Thursdays were my normal day at the youth center as long as I didn’t have to pull a shift that day, but this Thursday was the first day that Matt was going with me. I was excited to introduce him to the kids and to see what he thought about what Miles was doing there.

When I first started going, I didn’t really have anything in particular in mind that I wanted to do. Stevie did a yoga class, and Nathan helped with homework and basically mothered the kids to death. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I just hung out. That turned into playing basketball in the gym, and before I knew it, that was my thing. I’d warned Matt ahead of time that was what we’d probably be doing, and he seemed okay with it. The kids were all excited to meet him because of course, Nathan told them all I had a boyfriend.

I met Matt there since we both had to work the next day.

“Hey, Linc,” Julius yelled as I came in. “Where’s your man? I thought he was coming tonight.”

“He’ll be here in a few. Is Stevie here or has he left already?” I asked them.

“No, he’s still here, but he’s in the office with Miles. There’s a new kid, and they’re in there talking with him.”

“Really, think he’ll want to play ball with us?” I asked. It was hard for these kids to put themselves out there. A lot of them had been hiding who they really were as a matter of personal safety and because of that, they kept to themselves. It helped if you asked them first.

“I don’t know man,” Cody said. “He’s little. I mean, not like a little kid; I’ve seen him around the high school. I mean size wise he’s little. I don’t know if he’d want to play or not. He doesn’t really look athletic, you know.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, man. When Nathan and I were kids, he could out shoot me every time, but people always underestimated him because he was so small. We can ask him when they get done.”

“Yeah, Nathan’s in there, too. Miles called him to see if he’d come talk to him.”

That told me a lot. Miles only called Nathan to come in unscheduled when it was a tough case. As a nurse, Nathan not only had medical training, but he had a way about him that put people at ease.

“Wow, who’s the hottie?” Julius said fanning himself.

I chuckled because I was betting I knew who’d just walked in the door. I turned to look and sure enough, it was Matt. “Hey, that’s my hottie you’re talking about.”

Julius took a step back in mock surprise and said, “Ahh, come on now, Brokeback. You trying to tell me you managed to snag him?”

“Yes, I did. And he’s way too old for you, anyway.”

“Says you. You’re thinking too old, and I’m thinking sugar daddy. I’ll be eighteen next month.”

“And yet, you still act like a child,” Cody said rolling his eyes and bumping Julius’s shoulder playfully.

We all stood there and watched Matt cross the room. He was hot. He walked with his usual swagger like he owned the place.

“Hey,” he said

“Hey,” I said. “Let me introduce you to the guys. This is Julius, Cody, and Jed. Guys, this is Matt.”

“Great to meet you. Lincoln’s told me a lot about you.”

“Yeah, did he tell you we wiped the floor with him on the court last week?”

“You know, he left that part out. Think you can take both of us?”

“Yeah,” Jed said. “Easy.”

Matt held out his hands for the ball, and Cody threw it to him. He took a couple steps forward and using a stance that looked like it came natural to him, he shot the ball for what would be a three-point shot. It hit the backboard, and then bounced on the rim. It teetered there for a second until if fell down through the net. He turned to me and grinned. “Did I ever tell you I played ball in college?”

“No fair, man. You brought in a ringer,” Julius complained.

“No, you never mentioned that,” I said with a laugh as I jogged over and grabbed the ball. I was about to suggest we split up the teams more evenly when a small, young kid entered the gym area. He couldn’t be more than thirteen or so. If Cody hadn’t mentioned seeing him around the high school, I would’ve guessed even younger. There was something so innocent and vulnerable looking about him that I wanted to take him home and take care of him. He reminded me a lot of a young Nathan, actually. I tossed the ball to Cody. “Be right back.”

He watched me with cautious eyes the whole time I walked his way. When I got close enough for him to hear me I asked, “Want to play ball with us? We have an odd number and could use a sixth person.”

He eyed at me skeptically. “You a cop?”

“Nope, paramedic,” I answered.

“You a perv?”

“Would I say yes if I were?”

He sighed, and his shoulders sagged. “I guess not. I’m not good at this living on the street shit.”

The word shit sounded wrong coming out of his young mouth, but I was pretty sure he was trying his best to sound older

“You’re living on the street?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t want to spook him, and he already looked ready to bolt.

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I got places to stay and stuff.” In other words, I’m completely alone and terrified.

“Sure,” I said nodding like this was a normal conversation. “Well, the youth center here’s a good place to hang out. They can’t let people sleep here, but it’s a safe, warm place during the day.”

“Maybe,” he said.

“Want to come over and meet the guys?” I asked. He looked over at them longingly, but shook his head no.

“I’m not good at sports. Or at meeting people.”

“You seem to be doing okay meeting me,” I said with a smile.

“You’re an adult. I mean at meeting kids my age. Especially ones that look like them.” He waved his hand indicating the group who were now playing around with the ball, trying to keep Matt from making another shot.

“That look like them? What do you mean exactly?”

“You know, all athletic and straight and shit.”

“You know this is an LGBT youth center, right? None of those guys are straight.”

