“Of course.” Colt placed his plate back on the tray and lifted it, motioning for Jace to go in front of him with a sweep of his hand. They walked in silence until right before they arrived at the table.
“Your ass is still perfect,” Colt mumbled. Jace’s cheeks heated in a blush at the words. For some reason the warmth crawling up his cheeks, along with the hot shower and perhaps the white willow bark made him feel better, but he had a hunch it was more Colt’s words than anything else. He grinned at Colt and took a seat, eating another bite of the toast. Colt put all but the plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, then sat down and started picking at his food.
Jace weighed his questions and ate until the sheer volume of food Colt made for him resonated in his mind. He grinned again and picked up a bite of pineapple. “I think I got most of it down. Tell me if I’m wrong. You left your bride at the altar and came here. Did you know I was here?”
Colt nodded. “Yes, I did. I watched the ESPN special.”
“So you came here for me?” Jace asked the question, but regretted it immediately, wishing he could take it back.
“I did.”
Jace’s mind was still solidly on wanting to take back his words, and it took several seconds to absorb what he heard and let it take hold in his mind.
“Why?” he finally asked.
“Because I love you, Jace. Don’t you remember anything I said last night?” Colt placed his fork by his plate.
“I think so,” Jace said. All the delicious food Colt cooked for breakfast was forgotten as he rose from his seat and moved to Jace and dropped down to balance on the balls of his feet. He took Jace’s hands and kissed each one.
“I’ve never gotten over you. Ever. Not one day passed that I didn’t think about you. For me, you’re the love of my life. Wherever you are is exactly where I want to be,” Colt said, the sincerity in his eyes filling Jace’s heart with hope for the first time since he woke. All the unanswered questions fell away and nothing else mattered in this moment. Only this beautiful man in front of him who was willing to throw his bacon away if meat offended him. What a sweet gesture.
“So, you aren’t thinking a night, or even a week?” Jace needed to be sure.
“I’ve wasted too much time already. I don’t want to waste another single day without you. I want a future with you,” Colt said, looking perhaps a little insecure.
“I want that, too.” Jace pulled his fingers free of Colt’s hold and palmed his face. Truly, his entire world rested in those pleading eyes staring up at him. Jace drew Colt in enough to reach his lips and placed a small, sweet, lingering kiss there.
“Without your father,” Jace added with a whisper, looking straight in Colt’s eyes.
“Definitely without my father. I swear I’ll never let him hurt us again. I promise.” Colt smiled and kissed Jace again before he stood, picking up his plate and the oatmeal, taking both to the microwave for a warm up.
“Are you doing this repair work yourself or did you hire people?” Colt asked from the kitchen.
“Me mostly,” Jace said, braving the jam on a slice of toast with peanut butter, hoping this didn’t test his stomach’s limits. Did all this make sense in his mind? Not really. Okay, not at all, but his heart desperately wanted it to be true and real.
“And we’re here another week before we head back to life?” Colt called out as the microwave dinged. Jace stayed quiet until Colt pushed the oatmeal in front of him, handing him a spoon. Colt stared at Jace, clearly waiting for an answer.
“Won’t you be missed before then?” Jace finally asked. He warily took a bite of the oatmeal and reached for his toast. Too many complicating factors were competing for his attention. Couple that with the dull ache in his head and it became impossible to think straight. His heart took the win and fluttered each time Colt’s gaze connected with his.
“Nah, I talked to everyone I needed to. I have a couple more calls to make, but they don’t matter,” Colt said as he ate his breakfast in earnest now. “So what’s on the list for today? I saw shingles and paint. What’s first?”
“I’d planned to work on the roof today,” Jace said and took a bite of his toast, chasing it down with a bit of guava juice. The battle going on inside him gave. The bottom line, just like always, he belonged to Colt for however long he was wanted. Did that make him pathetic? Probably.
