Memphis let his thighs fall open a bit wider so their hips were flush and Preacher could feel he was half hard just being beneath him. “Other than you?”
Preacher leaned down and kissed him soft and slow, in a way that made Memphis shivery. “Yes, other than me.”
What did he want? That was an excellent question. “I don’t really know.”
“Well, what do you like?”
Memphis bit his lip and sighed. “I like plants. Flowers. I like making pretty things that make my customer’s smile. I like that I can take a tiny seed and, just from my time and attention, make it into something that not only thrives but gives back.”
“Gives back?” Preacher asked, amused.
“Yeah, plants give off oxygen. They improve air quality.” Memphis didn’t mean to sound indignant but he did. “I know it’s dumb, but it’s what I like.”
Preacher kissed his lips, his cheeks, his chin, his forehead. “I didn’t say it’s dumb. It’s not. It’s sweet. Like you. You have a very nurturing heart, despite everything that’s happened to you, and that’s amazing. It’s why you’ll be so good with Knox.”
“Knox doesn’t even want to talk to me.”
Preacher grinned. “To be fair, Knox isn’t talking to any of us.”
Memphis slapped his arm. “You know what I mean. He looks at me like I’m an idiot.”
“He looks at you like somebody who’s never been able to trust a single person who was supposed to care for him. You know what that’s like. When this is over, that’s how you relate to him. Then you show him that you’re not going to hurt him or run away.”
“I don’t know how to raise a kid alone.” There was a question there. One Memphis was afraid to ask.
At Preacher’s silence, Memphis looked up to meet his gaze. “You only have to raise him alone if you want to.”
Memphis’s mouth went dry at the implication of Preacher’s words. “I-I don’t want to. But this is crazy, right? You and me? This is unsustainable? Right? It will never work.”
Preacher brushed Memphis’s hair from his face, the softest smile on his lips. “Because I’m too old? Because I’m an ex-con? Because we’re both too broken?”
“Because I don’t ever get to have the things I want,” Memphis blurted.
“I’m not the prize you think I am,” Preacher assured him with a soft laugh.
Memphis didn’t return his smile, just looked him dead in the eye. “Yes, you are. You’re better than I deserve. I read all these self-help books that say nobody will love you until you love yourself, and I always think, if that’s the case, I’m doomed to be alone forever, but you treat me like you love me. Like I deserve to be loved.”
Preacher’s smile faded. “I treat you like I love you because I do, even if you don’t. I can love you enough for the both of us.”
Memphis’s heart jumped in his chest, his breaths quickening, feeling like a lump the size of a baseball was stuck in his throat. “Nothing about us should work. We hardly know each other. It’s been barely a month. You’re an ex-con and I’m an emotionally stunted florist. The odds of this working are not in our favor.”
“I don’t give a fuck about odds or statistics. I don’t care if it’s only been a month. My life’s been on hold for over twenty years, and then I met you and you’re…perfect. I’m not about to give this up just because a bunch of science geeks crunched some numbers and decided there’s no such thing as love at first sight.”
Memphis swallowed, his blood pounding in his veins. “At first sight, huh?”
“You were a sight to behold,” Preacher promised. “Prettiest man I’d ever seen and fierce, too.”
Memphis rolled his eyes. “I was two seconds away from pissing myself with fear. I thought you were going to smother my brother with a pillow.”
“And yet, you didn’t hesitate,” Preacher said.
Memphis’s gaze slid away. “Maybe I knew, on a subconscious level, you wouldn’t hurt me?”
“Or maybe you are far braver than you think?”
Was he? He doubted it. “Do you really love me?” he asked, changing the subject.
Preacher smiled down at him. “I really do.”
