“Kind of. I mean, always, yes. But my son has been behaving badly and he was staying with Kenzie because his husband threw him out, but then Kenzie threw him out too. He was chasing after some approval about his behavior, thinking that Jennifer would coddle him the way she always has.”
“I take it she didn’t?”
“No, which is rich, considering she cheated on me too.”
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, apparently,” he said.
“I wish I had been a better parent to him.” Thomas sighed. “He’s twenty-four now and I don’t know what to do with him.”
“There’s nothing for you to do. He’s an adult and he’s responsible for his own actions and the repercussions of those actions. You can’t hold his hand forever, and it sounds like your ex can’t either.”
Thomas smacked his lips together and shrugged, turning his attention toward the hole in the tent above them. The sky was a pale blue and the sun was so bright he had to look away.
“Enough about them,” Thomas said, clapping his hands. “I’m ready to get the rest of my present.”
Ben laughed and stood, hauling Thomas with him, pressing their bodies together in every place they could touch. “Hot tub?”
“Champagne.” Thomas kissed the corner of his mouth and walked them toward the fridge.
“Lube,” he murmured, walking them back toward the bed. Their legs tangled together and Ben fell onto this back, Thomas landing on top of him and pushing the air out of his lungs. He laughed, and Thomas laughed, the sound mixing together like a rich symphony in his ears. The sound quieted and died down, leaving them together with heaving chests and the deep pools of Thomas’s lust-filled eyes.
“Towels,” Ben croaked, unable to look away.
“Towels,” Thomas confirmed, pulling them both to their feet, but not letting go. They didn’t make a move, eye contact still steady in a way that felt more serious than Ben would ever be able to find words for.
He cleared his throat and Thomas nodded, jerking away like he’d been burned, but he moved quickly, taking Ben’s hand and pulling him toward the bathroom to get the towels. The moment was shattered, but it was far from gone. In the silence, something had moved between them and everything that happened from that moment forward would build on the foundation they’d made in that short, but knowing silence.
“I’m ready,” Thomas said, and it wasn’t a question.
“Me too.”
CHAPTER26
THOMAS
Thomas wokeearly on Monday morning, the sky above their heads half purple and half blue. His body ached from use and his heart swelled with emotion. The weekend away with Ben was exactly what he’d needed—what he’d wanted—even though he hadn’t known as much at the time. He found himself reinvigorated with a desire to return home, proud and open about the tentative life he and Ben were building. No, he wasn’t so bold as to assume that things with Ben would last forever. He’d thought that once about Jennifer and been proven wrong. But he allowed himself space to enjoy the present, especially the heat of Ben’s skin when they’d spent the night tangled together under high thread-count sheets.
“I don’t want to go home,” Ben muttered, rolling around and burying his face against Thomas’s chest.
“I do,” he said.
Ben looked up at him, eyebrows knit together in sleepy confusion. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“Not at all.” He kissed the top of Ben’s head. “I’m excited to go home and be with you there. Just like this.”
“We have to work at home.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Whatdoyou mean?” Ben asked, hands trailing all over Thomas’s bare skin and frying his brain.
“I want to get home because I want my kids to meet you, or at least my youngest. I want to get home because this is nice, but it’s like a break. I want to have more breaks with you, but I want more than that too.”
“You’re really all in with me, aren’t you?”
“I want to be. I don’t want to scare you off and I’m not making promises or plans, but—”
Ben cut him off with two fingers against his lips. “I get it. I want that with you too.”