“The roof it is. Maybe tomorrow or the next night we can go out, go dancing. I talked to a local woman, and she gave me the name of a place she thought we’d like. I need some clothes too; this is about all I brought.” Colt finished off his plate and drained his coffee, rising for another cup. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good. I usually drink a protein shake for breakfast,” Jace said, realizing Colt had just described them going out together in public. Like on a date… his heart liked that a lot, tallying up more points against his head’s reserve.
“I got lots of those, too. I didn’t know. I need to learn these things about you.” Colt’s voice trailed off when he disappeared into the kitchen. Jace nodded in affirmation and finally smiled. He tried so hard to keep the nagging doubt at bay. He reached down, pinched himself, and winced at how hard. Why did he always pinch himself too hard? When would he learn that lesson?
Okay, so he wasn’t dreaming anymore, but did this fall into same song second verse? He would just have to play this out and see what happened.
The day passed in a blur of manual labor and an in-town shopping trip. The roof was complete. Together, they worked not much more than a few hours hammering shingles back in place and fixing a few problem areas. Jace perked up pretty quick and got past the hangover that plagued him most of the morning. They decided tomorrow’s big master plan would be to start the painting.
Colt drove them into town and loaded up on beach wear, sandals, and toiletries. They also stopped back by the grocery store, grabbing a couple pounds of shrimp, crab legs, potatoes, and ears of corn for a crab bake. Jace went into fits of ecstasy over the grocery store’s salad options. Colt watched Jace glazing over at the look of all the exotic fruits and vegetables on display. Jace looked so happy Colt took a second glance around the produce department because clearly he must have missed something special.
Jace gave the same reaction again on the salad dressing and seasoning aisle. Colt stood at the end of the aisle and actually got a good solid hard-on watching Jace excitedly explain why there were so many rare treats at this particular grocery store. Colt ended up buying just about everything Jace showed him, because he found Jace gave small kisses of delight each time something special was put inside the cart. This was a new side to Jace, one he hadn’t seen before, and the more Colt saw, the more he wanted a repeat any chance he got.
Colt’s only concern with their outing came at the times they actually ate together. He was amazed by Jace’s very strict and disciplined eating habits. After watching Jace load his hot dog bun down with the cooked vegetables from the street vendor, Colt couldn’t understand how Jace wasn’t starving to death. No way man could live without meat or animal products. Only the fragile new steps of their relationship had Colt backing off, not voicing his concern. He decided he was absolutely going to have to look at this vegan thing more closely. He wanted Jace strong and healthy for his whole life. If that meant he needed to eat meat, Jace was eventually going to have to put some in his mouth. Colt went so far as to even put a note in his phone to contact the team dietitian as soon as they got back home.
For a man who’d hidden who he was all his life, Colt didn’t hesitate to take Jace’s hand, wrap an arm around his waist, or give him a simple peck in public. Colt wore his ball cap and sunglasses, but in his master plan, he wanted them out, around people, acting like a couple. At least while they were on this island. He wanted to give Jace as many moments like this as possible to help make up for all his mistakes in the past. Jace went along with it, never questioning him or denying a touch. After a bit, Jace even initiated some handholding, and i
n those moments, Colt felt like the king of the world, even getting cocky when they passed people. Jace belonged to him and no one else.
They developed a balance between them. Colt was thankful Jace seemed just as eager to make this happen as he did. Neither of them spoke of the past, although the pain of their lives was still there between them every single time Colt’s phone vibrated uncontrollably. The tension of the missed calls weighed between them. After about the first two dozen times, Colt finally got the clue and turned the phone off.
“You’re completely on the wagon?” Jace asked, washing the vegetables at the sink as Colt shelled all the shrimp, standing right beside him. As dusk fell outside, Colt had piled all the drift wood and discarded wood from the house into a pit, ready for a fire. Lounge chairs were in place, bottles of water, tea, and guava juice chilled.
“I haven’t had a drink in ten months. I haven’t even wanted one since I got here,” Colt said.
“I’m proud of you. That’s a big deal,” Jace said, looking over and bumping Colt in the shoulder.
“It’s day by day, but you help more than you know.” Colt leaned in, puckering his lips. Jace didn’t deny him and kissed him quickly.
