My first name. His last name. “Part of you and part of me,” I whispered.
“Part of us,” he whispered back.
Across the room, Rimmel sniffled and climbed in Romeo’s lap to hide her face.
All I could do was nod. Nod and fight back the tears rushing into my eyes.
“What do you think, Trav?” Trent asked. “How about we call your sister Andi?”
“Okay,” he said, taking the blue Mustang and driving it across my leg.
And just like that, our daughter had a name.
40
Trent
* * *
In a split second. That’s how fast life can change.
One minute, Drew and I were happy and in love, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The next, I stood helplessly on the sidelines and watched his car soar through the air and smash into a concrete wall.
There is no warning. There are no rules.
Life gives. Death takes.
We get no say in the time we’re allowed. But we do get a say in how we spend it.
I protected us too much. Something I never would have admitted or even realized before all of this happened. The last thing I ever wanted was to rock the boat as we sailed along. I didn’t dare ask for more, because what we had was already better than I thought I’d ever have.
Did I want to get married? Deep down, hell yes. But fear held me back. Marriage was change. Marriage might burst the bubble we lived in.
It burst anyway.
Thank God.
Yes. Thank fucking God. I didn’t mess with perfection, but perfection? It came for me. It challenged literally everything. My life, my beliefs, my heart.
Turned out the perfection I thought we had was only preventing us from everything we deserved.
I was done. Done hiding in plain sight. That’s exactly what we’d been doing. Announcing to the world our relationship, then asking everyone to respect it. Being careful not to hold hands or show too much affection in public. Trying to shield Drew from the media coverage when they caught our moments anyway.
I’d been open but closed off. Not in the closet… Maybe just standing in front of it.
I never apologized for being gay, for loving Drew. But looking back, sometimes it sort of felt like I was asking permission.
Fuck that. My heart didn’t need permission to love someone. It just did it without trying. Why should I put restraints on something so pure? On love that blossomed in the middle of a fire? I hated it when people tried to limit love, tried to label family.
But I was guilty of it too. I was terrified our love was fragile and, if pressured too much, we might shatter.
We wouldn’t. Not ever.
Feeling a strange tugging sensation on my sock, I glanced down. Travis had the marker back in his hand, but instead of drawing on Drew’s cast, he had moved to my foot where it was propped up on Drew’s bed.
“What’re you doing there, little man?”
“I ran out of road,” he said, glancing up. He had a smudge of black marker on his cheek and ketchup on his lip.
I shrugged. “All right. Draw away.”
“That’s a permanent marker.” Ivy warned.
I shrugged.
Andi made a small sound, and I glanced down. My heart swelled every time I looked at her, and this time was no different. She was sleeping more peacefully than I’d seen, and the color in her cheeks seemed much better.
Or maybe it was because she had on a pink hat and was covered with a pink blanket.
Either way, she looked cute as hell.
At my feet, there was a bit of commotion, and Drew made a startled sound. My stare flew to the bed where he’d knocked over the milkshake and the lid popped off. What was left in the cup was now all over the bed.
“Oh no,” Ivy said lightly, standing up from where she sat.
Travis scurried over the side of the mattress and ducked under the bed.
“It’s okay,” Drew told him. “It was just an accident.”
Travis wrapped his arms over his head like a shield and scooted farther away. Ivy grabbed some napkins to clean up the mess, and Drew frowned when Travis stayed hidden.
Rising carefully, I passed Andi to Drew, pausing long enough to make sure she was covered before ducking to peer under the bed.
“You hiding ‘cause you think you’re in trouble?”
Under the protection of his arms, his head bobbed.
My stomach twisted, thinking about what his life had been like up until this point. How he managed to survive and adapt. How he managed to have the heart I knew he did. Had he been punished for spilling things before? Yelled at? Physically hurt?
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I sat on the floor.
“We aren’t mad,” I said softly. “You aren’t in trouble.”
He didn’t move or acknowledge what I said.
“It’s all cleaned up!” Ivy announced from up top.
“See? No harm, no foul,” I remarked. “Drew needed to take a shower anyway. Dude smells.”
I thought I heard a little giggle, but I wasn’t sure.
“I can’t even argue,” Drew muttered, and I grinned.
“Why don’t you come out from under there?” I coaxed.
Travis shook his head.
“All right.” I allowed. “I’ll sit down here with you, then.” Reaching up, I grabbed the blue Mustang lying on the mattress and pushed it under the bed. “Just come out when you’re ready.”
A few minutes later, I saw his hand close around the car and pull it into his lap.
Drew gave me a worried look, but I shook my head slightly and smiled.
Romeo and Braeden started talking about football. Rimmel and Ivy made more shopping lists, and I just waited.
A little while later, Travis crawled from under the bed into my lap.
“Are you taking me back to that mean lady?” The innocent, resigned question was like a sucker punch right to my gut.
Stricken, it took me a minute to pull my shit together before I could answer. Tugging him a little closer into my lap, tucking my arms around him, I said, “Never. You don’t have to see her again.”
“Are you taking my sister away?”
