quality. “You guys are so married.”
“Yup,” Abby agreed. “We better get used to calling him ‘brother.’”
“Are you still on the phone?” Ellis appeared next to the sofa with two plates piled high with some sort of tofu-onion concoction Logan would have to make sense of later. Ellis set the plates on the coffee table and then leaned over until his mouth was right next to the phone. “Logan and I have things to do. You can talk to him tomorrow.”
“Ooh. What kinds of things?”
In lieu of an answer, Ellis nuzzled up to Logan’s face and made loud, obnoxious smooching noises.
Abby and Rachel squealed before promising to call again soon. Logan hit the End Call button, tossed his phone aside, and hugged his boyfriend’s arm.
Ellis plopped onto the seat next to him. “Try the food.”
Logan reached for the fork on the nearest plate and carefully navigated a bite to his mouth. It was hot but delicious. “Mmm. I may keep you around for the cooking alone.”
“Glad to hear it.” Ellis grabbed his own plate. “You know what this place needs?”
“More of your artwork on every available surface?”
Ellis laughed. “No. A pet. We should get a cat or something.”
“A cat?”
“Or something. I wouldn’t say no to a dog.”
Logan grinned. “Six months we’ve been dating, and you already want to adopt. My sisters are so right.”
“About what?”
“Nothing.” Logan took a bite and considered it. “Definitely a cat. They’re way less maintenance. I can’t be home with a dog during the day, and your hours are as erratic as ever.”
Ellis pouted. “Damn. Now I want a dog.”
“You’re so contrary.”
“Gotta stick it to the man.” Ellis kissed his cheek. “A cat it is, then. We can name her something cute, like Mrs. Fluffers.”
“Veto, and what makes you think it would be a girl?”
“We need a lady of the house! What about Gertrudis Caca Blanca? That was what Frida Kahlo called her pet eagle.”
“Super veto.”
Ellis heaved a sigh. “Fine. What do you suggest, then?”
“We can’t name her before we’ve met her. We’ll pick the perfect thing when the time comes.”
Ellis grinned. “‘Her’?”
“That’s what I said.”
Ellis kissed his cheek. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I do, and I love you too.”
They settled in for the night, eating dinner, laughing, and watching movies. It might have been a Friday like any other, except when it came time for Ellis to go to work at the Golden Flamingo, Logan went with him. Gone were the days when Logan would have spent his weekend waiting for Monday to roll around. He still had his job, and Ellis couldn’t completely convince him to give up his creature-of-habit ways, but it was obvious that they were growing together with each passing day.
It was funny; Logan had always pictured a white-picket fence in his future. Now, when he thought about a lifetime with Ellis, all he saw was color.