“What about you? You don’t look gay. Neither does the kid in the blue t-shirt,” He insisted.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You can’t judge a person’s sexuality by the way they look. You know that, right? See that extremely hot guy over there about to take a shot.” I pointed over at Matt just as he made another basket. “That’s my boyfriend, Matt. And the guy in the blue t-shirt’s Jed. He plays high school football and is gay. It was hard for him to come out as you can imagine.”

“I bet. He had to be brave to do that. I was terrified, and everyone already knew. I mean, you know it’s not like you can’t tell just by looking at me.”

“My brother’s that way,” I said.

“You and your brother are both gay? Wow, your parents must’ve been thrilled,” he said, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“Actually, my parents are pretty cool with it. You met my brother a few minutes ago. Nathan?”

“Nathan’s your brother? You two are nothing alike. He seemed pretty cool though. He said his parents kicked him out like mine did.” I could see when something clicked for him, and his whole posture changed. “So which is it? Are they cool with it or are they assholes like my dad?” he asked. I could see all over him that he thought one of us was lying to him, and it killed me knowing he was so jaded so young.

“Well, it’s both, actually. Nathan’s biological parents kicked him out when they found out he was gay, but we’d been best friends since elementary school, and my parents raised him after that. So he isn’t my brother by blood. He’s my brother by choice. See, family isn’t always the one you’re born with. Sometimes it’s the one you make.”

I was about wiped out from playing ball with the guys. I’d been keeping one eye on Lincoln as he talked with the new kid. It didn’t look like he was having much luck getting him to come join us, so I decided to go over and say hi. I passed the ball off to Julius and headed over.

“Hey,” I said sitting down on the bench so I wouldn’t be looming over the kid. He looked like a scared rabbit. “I’m Matt. I’d offer to shake hands, but I’m all sweaty.”

“Hi, I’m Spencer.”

“Well, Spencer, nice to meet you. Do you come here all the time? This is my first time here; Lincoln convinced me to come check it out.”

“Seems okay,” Spencer said looking like he wasn’t so sure.

“Yeah, I thought so, too.”

We just kind of sat there after that for a few minutes. Until Spencer got up and grabbed the bag at his feet. “Well, I need to get going. I’ll see you guys around,” he said and turned and rushed off.

“What’s his story?” I asked.

“No idea. We didn’t get that far. He wasn’t ready to talk. Maybe he told Nathan and Miles more. He’s scared, though, I can tell that.”

“Yeah, seemed like it.” I was about to suggest we go play ball when Linc’s phone pinged in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it; a smile spreading across his face.

“Hey, want to go with me to look at a house?”

“The one across from Nathan and Alex?” I asked

“Yeah, the realtor just called. They couldn’t show it or do anything with it until everything was worked out with the people who originally were buying the house. They just got everything signed, and they’re officially no longer purchasing the house so I can go look.”

“When do you want to go?” I asked. He’d been excited about the possibility of buying this house for weeks but had never been able to see inside. I hoped it was something he could work with.

“Now?”

I laughed. “Now works for me. Want me to meet you there?”

“Yeah, let’s do that. Then we can decide where to go from there.” Aside from when he worked a twenty-four-hour shift, we’d spent pretty much every night at either his place or mine.

This house had been the talk of the neighborhood since they started it. For most houses in the subdivision, being a green house or part of an eco-friendly neighborhood had meant making small changes like solar panels, water barrels for the garden, and using renewable resources. But the couple who had planned this house wanted it as traditional looking as possible, but as green as possible. They’d gone with a farmhouse style with a metal roof. It was a two-story home with a gorgeous covered wrap-around front porch.

My first thought was that the house was a perfect mix for Lincoln. Modern and traditional. We went up and sat on the front porch while we waited for the realtor to show up. The front yard was nice. One of the things about this development was that the lots were large, and they only removed whatever trees were necessary for building so it gave the neighborhood an established feel even though it was new.

“What do you think about it?” Lincoln asked.

“I think the style of house suits you and being across from Nathan and Alex would be perfect for you.”

“For me, yeah, but what about for you?”

“For me?”

“I mean, buying a house is a long-term commitment, and while I know we aren’t sharing a house, I hope we’re heading that direction. We are heading that direction, aren’t we?” he asked looking concerned.

I reached over and took his hand. “Yeah, Linc, we’re headed that direction. I love you, remember?”

“Well, then you should have a say as well.”

“I don’t know, Lincoln. I mean, this is your money, so it seems to me you should buy what you want,” I insisted.

“First off, it was my grandmother’s money; I didn’t do anything to earn it. And second, what I want is to buy a place we’d both like.” He gave my hand a squeeze and stood up. “There’s the real estate agent now.”

We walked through the whole house while the real estate agent pointed out all the cool features the house had. I personally was sold on it when I saw Linc’s face light up when he saw the sunroom on the back. Although it did have some great other features. We walked out with the realtor and stood looking at the house.

“Well, what do you think?” I asked him.

“I love it. What do you think?”

“I think it’s perfect,” I assured him.

“For both of us?” he asked, giving me a pointed look.

“For both of us.”

“Name one thing you liked,” he said, one eyebrow raised.

“The fireplace was gorgeous.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” He smiled. “I think I should buy it.”