A low sound ripped from my throat. I felt Drew’s stare, and we exchanged a look.
“I was thinking that you and your sister might like to come live with me and Drew.”
“At the hospital?”
A few low laughs bounced around the room.
“No way. This place sucks.” I blanched. “I mean, it’s not too fun here.” Rubbing a hand up his back, I continued. “We have a big house where you can have your own room. Andi too. We have a big yard and a dog named French Fry. Do you like dogs?”
He shrugged.
“He drools a lot,” I explained.
“And right across the yard, Aunt Rimmel, Uncle Romeo, Aunt Ivy, and Uncle Braeden live. They have a bunch of kids around your age, so you’ll have people to play with.”
“Do they have a dog too?” he asked.
Braeden groaned, and Rimmel laughed. “Oh, I have lots of dogs! And a cat too. They’ll love you.”
Travis didn’t say anything, and I kinda felt like I was failing at life. I had no idea what I was doing. What to say. Words seemed trivial right now. This kid had been let down by everyone in his life. He had no reason to trust us. Of course, he was afraid we’d abandon him too.
Rotating so I could lean against the bed, I dipped my head back and sighed.
“I know you’ve had a rough life. You’ve seen stuff no one should ever see. But I’m proud of you. Even though things were hard and the grown-ups around you were mean, you’re still a good boy, and you take real good care of your sister. You’re the best big brother I’ve ever met. I know we just met and I know Drew looks like Bigfoot with that beard on his face, but we love you. All of us. You don’t have to love us back. We’ll love you anyway. And we don’t care if you spill milkshakes or make messes. That’s what love is, ok
ay? It’s loving someone all the time, even when it’s hard. Just how you love your sister.”
Someone sniffled somewhere in the room, but I didn’t look up. I stayed focused on the boy in my lap and hoped he understood even some of what I was trying to say.
“When I was little like you, my dad left, and when I told my mom I loved Drew, she left too.”
He looked up. “Why?”
“‘Cause she wanted me to love a girl and not a boy. I didn’t like being alone,” I told him.
“T,” Drew rasped, and I felt his hand in my hair as my head leaned against the bed.
“I don’t want you and Andi to be alone either. So maybe if you let me… maybe I can be your… dad. Andi’s too.”
Travis stared at the car in his hand, and my heart felt like it was going to implode inside my chest. Drew’s fingers knotted in my hair, and then suddenly, he was leaning over the side of the bed, staring down at both of us.
“I want to be your and Andi’s dad too.”
“Two dads?” Travis asked, glancing up.
“Well, I’m not answering to mom,” Drew muttered. “Even if I am the wife.”
A strangled laugh ripped from my throat. What the fuck was he talking about?
“It’s kinda unconventional,” I told Travis. “Having two dads. But it’s better than having one, right?” Unable to resist, I ruffled his hair. After a minute, I said, “We’re the kind of dads who don’t leave.”
“You don’t have to call us dad,” Drew said, glancing at me. “You can call us whatever you want.”
“Maybe just think about it,” I said after a few minutes of me praying to God I didn’t just say a bunch of too much too soon. “Want to play cars?” I asked, starting to shift so I could stand, but I was pushed back.
Suddenly, Travis wrapped his thin arms around me for a hug. Hesitating only for a second, I wrapped mine around him, hugging him close. My head dropped against the mattress again, chin tilting up to find Drew.
He was still close, staring down with soft eyes.
I love you, he told me without words.
I love you, I told him back.
Clearing my throat, I looked down at Trav. “You have me and Drew now, okay? We love you.”
“The rest of us too,” Rimmel called out.
“The rest of them too.” I agreed.
Travis nodded, and something inside me eased. I knew it would take time, but this was a really good start.
41
Drew
* * *
I couldn’t remember the last time I showered. Like for real. It had been awhile. But with the stitches out of my head and my need to get back to feeling some kind of normal, I was pretty desperate.
Trent slid through the door, shutting it firmly behind him and leaning against the wood, and looked at me. “Hi.”
My stomach did a little flip. Nerves and excitement danced along my extremities, making me feel unsteady on my already wobbly limbs. It felt like years since we’d been alone. Years since he touched me without anyone else looking.
God, I wanted him.
Everything about him.
I’d always loved Trent, but I swear, after all of this, I loved him even more. It was the most powerful thing I’d ever experienced. He was my purpose and my reason all rolled into one. He was my strength and my weakness, the only person in this world I couldn’t live without.
“Don’t look at me like that.” He warned, his voice dropping into that sexy, low tone.
My tongue ran over my front teeth. “Like what?”
“Like you are more than willing to let me do bad things to you.”
“I am.”
As he prowled away from the door, the short distance between us closed. Maybe it was the size of the bathroom. Maybe it was because I’d lost so much weight, but suddenly, he seemed much bigger to me, like a wolf with total ability to swallow me whole.
“You’re kinda different.” The words fell out like the filter on my tongue had snapped. Like I was suddenly thirteen and couldn’t remember my self-control.
