Free All Note Long by Annabeth Albert Page B

normal bite, but Michelin’s mind went to surprisingly dirty places with the image and he had to glance away again. “Once I came out, I wasn’t one of the guys anymore—my brothers and my cousins, I mean. I was the gay one. And it’s like that’s what they see first now when they talk about me. They love me and they accept me and we’re back on good terms, but that’s what defines me to them. And it sucks.”
    Michelin thought about his own cousins. Oh fuck. He was going to need to make some calls tonight before the news hit. His hand tightened against the countertop. Maybe he could simply call Rob, let him tell the rest of the family. And Lucky was right that this, more even than music star, was going to forever define him to them. And yes, to a few of them, it would probably validate all the times they’d teased him, called him a wuss.
    â€œI’m not ready.” Michelin finally said the words that had been chasing him all day.
    â€œNo one is,” Lucky said quietly.
    Then he did the one thing that no one had done for Michelin in years and hugged him. A quick thing, over almost as soon as it happened and about as sexual as a car waxing, but still, it was the sort of casual contact that almost no one engaged him in. And his surprise must have shown, because Lucky said, “What?”
    â€œPeople don’t touch me.” He remembered Lucky’s enthusiasm about home fries last night and grabbed some russets from the fridge.
    â€œYeah? Maybe they should start. And if I’m going to be your boyfriend, you better get okay with it. I’m a very touchy-feely boyfriend.” He gave Michelin a wicked grin that Michelin supposed was meant to put him at ease and make him laugh but instead did nothing of the kind.
    â€œI’m not gonna be down with much PDA,” Michelin warned. “And that’s the problem with that article. Makes it sound like I’m dying to flaunt it. Called me a pioneer. And that’s just not me.”
    â€œIf you ask me, you could do with a bit of flaunting,” Lucky said with a cheeky smile. “And like it or not, you are a pioneer.”
    â€œI just don’t want to be the face of some . . . movement. ” Michelin diced the potato into about a hundred more pieces than necessary.
    â€œOh, honey. That might not be avoidable.” Lucky managed to look both sympathetic and superior, like Michelin was stupid to even hope this thing could be contained.
    Fuck. Michelin foresaw a lot of those looks in the next few days. And was it really only yesterday that he’d had vague yearnings for someone to share stuff with? He had a feeling that the next few days were going to completely cure him of any such wishes. Just get this over with, let him get back to being alone, and somehow avoid becoming known only for that label. Another glance over at Lucky’s too-wise face told him he might be better off wishing for a magic pony, like he had dreamed about when he was five.

Chapter Six

    @MichelinFan4Life: He might be gay, but that other vile rumor can just bite me.
    Â 
    @MrsMichelin4Ever: It’s true. I just cannot with my feels right now. Cannot.
    Â 
    @CountryTidbits: Wow. Someone’s fast with the cover-up job. Cue the liberal congratulations in 3, 2, 1 . . .

    L ucky took the last bite of steak off his plate. At least he was full. After the day he’d had, he’d take the bright side any way he could get it. “You’re a good cook,” he told Michelin, and not simply because his mother taught him to thank whomever did the cooking. Adorably, Michelin had store-brand steak sauce and butter, same as Lucky’s mom, and used bagged salad, same as the ordinary folks.
    â€œWelcome.” A tinge of pink colored Michelin’s cheeks. And same as anyone else, the man had feelings. It was easy to forget when dealing with this mess that Michelin was the one whose life was about to change