KISS ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT

Mason had kissed women before.

He knew the ordinary mechanics. A slight turn of the head. A breath caught between two mouths. The decision to close his eyes.

What he hadn't known was that a familiar person could become unfamiliar in the span of a heartbeat.

Adrian's lips were warm. His hand remained on Mason's sleeve, not pulling him closer, not pushing him away. Mason felt the careful restraint in that tiny touch, and something inside him shifted.

He drew back only when Adrian did.

The music kept playing. Someone laughed near the buffet. Daniel was still standing a few feet away, but he had somehow become the least important person in the room.

"Well," Daniel said after an uncomfortable silence. "I stand corrected."

Mason looked at Adrian. His roommate's cheeks were faintly pink.

"Yeah," Mason said. "You do."

He guided Adrian away before Daniel could speak again.

They reached a quiet hallway lined with framed photographs. Adrian stopped, pressed his fingers to his mouth, and let out one disbelieving laugh.

"You absolute idiot."

"You're welcome?"

"You kissed me in front of my ex."

"That was the general idea."

"We agreed no surprise kissing."

"I asked. You said yes."

"I know."

Mason searched his face. "Did I mess up?"

Adrian looked away. "No."

"You seem upset."

"I'm not upset." Adrian inhaled carefully. "I just need a minute."

Mason had the unsettling feeling that he'd stepped onto thin ice without noticing the lake beneath him.

"Adrian."

"Was that part of the act, too?"

The question was soft enough that Mason could have pretended not to hear it.

He wanted to say yes. Yes was simple, efficient, and consistent with the plan. It would put everything back where it belonged.

But he remembered the way Adrian's sleeve had gathered in his fist. He remembered not wanting to let go.

"I don't know," Mason said.

Adrian's jaw tightened. For an instant, Mason thought he'd given the wrong answer.

Then Adrian nodded. "All right."

They stayed for dinner. Olivia thanked them for coming and squeezed Adrian's hands in a way that made Mason like her. Daniel kept his distance. Mason gave the newlyweds a sincere toast when prompted, and only embarrassed himself slightly by comparing marriage to a long-term software subscription with better customer support.

Adrian laughed hard enough to lean into his shoulder.

That should have made the night easier.

Instead, everything became difficult.

Mason kept noticing Adrian's mouth when he spoke. The way he loosened his collar after dinner. The way his fingers brushed Mason's when they shared a glass of water in the car. Things Mason had witnessed a thousand times now appeared in sharp, ridiculous focus.

"You're quiet," Adrian said during the drive home.

"I'm driving."

"You usually talk through entire traffic jams."

"Maybe I've matured."

"In the last twenty minutes?"

Mason smiled at the road. Adrian smiled at the window.

At a red light, Mason almost asked what the kiss had felt like for him. But that sounded like the sort of question people asked when they cared about the answer, and Mason was not prepared to determine what that made him.

By the time they reached their apartment, Adrian had drunk the small bottle of champagne Olivia had given them as a wedding favor. He wasn't falling-down drunk, but he was loose-limbed and far more honest than usual.

"Daniel used to hate when I reminded him to eat," he said while Mason helped him out of the elevator.

"Daniel sounds exhausting."

"He said I made him feel managed."

"I like it when you remind me."

Adrian looked at him. "You complain every time."

"That's how you know I'm listening."

Inside, Mason took Adrian's jacket and hung it up. Adrian watched him, leaning against the wall.

"You were kind today," he said.

"Don't spread it around. I have a reputation."

"You were kind even when you didn't have to be."

Mason wanted to tell him it hadn't felt like kindness. It had felt necessary. But Adrian was smiling sadly and Mason couldn't find the words.

He handed Adrian a glass of water and waited until he drank it.

"Go to bed," Mason said. "I'll clean up."

Adrian caught his wrist, very gently.

"Mason?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you still kiss me if nobody was watching?"

The room seemed to contract around them.

Mason could have laughed. He could have made another joke about professional acting services and payment in collectibles.

He did neither.

Adrian studied his face for a long, quiet moment, then released his wrist.

"Forget I asked," he said. "Good night."

His bedroom door closed with a soft click.

Mason remained in the hallway, holding an empty water glass, with a question he was suddenly terrified to answer.