Nobody could fail to notice Oscar’s cheeks flushing every goddamn time Roman looked at Oscar. So, of course, he was having the time of his life doing it as much as possible.

“Now that the secret’s out, the two of you are gross and coupley,” Deen finally observed, grinning at them. “All it took was a little interrogation.”

“Oh, yeah. About that.” Roman put down his beer and glared sternly at the rest of them. “Taking advantage of my boyfriend’s, er… slender frame.”

“If you’re saying I can’t handle my drinks,” Oscar scolded, sitting bolt upright and folding his arms, “you can fuck off.”

“That sounds like drunk talk,” Tyler laughed. “What have you been giving that boy?”

“Just half a bottle of champagne.”

“And you said we were plying him for information!” Dustin exclaimed. “Look at the size of him.”

“Fuck off,” Oscar informed them, scowling, and they just laughed—Roman included.

It was good to see him getting along so well with the rest of them, much more comfortable than he had seemed before. Apparently all he’d needed was a little light peer pressure.

“Whatever. Don’t get my boyfriend drunk. That’s my job,” Roman insisted, trying to save some grace.

“Well, they’re challenging us to predrink next time,” Blane told Falcon.

“If that’s what you’re getting from this,” Falcon shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It still won’t make me do your laundry.”

“Are you sure? Even the rosé you really like?”

“I’ll drink whatever you give me, but I won’t do the laundry. That’s your job.”

“Ahh, engagement bliss,” Dustin murmured loudly enough for everyone to hear.

They laughed and Blane pouted before admitting, “It is my job.”

“Don’t look so sad. You need clean clothes to bring to Paris, unless you plan to buy them there.” Before Blane could say it, Falcon laughed and added, “We are not bringing three suitcases of new clothes home just because you didn’t do laundry.”

“Fine, fine.”

When Roman glanced over at Dustin, despite his teasing words, there was a strange look on his face as he looked at his hands. Roman caught his breath when he noticed Dustin rubbing his ring finger, so idly he might not even be aware he was doing it.

He nudged Oscar, but by the time Oscar looked over, it was too late.

Is he feeling it now? Roman couldn’t blame him—watching Nico and then Blane find love had been strangely difficult, which made more sense now that he’d dropped the playboy act and admitted what he’d really wanted all along.

Dustin spoke up, “Are you going to Paris this weekend?”

“Next,” Falcon told them all, beaming ear-to-ear. “We’ve been planning the itinerary every evening.”

“Well, you guys get to skip out, then… but I was thinking we could find a weekend day that works and have a work party at Oscar’s new studio.”

Oscar yelped, then glared at him. “It’s not fair to…”

“Shut up,” Nico told him affectionately and clapped him on the shoulder, looking at Roman. “What do you need?”

“Renos. I know a couple of you,” here he looked at Josh, “handle tools all day.”

“Heh. As often as I can.” Josh winked.

“The place needs some fixing up, especially the kitchen. Don’t tell him, but if he’ll let me, I’m helping pay for some renovations for his Christmas gift.”

Oscar was a funny shade of pink now, looking torn between laughter and feeling sentimental. “Oh,” he murmured under his breath.

“If we can get the labor for free, it’ll be cheap to get it fixed up—at least, good enough to start teaching classes.”

The enthusiasm around the table ratcheted up.

“That’s awesome,” Deen enthused. Of all people, he knew the self-employment struggle perhaps the best. “Of course we’ll help. We can take it in shifts if not everyone can make it at the same time.”

Oscar’s eyes were brimming, and they pretended not to notice. Roman wrapped his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

“And there’s one other thing. The transfer’s official, and, uh. I think I got a guy fired.” The silence that fell made Roman blush with the attention suddenly on him. “Long story short, Blane made me do it,” he laughed uncomfortably. “This guy was making jokes that started becoming, you know, more and more pointed. Finally, he tried to hit on me at work.”

“At work, as in… in the cockpit? Of a plane? That was in the air?” Falcon yelped. “What the fuck!”

“Yeah.” Roman grimaced. “HR is just glad I’m not pressing charges or a lawsuit against anyone. And honestly, I don’t think I was his only target. Getting him fired is the only thing I could really do, which is shitty, but…” he trailed off, raising his shoulders in a shrug.

“Harassing people isn’t right, ever,” Blane said firmly. “I’m proud of you, man. You spoke up for a lot of people who couldn’t speak up, I bet.”

“Yeah.” Josh scowled. “If we couldn’t kick his ass, at least you got some justice.”

“It feels so anticlimactic. We just, like, had some bullshit mediation session and he admitted to everything and then… that was it.” Roman shook his head. “But I guess it’s more important what I do now. I don’t wanna let any of that shit fly under the radar anymore.”

Oscar squeezed his arm, his brows furrowed. “Thank you for telling me,” he said softly. “Us.”

“Yeah. I’ll kick your ass if you hide your problems from us again, though,” Blane added, and Roman flipped him off.

“Bright side is, I’m pretty much out to everyone,” Roman grinned. “And they wanna meet you at the Christmas party.”

“Me?” Oscar exclaimed with a quiet laugh. “Why?”

“The guy who made Mr. Slick not so slick,” Josh commented with a grin. “Hell, it took us all aback too. But it’s good to see you two being happy and gross.”

Roman knew he was blushing just as fiercely as Oscar. “Thanks.”

Finally, he wasn’t hiding a thing from anyone, and he felt free.