“You should call whoever keeps calling you,” Jace urged, still looking at Colt. His face changed some. Colt couldn’t be sure, but he thought he may have seen one of those protective walls sliding in place, surrounding Jace. He didn’t like what he saw, and tried for funny, to ease the tension away.
“Yeah, and you need to bend over like you did on the roof today. Damn that ass of yours.” Colt waggled his eyebrows and bumped Jace in the shoulder.
“I’m serious, Colt. You need to deal with them before too much more happens here,” Jace said, his tone serious. Colt could tell Jace didn’t want to be a downer, but the nagging doubt was there. Jace wore the concern in his eyes. Colt pushed Jace so hard to commit, but the big elephant in the room was the man who drove them apart last time. Colt had to deal with him to prove to Jace he was past his father. Overall, the logic made sense, but damn that call would suck to make.
“I deserve that. Only time’s gonna show you that what you’re thinking about me’s wrong.”
“Then deal with the rest of them. Come to me open and honest,” Jace said quietly, his eyes were on his hands as he washed vegetables he’d already washed. They still worked at the sink, but those walls Colt had speculated on were now solidly between them, and Colt didn’t like that one bit.
“Babe, don’t do this,” Colt started but Jace cut him off.
“Part of me wants to take you for however long you plan to stay. I like you here. I feel more alive than I have in a long time. I’ve been lonely for you. I just know what it’s like to have to deal with a heart broken by you…” Jace said quietly, looking over at Colt with deep, unguarded pain in his eyes. God, he hated that look.
“All right, I’ll take care of it right now. I need some privacy. I’m not hiding anything from you; they’re just really crappy people. I don’t want that around you.” Colt moved the seafood and washed his hands in the sink, thinking over his best approach with his father. Not one scenario he ran through his mind played out without a god-awful, ugly scene.
“Colt, you treat me like I’m in a bubble…” Jace started, but Colt cut him off. He wanted a new life with Jace, but he was well aware his old life needed to be laid to rest first. He had tried hard to set everything in motion.
“I’m serious, Jace. Please, just let me do this alone. I’ll meet you outside, okay?” Colt asked, drying his hands with a dish towel. He was steeling his spine, taking the final steps to becoming the man he truly wanted to be.
“Okay.” Jace gathered their things, dumped all the food in the big pot of water sitting in the kitchen sink then turned to leave the kitchen.
“Please, don’t be mad,” Colt pleaded, reaching out to grasp Jace’s arm, stopping him from leaving the kitchen.
“I’m not,” Jace said, but Colt didn’t believe him.
“Then don’t act like you’re pissed at me. It scares me. It won’t take me long.” Colt stepped in closer, releasing his arm. “Please, I need to do this alone. Do you think you can start the water boiling?” Colt asked with only inches separating their faces. Jace nodded, worry in his eyes, and Colt kissed him. “I love you, Jace.”
“I love you, too.”
Jace said the words he needed to hear most. Those words buoyed him, gave him strength, and Colt kissed him, again. Jace left the kitchen, and Colt tracked him until he was out the door, walking to the fire pit. Colt shut the big sliding doors and palmed his phone, dialing. He could feel his facial features hardening as the phone began to ring. Colt kept his eyes on Jace to give him perspective as his father answered the phone.
“You’re a goddamn pussy, leaving me here to clean up your motherfucking mess like always.” Those were the first words out of Larry Michaels’s mouth when he answered Colt’s call. Did no one say hello anymore?
“Dad, I’m fucking tired of your fucked up bullshit. I’ve given you my whole life. I’ve done every fucking thing you’ve ever asked. You need to back the fuck off.” Colt needed to take the upper hand from the beginning, not that he had ever accomplished that before, but he needed to try. As he spoke, he began to pace the small living room, but his interest stayed focused on Jace.
“You’re with that cocksucker, aren’t you?” his father bellowed.
