The Mansion of Men

To be perfect

"Okay, we're going to follow the example of the perfect couple and just rip the band aid off."

Vegas looked up from the novel he was reading, while lying on the terrace floor, under the warm, evening sun.

"What?" he asked Pete, who'd come out of their room like a man on a mission.

"Here," Pete said, slamming his phone down beside Vegas. "My reading list."

Vegas sat up, abruptly, looking down at the phone in anticipation.

"You're not serious."

"I am. We shouldn't have any secrets."

"You're telling me if I turn over that phone right now, I'll just see your history, your faves and your tbr. Everything?"

Pete knelt beside the phone, frowning as he nodded. He'd taken the first step. Vegas would be a coward not to follow.

"If you can promise me that you won't judge," Vegas said, pulling out his own phone and going to the site, he dropped it beside Pete's phone. "You can see mine too."

"Really?" Pete said, shocked.

"Yes."

Inside of him, Vegas was cringing, but they had to do this. After all, it seemed like something that was important to to Pete but-

"Wait, who's the perfect couple that we're emulating?"

"Porsche and Kinn," Pete said. "They have access to each other's list and..." he moved close to whisper. "They even hire actors to play out some scenes for them to watch."

"Get out!" Vegas said, hating that he'd never thought of that.

"I swear."

"I hate them."

"Me, too."

Kinn and Porsche had been together for a while and were probably sharing a braincell. Of course they'd have no secrets from each other.

"Wait."

Pete stopped as he was reaching for Vegas' phone.

"What?"

"Our reading lists have our usernames, correct?"

"Yes," Pete said, no longer sounding sure of his decision to share his list.

"Which means that if we do this, and either of us is an author, we'll see the stories we've written, as well."

"I hadn't thought of that," Pete said, looking sideways.

"Do you still want to do this?"

Pete scratched his head, frowning at the phones.

"It'll keep hanging over our heads."

"Right?" Vegas agreed.

"So let's just do it."

"Okay then. On the count of three."

"Two," Pete said as they both reached for the phones.

"One," they said together and picked up each other's phones.