“So are you,” he rumbled, reaching around to tug at the tie holding the gown around my neck.
Reaching up, I caught his hand, stilling his action. “Is that okay?”
Sliding his arm around my waist, he backed us into the wall, taking all of my weight on his one arm. His other hand flattened on the wall beside my face, and he leaned in, owning his space.
Hell, owning mine too.
He moved, predatory and slow, giving me ample time to know he was coming, but sweet Lord, I wasn’t prepared. I was pretty sure he could feel the pounding of my heart against his chest when my eyes fluttered closed and I surrendered to him as if I hadn’t already done so the second he stepped into this room.
Before his lips claimed mine, he stopped, held still, and spoke. “You hear me complaining?” Then he abolished the slim space remaining between us.
The tightening fingertips at the small of my back torched my skin. His lips took command, and I swear my eyes rolled back in my head. His tongue was persistent, stroking across mine like a massage, twisting into every place as though he were taking inventory that I was still all here.
My head fell against the wall, chin tilting up to offer complete access as Trent ravaged me from the inside out. His body buffered mine, making sure I was completely consumed by nothing but him, and consume me he did.
Shaking hands came up to grip his shoulders, and I kissed him back until my head was woozy and all I could do was hum with desire.
Unlatching our lips, I let my chin drop as my chest heaved. Trent, still steady as a rock, pressed a tender kiss to my forehead.
Practically melting into his body, I pushed closer so he could wrap himself around me.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?” he whispered.
Fisting my hand in his shirt so he couldn’t go anywhere, I replied, “No.”
He held me for long moments, my body quivering against his, my cock twitching between us. One of his hands trailed a path down my back, slipping between the edges of the gown, cupping my ass.
Then he gave it a pat and pulled back.
Completely taken off guard, I blinked and nearly fell onto the ass he was still supposed to be touching.
“Whoa.” Trent chuckled, anchoring an arm around me for support while reaching into the shower to turn on the spray. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
I delivered a squinty-eyed glare, hoping to convey my unhappiness at this turn of events.
“You want me to help you, don’t you?” he asked, untying the gown.
I made a sound. Of course I did.
Once I was naked, my cast was covered by some handy thing Patrick gave T, and the bandages covering my healing wounds were all removed, Trent reached for his own clothes, peeling them off in record time.
The shower had one of those handheld showerheads, and the water was warm as Trent directed it over my body. A low sound vibrated my throat in appreciation of the warmth of the water.
“Watch your leg,” he cautioned, making sure to angle the spray away from the covered cast.
With almost all of my weight on one leg, I had to use him as support. My muscles were still weak, my body still trying to recover from the coma it had been trapped in for five days.
“You doing okay?” His voice was low because he was so close.
“I missed you.” There I went again, blurting out the first thing that came to mind, not even thinking at all.
“Ah, fuck, baby,” he swore. “I missed you too.”
The spray went down the side of my hip, rushing down my leg and over my toes when he swooped in to kiss me again. The sensation of his body rippling against mine, of his muscles moving beneath his skin, was my aphrodisiac, and I found myself trying to climb up his body like he was a tree and my leg wasn’t broken.
A low, pleased laugh filled the small shower when he pulled back, reaching to steady me.
But it wasn’t funny, and I didn’t care
if only one of my legs was working. “I’m hungry, T. I’m so fucking hungry.”
All the amusement on his face washed right down the drain in the center of the floor, and he reached around to slide the faucet into the mount on the wall.
Barely a heartbeat later, I was off my feet, my weight no longer my own to bear. Wrapping my thighs around his waist, I groaned low when my hard cock was pinned between our bodies. The muscles in his shoulders bulged and flexed as he held me, and I rubbed my fingers over the ridges, marveling at how strong he was.
“I’m sorry,” I said suddenly, the words ripping out of some buried place inside me.
Trent glanced up, some of the passion in his eyes making way for concern. “For what?”
“I’ve always been yours… but I’ve never quite given in.”
The alpha inside him came alive, heat and fierceness lighting his eyes, making them glitter with gold.
“You’ve always been enough for me, Drew.” The tenderness in his voice was a direct contrast to the ownership in his eyes.
How a single man could embody so many compelling qualities was something I might wonder about forever.
“I can be more,” I whispered, gripping the back of his head. “I want to be more.”
His teeth sank into my lower lip, nibbling almost to the point of pain before he sucked the swollen flesh between his lips to soothe what he’d just done with his tongue. Saying I had butterflies in my stomach would be a gross understatement. My body felt like an exposed electric wire, like I was close to shorting out because my circuits were being overloaded.
He kept kissing. He kept biting, then licking.
My hips rocked against his middle, pushing my swollen head against him. Every time he breathed deep, his stomach would brush over the most sensitive spot just below my tip and I would shudder.
If he kept it up, I would fucking come without him even having to touch me. Without a single stroke to my dick.
“I should have surrendered to you years ago.” I panted, leaning back to stare into his glittering eyes. “I’m submitting now, Trent. Take everything. Please just fucking take it.”
#Fate Page 25