“Leave him out of this, Dad. It’s a different game now. If you take one fucking step toward him, I promise, it’ll be your last,” Colt avowed. Malice filled his words, and he allowed his voice to carry a warning that sounded deadly, even to him. Colt closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to fight when his father mentioned Jace. The old wounds his father had inflicted on him, the ones he thought were buried so deep they were surely forgotten, all surfaced again.
“A goddamn queer. My only son is a goddamn piece of shit queer. You’re throwing everything away for some piece of ass with a dick?”
“Dad, I haven’t thrown anything away. I’ve talked to the team…”
“You told them you like to fuck guys?” his dad shouted back.
“Dad,” Colt started again.
“I didn’t think so. It was only Helena that stopped Maryia from exposing you. She was ready, going to the press, and Helena stopped her. I don’t know how long she can keep hold of her. You have to leave your butt fuckin’ and get your queer ass back here. Take care of this mess like a man, not some pussy, slinking off like the slug you’ve turned out to be. You disgust me. You get back here, beg Maryia to take you back. Do whatever it takes to get that precious woman back. You need to marry a goddamn woman, Colton. It isn’t right to leave this on Helena’s shoulders.”
“Dad, you’re almost sixty-eight years old,” Colt started.
“Fuck you. I love her, she loves me,” his dad stated in no uncertain terms. This whole situation was so fucked up that Colt laughed into the phone.
“She loves my money. And she didn’t keep Maryia from doing shit. Dad, you do understand your Helena fucked me the night before you met her, right?”
“Don’t you dare speak of my future wife like that again, you little butt licker. I swear to God, when I get my hands on you. You think I kicked your ass once before, you ain’t seen nothin’, boy.” Colt was quiet. The anger wasn’t worth the frustration. Jace was less than twenty feet from him, waiting. Colt changed the way the conversation was headed. He’d had enough, and he wouldn’t allow his father to do this again. He was finished hiding, and he was taking his life back, simple as that.
“I love him, that won’t ever change. You stopped this one time before, and I won’t let you interfere again. If you expose me, you risk your livelihood. If you let Maryia out me, then you risk it again. I’ll handle it, old man. Back the fuck off. You don’t control me anymore. Never again, it’s done.” Colt disconnected the call and dialed Maryia. His driver answered on the third ring.<
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“She’s not well,” Clint said, and Colt barked out a laugh at that one. Translated, it meant she was more likely stoned or so drunk off her ass that she couldn’t talk.
“You should be thanking me,” Colt said.
“Fuck you, you hurt her,” Clint shot back.
“Impressive and very gallant. When she wakes, tell her I’ll give her the downtown penthouse and ten million cash. It’s honestly all I have left that she hasn’t spent. It’s all hers. I’ll have my attorneys draw up the papers and have them delivered tomorrow. The only contingency is she never breathes a word about what she found. She does, it’s all off, and I’ll bury her,” Colt said.
“Don’t you dare threaten her.”
“You’re bold when you’re off the payroll,” Colt said, assuming Clint understood that he was now fired.
“Fuck you,” Clint shot back.
“Tell her. She has until tomorrow night to sign the papers. She knows the right decision, and it’s why she hasn’t outted me yet. FYI, you two were video recorded the days leading up to my wedding. Time stamped and dated, I’m not a fool. Poor me, my bride cheated on me with my own employee. The papers will be there tomorrow.” Colt grinned at the bluff and disconnected the call. How had that not ever occurred to him before now. He almost high-fived himself thinking about the clear proof his apartment building would have of all their coming and goings. Hell, they had had sex in his bed. He certainly could have recorded them together. They didn’t need to know he hadn’t.
Before he stepped outside, he left a voicemail with his attorney outlining his instructions. Once he hung up, he took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, trying to remove the tension those two short phone calls caused him. Ironically, for the second time in ten years, he was close to flat broke. He hoped Jace would understand and give him time to recover. Sliding open the back door, Colt realized he was done. Everyone was handled, dealt with, and Jace was right, he did feel better, actually much better. Colt took the porch steps down, heading straight for Jace.
Nice Guys Collection With Added Bonus Material Page 18
